The College Football Playoff still was a fan fantasy on the day college football changed for good: not nece sarily for better or worse, but certainly in a way that impacted the nature of the sport Carlos Martinez Jersey in a permanent manner.That day in December 2009 was not about conference realignment or how to better establish a champion in college football. It was about money. It was about getting paid. Mack Brown had been earning a little le s than $3 million annually from the University of Texas and winning double-digit games most every year. As the Longhorns approached another appearance in the BCS championship game, UT announced a new contract for Brown that would raise his pay to $5 million.So we knew then: There would be no such thing as enough."MORE: There was nothing inherently wrong with Brown taking this money or his agent pursuing such a deal, but it pushed the entire enterprise of college football past whatever pretense of innocence it might have aspired to maintain. This is why it was beyond absurd for Andrew Miller Jersey Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher (annual earnings: $5.15 million) to stand before the media Monday and a sert the College Football Playoff was a core reason for LSU firing coach Les Miles ($4.4 million) after the Tigers fourth game.I think its the first sign of the playoff. Theyre trying to turn it into pro football, Fisher said. If you start turning it into pro football, you better be careful what you ask for.Even seven years later, there are only seven coaches in college football whove reached the $5 million mark in annual pay. Its not as though Texas deal with Brown led to an avalanche of such salaries. But there are 34 coaches now making more than Brown was when he signed that landmark deal, including some who arent exactly household names: Virginias Mike London ($3.2 million), Auburns Gus Malzahn ($4.1 million) and Kentuckys Mark Stoops ($3 Mark McGwire Jersey .3 million).Thats a third of the FBS colleges, and nearly half the Power5.So its not College Football Playoff trying to turn this into pro football, is it?Firing a college coach in the middle of a season should be a last resort reserved for cases of extreme malfeasance. It should not occur because of disappointing results. Its ridiculous that LSU fired Miles at this stage because of a replay review that didnt go the Tigers way. Really, it was that close. The Tigers completed a game-winning touchdown pa s on their final play Saturday against Auburn, but instant replay determined the ball hadn't been snapped before the game clock expired. The next day, Miles was out of a job.LSU debated firing Miles after the Tigers finished 9-3 last season and decided to retain him. Firing him after four games of this season is evidence of an athletic program that either is being poorly managed either by the person in charge (athletic director Joe Alleva) or those to whom he reports.Its certainly not a Chris Beck Jersey product of the escalating importance of the College Football Playoff.Fisher is considered by many to be a candidate for the LSU job, which is how he wandered into this rhetorical me s. Blaming the playoff for the state of college football served as a means of distracting reporters from challenging him regarding a po sible move to Baton Rouge.Im talking about the big picture of this game, Fisher said. Theres a lot of things we all want, but at the end were not looking at the big picture and how it affects the game itself and the integrity of the Vince Coleman Jersey game besides winning a championship which we all want, and Im as competitive as any human out there. But think about the big picture of what you want to do: not next year but five, 10, 15, 20 years down the road.MORE: Thats kind of what Brown did when he accepted that 67 percent raise: He thought about 20 years down the road, when hed be retired, not nece sarily the immediate impact of that contract. Theres not nece sarily any cause/effect in the fact that Texas neverwon double-digit games after Brown became a $5 million coach. But it did alter the way all college coaches were paid and thus what would be demanded of them.This isnt pro football, but the coaches have chosen to become extremely profe sional. They shouldnt really complain when theyre treated that way.