The same thing is happening to college football.

ESPN reports.

Back to school: NBA coaches return to college ranks

Avery Johnson thumbed through a roster book at a recent recruiting stop, searching for a player’s biography while the night’s final game began. Tipoff was close to 10 p.m., a time when many of the players perform like they’re in a hurry to get it over with, and bleary-eyed coaches are only staying courtside for appearance’s sake.

Johnson knew very well there would be nights like this. He just sat through them two years ago while his son, Avery, auditioned for college coaches during the summer’s live recruiting periods. Now he sits through them as the new head coach at Alabama.

“People talk about the grind of being on the road for July with these AAU tournaments,” Johnson said. “There’s nothing like the grind of an NBA season when you’re playing four games in five nights — and that’s consistently all during the season. We’re up for the challenge, and we’re excited about it.”

Fred Hoiberg continued the flow of college coaches trying their hand in the NBA when he left Iowa State for the Chicago Bulls last month. But there’s been a bit of a reversal in the pipeline.