Behind The Box Score

In a sport where many parents across the country put the lives of their young men into the hands of a coach, who is supposed to serve as that young man’s second father figure while on campus and guide him through the rigors of college life, this statement is becoming a thing of the past. Now, we have a major problem on our hands. When college football fans say incoming freshman on the recruiting circuit change their mind too often, they need to look at the coaches recruiting them. These student athletes are expected to look up to their coaches, but when their coaches leave them hanging to dry when another job presents itself, whats not to say that the recruits are just following in line. The latest of the pandemic came this month.

First was Pete Carroll, who left a good USC team and a program that had it’s first non conference championship season in seven years to coach the Seattle Seahawks. What was more puzzling was why Carroll would leave such a prestigious program for the Seahawks, come on the Seahawks. After a few days of speculation it was highly rumored that USC will soon be under investigation for improper benefits given to former players, cough cough Reggie Bush. What we have here was a coach who wasn’t going to pay for his mistakes and leave a group of very young men to pay the price. Integrity? I think not.

When we thought that whole debacle with USC was over, the Trojans  made another splash. This time with the hiring of Lane Kiffin, who less than a year ago was hired at Tennessee to turn around one of the more successful programs in the nation. When Kiffin, who by the way has a career record of 12-22, real impressive, told Vols fans that when they “beat Florida, they would be singing ‘Rocky Top’ all night” bolted out of the Smokey Mountains as fast as Chris Johnson’s 40 time. Kiffin, who is entering his third job in four years, is the epitome of what we have at hand in college football.

Many coaches no longer have integrity and commitment to their respective schools, essentially using their current job as a way to move up in the ranks. Case in point, Brian Kelly, who abandoned an undefeated Cincinnati Bearcat team to take the job at Notre Dame, which is arguably the top job in the country. Three decades ago, this move would have never happened. First, Kelly would have been expected to not only build the Bearcats up but stay there until he decided to retire. Although there have been many coaches that have used lower schools as pit stops, the problem has increased as many high profile jobs have been available the last several seasons. How can you expect a player to remain committed to a university when the coach he has decided to play for, isn’t so sure about his own future? The other argument that has been raised is whether a player who decides to transfer should have to sit out an entire year if the coaches are allowed to leave on demand. When you sit down and think about it, the debate makes sense. Why are these coaches allowed to leave 100 men depending on them, but the players can’t leave without a price? When you break down the numbers, the salaries of college coaches are much higher per year then say tuition for a student athlete. If this is the case, I think players should be allowed to leave and play the following season, if the burden put on the school is much less than the departure of a coach. Whether this gets done or not, the problem still exists. College coaches nowadays are less dedicated as in years past and with the Bobby Bowden era ending at Florida State, and Joe Paterno close to retirement in Happy Valley, the new revolution is about to take over, and as of now, nothing is stopping the trend.