Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Coaching Carousel
Ya'll have undoubtedly heard all the rumors about our beloved men's basketball head coach, Billy Donovan, leaving to coach Kentucky. But this post isn't going to be just about that; it can't be, it'll make me too upset. No, what this is about is coaches changing jobs in general. I was reading an Andy Katz article about the coaching carousel rumors flying around right now (http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=2814569&searchName=katz_andy&univLogin02=stateChanged) and then I read Pick's post about players who transfer and I was struck by how little sense it all made. Sure, this argument has been around for decades, and it will rage on for centuries after we're gone, but really; why do coaches get to leave a job whenever they feel like it when players (both collegiate and pro) are stuck in their respective places? Now I'm not saying that a college basketball player transferring from one D-1 school to another should be able to play immediately, that would be carnage, but why don't coaches have a similar penalty. I mean, sure, there are clauses in most contracts that make coaches pay back some of the money to the school they're leaving, but there's about a 0% chance that the school they're going to doesn't pick up that tab. I don't know, it just seems like coaching contracts are just for show, and in the end, they don't actually represent a lasting commitment. What do ya'll think?
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3 comments:
I hear what your saying Grant. It's hard to watch coaches come and go from places. Especially when its a coach and team that you care about. But don't you think that each place/job is a stepping stone to the next place and so on until they reach their dream? For example, take Anthony Grant. He was a great assistant coach for Billy Donovan for around 10 years. After we won the National Championship last year he took a head coaching position at VCU. But do you think that VCU is the last stop for him? Absolutely not. He has all of the pieces to become a dominant college basketball coach.
My point is, you can't expect a coach just to stick around. Yes, you want them to honor their contract, but it ultimately is a business at the end of the day.
**Side note: If Billy does leave (which I pray he won't)...Anthony Grant, UF's new basketball coach...**
Im gonna have to agree with the hossette on this one. Coaches and players are very different. (See: $$$) For players, when they committ to a school, they are pledging to stay their for the course of their college career. If they decide to leave, they deserve a penalty. Coaches dont committ to stay at a school for the course of "their career". If they leave, they pay the penalty as per the contract.
I would agree that their contracts are a little foolish though. It seems that whatever these universities want, they get. They're happy to pay the price to get it also. Similar to the rushing the court fines, these schools dont really care, if their fan base is happy in the long run.
The commitment of coaches to their respective teams can be questioned in all sports on every level of professionalism. However, I believe that every situation is different. Take Tubby Smith at Kentucky. Kentucky is a hard place to coach due to their prestigious history. Consequently, the team has not been performing to the type of play to which the school and its fans are accustom (see Ron Zook's tenure at the Univ of FL). As a result, I feel Smith knew he was somewhat pressured out of his position. I also have an appreciation for counter arguments that he should have stayed due to his loyalty to his players and so on.
As far as Billy Donovan goes, he's not going anywhere. I'm not going to lie when I say that I am shocked at the way in which he responded to reporters' questions about the vacancy at UK, but on the same token, I cannot see him leaving. He could go to UK and add to a winning tradition, or establish one at UF. I personally think it's a bargaining tool. "Let's see how bad UF really wants me (or better yet) PAY me". He didn't resign his contract last year and is up for renewal. It would be unreal for him to go to another school right now, especially in the SEC. Yeah, yeah, Spurrier did it, but that situation was different, and Bernie Machen had his mind set on bringing Urban Meyer with him from Utah.
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