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The college football season hasn’t officially ended, and we are already seeing movement in the coaching ranks. Justin Fuente is leaving the University of Memphis to become the coach at the Virginia Tech.
Reports of Fuente leaving were public as the Tigers (9-3) beat SMU in the regular season finale. Fuente is leaving the team immediately, and an interim coach Darrell Dickey will coach the team in the bowl game.
Now, I understand how all this works, and that’s fine.
But I find it hypocritical that a coach can leave a school and go immediately to work for a new school, but if a student-athlete decides that he now wants to go and play somewhere else, he/she will have to sit the season out.
While there are certainly student-athletes who pick schools strictly based on the school, there are just as many who pick schools based on the coach.
And, it is yet another farce by the NCAA to try to make us think otherwise.
Consider, Duke is a hell of school, academically. But year in, and year out, many of the finest basketball players in America go there because Mike Kryzewski is the coach.
Understand, this is not to pick on Memphis, or Fuente. He is playing by the rules. My problem is how business is done at the NCAA, which allows him Fuente to move so freely.
So, for the kids who came to Memphis because they liked Fuente’s offensive style of play, and the way he coached, they are stuck.
Understand, the next coach that comes into Memphis can have an entirely different philosophy. A kid may have gone to Memphis because they throw the ball all over the place, now finds himself playing for a coach who runs it all the time.
That kid has a problem. And, if the new guy wants, he can force that guy off the team. However, unlike Fuente, if the kid decides to leave, he will have to sit the next season out.
How is it that the guy that brought these student-athletes to Memphis can move on to a new position without any penalty, but the student-athlete can’t?
If Fuente can seek a better opportunity and coach immediately, a student-athlete _ who meets all the academic requirements _ should have the same opportunity.
Finally, what if a kid who signed a National Letter of Intent (NLI) with Memphis suddenly changes his mind because the coach he thought was going to be there, is not going to be there?
Sure, that kid can go, but only if Memphis decides to release him. Otherwise, he would have to fulfill a year of academic requirements at the school he signed the NLI went.
Not only does the NCAA set up a system in which the coaches, television/radio networks, and universities get paid, the system keeps the stars of the show _ the athletes _ hostages to a degree.
Actually, saying they are hostage is a bit overboard. However, the NCA makes moving on as hard for the athletes, as it does easy for the coaches to go.
I wish the NCAA would just admit that major sports like basketball and football are a business. What else could an entity that generates millions of dollars be?
If they are going to pay the coaches millions, take millions more from the television networks, and the equipment companies like Nike, at least one would think they would create a better environment for the student-athletes, and cut them at least a small sliver of the pie.
