Crazy Patriot Guy
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Months back I was watching Fox Sports Southwest and they were talking about Rice head football coach Todd Graham leaving after one season to take the job at Tulsa where he had previously been the DC.
Rice was 1-10 in 2005 and Graham turned them into a 7-6 team with a bowl appearance. He and OC Major Applewhite switched from the wishbone to a spread offense and even had an All-American at WR with 20 TD catches, all in one season.
Then he bolts. You can't particularly blame him, the reporters on the show didn't, Tulsa was his dream job all along and it was understandable for him to take the job when it was available.
However, one reporter made an excellent comment, which is the point of this post. Something is wrong when coaches can come and go as they please but players have to sit out a year if they transfer to another Division 1 school.
Coaching contracts are meaningless these days. How often do you see on the ticker on ESPN that a coach just extended his contract through 2015 or so and then he's gone a year or two later?
Like the reporters said, the school where the coach is under contract really has no choice if he's interested in another job, it takes too much commitment to be the head coach to leave it to a person that wants to be somewhere else. So you pretty much have to grant permission to interview him and then let him leave.
Dennis Erickson recently left after just 10 months at Idaho to take the job at Arizona State. I remember reading about how furious his players were and the AD was very disappointed. He got these kids to dedicate everything they have and buy into what he's trying to do and then takes off almost instantly.
Again, you can't blame these guys. I remember reading that Erickson's desk at Idao was the exact same one that he had when he previously was the head coach there before leaving in 1985. Obviously Arizona State has more to offer. Graham leaving Rice for his dream job at a better football program in Tulsa is again understandable. However, something needs to be done to start regulating these coaching moves.
Maybe the NCAA needs to start putting minimums on contracts, stating that you have to stay for a certain period based on how long your contract is. You can't really make a coach sit out a season because that just screws up two schools because it will usually be obvious which school the guy will be taking over. I don't have the solution, I just think that one needs to be thought of.
Rice was 1-10 in 2005 and Graham turned them into a 7-6 team with a bowl appearance. He and OC Major Applewhite switched from the wishbone to a spread offense and even had an All-American at WR with 20 TD catches, all in one season.
Then he bolts. You can't particularly blame him, the reporters on the show didn't, Tulsa was his dream job all along and it was understandable for him to take the job when it was available.
However, one reporter made an excellent comment, which is the point of this post. Something is wrong when coaches can come and go as they please but players have to sit out a year if they transfer to another Division 1 school.
Coaching contracts are meaningless these days. How often do you see on the ticker on ESPN that a coach just extended his contract through 2015 or so and then he's gone a year or two later?
Like the reporters said, the school where the coach is under contract really has no choice if he's interested in another job, it takes too much commitment to be the head coach to leave it to a person that wants to be somewhere else. So you pretty much have to grant permission to interview him and then let him leave.
Dennis Erickson recently left after just 10 months at Idaho to take the job at Arizona State. I remember reading about how furious his players were and the AD was very disappointed. He got these kids to dedicate everything they have and buy into what he's trying to do and then takes off almost instantly.
Again, you can't blame these guys. I remember reading that Erickson's desk at Idao was the exact same one that he had when he previously was the head coach there before leaving in 1985. Obviously Arizona State has more to offer. Graham leaving Rice for his dream job at a better football program in Tulsa is again understandable. However, something needs to be done to start regulating these coaching moves.
Maybe the NCAA needs to start putting minimums on contracts, stating that you have to stay for a certain period based on how long your contract is. You can't really make a coach sit out a season because that just screws up two schools because it will usually be obvious which school the guy will be taking over. I don't have the solution, I just think that one needs to be thought of.