It's funny, every time a good coach gets fired in the NFL, the team and the media remind us that the NFL is a business. Often, it is a business that is run only by wins and losses. Rarely, do owners look at the bigger picture, coaches are judged on a performance based rubric only. However, when a player holds out for a bigger contract we are quick to judge them. We feel that the athletes are being paid so much money that they should have no say. I'm not here defending the amount of money athletes receive because in all honesty, it is too much. But, why is it a business atmosphere for only the coaches? Why not for the players too??
This leads me to my main focus- college coaching and business. College coaches are typically given a little more leeway to turn a program around (read: Charlie Weis). They are judged by wins and losses but on a lesser scale, at first anyways. College football differs from the NFL because the players have chosen that school and they wear their school colors with pride. In the NFL, it is all about their contracts and who is willing to offer them more money. That's what makes college football great- how real it is. However, at the end of the day for the coaches it is still a business and can be, at times, cutthroat. That's what makes what happened at Tennessee recently so hard to swallow. Now if you want to read about coaches bailing on their program for the greener pastures of a different university, check out Chris Gray's blog. I'm talking about what happened before Lane Kiffin ever stepped foot on the Tennessee campus.
17 years, 152–52 career record and 15 bowl games including the school's first national championship. That's what Phillip Fulmer did at Tennessee for the 17 years prior to Lane Kiffin's 14 month stint with the Vols. He was fired because of a 5-8 season where they missed a bowl game for only the second time in 17 years. The Vols were 10-4 the year before that, won the Outback Bowl and finished 12th in the nation. This man loves Tennessee so much that when Kiffin bolted on them, he offered to help find the next head coach! Few people have the ability to swallow their pride like that for the betterment of something that no longer involves them. It is a shame to see a university turn their back on a man who bled orange for them for the glitz and glamor of the young NFL coach Lane Kiffin. Hopefully, not only Tennessee, but the other universities realize what a mistake it is to get rid of a guy who would sell his soul for the university for someone who just wants to use it as a stepping stone to their dream job.
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Football and basketball, two of the most competitive, money making sports in the NCAA has more than ever before changed the face of colleges and universities all over the nation.
ReplyDeleteIt is no longer about wearing a jersey for school pride and competing, it is about how to keep fans in the seats of stadiums and arenas.
College sports has become a business in which win and losses can be the difference in millions of dollars. With incentives for coaches to make it to the post season or to a bowl game it is not only costly to the coach, but it is costly to the university. In the 2007-2008 football season alone, the Orlando Sentenial reported that Texas brought in the most revenue at 120 million. Even Syracuse, a football program that has been struggling for years brought in 44 million.
Sports used to be a way of getting athletic individuals into school's that may otherwise decline them. Once there, they receive a great education and can become a positive part of society. The difference now though is that many of these individuals are not finishing out their degrees and jumping to go to the NBA after one season and after three seasons to the NFL. Their time at a university was purely for athletics not academics, and there is something wrong with how acceptable it has become.
During the little time spent at a their respective schools, what was really taught to them? Many professional athletes did not change their ways and the only difference was they now signed contracts for millions of dollars. From Michael Vick to Allen Iverson, many players have all had their run ins with the law. Just this season alone, 4 Tennessee basketball players were arrested for drugs and weapons. If athletes are not taking advantages of the academics available to them while they are in college, there should at least be a mission to get these men and women to understand the opportunity they have been granted and that their behaviors need to reflect that.
I agree that the NFL is a business, this is obvious. Like every business you want to try and get the best workers that will make your business prosper. Concerning the NFL this of course means players along with other personnel, but lets just focus on the players for now. I feel that yes, they are just looking for that new contract, and who can blame them. Why would you not want to try and receive the best contract you can from a team that will offer it. It happens in real business too, if you have been working for one business for years and then another business has an opening and they make you an offer that is much better than what you are receiving, would you not take it. Would you actually not pack up and go for that better opportunity. Also who is to say that these players don't take pride in their teams. Many players stick with teams that give them great deals and then try and continue to stick with these teams throughout their careers. Why pack up and leave if you don't have to unless the offer on the table is something that is just not worth it.
ReplyDeleteConcerning college I feel that it is not exactly like a business due to the fact that most colleges lose money due to their collegiate sports. Only the top schools actually gain much of what they spend on the sports back due to the revenue their teams bring in. I feel that with college though many of the players do have pride in their school, but that is just until they can get that offer to get out of there and make some money. Honestly, I feel that many of these players are just using college as a stepping stone, many of these players go for a couple years and then move right up into the professional level. How in this time frame can they really gain much pride for their school. Its those students that stay their entire collegiate career, receive a bachelors, and then move on that I feel really represent what a collegiate athlete should be. Really it seems like this is just a place for them to grow more, play others at the same skill level, and once they have developed fully just move onto greener pastures.