Relationships are critical in all aspects of our lives. Relationship dictate living space, transportation and employment. One portion of our society where relationships are very important is the area of athletics. The common mode of legitimizing relationships in athletics is a contract. We the public are provided with a great deal of the details in regards to these complex agreements whether it be a player's salary, a team's corporate sponsor, an executive officer's scope of power and even issues regarding the sale of tickets. Coaches themselves have their contractual agreements with their employer thrust into the public spotlight for debate, praise or analysis. Sports fans have seen the role of contracts and their validity come to the surface in instances where coaches who signed contract extensions (Sylvester Croom and Maurice Cheeks for instance) with their employer, be summarily shown the door shortly afterwards due to the struggles of the team.
The administrators who gave them these contracts were criticized for these decisions being that the coach is rewarded for doing a great job with the team by being give an extended commitment of security; but if the team struggles or has a bad year, that security is null and void. Is that fair? Well, it all depends on who you ask. The employer thinks its fair as they are trying to bring out the best in their investment. The cost of firing a coach on a professional level is small in comparison to keeping the coach and watching good money being spent on an already salary-bloated roster. On the collegiate level, all of the resources that go into recruiting, raising money for the program and casting the school in a positive light for higher admission rates takes precedent over the coach's contractual commitment to the school.
Now what happen
s in a situation on the collegiate level where the coach has done a great job, has a long term contract, and wants to see if he can procure a better job elsewhere? If the coach interviews elsewhere or accepts a new job? Is that fair to the school? I mean, the coach is a human being that has higher goals for themselves and a family to support. For instance, Boston College has just fired their head football coach Jeff Jagodzinski today in reference to his recent interview for the vacant head coaching position with the New York Jets. Jagodzinski became the head coach of BC in 2007 and led the team to the highest ranking (No.2 in the country) in the school's history and also coached it to back to back berths in the ACC (
Atlantic Coast Conference) Championship Game. He in all respects has done what the athletic department has asked of him and in turn, rewarded them with sterling results. Jagodsinksi signed a 5-year contract as head coach and it has been reported that the athletic director for BC, Gene DeFilippo, hired him on the condition that he honor the entire length of the deal (doesn't anyone?). There were also reports that the contract stipulated that he is not interview with any NFL team until after his third year of the contract, although this has not been confirmed as true.
s in a situation on the collegiate level where the coach has done a great job, has a long term contract, and wants to see if he can procure a better job elsewhere? If the coach interviews elsewhere or accepts a new job? Is that fair to the school? I mean, the coach is a human being that has higher goals for themselves and a family to support. For instance, Boston College has just fired their head football coach Jeff Jagodzinski today in reference to his recent interview for the vacant head coaching position with the New York Jets. Jagodzinski became the head coach of BC in 2007 and led the team to the highest ranking (No.2 in the country) in the school's history and also coached it to back to back berths in the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) Championship Game. He in all respects has done what the athletic department has asked of him and in turn, rewarded them with sterling results. Jagodsinksi signed a 5-year contract as head coach and it has been reported that the athletic director for BC, Gene DeFilippo, hired him on the condition that he honor the entire length of the deal (doesn't anyone?). There were also reports that the contract stipulated that he is not interview with any NFL team until after his third year of the contract, although this has not been confirmed as true. After the 2008 season for BC ended with a 16-14 loss to Vanderbilt in the Music City Bowl, rumors began to swirl in regards to Jagodzinski's interest in coaching in the NFL and his having been in contact with the Jets. When DeFilippo asked him if this was true, Jagodzinski said no. Is this reason to be fired? How about the ultimatum from DeFilippo warning Jogodzinski that if he interviewed with the Jets, he would be fired? Was that warranted? When looking at this issue, I have no choice but to look at a shining example of a school that was burned by a coach who, flush with a long term contract still had his eyes to door.
Anyone remember Bobby Petrino? He signed a 10 year, $25.5 million contract with the University of Louisville in 2006 and subsequently left to become the head coach of the NFL's Atlanta Falcons for the 2007 season, despite offers from the school to up his salary in order to convince him to stay. Petrino signed a 5-year $24 million deal with the Falcons and then quit on the team during the season no less, to become the head coach of the University of Arkansas. Is something wrong here?(pictures of his odyssey below) The one thing that I think about the most in regards to Petrino's mess is not that he said 'you got yourself a head coach' to Falcon's owner Arthur Blank in the midst of the stories concerning his imminent departure. It is the fact that the coaches find it so easy to bail out (the operative term for the latter part of this decade in the U.S.) on the student athletes that they recruit.
Jagodzinski and countless other coaches visited the homes of many high school juniors and seniors in order to convince them that their institution is best for them. There is tradition, top ranked academics, plenty of women, active city life and oh yeah, can't forget...a chance to go to the NFL. Some of these young men live thousands of miles away from the school and the parents trust the coach enough to send their child to this school under the watchful eye of the man who sits in the living room pitching the program to them.
What if after the young man commits to going to the school, the coach quits in order to get a higher profile and higher paying job elsewhere? Now, the coach can bail out of his contract, but the student athlete is stuck in his agreement (letter of intention). I don't care about the AD at BC, the local/national news services or pundits. If anyone has a right to be angered by this type of behavior, it should be the parents of the student who were recruited by the coach who engages in such a practice. Now, Jagodzinski was merely testing the waters when he put out feelers for jobs in the NFL. Although this does not mean he was actively shopping his wares, it has to be disturbing to others who's livelihood depend on his being there to coach. Is his inquiry into the head coaching job with the Jets a breach of contract? I am not sure as we are not privy to the language in the document. Were his actions a breach of trust between his employer, the students and their parents? Yes. This breach of trust is what cost him his job.
As I've stated, student athletes are most affected by this. Think of all of the prized recruits who realized a dream when they were recruited to play for Steve Spurrier at the University of Florida, only to see him on ESPN announcing he has accepted the head coaching position of the Washington Redskins (which didn't last long). The same thing can be said about University of Alabama's Nick Saban, who in the course of three years, left LSU(Louisiana State University), took the head coaching position with the Miami Dolphins and then quit after two seasons to return to the college ranks. How can any parent in clear conscious trust the coach that comes to their home? He will say to the parent 'I am here for the long term' or 'I'm not going anywhere', but does that mean anything if the coach inherently wants to coach on the professional level or at a higher profile school? Who gets left behind when he leaves?
As I touched upon earlier, coaches are people just like you and I. They have goals they set for themselves a
nd those goals are set high (I hope yours are too). If the opportunity to grab that goal by the horn presents itself, why shouldn't they take it? For all Jagodzinski knows, the next recruiting class could underachieve and the team could suffer through injuries the following season. If the team doesn't do well, he is back down on the totem pole with years to build back up to where he is now. If he doesn't get optimum performance out of the players, guess what happens to him? He gets that call down to the AD's office and he will be FIRED. The average coach's life and family are always hanging in the balance no matter what job they take because so much is not under their control. Why not find ways to keep the pipeline of communication to better jobs open? Is it his kids he cares about most or someone else's kids? I know when I had a job in my pre-law school life, I went on job interviews from time to time. I did it just to get a gauge on where I stood in the market and what skills would make me more attractive in the future. If I received an offer, I weighed it and then made the informed decision which was best for me. I always remembered that everyone is replaceable, so why not look out for other opportunities? The employer is always looking for some new and exotic way to cut costs.
nd those goals are set high (I hope yours are too). If the opportunity to grab that goal by the horn presents itself, why shouldn't they take it? For all Jagodzinski knows, the next recruiting class could underachieve and the team could suffer through injuries the following season. If the team doesn't do well, he is back down on the totem pole with years to build back up to where he is now. If he doesn't get optimum performance out of the players, guess what happens to him? He gets that call down to the AD's office and he will be FIRED. The average coach's life and family are always hanging in the balance no matter what job they take because so much is not under their control. Why not find ways to keep the pipeline of communication to better jobs open? Is it his kids he cares about most or someone else's kids? I know when I had a job in my pre-law school life, I went on job interviews from time to time. I did it just to get a gauge on where I stood in the market and what skills would make me more attractive in the future. If I received an offer, I weighed it and then made the informed decision which was best for me. I always remembered that everyone is replaceable, so why not look out for other opportunities? The employer is always looking for some new and exotic way to cut costs.My last point is that Boston College fumbled the ball on this whole sordid affair. It allowed internal en
tities to leak the school's position to the press and DeFilippo let his opinions be known too early. As a result, after day two, the matter took on a life of it's own and DeFilippo painted himself into a corner; he had to fire Jagodzinski. This could have been avoided by offering 'no comment' to all questions or by putting an internal gag order on the matter immediately after the rumors surfaced. Silence and vague statements are what keep Mayors, Presidents, CEOs and coaches alike employed. Once one lets the world know their position, they no longer have maneuverability or leverage. If you don't follow through, you have no spine and your word means nothing; if you do follow through, you cut off your nose to spite your face. There are many lessons to be learned through this situation, that's for sure.
tities to leak the school's position to the press and DeFilippo let his opinions be known too early. As a result, after day two, the matter took on a life of it's own and DeFilippo painted himself into a corner; he had to fire Jagodzinski. This could have been avoided by offering 'no comment' to all questions or by putting an internal gag order on the matter immediately after the rumors surfaced. Silence and vague statements are what keep Mayors, Presidents, CEOs and coaches alike employed. Once one lets the world know their position, they no longer have maneuverability or leverage. If you don't follow through, you have no spine and your word means nothing; if you do follow through, you cut off your nose to spite your face. There are many lessons to be learned through this situation, that's for sure. If my opinion is wanted on the issue, Jagodzinski should have been forthright with his employer and told the truth about his contact with the Jets when they asked him about it. He betrayed the trust that got him hired. Without that same level of trust, there is no way he could have returned as head coach. Now BC has to go tell Jagodzinski's recruits a story about how the football program is still stable.
BTW: See how the Jets' organizational incompetence affects other organizations? Man oh man...
oh yeah...totally forgot about bobby petrino nice picture odyssey noticed he seemed pretty delighted at each of the announcement conferences.
ReplyDeleteas for parents trusting these coaches... well some of them especially single the single mothers really have no choice because they can't afford to pay for their son's education. so the free ride sounds really good who cares if this same dude sitting there now will be there in the end. in your words everyone is replaceable at any given time....so goes life!