Todd Graham of Rice is the latest football coach to say
"show me the money". I don't claim to know him , in fact I only
interviewed him twice .I also talked to him on the phone
a couple of times and he seemed to be a nice enough guy.

His departure while disappointing for Rice is not the same
as Saban leaving the Dolphins high and dry.
Saban is turning into the Larry Brown of football . He's for sale
to the highest bidder , which in this case turned out to be Alabama
for a guaranteed 32 million dollars .

After barely a year on South Main Graham is going back
to Tulsa for what's reported to be close to a million dollars a year.
What makes him different from Saban to me is Graham is
still building his career. Lets face it Tulsa will allow him to get where
he wants to go faster than being at Rice.

He also earned his money leading the Owls to their first bowl
game in 45 years . What he did leading Rice on a 6 game winning
streak was nothing short of a miracle .
But I really don't feel sorry for the Rice administration, because when
it comes to athletic directors and university Presidents, they will
fire your butt in a heartbeat if you don't win.

My problem was not what Graham did , it was how he did it .
He used some of the old Nick Saban doublespeak.
Saban denied he had any interest in the Alabama job many times .

As for Graham, one minute he was signing a contract extension on Tuesday
with the owls , and by Friday he was gone . His comments all week long
were about what he planned to do at Rice , and now we know he
was hammering out a deal with Tulsa during the same week .

The people who really get hurt in these cases are the players .
These coaches come into their living rooms and tell their parents
I'm going to watch over your boy for 4 years .
They never throw in the part about, unless I get a bigger ,better,
offer some place else .

As a former college player , I say the athletes should have a say
in all of this . If the NCAA wants a coach's contract be worthless, so be it .
But allow the players some freedom. It they've hitched their wagons to
a guy like Graham who bolts after a year, let them move on
also without having to sit out a year .
The athletes and their parents are putting their trust in the coach
and the school. But what we are seeing is that for the coach and
the school , loyalty is a one way street .