4:22 PM Fri, Apr 06, 2007 | Permalink
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Once upon a time, a handshake was as good as a contract. Today a contract is only worth the paper, and a handshake is something a coach does when he says goodbye. It's a problem rampant among college coaches with the latest spotlight on Billy Gillispie.
A week ago, Gillispie was targeted by the University of Arkansas. He listened to their offer and then got a contract extension and more money out of Texas A&M. Now this afternoon he was introduced as the new coach at Kentucky. A new 7 year contract with a school that has a storied basketball program.
Now many fans want to know, how can a coach who is under contract leave when something is "better." The matter is an issue of ethics, which instance after instance shows in sports there are none.
A&M has had the shoe on the other foot, or should we say football. Coach Dennis Franchione was under contract at Alabama when the Aggies came calling. This year the Crimson Tide hired Nick Saban who was under contract with the Miami Dolphins, so what comes around goes around.
Perhaps most troubling is what happens to the students. The kids are recruited by the coaches, but when he leaves, they lose their elibility if they transfer. The NCAA points out the scholarships are not given by the coaches, but by the schools. However in other disciplines, if a professor leaves for a better position at another academic institution, it's not uncommon for his students to follow him.
Coaches contracts today are laden with buyout clauses. Usually the institution that wants the coach pays the fee. It's a part of doing business.
From a coaches perspective, this is the system for them to get "better" jobs. The long contracts also give them some kind of job security that if they are fired, they get paid off. Still it doesn't do much for building loyalty.
At least Gillispie didn't have a news conference when he turned Arkansas down. Nick Saban on the other hand told folks in Miami how he wasn't leaving the Dolphins and wasn't interested in going to Alabama.
Only hours later he took the job and now is being called a liar and worse. Just once wouldn't it be nice to hear a coach say, "I am being offered a job with better money and more prestige, but I have a contract here and a loyalty to my student athletes." But fantasyland can only be found in the Magic Kingdom.
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