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Reply to "The Liars Club"

I think some of these guys are obviously pretty bad. Kiffin's departure after only 1 year is particularly troublesome.

But let's get real, folks. Adults seldom hold the same job forever. The school certainly doesn't make a forever commitment to the coach; he can be fired, you know. Who among us would not be willing to change jobs if it meant a 7-figure raise? Go ahead, tell me you wouldn't. Then YOU can join the Liars Club, too.

What amazes me is that kids and their families see this going on all the time and still claim to have believed that the coach would be there forever. Baloney.

The reality is, at any given time, the coaching staff is trying to do its job, which is to recruit as well as possible and play as well as possible. They have no way of knowing if a better offer will come along from somewhere else, or if they're just doing it out of pride in their current jobs or (for the more cynical) out of fear of losing that job or the desire to get a raise at their current job. Either way you look at it, the coaches' job is to go get the best players they can find for their program at any given time.

If a school wants to assure that a coach never leaves for greener pastures, it can put a restrictive clause in his contract, or maybe just pay him enough that he's not tempted to look around. But when you pay less than your competitors and the guy you hire specifically refuses to sign a contract with a restrictive covenant in it, you know darned well what he has in mind and what risk you're taking. Maybe it saves face to hold press conferences and leak snarky comments to the media, but who's kidding whom?

It can happen at any time. Everyone knows it can happen at any time. And anyone who pretends they didn't know that up front can join the Liars Club, too.
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