As a proud University of Washington alum, it is hard for me not to feel resentful about Coach Kalen DeBoer’s decision to abandon the Husky football team about five minutes after they failed to win the national championship. Whatever happened to loyalty?
In the brave new world of collegiate football, that is a silly question. Coaches are mercenaries, not true members of a community. And now, thanks to the transfer portal, the best players are mercenaries, as well. Coaches and players ping-pong from university to university, looking for the best deal and the best chance to advance their careers. We need to get used to it.
DeBoer’s departure means more than the loss of a coach and his staff, it also takes away several of the Huskies’ recruits who were going to be the stars of the team for the next couple of seasons. They have backed out of their commitments because the guy who recruited them is heading to Alabama.
The new UW football coach, Jedd Fisch, will probably bring some top players with him from the University of Arizona football program, so that may help. Arizona supporters, of course, will then feel betrayed. It goes on and on as the coaches and players carom across the country leaving disappointed fans behind.
The other big coaching change in Seattle adds to our lesson in the fickleness of sports. After a stellar and long tenure as head coach of the Seahawks, Pete Carroll has been shown the door by team management. Carroll thought he had another season or two in him, but the business side of the organization did not.
Business is the operative term here. Professional football is a big business, so it is no surprise that coaches and players are treated as replaceable parts of a profit-making machine. What still takes getting used to is that college football is now just part of the supply chain for that business.
It is no surprise that a virtue like loyalty, which cannot be monetized has become a relic of a simpler time.
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