On Coaches

ESPN is reporting that the University of Georgia has offered Mike Anderson $2 million per year to become their new basketball coach. Rumors are swirling that Anderson might be one of Memphis' targets if John Calipari bolts for Kentucky. He might leave, he might not. I'm sure he'll make the decision that best for him. It is not our place as fans to answer if Mizzou is a better job than _____, nor to ask why he would go to ______. It is the man's own decision.

If he does leave, Mizzou fans have a right to be disappointed. However, they don't have a right to be angry or spiteful at Anderson. There is already talk on boards that if Anderson leaves he'll "ruin his reputation." That he'll be a hypocrite who talked of "molding young men" only to bolt when the money was right.

This, friends and neighbors, is bullshit. Whatever our biased fan-mind might think, there is no loyalty in coaching. And not just between the coaches and the schools, between the school and the coaches. Let's say Mizzou wins 16 games this season and completely misses postseason play: Mizzou possibly fires Anderson. In this situation Mizzou has the leverage and exploits it. We know that, true to fact, Anderson's team was one of the most measurably successful in school history. That gives Anderson the leverage - and he should exploit it. His field is one of extreme stress and short leashes. He needs to get paid while he can.

If Mizzou's offer is truly a max of $1.3 million, I don't blame Anderson for leaving. True, it's a bad time with donations down, endowments down, and the recent FAT raise they gave Gary Pinkel (who seems like a shakier investment than Anderson, I personally believe). I have to agree with Big Sexy Whitlock that 1.3 mil is a paltry sum if you believe you have an elite-level coach. After watching Mizzou in this year's tournament, I believe we do. For the first time all season he deviated from slavish devotion to his system and the team won three games, one against a top 5 team (and hung tough with another top 5 squad in the Elite 8).

If economic realities mean that Mizzou can't pay more than that, that is how it goes down. Like I said, maybe he stays, maybe he goes to Georgia, maybe Memphis, etc. Fans - the same fans who would be calling for his head after a bad season - are incredibly deluded if they would blame Anderson if he moves to a job giving him nearly 3 times what he made in 08/09. It's the ultimate in hypocrisy: very rarely does a fanbase complain when an "underperforming" coach is fired but more rarely is a coach understood when they move on to greener pastures. It's unfortunate for the players that were recruited, it's unfortunate for the fans, but it's the way the system works. Big time college athletics is about the money, pure and simple. Fans and (especially) boosters spout verbal diarrhea about loyalty and at the same their dollars have created a system in which it is irrelevant. We could rail against the fact that many states' highest paid employees are public university athletic coaches - but my argument would be undercut by the fact that I am a fan of those athletics - and thus an accomplice in the crime.