The surprise in the sports media over the last days at news that football coaches have turned down major openings at the Universities of Miami and Alabama seems to be tied to a belief that sport is all about prestige.
Why would Joakim Noah stay at Florida after passsing up certain NBA lottery selection as a national champion?
Why would Kevin Garnett stay loyal to the state of Minnesota when he could work a deal to Chicago or Philadelphia or Denver?
Why would Roger Clemens consider retirement instead of one last year and $20 million more in the spotlight of the Yankees dugout?
Once a person has climbed to the peak of their sport, or the competition that they're a part of, it would seem logical to cash in on your success and play in the biggest market or on the biggest stage. But the sense of satisfaction that comes with working hard to create your own rewards cannot be matched by the fleeting glory of riding the wave with an already storied team. While no doubt Gary Payton loved being a (bit)part of the 2005 Miami Heat championship team, do you question whether he would have preferred beating Jordan's Bulls in 1995/96 as the Sonics' undisputed leader?
The decisions by the coaches of Rutgers and West Virginia to turn down the jobs at these two major college football programs comes because they are much prouder of their work in building strong teams from the ground up. West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez had to choose whether to jump ship from a school which he attended and in the last two seasons has guided to 11-1 and 10-2 records in order to pocket $12 million to save the reputation of a faltering powerhouse, but the modern reality of sport is that you can now win anywhere (your 2003 World Series champion Florida Marlins?) and that there is no greater accomplishment than hand-crafting a winning team without the support of winning history or a blank check book.
Loyalty is a powerful commodity, and these two coaches should be respected for their desires to stay and create their own legacies rather than riding the coat tails of Miami or Alabama. Equally, it is much better to see Miami promote from within in hiring their own defensive coordinator and former star LB Randy Shannon to call plays instead of heaping money on an established coaching brand.
After all, there is no more admired coach at the college level than Joe Paterno, who has led the Penn State Nittany Lions to two national championships and five undefeated seasons over 41 years. Would he have been so well loved if he'd left to coach Michigan instead because they were more certain to win each year?
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