The reaction in the sports world when a player or coach pursues a better opportunity has always been puzzling to me. In virtually every other professional industry, this is not only understood — it’s expected and respected.
College athletics, in particular, has evolved into a full-scale business enterprise. Between multi-million dollar media rights deals, NIL compensation, and coaching salaries that rival Fortune 500 executives, the collegiate sports landscape is no longer amateur in any meaningful sense of the word.
So why should the standard be any different for the people actually playing and coaching the game?
If you’re earning $60,000 and another organization offers you $100,000 for the same or similar work, the overwhelming majority of professionals would make that move without a second thought — and no one would fault them for it.
Loyalty is earned through culture, investment, and opportunity — not demanded simply because of tradition. When organizations build environments worth staying for, people stay. When they don’t, movement is the natural result.
It’s not personal. It’s business. And at this level, it has been for a long time.