No Country For Old (Whiny, Millionaire) Men
This week, UConn Husky head coach Geno Auriemma became the most recent coach to have a soundbite circulate where he pines for the old days of 2018 when players were at the complete mercy of coaches and the athletic programs they play for.
In the press conference following UConn’s 92-49 over St. Johns, Auriemma assured everyone that it’s not his program falling victim to the player empowerment movement, it’s the poor underrepresented schools. The little guy with no voice that he must now champion.
“The average coach out there, who’s not where I am? You can’t do your job anymore,” he said. “And people will say ‘you gotta change with the times,’ how does changing with the times help you have better relationships with your players when it’s all transactional now?”
That is excellent work from Luigi verbalizing that it is nearly impossible for coaches these days to do their jobs if the student-athletes now require something from them.
It gets a little more unsettling when you hear coaches like Lisa Bluder declare it’s not her job to prepare players for the next level, watch Kim Mulkey have a visceral reaction to being asked to comment on Brittney Griner more than once and watch coaches bemoan player autonomy though they themselves have benefited greatly from the transfer portal. Which then leads me beg the question; what is the purpose of a coach in the year of our Lord and Savior 2024???
Because let’s be honest, some of them don’t feel it’s their job to even call a timeout and draw up a final play and everyone’s not out here winning a title so what do coaches feel they have to offer in this “relationship?”
The money grab is always fine when coaches take new jobs in the middle of the night or when the Pac-12 conference was sentenced to an early grave, but heaven forbid the players get in on the action.
We could talk about what the powers that be could do to possibly help keep talent motivated to build at schools from smaller conferences like drop their Power 5 bias and maybe give mid-majors and HBCUs more than one bid per conference and not give that bid an automatic 15/16 seed dooming them from the start. But no, it’s the children getting paid for their name, image and likeness who are wrong!
Honestly, we’ve all known the name of the game is exploitation from the very beginning, but I appreciate Luigi for saying the quiet part out loud. But my response will always be put on your big they panties and get to work!