College Football Coaching Carousel

Image Courtesy of Yahoo Sports

By Jack Cherico  

In the past few years, college football has been characterized by players leaving the school they committed to if they do not receive ample playtime. If a top-tier recruit who was promised to start does not get as much playing time as they desired upon committing, college football rules state they are allowed to transfer, with plenty of schools happy to have them. 

Many spectators, analysts, and coaches have an issue with the transfer culture of college football because it commercializes the sport rather than supporting the academic aspect of attending a certain institution. Coaches also see transferring players as a detriment to their program and a lack of respect for the culture they are trying to build at a school. 

This week, the shoe was on the other foot, when two top-tier coaches, Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley and Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly, jumped ship for pastures anew. Riley took the opening head coach job at USC, while Kelly replaced Ed Orgeron at LSU, who announced earlier this year that he would resign from the position he’s had since 2016. 

Players from both Oklahoma and Notre Dame were shocked to hear their coaches were leaving, especially when the season hadn’t even been completed. Their departures sent a shockwave through the college football landscape, and Oklahoma suffered their worst setback in years. 

After news broke of Riley’s departure, multiple four and five-star recruits de-committed from the Sooners, including 2023 second overall QB prospect Malachi Nelson, and 2023 first overall wide receiver prospect Brandon Inniss. Notre Dame lost 4-star defensive back, Devin Moore, with other recruits questioning their loyalty to the Irish. Oklahoma is in shambles, with their top-tier recruiting class slipping by the day and their coach, who was a massive booster and recruiting pull, leaving. 

As for Notre Dame, they are ranked Number 6 in the college football playoff rankings and might have a chance to sneak into the CFP if any of the top four teams lose. After the loss of Kelly, who wasn’t even able to inform the team of his departure before news broke on social media, the CFP committee may drop the Irish down in the rankings. 

Many players for both schools viewed this as a betrayal, with many expressing their dissatisfaction with the decisions on Twitter; Oklahoma defensive back Jeremiah Criddell posted “sick to my stomach” on Twitter. However, some players were supportive of Riley’s decision, like defensive lineman Perrion Winfrey, who said on Twitter “Got nothing but love for @LincolnRiley wouldn’t be in this position without him! LIVING LEGEND.” 

One can understand players’ disappointment: imagine you are a recruit or player, being told that a school is building a program to succeed for years, and that the coach will be there to support institutional and personal player growth every step of the way. To have a coach leave for a bigger contract or better offer as the season is still going on is detrimental to team morale and is a pretty bad look. If you start something, you should finish it, and to jump ship when your team is fighting for a playoff spot is pretty low. 

College football players are mocked and disrespected for transferring, yet coaches are not receiving the same blowback for basically the same action. One would hope that college football regains its ideals of loyalty to a school, and the jump-ship era concludes.