Jagodzinski's Abandonment of Boston College Indicative of a Larger Problem

In recent days, sports reporters across the country have followed the story of Jeff Jagodzinski and his flirtation with the New York Jets head coaching vacancy. Even under the threat of termination from Boston College athletic director Gene DeFilippo, Jagodzinski, who has guided the Eagles over the last two seasons, pursued the job and interviewed, even as the obvious became clear: he has an infinitesimal chance of replacing the ousted Eric Mangini. Following his interview, the sports world learned that DeFilippo in fact followed through on his word, and he fired Jagodzinski, stating that he wanted a coach who would desire to stay at Boston College for the long haul, not just until the NFL comes calling. Many applauded the firing, and others felt that, despite the coach's five year contract that held he would not attempt to find other employment before the end of a three-year period, he had the right to seek the Jets job. But what everyone has seemingly failed to observe is that Jagodzinski abandoned the school and, more importantly, his players before he was fired, and his actions are sternly indicative of a much larger problem that has embedded itself into college sports.

Because major college sports, most specifically football and basketball, generate a remarkable amount of revenue, people wish for it to receive the same business-style treatment a professional league does. Some believe that in addition to their athletic scholarships, athletes should get paid for their efforts, as they are the ones primarily responsible for the financial influx. With huge corporate sponsors, lucrative endorsement deals, multi-million dollar facilities, and large coaching salaries, the college sports arena has certainly done its best to mimic the professional leagues that await the best of the best.

However, too many people forget a simplistic concept that hopefully still exists somewhere inside the conscience of the NCAA: the athletes compete in a school environment, one that houses budding young adults, not seasoned professionals. These student-athletes arrive on campus unaware of how to load a laundry machine, how to properly take notes at a lecture, how to handle a personal bank account, etc., and these are merely the semi-comical wake-up calls they receive. At heart, most still seek guidance and positive role models, people who will invest in them. They long to follow, to trust, to seek and find inspiration. Not every young adult who walks into an NCAA program comes from a perfectly stable home environment, so, in countless instances, the coaches who recruit these people land them by promising to impact their lives. And this is where Jagodzinski failed, and failed miserably.

Forget about his winning percentage, his bowl games, or his recruiting classes. Forget about his image, knowledge, or experience. The fact remains that he abandoned a group of young men who followed him, who believed in him. Jagodzinski, when he signed his contract over two years ago, made an ethical commitment to change and better lives, not use Boston College and its national reputation to relaunch an NFL career. Imagine how his players felt, just days after their heartbreaking loss to Vanderbilt in the Music City Bowl, when they found out that their head coach, under the threat of being fired, still interviewed for a job he probably has no shot at earning. What message does that send to them? How are they supposed to interpret that?

Jagodzinski's comments following his release lacked anything personal or heartfelt, and they certainly do not reflect a man whose heart and soul resided with the program: "I am so proud of what these student-athletes and our staff have accomplished during our tenure here. I wish everyone at Boston College the best in the years to come, both on and off the field." His language exists as typical rhetoric, wishing luck to those he has left. It is like a captain rowing away in the only life boat left, waving to the kids on deck and wishing them the best. He has made a decision to take care of his self-interests despite a commitment he made to guide and teach.

What many college coaches fail to see is that they are not running professional teams; in fact, they represent the last true role models these young people will encounter before entering an entirely adult world. Coaches must love the college experience for what it is and what it can be. They have to entrench themselves in the atmosphere, and know that they can change lives, because not all NCAA athletes will go pro. The great majority of them will enter the work force as accountants, doctors, lawyers, teachers, policemen, firemen, etc. And when they leave the cozy haven that college can be, they will not need to know how to run out and abandon someone; instead, they need to have the strength of character to stand up and be loyal, to honor and respect commitment. They must understand the value and power wrapped within humanity, and they surely have to believe in those around them. The world needs better people, not just more successful ones.

Coaches such Joe Patterno or Bobby Bowden, Jim Calhoun or Jim Beoheim, have stayed the course and, as a result, both bettered and saved countless lives. Men like them have solidified their iconic status not by winning games alone, but rather by showing the dedication and commitment a true college coach should always seek to extend. Yet Jagodzinski now represents the proverbial black eye on the NCAA, as he has become a man who used kids to get what he wanted.

Coaches do not need to stay forever. That is not the point. But they should honor their contract; not just the written one, but also the moral and ethical one. They should embrace the amateur status of the sports, and they should search to change lives, not merely improve their own. While it is sometimes a sacrifice, isn't sacrifice something to always take pride in? Evidently Jagodzinski would answer no, for his true colors are waving high and proud, and they certainly are not the Eagles' maroon and gold.

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/08/sports/football/08jets.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss