TO: Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
FROM: Generic Successful Coach
SUBJECT: Why I Won’t Coach at Rutgers
I am writing this memorandum as I enjoy my morning coffee and read the sports section of my local newspaper. I am disappointed for your fans and the future of your 150-year-old program that you were unable to complete the biggest deal in your sports history. As I thought about asking my agent to contact you about the vacancy the following thoughts crossed my mind.
You are a historic state university and your roots are deep in academic history. Because of your academic standards and accomplishments there are people who believe you are an Ivy League school. And among those who know better your graduates are highly-regarded and sought out. Congratulations. Finding a coach that values an education and works to ensure his athletes meet the academic standards is a huge plus.
So, let me share a few thoughts on why I won’t coach at Rutgers. Let’s look at football as a business venture. As a prospective employee I need to be sure you will give me the tools, to be successful. If you hired me as a custodian and you wanted the facility to be clean, safe and well-maintained, I would expect you to provide me with the tools of my trade. Without those tools the facility will fall into disrepair, be environmentally unsafe, and your other employees would not want to work there, and leave. So, support me with what I need.
Next, I know how to do the job as a custodian better than you do and because you don’t have the time or ability to do it yourself you need me. Furthermore, your time is better spent tending to the business of your business - education. Come to think of it that’s the same for me.
Setting aside the custodian metaphor, one of your responsibilities is to recruit and retain the best employees because any business that neglects doing that, will fail. I can recruit for you. I know the ground here and let’s be honest with ourselves, NJ is like few other states. We have great high school football programs and really good coaches who want their kids to succeed and have a shot at playing professional football. But sadly, too many of our kids leave NJ. We want at least our share of them.
To get around in NJ I need to maximize our presence. I need good assistants who can be a multiplier for the school’s good name, and the cache that comes with a good head coach. Cars and travel allowances in NJ are nickels and dimes. I know you know that. But what about me.
My time is valuable. Would you want any chief executive of your business sitting in a car driving three hours from (and three hours back) a distant scheduled service airport to get to a potential recruit? That is not a good use of executive time. But if I can fly to a local airport, spend 30 minutes on the road and 30 back, then I can hopscotch elsewhere and maximize my time doing an important part of my job – recruiting the best talent to our business. Yes, I know there are significant income tax implications for me personally with a fractional interest in a leased aircraft but with my salary I can manage them.
We have to retain our employees. This transfer portal is both a liability and asset to football programs. We don’t want our players, in whom we invest so much, to look for greener pastures. We need to do what we can to retrain them. And if that means improving or constructing new facilities to develop them then hand us all a shovel and let’s get started. And the portal can provide me with a pool of players that are looking for greener pastures. My job is to make sure there are more of them coming into the portal for Rutgers than leaving us.
And finally, I suppose is the political environment in NJ. Candidly, it sucks. Every time something goes a bit off-course at Rutgers every cheap politician, who should be thinking of improving the lives of the residents, jumps in with their two cents. So far, your current governor has kept his mouth shut, but your former governor – a man who used state assets to fly to his kid’s games – had to chime in. The politics in NJ are a disaster and what you need is a coach that shakes their hands but ignores their nonsensical helpful suggestions.
Let’s face it. You need to put fannies in the seats and frankly unless you remove the top level at SHI you’re never going to have a full-house. You need someone who will breath life into the program and resell some of the season tickets you’ve lost over the last handful of years. Not every coach can do that.
And lastly, I as a professional like you, need to develop and jealously guard my legacy. Yes, I too have a reputation to protect. And when I’m done and talking to my grandkids, I want them to be proud of what I did. I don’t want them to see a coach/employee who failed not because he had no talent but because his employer didn’t give him the tools to do his job.
So, unless you can make these commitments to me, I’m sorry that I won’t be your head coach. Yes, I may have an enormous ego just like your top leadership. But see, I’ve proven what I can do with a bad football program, and I think I’m a pretty damned good catch, but I won’t sacrifice my name for someone who won’t make a commitment to giving me the tools I need.
Thanks for reading this Mr. President and AD. Good luck for unless you make the right move, you’re going to need it.
FROM: Generic Successful Coach
SUBJECT: Why I Won’t Coach at Rutgers
I am writing this memorandum as I enjoy my morning coffee and read the sports section of my local newspaper. I am disappointed for your fans and the future of your 150-year-old program that you were unable to complete the biggest deal in your sports history. As I thought about asking my agent to contact you about the vacancy the following thoughts crossed my mind.
You are a historic state university and your roots are deep in academic history. Because of your academic standards and accomplishments there are people who believe you are an Ivy League school. And among those who know better your graduates are highly-regarded and sought out. Congratulations. Finding a coach that values an education and works to ensure his athletes meet the academic standards is a huge plus.
So, let me share a few thoughts on why I won’t coach at Rutgers. Let’s look at football as a business venture. As a prospective employee I need to be sure you will give me the tools, to be successful. If you hired me as a custodian and you wanted the facility to be clean, safe and well-maintained, I would expect you to provide me with the tools of my trade. Without those tools the facility will fall into disrepair, be environmentally unsafe, and your other employees would not want to work there, and leave. So, support me with what I need.
Next, I know how to do the job as a custodian better than you do and because you don’t have the time or ability to do it yourself you need me. Furthermore, your time is better spent tending to the business of your business - education. Come to think of it that’s the same for me.
Setting aside the custodian metaphor, one of your responsibilities is to recruit and retain the best employees because any business that neglects doing that, will fail. I can recruit for you. I know the ground here and let’s be honest with ourselves, NJ is like few other states. We have great high school football programs and really good coaches who want their kids to succeed and have a shot at playing professional football. But sadly, too many of our kids leave NJ. We want at least our share of them.
To get around in NJ I need to maximize our presence. I need good assistants who can be a multiplier for the school’s good name, and the cache that comes with a good head coach. Cars and travel allowances in NJ are nickels and dimes. I know you know that. But what about me.
My time is valuable. Would you want any chief executive of your business sitting in a car driving three hours from (and three hours back) a distant scheduled service airport to get to a potential recruit? That is not a good use of executive time. But if I can fly to a local airport, spend 30 minutes on the road and 30 back, then I can hopscotch elsewhere and maximize my time doing an important part of my job – recruiting the best talent to our business. Yes, I know there are significant income tax implications for me personally with a fractional interest in a leased aircraft but with my salary I can manage them.
We have to retain our employees. This transfer portal is both a liability and asset to football programs. We don’t want our players, in whom we invest so much, to look for greener pastures. We need to do what we can to retrain them. And if that means improving or constructing new facilities to develop them then hand us all a shovel and let’s get started. And the portal can provide me with a pool of players that are looking for greener pastures. My job is to make sure there are more of them coming into the portal for Rutgers than leaving us.
And finally, I suppose is the political environment in NJ. Candidly, it sucks. Every time something goes a bit off-course at Rutgers every cheap politician, who should be thinking of improving the lives of the residents, jumps in with their two cents. So far, your current governor has kept his mouth shut, but your former governor – a man who used state assets to fly to his kid’s games – had to chime in. The politics in NJ are a disaster and what you need is a coach that shakes their hands but ignores their nonsensical helpful suggestions.
Let’s face it. You need to put fannies in the seats and frankly unless you remove the top level at SHI you’re never going to have a full-house. You need someone who will breath life into the program and resell some of the season tickets you’ve lost over the last handful of years. Not every coach can do that.
And lastly, I as a professional like you, need to develop and jealously guard my legacy. Yes, I too have a reputation to protect. And when I’m done and talking to my grandkids, I want them to be proud of what I did. I don’t want them to see a coach/employee who failed not because he had no talent but because his employer didn’t give him the tools to do his job.
So, unless you can make these commitments to me, I’m sorry that I won’t be your head coach. Yes, I may have an enormous ego just like your top leadership. But see, I’ve proven what I can do with a bad football program, and I think I’m a pretty damned good catch, but I won’t sacrifice my name for someone who won’t make a commitment to giving me the tools I need.
Thanks for reading this Mr. President and AD. Good luck for unless you make the right move, you’re going to need it.
