Commentary: Teaching them how to quit
“We had over 800 Division I players transfer last year. Over 800. C’mon. Teaching ’em how to quit. That’s what we’re doing. Things not going well, let’s quit.”
– Tubby Smith
OK, let’s take a break from medicine for a few minutes.
Orlando Henry “Tubby” Smith is an American college basketball coach who last coached the men’s basketball team at High Point University, his alma mater.
However, Coach Smith was best known for using the ball line defense. This defensive strategy utilizes on-ball defensive pressure and off-ball help defense principles to limit scoring opportunities near the basket, while influencing contested perimeter jump shots.
Smith coached University of Kentucky to a men’s basketball national championship in 1998. Other career highlights included an undefeated 16-0 regular season conference record in 2003, five regular season Southeastern Conference (SEC) titles and five SEC conference tournament championships.
In the quote at the start of this commentary, Coach Smith is referring to the relatively new National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) transfer rule that allows student-athletes to transfer to other institutions.
Under the transfer portal system, athletes now only have to submit their name into the portal to be transfer eligible. The previous process required permission from a coach, athletic administrator or other party to transfer.
If a player enters the transfer portal and doesn’t find a new school, he or she can decide to transfer elsewhere as a scholarship player or as a walk on. Any player is free to withdraw from the portal at any time.
Learning life lessons
What Smith referred to in his quote is that if a quarterback is second string on a college football team and feels he should be a starter, he can enter the transfer pool and look for an institution where he has a great chance to start.
So, he fails being a starter at his original program, quits and goes to another program. Hence, “things are not going well, let’s quit.”
For Smith, if things didn’t go right, he persevered and made it work. He didn’t transfer. He didn’t want to run home. He stuck with it.
To make matters worse, a Supreme Court ruling in July 2021 allows student-athletes to be compensated. They are not paid by their colleges or universities, but they can receive gifts from boosters; make deals with companies to use their names, images and likenesses; and endorse products.
These deals can land a student a high six-figure — or even seven-figure — payday. You may say, “Not bad for an 18-year-old!”
Many of you may agree this is fine. I don’t like it, and I’m sure I am in the minority.
The number one reason for attending college is to get an education. There is no question that sports teach us many important lessons in life, and every student should have the opportunity to participate in sports if they so desire at any level in college.
So, I agree with Smith that it is indeed quitting. A lot can be learned by a quarterback who — as a freshman or sophomore — doesn’t start but develops skills for the game and then becomes the starter as a junior or senior.
There’s a learning process — both on and off the field — in those initial years as a “back-up.” However, if these portal transfer athletes feel they have a better shot at getting into the NFL, they should keep in mind that only 1.6% of all NCAA football players ever make it to the professional level.
It also is important to remember that most players are in jeopardy of losing their scholarships by entering the portal. A school is not obligated to honor scholarships once a player enters the portal, even if they withdraw and return. I wonder how parents feel about that!
Lack of loyalty
For me, a critical point is that the transfer portal has created a lack of loyalty to the schools from which these students transfer, as well as a lack of loyalty to their teammates, many of whom cannot take advantage of the transfer portal because of their anonymity as a student-athlete.
I can’t deny that the system allows a talented player looking for a new experience the chance to excel at a different school, and this can be the missing piece that helps turn a program around or elevate a good team to the national spotlight — even a national championship.
However, to me, it’s still about loyalty and a commitment to your teammates and your university.
In closing, many alumni from my alma mater — University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana — feel great about a “top” Wake Forest University quarterback who entered the transfer pool.
However, I think — even if they have a great season — it just won’t feel the same for me.
He transferred after playing five seasons at Wake Forest! I don’t consider him an Irish quarterback! But I’m sure that’s just me. It’s a sign of the times.
Stay safe.
References:
- NFL. College Advisory Committee. Available at: https://operations.nfl.com/journey-to-the-nfl/nfl-development-pipeline/college-advisory-committee/. Accessed on Nov. 14, 2023.
For more information:
Nicholas J. Petrelli, MD, FACS, is Bank of America endowed medical director of ChristianaCare’s Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute and associate director of translational research at Wistar Cancer Institute. He also serves as Associate Medical Editor for Surgical Oncology for HemOnc Today. He can be reached at npetrelli@christianacare.org.
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