Vince Lombardi could not have said it better sixty years ago, “What the hell’s going on out here?”

An old building can survive superficial aging but will face the wrecking ball when its foundation begins to crack and erode. I have always believed that the core principles of the athletic experience would never succumb to the fleeting trends of any era. The devastating news is, I may be wrong.

For the first time in my coaching career, I am truly fearful that we are inflicting permanent damage to the core principles of the athletic experience. It is directly linked to the prevailing progressive ideology that change is always better. Change, even if it is gradually unraveling of the moral fabric of our society and transforming the purpose of amateur sports.

The changing paradigm of athletics is quietly ushering old school coaches out the door. With every passing season the list keeps growing: Nick Saban, Jim Larranaga, Tony Bennett, Jay Wright Roy Williams and Mike Krzyewski. Veteran and iconic coaches are stepping away from their lifelong passion because we have foolishly tried to merge the love for money with the love for the game. The acceptance of open enrollment and the transfer portal, along with the infusion of NIL money has threatened to forever alter amateur sports.

There is a popular notion that coaching styles are evolving, and that old school coaches are as outdated as rotary phones. That college and high school athletics may be better suited to younger, more innovative, technology savvy and open-minded coaches who welcome change.  In short, replacing the wisdom of old school coaches with inexperience.

I am one of those old school coaches and we have all had to modify some of our traditional methods and policies. Adjusting the process is much different than tearing down the absolute tenets of the experience.  I would argue that every worthwhile coach has a short list of core values that they will never abandon. Values that cannot be compromised, ignored or replaced with progressive jargon. In stark contrast to the ridiculous language lunacy that has swept our everyday culture, these words and their definitions haven’t changed.  

Show Me the Money

University of Miami basketball coach Jim Larranaga, who recently retired in-season, offered his assessment. “What shocked me was after we made it to the Final Four, just 18 months ago, the very first time I met with the players, eight of them decided they were going to put their name in the portal and leave,” he said. When he asked them if they were unhappy at Miami, "They told me they loved it at Miami, but wanted to seek a better deal."

Are we in fact replacing the “love of the game” with the love of the money?

Injecting the obscene volume of NIL money into the athletic formula, through the athletes themselves, is an absolute travesty and was completely unnecessary. With it has already come a pandora’s box of problems. Greed is a cancer that is seldom defeated, and if we allow it, will continue to expand its destructive influence through amateur sports.

The entertainment industry’s track record of creating teenage superstars and handing them millions of dollars isn’t good. The crushing amount of pressure many athletes feel is already overwhelming. Money only exacerbates the accountability they feel, adding more fuel to the growing teenage mental health crisis plaguing our country. The downside of this infusion of money crushes the limited benefits.

We are very fond of the adage that money can’t buy happiness, but don’t seem to truly believe in it.

There is so much noise about retirement funds, income streams, influencers and side hustles that one might believe making money is what we are here on earth to do. Should playing a game, you have learned to love because of the joy it brings you, be replaced by a NIL check? To me it is trading material worth for the intrinsic value of character building. No one should believe that is a good trade-off.

UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma believes that the traditional and proven formula for success has been compromised. “How do you coach in an environment where the players feel like they owe you nothing and you owe them everything?”

Hold On, or Run Away

Green Bay Packers six-year defensive end, Rashan Gary, stood at his locker following his teams recent exit from the playoffs and urged his teammates to, “Hold on to this. Hold on to this. It’s only going to make us stronger and better.” Utilizing the disappointment of a season that fell short of its goal, to motivate you instead of searching for greener pastures is a gold-plated life lesson.

Nearly twenty-five percent of all scholarship players now enter the college transfer portal. When things don’t go perfectly, the portal allows them to turn their back and leave. Let’s not forget these players freely chose the schools they are deserting. This unchecked player movement, including high school open enrollment, feels like a spoiled kid taking his ball and going home because his team isn’t winning. I see it as running from your problems or admitting that somebody else is responsible for your happiness.   

Learning to persevere through adversity, once a core lesson of athletics, is now apparently optional.

Defining the Purpose

If the new and improved purpose of amateur athletics is to build division one and or professional athletes, then the statistics would tell us we are failing miserably. The percentage of amateur athletes that will earn any type of athletic scholarship is less than two percent and less than one percent will play professionally.

Only Viking fans have less optimism.

Learning to love the game, the process, the life lessons learned, loyalty, the camaraderie and everything worthwhile must be earned are things money truly cannot buy but can ultimately destroy. The NIL and the open transfer windows are not progress, they are a dangerous nitroglycerin being planted at the foundation of athletics. Those supporting this have been fooled by the greed money organically nurtures.

The clock is ticking on the detonator. Those of us who believe amateur athletics is about building people of great character and not millionaire athletes need to stand up and be heard. We should never deflate the dream for our young athletes, and at the same time never confuse that with the purpose of athletics.

Allow them to dream, but don’t allow that lottery chance to fool or consume you. Teach your athletes to love the game and help them absorb every life lesson this journey offers.

The old school is a beautiful building. It simply needs restoration—not radical reconstruction.

Dan Bauer is a free-lance writer, retired teacher & hockey coach in Wausau, WI. You can contact him at drbauer13@gmail.com.