If you have ever been a part of a team, you probably know the instrumental effect and role that head coaches have on their players. 

When you spend almost all of your time working on getting better and turning to your coach for instruction, you develop a special bond that only athletes and coaches can truly understand. 

Athletes often take their coaches for granted and forget that sports is a big business at the end of the day. Typically, decisions come down to the money on the table.

This past week served as a friendly reminder that nothing is permanent when it comes to sports and that the world of college football can be selfish. 

Many heads turned across the sports world this past week when former Head Football Coach of the University of Notre Dame Brian Kelly announced his immediate departure to take a job at Louisiana State University as head coach.

Kelly’s announcement came at plausibly the worst possible time of the season. 

Notre Dame has been having one of their better seasons this year. The Fighting Irish have spent hours on and off the field to get to the point where they are now at this season with a record of 11-1. 

The young men and coaches have put in an ungodly amount of effort and time this season, but their effort wasn’t reason enough to keep their head coach with them as they looked to embark on a potential national championship run.

Over 100 players, left without their head coach, are supposed to continue to perform their best and try to make a playoff run? Seems impossible, right? 

In sports, this is the sad reality of what some of the best athletes need to get used to in college football. 

Money is the name of the game, and often, feelings will be put aside when making big decisions like this. 

Even though coaching changes happen all the time, this change cuts deeper and strongly emphasizes the change needed in college sports. 

The example of Kelly’s classless departure would never happen in the National Football League, Major League Baseball, or the National Hockey league. It simply would not be allowed due to the nature of the rules that govern coaching changes. 

There needs to be a discussion on whether or not coaches should be able to abandon their potential NCAA Division I playoff team right at the end of the season for a new offer that benefits them. 

This is a question that only the NCAA can answer, but Kelly’s departure is a prime example of the starting point of problems for years to come in college football if it isn’t addressed sooner by the NCAA.