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By Jim Caltagirone
For the Mirror
One of the routine questions posed to candidates for employment during the interview process is: Where do you see yourself in five years?
Considering all the job hopping that occurs in college basketball, it's doubtful that members of a search committee would bother asking a head coaching candidate that question.
A common perception is head coaches are in constant search of ever-greener pastures to expand their net worth, especially those who have made multiple coaching stops over a short period of time.
The reality is nearly three-quarters of the 50 head coaching positions that opened by the end of March resulted from terminations in one form or another.
The lucky few who actually created openings by freely electing to vacate their post included Fairleigh Dickinson's Tobin Anderson, Penn State's Micah Shrewsberry and Iona's Rick Pitino.
Respectively, they spent just one, two and three years with their immediate past employer, Similarly, Kim English departed George Mason after two years for the Providence job, which opened when Ed Cooley left to take over for Patrick Ewing at Georgetown.
Pitino, who led Iona to two NCAA tournament appearances, was hired at St. John's to replace a coach who was fired after four seasons.
Anderson wasted no time cashing in on Fairleigh Dickinson's upset of No. 1 seed Purdue in the NCAA Tournament by succeeding Pitino at Iona.
Shrewsberry has traded working in the shadows of one storied football program for another. His task now is to wake up the echoes of past Notre Dame basketball glory.
After six seasons and three NCAA Tournament appearances at VCU, Mike Rhoades accepted the Penn State job.
A universal standard of loyalty in college athletics doesn't seem to exist anymore.
Athletes enter the transfer portal with the ease of online banking, coaches leap on the carousel with flash-in-the-pan success, and colleges rely on buyouts and contract clauses to erase bad fits.
In this era of instant gratification, the general impression is that athletes and coaches are emphasizing personal brand over team goals.
However, when the first coaching domino falls, it's usually a college administrator who nudged it.
Dismissals typically follow underperformance on the court, but occasionally, the institution simply desires someone with a new approach and fresh perspectives.
Syracuse parting with Jim Boeheim is likely a case in point.
Addressing the subject of loyalty in a MinnPost article about head football coach P.J. Fleck's 2019 contract extension at the University of Minnesota, the writer commented that, "Maybe the coach who bolts for a better job isn't being greedy and selfish. Maybe he (or she) is just reflecting the same shaky values as the employer. If the school shows no loyalty to you, caving whenever ticket sales drop or the deep-pockets alumni bark too loudly, why should you be loyal to them? Get what you can get whenever you can get it."
Society is over-populated with cynics. From religion and politics to business and entertainment, the tendency for many is to expect the worst and then search for the justification to complain, convict and condemn.
The most appropriate way to deal with the inclination to criticize a coach for pulling up stakes for a new opportunity might be to ask the question: What would I have done?
Surprisingly, the answer is likely to be accompanied by a bit more compassion and understanding.
Jim Caltagirone resides in Altoona. He is a regular contributor to Voice of the Fan.