Originally posted by BUfan14
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I went and listened to this interview, and it is an interesting and debatable policy for sure. I understand the valuing of loyalty, and this might even be a way to keep kids from testing the portal at all, but I'm not sure I agree with is being comparable to a spouse relationship as Brian put it. Most people look for other jobs at some point in their lives, including Brian. Some of these kids come from tough backgrounds and don't have a lot of years to make nice money. All of us want the best situation for ourselves and our family, and yes things like happiness and "teammates" matter, but they are just some of the factors. The culture of valuing employee loyalty, including in sports, beyond all else is really just created to benefit the companies/teams by getting people to stay without having to fight for them as much. Most all of us want the most money/benefits for our families that we can get, with all factors like happiness, job security, feeling valued in the past, and people around you playing a role as well. Someone brought up the example of coaches versus players on here too in terms of who is expected to show more loyalty. You could argue the pendulum has swung too far the other way in a me first culture too I suppose. However, I hate making generational statements on entire groups of people. There are a lot of good and bad trends that come with each new generation, but each person is an individual, and each circumstance is unique. I want all great Bradley players to stay because I want Bradley to be great, but I can't fault them for making the a decision they think will be better for themselves under the current system. I do think sometimes those decisions are misguided, but that is a different story.
We also have taken advantage of the portal a couple times now too. Like most things, I think a blanket policy can be well intentioned, but leave no wiggle room for unusual circumstances. I don't think Rienk's circumstance is the same as other people that look to come and go every year, like a Sean East for example. Now it seems like there is no way Rienk is coming back anyway, but to shut the door on it if he wanted it seems shortsighted to me. Now maybe knowing there is no way Rienk comes back anyway, Brian might as well stick to this blanket policy in public for the sake of the players he currently has. Overall, I generally, mostly, agree with the way Brian manages players and coaches in terms of the types of people he brings in, but on this one I'm not sure I agree 100%. I still generally agree with the sentiment, but maybe not the blanket policy. But he gets paid to make those decisions of course.
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