Its Black Monday! Do Minnesotans Understand What It Is?

I want to start with this, I’ve been in management for almost 24 years, and I’ve had to fire people in the past. It’s never easy to do, but in each of those cases, the firing was warranted. But that doesn’t mean that it didn’t affect me as a person.  

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Having to do what needs to be done can be difficult.  

This may be Thanksgiving Week, but there are a lot of people who are facing challenges that may make being Thankful hard to do.  

For most people, the struggles they face aren’t out in the public eye, they aren’t being examined by people on social media and even being mocked by people they don’t know about the situation they’re in. 

In the College Football World, today is known “Black Monday Part 1”. It’s not like “Black Friday” where you save money on gifts for Christmas, the “Black” part of today is where College Football Coaches get fired.  

It’s Part 1 because FBS schools, like the Minnesota Gophers, mostly have one final game this week, and then Part 2 of Black Monday will hit a week from today. Some FBS Coaches could be let go today even though they still have one final game, this gives the Athletic Director an extra week to let possible candidates know the position is open.  

Contrary to popular belief, not all football coaches make millions of dollars. There are plenty of Coaches who don’t make that kind of money, sure they may make more than you and me, but it’s not enough money for them to not have to find another job.  

Some of them get paid a significant amount of money to go away, if they were not at the end of their contract when they get fired. Jimbo Fisher getting $76 million dollars to not Coach at Texas A&M anymore is the exception not the rule.  

When a coach gets fired, it affects more than just them. To start with, the team they coach is affected. For some players, this was the coach that gave them the chance to live out their dream of playing college football.  

Players then have to worry about their roles on the team moving forward- if they have one. Remember College Athletes have a clock of eligibility, so making the most of that is key. Players also have to decide if they want to stay with that team, especially now when transferring is so easy. I’m not saying you should have pity on them, these types of things happen in every other industry as well. Except most aren’t happening in the public eye.   

Then there’s the coach's family. Imagine if you had to explain to your kids why people are celebrating that you no longer have your job. Or explain to your kids why people are calling you names and screaming at you.  

That’s what Coaches have to explain to their kids. It comes with the territory sure, but it’s still difficult to do.   

Then there are the assistant coaches who work for the head coach. Sometimes they get fired today because a change has to be made due to the lack of productivity.  

In some cases, these coaches also make good money, but when that comes to an end, a lot of them don’t get the big “payday” to go away. Their firing also affects their families, their insurance and how they pay their bills.  

For fans of certain teams who don’t like their coach, I’m not saying they don’t deserve to get fired. As I said in the open, in all the cases where I was a part of firing someone, it was warranted.  

All I’m saying is that when you’re remembering all the things you are Thankful for this week, maybe you should be Thankful your job doesn’t come with the same the public attention that coaching comes with.