The current state of college athletics has driven some of the best coaches away from their respective sports. Alabama fans know it was part of the reason Nick Saban walked away despite having a bit left in the tank.
In college basketball, legendary coaches like Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Jay Wright, and Tony Bennett have all walked away from the game over the last five years. Dusty May's decision to take the Dallas Mavericks job less than three months after leading Michigan to the national title has brought the conversation over the quality of life for college basketball coaches back to the forefront.
Nate Oats isn't buying all of that.
While he knows that college athletics needs some work, he still counts himself lucky to be in the position he's in as Alabama's head coach.
"It's a lot of upheaval, but I'm gonna be honest. I still love it," Oats said on ESPN Radio, via 247's Mike Rodak. "I was a high school math teacher not too long ago. I don't think it's that bad. When people start to complain -- I could be teaching math today. There's a lot of people that would switch with us pretty quickly. I don't think the state of college athletics is in complete upheaval. I just think there's gonna be change.
Nate Oats gives a rational explanation to the issues in college basketball
Oats' answer is as thoughtful as it gets. One thing about him is that he's going to tell you what he really thinks, for better or worse. Sometimes that lands him in hot water, but sometimes you get answers like this. And it was something that needed to be said.
The plight of being a millionaire basketball coach has been overexaggerated. There are frustrations in college sports, no doubt, but these guys are still being paid a lot of money to coach a children's game. As Oats said a few months ago when discussing the possibility of a contract extension, he considers himself an overpaid PE teacher.
"When you go through as many big changes as you did in such a short amount of time -- being able to transfer without a penalty, then being able to do it every single year, then you add in you can get authentic NIL, then you add rev share after that -- it's a little bit of change," Oats continued. "A lot of change in a short amount of time. It's got to settle down and get where the rules are. In the meantime, figure out what the rules are to the best of our ability and do what we can.
"I'm still having a lot of fun coaching college basketball."
One day down the line, Oats may follow May's path to the NBA. That remains to be seen, but the consensus on him has always been that one day he would be tempted to test himself at the pro level. But if he ultimately does that, it won't be because of the upheaval around the sport. It'll be because he genuinely wants to try his hand at coaching at the highest level of basketball.
Not because he's "burnt out" over college basketball.
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