There are lessons from college sports that can be transferred to other areas of life, even to higher educational administrative apparatuses. Personnel moves on the football field can mirror personnel moves in departments or schools. People are put in different positions and called upon to execute different roles and assignments.
The people who are moved are not emotionless robots, but human beings who feel, think, and have their own personal aspirations in addition to the goals of a particular entity. This can make personnel moves complicated and multi-dimensional. A poorly thought out move that doesn’t take a multitude of factors into account can destroy the atmosphere of a working environment and foster division instead of collaboration. There is responsibility on both those who make the decisions and those who are impacted by those decisions.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a new onslaught of organizational redesigns, demotions, pay cuts, layoffs, resignations, and firings. Each of these can create significant disruptions for the operating efficiency and effectiveness of organizations. A great example of how to handle a demotion and career redirection was provided by former University of Alabama Quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Hurts began his career at Alabama as the backup Quarterback. He became the starter after performing well in his first game in replacement of the starting quarterback Blake Barnett after he had been pulled out by Head Coach Nick Saban. Hurts went on to lead the Crimson Tide to a victory over the University of Southern California Trojans.
He would remain the starter and lead the Crimson Tide to the National Championship game where they eventually lost in overtime to a Clemson University team led by quarterback Deshaun Watson. Hurts had a stellar season and was named the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Hurts would again lead Alabama back to the National Championship game as a starter during his sophomore season.
Though they were winning games during the year, some glaring holes in Hurts’ game were beginning to show and be exploited by opposing teams. He was an outstanding runner and leader of his teammates, but he passing performance was inconsistent and need significant improvement.
This weakness finally caught up with him as the opposing Georgia Bulldogs had his Alabama Crimson Tide team down 13 to 0 at halftime of the 2018 National Championship Game. At that point Hurts was benched in favor of the more dynamic passer Tua Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa lead Alabama to an exhilarating comeback victory that was capped off by a game winning touchdown pass. Hurts outwardly congratulated Tagovailoa and celebrated with his teammates but must have felt some sense of dejection at the same time.
