Most high-level positions offer some type of security and if you want a high-level person with credentials, they have a contract at their previous employer.

But in this scenario, these guys were courted by others and received a nice raise.

If Grambling wanted to prevent that, they would've countered.

Employers must create conditions that make employees want to stay.

Right now there appears to be a conflict within the Grambling family.

Administrative leaders may want "new blood" but those left to implement still treat the new arrivals as "outsiders". So it doesn't take long for people to have second thoughts about bringing their family into an environment where they, themselves, don't feel welcomed.

That's why, to me, this trend of departures should lead to a closer examination of how they go about evaluating candidates in the athletic department.

To echo something you said, OW: Perhaps the problem exists in the GSU administration’s perception that they are only hiring a person and not a family.

Perhaps Mr. Dawson's wife was willing to give up her salary to be with her husband but Rey and Mathieu's spouses preferred to remain where they were.

Rather than look at the hirees, perhaps the problem exists in the GSU administration's perception that they are only hiring a person and not a family.

Coach Broadway's decision to stay in a hotel may have something to do with selling his house in North Carolina and the fact that he couldn't handle two mortgages on the salary GSU gave him.

Economics has a lot more to do with decisions today than in the past.

I simply said I would be concerned with the idea of a continued hiring trend in which new hires do not bring along their family — then leave because of that void.

That concern plays out in a variety of ways.

One would be, say, setting up a program by which you assist people moving to your community with things like finding a new home, school placement for their children and employment for their spouses. That kind of outreach, often done with the assistance of people within the candidates new department, is standard for a number of employers.

You bring up Lin Dawson, and it reminds me of Coach Jeffries — who, like, Rey and Mathieu, didn't bring his wife … and left Grambling's athletics director post within a year in 2005. As I said from the beginning, that's really no surprise. Who can blame them?

Seeing a trend like this, however, and not addressing it is bad management on Grambling's part.

As for Mr. Dawson, my understanding of it is that his wife has joined him in Lincoln Parish.

Secondly, how long does a coach have to stay in a position before considering other options without being labeled a "quitter"? It is not unusual for a coach to look at other options after 3 years…especially if that school is paying more money as is the case with Rey and Alcorn State. GSU didn't bother to offer any pay raises nor is it in a position to do so. Rey's decision to leave may have been personal, but you best believe it was a business decision as well.

And I disagree with that Dooley example. Mathieu and Rey were able to make weekend visits (by car) to see their families from time to time. Dooley didn't have that option with this family. Moving his family was not a hard decision. That fact that Dooley moved his family to Ruston will have absolutely no impact whatsoever on what happens when he leaves Tech. If Tech fires him, the fact that he moved his family to Ruston will not matter to the people at Tech. If he leaves for another position it still changes nothing.

Broadway has won 2 black college championships in 3 years but still lives in a hotel room. Why would I care about him not buying a home? For some reason people are bothered by that. I could care less.

Not that I care (because I don't) nor does it matter, but for the sake of this discussion has Dawson moved his family from NC yet? Last I heard they were still there.

I can tell you that I would think twice, more than twice, about hiring someone who wasn't bringing their wife and kids. Every time. Reason: Common sense says that automatically shortens the time from hiring to departure — whether by their own volition or because I had to send them home, where their heart was in the first place.

You hire who you can hire. If that means you can't get a Mathieu or a Rey, because they won't move their families — then you hire someone else. Someone who will commit, fully and completely, to the program.

We've certainly seen other nearby universities do that. Derek Dooley, the current football coach at Tech, moved his family to Ruston from … Miami.

That, quite frankly, is a far tougher transition than Baton Rouge (Rey) and Dallas (Mathieu).