-by Erick Coleman

“Middle class America” has been recently been defined by Forbes Magazine as “37 percent of the United States citizen base with an average individual salary of $41,600.” The average educational level for this 37 percent is three years of post high school training, be it college or trade. Forbes sites many statistical sources for this information including the I.R.S. (which is allowed to disclose mass information versus individual information). The average American, according to this study, makes $41,600 a year. 37 percent of the population of the Unites States is a very gaudy number, one that is almost hard to imagine. If the country has a population of three hundred million people, that 37 percent represents one hundred eleven million. Those of you that work with numbers will know exactly where I am going with this. An average over that many people means that the high and low will be very extreme. The low end of the average salary in that 37 percentile could be as low as $31,000 per year with the high swinging towards $56,000.

What in the world does this have to do with the Miami Dolphins, you ask? Not much, actually. It does, however, have a lot to do with Nick Saban and the judgments that have been thrown his way. In today’s day and age, in this economy, the average American is always looking to “better their situation.” With rare exception almost every person reading this article is employed. Almost every one of you has secretly sought out a better situation. You’ve scanned the local paper. You’ve logged on to monster.com and looked around to “see what is out there.” You’ve run into a friend that has mentioned a “great opportunity” with their company. You have put your resume and feelers out. The satisfaction level within your current position is without consequence. Most of us are stricken with the “something else is something better” disease. If you own a company, take a look at your most valued employees. You will see people that you consider friends, people that have sworn their loyalty to you. Those same people have looked for positions outside of your company and either has lied to you directly or indirectly about it. We live in an era and age where that is needed. In order to protect your current job security you never, and I mean ever, let on that you are “looking.” Every single person reading this article, ones that are in the professional sector, have done this. Perhaps you’ve turned down the job offer that came in. Maybe you didn’t. Every one of you have down the “on the down low” job search. The average middle class American has the ability to better their situation marginally. A $10,000 raise would help most of you, including myself. I would be hard pressed to turn down that type of raise, and I really love my job. And, given the chance, all of you would jump at that type of yearly raise and would do so with little to no regret. After all no one else walks in your shoes, pays your bills and looks into your eyes in the mirror each more. With all of this said, how dare any of you judge Nick Saban for doing what we all do on a regular basis?

This article will not fall under the “most popular” category. I am not ripping Nick Saban, nor talking about his successes or failures as a head coach in Miami. This article has nothing to do with on the field performance. What I am talking about is the countless amount of people in the media, and the fans, ripping Nick Saban for being dishonest. “He lied, he lied” you all cry. Yes, Nick Saban lied. He was not honest with you. At the end of the day, no matter what you feel that you are entitled to, Nick Saban did not owe you the truth. Saban took a job that he felt he would succeed in. For whatever reasons during his time with the Miami Dolphins he felt that he made a mistake by doing so. Who among us has ever taken a job only to think, “what the hell was I thinking” two months later? I have. Most of us tough it out, we don’t have the option to bounce around. Some of us contact the employer that we left, looking for a way back in. Nick Saban did what we all have done. We looked at our employer and we lied, all while looking to make a better move that fit our lives in a better way.

The level of judgment and hypocrisy that I have seen in the last week has befuddled me. The largest amount is from the media, there is one reporter specifically that comes to mind. Under contract for two years with one establishment, he secretly sought out employment with another establishment. When he found an offer he accepted the job. Media members will know exactly of whom I speak. This reporter flat out lied to his colleagues, friends and employers and, while under contract, accepted another position. This reporter is now raising the “ Miami fans deserved the truth” banner. Miami fans do not deserve the truth about anything that, ultimately, is a personal choice. The sense of entitlement among sporting fans continues to amaze and frighten me. You deserve a quality product on the field, as a fan. The personal lives of any member of the Miami Dolphins, from the ball boys to the head coach, are not your concern.

A writer that is good at their craft can bring emotions out of you, however it is not a writer’s job to create emotions for you. I will never tell anyone how to feel, however I will always encourage people to think. I will encourage people to withdraw their fangs a little and inspect the amount of venom that they have spewed over the Nick Saban situation. The amount of despair over a human being that made a choice, one that every single one of you would have done as well. Nick Saban was not comfortable in his employment and, believe it or not, you don’t get to judge him on that. Saban was able to find a job where that will make him happier. You do not walk in the man’s shoes, you do not pay his bills nor do you have to look into his eyes in the mirror in the morning.

This article referenced money, specifically yearly salary, at the start. Within the judgments of Saban that I have read many of them are tagged with the following sentiment: “It wasn’t that much more money, why couldn’t he have stayed?” I will make this statement again: Who are any of you to judge what is a reasonable raise for Nick Saban and what is not? For someone making $46,000 yearly a raise to $48,000 is a nice jump, however not a jump that would make many people think about leaving their current positions of employment. A jump to $60,000 would make that decision to stay or leave a lot harder. I am willing to wager that someone living below the poverty level and making $9,000 per year would see that jump a lot more differently. $46,000 to that person would be “enough” for them to sign on the dotted line for life. My point is that “being worthy of leaving a job” is within the eyes of the beholder. It is not for you to neither judge nor decide.

Those who live in glass houses shall not cast stones. Of those of you reading this article, who among you are without deceit? I am not. I have said what I have needed to say at times to make my personal situation better. Those of you up in arms about Nick Saban leaving a job, and ,yes, sports fans that is all it is – a job, I challenge you to the following: Next time you are thinking about leaving your current job I want you to be completely upfront and honest about it. March into your employer’s office and tell your boss. Tell your friends. Make sure you tell your co-workers. Be sure to include where you are applying for work. Keep in mind that some of your co-workers will apply for the same job and won’t be as honest as you are. Furthermore, next time you are challenged with telling even the “smallest” of a lie, don’t. Be one hundred percent honest with all of your actions and words. Then, and only then, are you in a position to question someone else’s integrity and that person’s decision-making process. Until that time take a deep breath and worry more about your own choices and decisions versus someone’s that you’ve never met.

 

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