News broke recently that the Toronto Maple Leafs would be parting ways with their head coach, Mike Babcock. Though he had been with the team since 2015, his deal would have kept him as the head coach through the 2022-23 season. Yes, the Leafs have had a rough start to this year when many thought they would peak, but is that a good enough reason to fire him just over halfway through his contract? Even still, I’m not so sure about the various other coaches that seem to fall by the wayside upon losing a few games.
A very common sentiment in pro-sports is that if you’re winning, you’re good. The second you stop winning, you’ve got a problem. I understand why that makes sense for general managers and front offices, but have we lost all perspective when it comes to season formats? Teams aren’t always built to win today. As a matter of fact, many are built to win tomorrow, or next season, or in the next draft class. Just ask the Philadelphia 76ers in the National Basketball Association, who struggled for years before succeeding through their infamous “Trust the Process” campaign.
I’m not advocating for the acceptance of losing or the idea that teams shouldn’t try to win consistently, but these mid-season firings don’t always help teams as much as one might think they do.
