I agree with the sentiment behind Coach’s words here but there are very good “reasons” to transfer as well and everyone reads a post like this through their lens. So I want to offer it from a few different perspectives.
We can’t coddle our kids. And we can’t allow them to quit at the first sign that something is difficult. Quitting is not the first resort. However, there are very good reasons to transfer and I won’t get into all of them but an example would be a very toxic culture created or allowed by the coaching staff or even a predatory coach.
I know of athletes who have transferred and their lives changed being in a better setting. I also know of many athletes who transferred because of playing time or unmet expectations or because things just got hard and they should have stayed.
Having said that, the transfer rate in all sports is off the charts and I think coach is speaking more to the athletes who just leave because it got hard and because they didn’t get their way.
I also know it can feel hypocritical to parents and athletes to hear coaches make a stand on transfers when it feels like they leave their job after a short amount of time for a better job or more money. And its fair to feel that way. However, I do think coaches have to make very hard decisions that don’t seem that way on paper especially when it comes to their families. I can think of one particular school I would have loved to stay at but staying would have been putting the program ahead of my family.
My advice to parents/athletes who have read his quotes would be that when things get tough and you feel like quitting look internally first. How can I make this situation better? What has been my role in making this so difficult? Have I sat down with the coach and shared my feelings or have I just shared them with teammates, parents, etc? Take Ownership first. Put a plan in place to improve things. And at the end of the day the answer may be to transfer but do everything in your power to deal with the adversity and grow from it and I promise you’ll come out a better person on the other end.