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SALT LAKE CITY — Randy Rahe didn't entirely put his retirement on the rapidly changing world of college athletics, but clearly it was a factor.
After 16 years as the Weber State men's basketball coach, Rahe last week announced a somewhat sudden decision to quit, two months into the offseason. As many coaches say, Rahe stepped away after losing the passion needed to meet the position's rigorous demands.
His general reason is understandable considering the pressure all coaches face. Spending countless hours traversing to gyms across the country for recruiting makes a strong enough argument by itself to stop.
But there's more to it. Must be.
At age 61, a self-professed fitness freak, Rahe coached Weber State to a 21-12 record last season, finishing third in the Big Sky Conference. He leaves as the all-time winningest Big Sky and Weber State coach with 316 wins.
In April, in the middle of recruiting, Rahe was locked into securing more talent. Then came conversations with this wife during a vacation to Hilton Head, South Carolina, with his wife, Laura.
"It just felt different than it has in past years," Rahe said during an interview with The Zone Sports Network. "Normally, I'm real excited, I can't wait to get going (and) I've got the summer planned out and everything. It just kind of hit that I didn't have that same excitement and that same kind of passion."
The changing landscape of college sports didn't help any, either. In the current state, allowing players to transfer with immediate eligibility has created a constant state of roster flux and has reached the point of virtually poaching talent.
Even crazier, the ability for players to get paid has turned college athletics upside down. The rule allowing athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness has made it a free-for-all, with entrenched starters at a given program leaving in search of more cash elsewhere.
"It just got a little bit crazy," Rahe said. "I don't see an end to it."
NCAA rules prohibit college coaches and administrators from brokering NIL deals, yet some incoming freshmen are getting significant amounts of money before enrolling in school. In less than one year, the chaos has reached the point in which Alabama legend Nick Saban and Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher got into a nasty public spat with accusations flying both ways.
Saban called out Fisher by name, saying he bought the incoming players that catapulted Texas A&M to the top of the recruiting rankings. Fisher reacted harshly, calling the claims "despicable."
A day after his comments, which were made to Alabama business leaders, Saban apologized for singling out individual programs. But he stood by his general point of unsustainable nature of college athletics.
No wonder Rahe is done.
"Kids are being recruited based on who's going to pay them the most money," he said.
Obviously, that's coming most of the time from the coaches. Not to say all of them, but some of them."
"Where it ends, I don't know," Rahe added. "But I don't know how much better it's going to get in the next few years."
Not unless there's some kind of legislative intervention, which then could lead to another set of complications. Until it does get under control, college sports unfortunately are morphing into professional sports.
And it's not that all coaches are against getting paid. The thinking is the athletes deserve to cash in on the millions amounts of money they help generate.
"If they want to pay them, I have no problem with it," Rahe said. "I just think the way it's being done is kind of the wild, wild West right now. If they could find a way to control it, I think everybody would feel better about it."
Not that it's Rahe's worry anymore. He'll be busy traveling the world with his wife.
