Coaches are free to leave a school and pursue other opportunities without any restrictions. Players, on the other hand, have a much more difficult time if they wish to do the same thing.

One way a transfer is more difficult than a coach leaving for another school is due to those same coaches initiating blocks to players who wish to continue their career elsewhere.

Enter Miami (Fl) graduate transfer running back Gus Edwards, who wants to play closer to home in order to be near family given the recent birth of his son.

According to a source close to Edwards, the Hurricanes are blocking the running back from picking a school who is on Miami's 2017 schedule. That means two potential landing spots that are close to home and therefore meet his criteria, Pittsburgh and Syracuse, are blocked by the program.

Both offered Edwards out of high school, and he was committed to Syracuse at one time before flipping to Miami due to a coaching change at SU.

The hypocritical thing about such a stance is that Miami head coach Mark Richt has the ability to leave the school and take a job anywhere in the country without the 'Canes blocking him from certain destinations. A player, who is looking for an opportunity with more playing time and that is closer to family in order to provide the beset environment for his newborn, is not afforded the same luxury.

The move is in direct contrast to comments Richt made to reporters back in August as noted by footballscoop.com. From the article.

Richt told reporters after practice recently that he's always believed that players who decide to transfer should be able to go wherever they want.

"Life is too short," Richt noted.

"I have unconditionally released every guy that ever wanted to leave," Richt explained to the media yesterday. "I'd call the commissioner [of the conference] and say, 'Hey, if the kid wants to go...let him go wherever he wants to go.'"

Those comments are the complete opposite of his actions in this scenario, according to our source.

This is the latest example of schools blocking players from transferring to certain spots. During the last offseason, former Michigan basketball player Spike Albrecht was told by the program that he did not have a spot on the team for his final year of eligibility. As a result, he pursued other opportunities.

When he found one at Purdue, he was blocked from other Big-10 schools initially by Michigan. After public and social media pressure, head coach John Beilein altered his stance.

Other recent examples include two players from Alabama. Defensive back Maurice Smith was involved in a very public battle where Nick Saban, for a while, refused to allow Smith to head to Georgia. Eventually, Saban and Alabama lifted the block, allowing Smith to join the Bulldogs.

Wide receiver Chris Black was also allowed to leave Alabama and stay in the SEC. He transferred to Missouri.

So the question is why would Miami block a reserve running back who was not expected to have a larger role in 2017? Could it be they are nervous Edwards will spill secrets about the team that will give either Syracuse or Pittsburgh a competitive advantage? If so, that is not a valid reason.

There really is not much Edwards could tell either coaching staff that they would not be able to see on film.

Regardless, the blocking of Edwards makes one thing abundantly clear. Coaches, who can leave a school at any point leaving players and recruits in precarious situations, being allowed to block where a player can go after leaving their program is hypocritical and an abuse of power.

Here's hoping Miami comes to their senses and lifts the restrictions on Edwards' release.