especially college sports that have a heavy dose of foreign players, such as soccer and track & field. Foreign players almost all have agents now. Promises are made in order to land the player. Player arrives and doesn't perform as expected. Player still plays because if the coach goes back on his promises, he won't land the next recruit(s) in the next cycle from that agent - and perhaps from other agents because they saw that the coach went back on his word. It's not right or fair, but it is how things work.