Sure, players commit to a school in large part because of the coach, but they are still committing to the school. If players are committing solely for the coach, then they should not sign a LOI. Is it risky to not sign a LOI? Sure. But it's also risky to sign a LOI for a coach that may leave town. The recruit needs to balance those two risks and make his decision (to sign or not to sign) accordingly.

If you're going to let incoming freshmen out of their commitments, then what about redshirt freshman and partial qualifiers? Do they deserve any less consideration? What about sophomores? Where do you draw the line?

Don't the schools deserve some sort of protection? A program can be thrown into turmoil by a coach leaving, but if they lose an entire recruiting class to boot, it could take years to recover. The program should do what's best for the program. Sometimes it's not worth it to force a player to stay when he wants to leave, but sometimes it is.