Coach Sampson after reading your last post I hope you guys are successful in turning things around based on how disrespectful your kids sound towards you guys. But that being said I think what you posted still goes into what IESBL said about they don't know any better. When it comes to doing things the right way I suggest some patience and light punishments and they will come around. The disrespectful attitude and demeanor towards you coaches should never be tolerated.
In the example of the kid who wore pants like shorts. Just explain it to him like you did us. It's not about fashion but about being functional and protection. If he complies let it go. If you look back around 10 minutes later and he's like that again then make him run poles or something similar. I'm not a big fan of make the team run for one guy except for in extreme situations - this will cause more dissension than anything else usually. This is a case where you teach versus punish.
Now if he mouths off while complying or flat our refuses then this is a situation bigger than playing the game the right way. You have a cancer on the team. What I would do is if a kid disrespects me or another coach I'm sending him home for practice. I'm not kicking him off the team. What this does is send a message to the rest of the team that practice is a time to get work done and any obstacle distraction will not be tolerated. By just kicking him out of practice this allows the kid to learn as well it's not a time to play around. Each day he shows up I would tell him he's now behind everyone else in terms of preparation and he has an even shorter leash now. Soon as he doe something else then send him home again. Eventually he will get the message or he will quit. But what you've done is created a situation where if the parent wants to complain you can now show a patter of behavior not acceptable for the team.
I rarely kick people off my teams because I want them leaving to be their choice. When you kick someone off they can now use that as a reason to be a victim and play to the school / community. Let them be the bad guy instead of you.
If the disrespect is a team wide problem find two or three guys who seem to be the "leaders" of the cancer group and make their life heck until they quit. Every little thing they do is worthy of getting yelled at, kicked out of practice or at this point make the whole team run for what they do. They will either quit or the rest of the team will turn on them.
Others will probably come on here and give their advice about just pulling the trigger and kicking them off. There is nothing wrong with that method either. I have had success in the past with what I do. Because at the end of the day you have to protect the team.