COACH RESIGNS/What if this guy were your kid's coach?

Way, way over the line! There has to be more to the story, but that is just unacceptable at any level in any sport. If he did that on the streets of Philadelphia, he would be arrested for assault.

If it was my kid's coach, I'd talk to my kid to see what he had to say about the situation. We'd probably give the adminstration some rope to figure out next steps. If the coach stays, we'd probably transfer.

IMO, in an ideal world, (1) the coach would be severely reprimanded; (2) the player would be ashamed of himself for exaggerating his injuries.

It is just a short clip and lacking the context of the entire practice but my first response is maybe he's a Bobby Knight wanna be. Man if you are going to tape your practices, you have to be pretty naive to think you can get away with that. You can't let that slide, he's fired. In Pennsylvania he could be arrested for Simple Assault and Harassment but if I were the father, I'd rather just be put in a room with the coach for say, five minutes. You've got to know the difference between a college hoops program and a United States Marine Corp boot camp. If my son were standing in that line watching that I would hope and expect him to kick that coaches butt in defense of his teammate. When that happens now we really are going to see who's right and who's over the line.

Just with the video and the accompanying story to go on - the coach hit the player, knocking him to the ground, and it looks like he kicked at him while he was on the ground.

The coach should be fired and charged with assault. It's on the video. There are no mitigating circumstances that justify a coach attacking a player. The kid was engaged in a drill when the coach attacked him.

Freddy77, you know that the player is exaggerating his injuries? Tell us how you know this. Thanks.

Unfortunately, I have witnessed a similar incident in baseball. A coach, angry at player for getting picked off at third for the third out, pushed the player hard in the chest. The player fell backwards into the dugout which was about three feet below field level. The player landed hard on the concrete floor and wood bench.

When I approached the coach he argued since it was his own player he couldn't be ejected. He was wrong.

Regardless of the context, that coach is out of control. He appeared to also kick at the kid when he was on the ground.

If it were my kid, I would be having a private meeting with the coach.

The coach is wrong. But I would like to see the previous ten minutes of practice. I'd also like to know the kid's reputation in practice. It might be an ugly case of a coach trying to drive a kid to quit.

There's probably more to this story than what we're seeing but it looks very, very bad for the coach. Even if the player kicks puppy dogs down the street or if the coach wants to run him off this isn't the way to do it. No matter what the situation was leading up to this the coach had alternative means to handle this.

From Holy family University's website:

quote:

Respect for the individual, the dignity of the human person. Inspired by the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth who founded the University, these values are at the very core of our institution. They are values that are taught here, but even more, they are values that are lived here. Our concern for moral values and social justice guides our programs and enriches everything that we do.

I don't think Sister Francesca Onley, Phd, CFSN is going to be too forgiving......Chair of the Commission on Disarmament Education, Conflict Resolution and Peace 2004-2006.

Coach..could we talk in my office?

Honestly, I can't see anything that a kid on a team could do that would justify such a response from a coach. I know college sports is stressfull and maybe this kid isn't being the kind of player that this coach wants but shoving him and kicking him is not the right way to go about things.

There is no way to justify this behavior.

The link no longer takes you to the video. Anyone have a different link? I haven't seen it.

I didn't see the original video as well but this link to the TV news report on the incident seems to be more in depth with longer video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncBckf71Tbs

Yikes!!! Looks like somebody that needs their meds adjusted. Is their ever a reason to blindside any player that isn't about to commit a felony?

Thanks WinBuc44 for the link!

We tell kids that "there is always someone watching."
Some coaches seem to ignore the fact that it applies to them as well.

If someone has to be watching you don't need to be coaching.

"What if this guy were your kid's coach?"

Are you kidding me? What would I do? If during a physical drill, a 50 year old coach 6 inches shorter then my ADULT 6' 5" son, knocked him on his butt... I would laugh at my kid!


This is a kid / parent looking for money!

You would laugh at your kid? And then what?

quote:

Originally posted by NP13:
"What if this guy were your kid's coach?"

Are you kidding me? What would I do? If during a physical drill, a 50 year old coach 6 inches shorter then my ADULT 6' 5" son, knocked him on his butt... I would laugh at my kid!


This is a kid / parent looking for money!

So you teach your son to be constantly on guard for a cheap shot by coaches or everyone? I don't care how big you are - if you're not expecting to get hit it will mess you up when you get blindsided.

Nothing. The kid is an adult. A very large adult at that. What is there to do?

Doesn't everybody on this site constantly talk abour kids growing up and handling things on their own. This isn't a kid! He is an ADULT who chose to go to that college, who chose to play basketball. He should handle it.

What is there to do?

"So you teach your son to be constantly on guard for a cheap shot by coaches or everyone? I don't care how big you are - if you're not expecting to get hit it will mess you up when you get blindsided."

This kid wasn't standing on the sideline talking to his friend, he was in the middle of what appeared to be a VERY physical drill, teaching the kids to box out, fight for the ball and keep your balance.

The kid fell on his butt and bit his lip. No worse then if he took a charge.

I don't care if they suspend, fine or fire the coach, the question was, "What if this guy were your kid's coach?"

Once again, THIS IS NOT A KID!

I agree that the player is an adult and can handle this himself but you can still get upset as a parent.

Did you play sports? While this sounds very sarcastic I truly don't mean it that way. I played football and the worst hits I got were from the ones I never saw coming. I've played pick up basketball games and you get a screen set on you without seeing it coming may cause your head and feet to trade places. They hurt quite a bit. This player never saw the hit coming from the coach and I can see where it probably jacked him up.

NP13,

This player did handle the situation as best as he could. He was assaulted and blindsided by his coach and he simply went to the back of the drill line. That showed maturity and respect for a coach who, seconds before, became unentitled to that respect.

Would you have rather the kid stand up and retaliate? I have a son who, if a coach did that to him, would drop him where he stood without hesitation. Is that the right way to handle it? I've never even thought about it before, since it's the last thing one would expect from a coach.

Simply, there is no jutification for a coach to hit a player. None.

With that video, it's obvious the coach needs to be fired. I've always preached to my son to never let anyone use him as a punching bag and to stop it before anyone gets the first shot in. I don't care who it is. However, since this lowlife is the last person you'd expect to get coldcocked by, the AD has to fire him immediately and the player bring criminal charges is the right thing to do. This loose cannon has to be fired on the spot and brought up on charges. He has no justification slugging a player like that and no business being a college coach.

quote:

....and the player bring criminal charges is the right thing to do

An action within the "code of conduct" may be justified but criminal actions are a bit outside the box. The news this morning stated that the team supported the coach, which suggests is there is more to the story than the 20 second clip IMO.

Was this a case where adrenalin took over ? Are there other incidents of this coach being abusive ? Was the player not doing what he was told ? Was the coach drilling these players hard because they've been soft during games ? Too many unknowns within a team of adults in an athletic situation for any of us to draw conclusions. If every physical altercation that took place in college athletics was strewn over the net for public scrutiny and the aggressor, coach or player, was criminally charged the prison system would have some great teams in every sport that never play away games.

I'll bet if you polled college athletes and Moms/Dads you will get a different opinion from each group.

So every time a coach has his adrenalin rush, he can cheapshot with an elbow to the face, kick a player when he is down and tell him "to get the f_ck out of the gym" after he gets up, handles the issue without emotion and walks to the back of the line.

NP, when your large adult son does nothing and takes the abuse the first time, how would you handle it as a Dad when it happens again.

I have always told my son to tell somebody one time, that he is not going to take sh_t and if it happens again, take care of the issue yourself. He may do it with another kid, but with a coach, I don't see that happening.

As a Dad, I'll always have my son's back, whether he is a large adult or a kid. I would presume most Dads would but perhaps your different.

quote:

Originally posted by rz1:
The news this morning stated that the team supported the coach, which suggests is there is more to the story than the 20 second clip IMO.

Standard response. Indiana's basketball team responded the same way when Knight staged a "whipping incident" of a black player in chains, when he smacked a kid on the bench and when he threw chairs on the floor during a game.

Teams wlll first react by supporting their coach, almost always.

If the University, given their mission statement, supports him after the investigation...that will be telling. Right now, the team's support means nothing.

I sure am glad that video from basic training incidents are not available for others to judge.

Many will say this is two different scenarios, they're not IMO. There are many pencil-pushing service men and women who go through physical and mental anguish because it's part of the training process and college sports may be even more physically demanding because of the long term. The only difference here is that a freakin' camera captured the moment and I would bet some tree-hugging, coach-hating, non-athlete wanted to make a point that the world is a cruel place so they put their opinion on the web using a clip that may not tell the whole story.

IMHO, most adult athletes would rather get a physical "shove" than a verbal beat-down from a coach in front of their teammates if they are in the wrong.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimmy03:
Teams wlll first react by supporting their coach, almost always.

To this day, almost to the man, past IU players will say Bobby Knight was one of the most influential teachers in their lives. Pure respect from an athletes POV

This is why I usually stay out off "opinion" discussions on this site.

COACH 2709 - Yes, I played football and wrestled. We had a big strong old school defensive coordinater, that would hit kids in the chest during drills. If you did not have a strong base it would send kids a$$ over teacups. One of my best coaches ever. During wrestling, college kids would come back during Christmas break and put a beating on the high school kids. Never once would I have thought to cry to my parents. I doubt it was a coincidence that both teams were ranked as high as 2nd in the state my senior year.

Baseballdad 1228 - I have no problem with the way the kid handled it at the time, other then I would have like to see him pop back up quicker. Once this leads to "assault" charges and news clips and lawsuits, that is what I don't like.


rz1 - I agree 100%

"An action within the "code of conduct" may be justified but criminal actions are a bit outside the box. The news this morning stated that the team supported the coach, which suggests is there is more to the story than the 20 second clip IMO."

zombywolf - We just disagree, I have no problem with that, but if that is considered "coldcocked" and deserves assault charges, I would have had to file complaints agains most of my friends during high school.

quote:

Originally posted by NP13:
Nothing. The kid is an adult. A very large adult at that. What is there to do?

Doesn't everybody on this site constantly talk abour kids growing up and handling things on their own. This isn't a kid! He is an ADULT who chose to go to that college, who chose to play basketball. He should handle it.

What is there to do?

I think you are using the term adult too loosely to imply he should be physically able to take care of himself. The problem with that is many kids, especially white middle to upper class kids are taught, even brainwashed to follow authority. In a college sports environment, no one has more authority in the kids minds than the coach. So even if the kid were physically capable of defending himself against a person of the coaches physical stature, he would not react the same way with his coach. There are several reasons for this which should be obvious to anyone who has played sports.
Furthermore, as the old saying goes, "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog". Many of us are still capable of beating our sons in a fight even if they are bigger and stronger than we are. That is also related to what I mentioned earlier regarding respect for authority figures.
Regardless these so called adults(depending on their age or how you define it), are still many times emotionally/mentally immature in comparison to their bodies.



In the case of this basketball coach, the player was certainly not expecting his coach to physically attack him, regardless of the coaches size. If the player had gotten up and knocked the coach down and kicked him, what do you think would have happened to the kid? You don't need to answer that question because everyone knows what would have happened. So even if the kid is an adult in your mind, you know full well he would not be able to deal with the coach as he would with a stranger who assaulted him.

As I said earlier in this thread, that is why I would be having a private meeting with the coach if it were my son.

quote:

Vector quote:
I think you are using the term adult too loosely to imply he should be physically able to take care of himself. The problem with that is many kids, especially white middle to upper class kids are taught, even brainwashed to follow authority.

Maybe a simple time-out was in order for the yuppie in training.

Proud Dad 24 -

Before I posted this morning, I asked my NOT VERY BIG 16 year old son to watch the video, and I asked him what he would expect me to do if a 50 year old guy knocked him on his a$$ during a physical drill like that. Without hesitation, he said he would expect me to laugh at him. Then I asked him what he would want me to do and he said, "are you kidding me? Nothing".

I can assure you my son does not question weather or not I "have his back".

I'm late to this thread but what the heck.

I don't think a coach should ever hit a player in anger like this jack a$$ did. Coaches move players into a position sternly sometimes in frustration or grab a face mask now and then, no big deal. But to diliberately run over a player with obvious anger and hostility is over the line. I do think this coach should be disciplined in some manner.

Regarding what the player could or should do depends on whether or not the coach has the respect of the player/s before an incident like this happens. If the coach has the respect the player will most likely move to the next spot in line like this player did. I would expect the coach to have a discussion about the situation once all calmed down.

If respect is lacking and the coach has acted stupid before, and team moral is low, the player might react harshly. A verbal lashing back from the player could lead to something more physical. Then everybody loses. Coaches have to earn respect and the benefit of the doubt from their players.

Not sure what I personally would do, but it would probably depend on how my son handled the situation. If it played out either of the above ways I would most likely be OK with either one.

The team may be backing the coach out of fear of retaliation.

In any event, the actions described are a crime, and should be handled as such. There is NOTHING about being in a sports situation that excuses this kind of thing.

If the coach had any decency he would have resigned by now. Apparently some other, mature adults in authority will need to intervene.

I can't remember which HSBBW Old Timer originally posted the article below several years ago. (Thanks again to whomever did). But it is TRULY a classic, and this seems like a good time to revisit it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03...agazine/28COACH.html

How times have changed. The following story is not an endorsement of the basketball coach's actions.

When I was a high school sophomore in the first position practice I went with the defensive backs. A coach came up to me, grabbed me hard by by the arm and dragged me to the linebackers group. He yelled at me I was a linebacker in 9th grade. I told him I didn't feel I was big enough to play linebacker on varsity and I was fast enough to play db.

He made me line up in a formation where the linebacker (me) became an extra lineman. I got buried by a 260 pound lineman. I weighed 170. The coach got in my face. He screamed to the point where he was spitting in my face. Then he lined up against me without equipment. I didn't know what to do. On the snap he drove his fist into my Adam's apple. I was rolling on the ground choking. Once I was up on a knee he told me loud enough to everyone to hear I was a ***** and go with the db's. The only thing I said was "Yes sir." I never told my parents.

Note: I was the starting safety by the third game of soph year. I was the lightest player on defense at 170.

quote:

Here's a coach who is so intense. Yet he's never laid a hand on anybody.

From MTH's article.

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
How times have changed.
On the snap he drove his fist into my Adam's apple. I was rolling on the ground choking. Once I was up on a knee he told me loud enough to everyone to hear I was a ***** and go with the db's. The only thing I said was "Yes sir." I never told my parents.

Interesting story, but if he had accidentally collapsed your trachea, you might have died on the field due to a "fist to your adams apple".

I suspect coaches are not trying to injure a player when they do something stupid like that, but it is still inexcusable.

A coach can be successful without physically hurting their players. I think a guy named John Wooden won a few games with words, not fists.