Coaches Fired For Mistreatment

[zippyrifle32]

Are coaches going crazy or do players now have enough self confidence to stand up to bullies? Should players put up with some level of physical contact from coaches? How does yelling and hitting an adult football player improve his performance?

There has always been a significant subset of coaches in all sports at all levels who see intimidation or humiliation as legitimate tools of motivation or discipline. I think perhaps the question is one of degree. Are there circumstances where yelling at a kid not only can be wholely warranted but entirely constructive? Sure. Nearly all of us probably can relate a story where getting an energetic earful proved helpful in our development as human beings.But there is no question in my mind that there are a great number of coaches who cross the same blurred lines that some parents do, where what might be intended as something constructive escalates into something that can only be described as abuse.Where those blurred lines lie is not something easily described or agreed upon, but I will say that the coach or the parent that leans more than rarely on the intimidation/humiliation crutch is treading some very dangerous territory when it comes to developing young people in a healthy and constructive way. And if they don't have other effective methods for motivation and instruction in their toolbox, then they can only be described as incompetent boobs.Just my two cents.

I totally agree. And in some respects, I can't wait for a player to take a swing back at his coach.

[Hilltopper]

Are coaches going crazy or do players now have enough self confidence to stand up to bullies? Should players put up with some level of physical contact from coaches? How does yelling and hitting an adult football player improve his performance?

There has always been a significant subset of coaches in all sports at all levels who see intimidation or humiliation as legitimate tools of motivation or discipline. I think perhaps the question is one of degree. Are there circumstances where yelling at a kid not only can be wholely warranted but entirely constructive? Sure. Nearly all of us probably can relate a story where getting an energetic earful proved helpful in our development as human beings.But there is no question in my mind that there are a great number of coaches who cross the same blurred lines that some parents do, where what might be intended as something constructive escalates into something that can only be described as abuse.Where those blurred lines lie is not something easily described or agreed upon, but I will say that the coach or the parent that leans more than rarely on the intimidation/humiliation crutch is treading some very dangerous territory when it comes to developing young people in a healthy and constructive way. And if they don't have other effective methods for motivation and instruction in their toolbox, then they can only be described as incompetent boobs.Just my two cents.

I totally agree. And in some respects, I can't wait for a player to take a swing back at his coach.

Next time I see Ryan Andrick, I'll ask him how it felt.

[jaycevs]

I have not seen the whole South Florida situation, but it seems early to judge what happened, it looked like he did not do anything wrong, but had people try to cover it up anyway probably because he saw what had happened at Kansas,etc. All I know about Leavitt is that he started that program from scratch, and had opportunities to leave to places like Alabama and Miami and chose to stay. In my opinion, someone will get a value when they hire this coach. Guys like him and Randy Edsall are rare, staying at their programs even though we know the offers have been there. In general, Tough but Fair= don't have a problem with it, especially since I have not heard of any of these coaches hitting a player. Would I want this in Akron, sure, our players need their asses kicked after last year, and I hope Coach gives it to them. I don't know how many of you on here criticized our lack of contact last year in camp, or saw the Steelers softest camp in the NFL come back to bite them. I know the Browns got better during the year with the hardest camp in the NFL. Notre Dame was a soft program, I have been reading the Kelly articles about how he plans to break those guys down, with their sense of entitlement that came from the Weis era. However, I know Coach worked for Barry Alvarez also, a team that has had a history of punching more talented teams in the face. I want to see us play someone, be more physical, make them play our game, and go into games knowing they will be hurting that next week.

[dbbii]

Living in Tampa (yeah, that's where USF is) here's my take.Some boosters were beginning to feel that the coach (Jim Leavett) had gotten the program as far as he could take it. They needed someone to "get it to the next level" Sound familiar?Leavitt had about 5 years remaining on his contract, and USF isn't really in a position to buy him out. The way the whole thing came down allowed the University to fire him "for cause" and get out of paying most of his contract.Did he hit the player? Well, he claims he did not. Multiple other players claimed he did. Leavitt has a reputation of yelling, head butting, etc. so the general feeling was this was not out of character for him. If he would have apologized, it probably would have blown over.

[GP1]

Adam James is a spoiled brat and his father is a jack-ass who used his position at ESPN to pressure coaches to play his son more. ESPN won't report it as that because they always protect their own and don't want to look bad.

Like I said, ESPN protects their own. An ESPN insider blasts his own network for Alamo Bowl coverage of this issue.