JamesKay

CoachT posters, I have read through this thread and could no longer contain my views on the subject. My name is James Kay. I am a junior at MBA, and have played linebacker for the Big Red since my sophomore year. I rarely visit this website, never have posted or intended to, but I feel the need to inform you on my views on Coach McGugin and the MBA program. Mainly so you all can get a view from a player's perspective. Coach McGugin has been one of the most influential men to me on campus through out my time on the hill. He is a man of loyalty, integrity, and a brilliant football coach. As a coach, he has pushed me to limits beyond what I imagined my capabilities to be. He is intense on the field, and pushes his players to the limits. He is passionate about the game of football, and has a great love for MBA and the community surrounding it. Off the field he is an even better person and mentor. He has encouraged me to become a better student and has helped me become the man I am today. At MBA, we are generally less talented than the team lining up across from us, but somehow find a way to win. Coach McGugin is one of the main reasons why. I am a good example of what Coach McGugin and our coaching staff have done. I am a 5'10, slow, and an average athlete. If you throw me in a basketball gym I can barely get mid-net, but because I listened to Coach McGugin, along with our coaching staff, I became one of 8 underclassmen to be elected all mid state. He makes us work hard, and coaches us hard. Sadly, a few players whom I will not name, can not distinguish between being coached and a coach being mean. I am furious about the situation that has unfolded, and I can assure you that 98% of the players are too.. As you all have probably assumed, this has been a hot topic at MBA this week, and there has been overwhelming support for our Coach from the entire team. I have heard negative remarks on Coach McGugin, and none hold any ground. Some of these have come from parents complaining, and I believe it is because of lack of playing time from his/her son. I realize I am not a father yet, but when I am I can only hope I am not blinded by a false reality. He has always played the best players on the field, and some people can not accept this. TruthHurts posted, "anti teams with their starting lineup filled with players who live 40,50, and 60 miles away from their campus, anti spineless headmasters who have filled the board of trustees with "yes men", anti schools sending vans and buses to Murfreesboro and North Nashville to pick up star athletes each day before school (a privilege that is only offered to the star athletes), anti special tudors who work with star players 4 and 5 days a week just to get them to pass, anti coaches who make their players feel inferior if they play another sport other than theirs" Coach McGugin has always encouraged us to play other sports. I play three, and he was a main person who pushed me to join the wrestling team my sophomore year. Our starting lineup is consisting primarily of players who attended schools that mainly feed into MBA (Oak Hill, Harding Academy, St. Paul, Overbrook, etc.) If you do not believe me, look at the best players in our most recent graduating class (2010). Football: Fitz Lassing (Oak Hill), Basketball; Holden Mobley (Ensworth), swimming; Pat Killian (Overbrook), baseball; Jackson Roberts (Overbrook), teniss; Roger Briggs (Ensworth). Most of our team lives within 15 minutes of MBA. If a player is in academic trouble, there are no tutors that any student couldn't receive. There are no special privileges I have ever received since being on the football team. If I fail a class, get into trouble, or make bad judgement I along with every other football player has to mend it. This should be no news to anyone. This is expected because MBA is an institution where boys are to be molded into gentlemen and scholars first. As far as our headmaster goes, I have nothing but tremendous respect for him. He has been placed in an incredibly difficult situation, and has handled it with class. I do not think many of you realize how truly complicated this situation was. I will not comment on any allegation regarding the program because anything I say would leave out critical detail that is private as of now. MBA alums have been posting the names of board members who allegedly have opposed McGugin, and I ask you to please take their names down. I know three of the men and their families that have been named, and they are examples of extraordinary gentlemen that one day I aspire to be. Any problem that they have should remain PRIVATE and should not be talked about on this board. In conclusion, I ask you all to leave this topic alone. Coach McGugin will go on to bigger and better things because of the coach and man that he is. I hope to remain friends with him for a long time because he is truly a man to be admired. -James Kay Class of 2012 Roll Red