As somebody who played at DB back in the 70's, I have to say that all of this negativity (on this topic and the DB football topics) is very discouraging. If the kids that quit the teams and their teammates did so to concentrate on another sport or to improve their grades, then those choices are hard ones that happen all the time among adolescents. Hopefully, those decisions paid off. If the choices, however, were made out of spite or frustration with the coaches (or playing time or position), then I expect that the root problem is with the kid or the home situation, likely both.
Part of the sports experience is developing resilience and following authority. If the athletes balk at either of those requirements, the level of talent they possess will never be enough; there will always be a practice that is too tough, a comment that is too sharp and likely some deflection of responsibility (by the athlete or the parents) that lays the problem on the coaches, not the athlete.
Over the years, DB has had many "All-Americans" that never played a down or made a shot. They were the ones that the "Coach ran off" or "quit because he/she couldn't stand Coach X." Interestingly, we had a few of those in my class. At our reunion a few years back, one of those good athletes who quit came up to me and asked me to forgive him for "his selfishness" in quitting on his friends over 35 years ago - those were his words. He had tears in his eyes (and no there were no spirits present). It was quite moving. Many years had passed, but he still felt bad about his decision. I admired him for coming up to me, but I did not think he "let me down." Rather, he missed a lot of fun and some great memories of playing with friends and for his town. That was the sad part.
So, for those of you still close to the DB program, please think hard about blaming coaches for players who walk out on their teammates. After playing all the way through college, I seldom came across better coaches who cared more about the players than the ones I had at DB. And, if the coach makes the game a drudgery, I hope that the athlete thinks twice before quitting. By walking away, you are letting someone else keep you away from a sport that you love. That is the kind of decision that will eat at a person, especially someone who had the talent to help his teammates win some games.
Roll Tribe!