Coaching Philosophy - Suspension Question

[BDURHAM]

1) What if a coach throws a helmet, and it doesn't hit anyone. Do you suspend the coach?

 

2) What if a coach throws a helmet, and it hits a player on the shoulder pads, and does not injure the player. Do you suspend the coach?

 

3) What if a coach throws a helmet, which hits a player in the face, requiring stitches. Do you suspend the coach?

 

If hitting a player is a complete and total accident, why do you suspend the coach?

 

Has anyone ever heard of a coach being suspended for accidentally hitting a player?

[ohreally]

1). No

2). Yes

3). Yes

4). Black letter law... it is called aggravated assault accident or not.

5). Woody Hayes

[ELA]

Posted by StanTrott:

1) What if a coach throws a helmet, and it doesn't hit anyone. Do you suspend the coach?

 

2) What if a coach throws a helmet, and it hits a player on the shoulder pads, and does not injure the player. Do you suspend the coach?

 

3) What if a coach throws a helmet, which hits a player in the face, requiring stitches. Do you suspend the coach?

 

If hitting a player is a complete and total accident, why do you suspend the coach?

 

Has anyone ever heard of a coach being suspended for accidentally hitting a player?

 

I don't even know COach Tidwell, but as a football coach, I think I know how he may have felt at halftime. Many of us have been in his shoes before, and we all look for ways to motivate, even shock our players into action. Sometimes you yell, scream, shout, or sometimes you just give your team a look, and they understand you are not happy! In this case, he either attempted to demonstrate his anger and frustration with the towel and helmet(s) or it was real unchecked anger. I promise you, unless he is a real psycho case, he will never try this one again, and I'll bet, if he says the right things to this player and parent, everything will probably be okay. There are no easy or right answers to this question! I think you have to take these things one at a time. To put the matter to rest, I can say that I know of a quality professional head football coach, just down the road, who has been known to throw things around his office after a home game, and once even broke some furnature and glass at a hotel room after a road game. He makes several million dollars a year and no one ever called for his resignation for those acts. Success can overcome almost anything in this business (unless you are the head football coach at BA). Having said that, once again, I wish the Pioneers a great rebuilding season!

[BDURHAM]

Woody Hayes' hit was intentional...there is a difference.

 

Posted by ohreally:

1). No

2). Yes

3). Yes

4). Black letter law... it is called aggravated assault accident or not.

5). Woody Hayes

[ohreally]

Well, excuse me.

 

It looked intentional to me, too. But, I thought Woody said it was an accident. He was caught up in the heat of the moment and made a mistake.

[kellraiser]

Ohreally your Woody Hayes reference is absolutley ridiculous and a bunch of horse hockey. Woody walked up to a player and slung a fist out of rage. Tidwell was trying to light a fire under his kids by getting their attention by slinging some helmets. That's apples and oranges. To compare Hayes and Tidwell like that shows your lack of intellect on football and this subject.

[ohreally]

"Has anyone ever heard of a coach being suspended for accidentally hitting a player?"

 

Lighten up... All I did was answer the question.

 

I made no comparison between Hayes and Tidwell.

 

Don't read something into what I wrote that ain't there. Jeese, I know the two situations are different. I was simply making a point that accidents can happen whether they be intentional or not.

[inglewood]

why do people always use "lack of intellect" when someone posts in which someone else disagrees? I am positively sure that ohreally knows quite a lot about football. I am just sick of hearing people call each other stupid, or ignorant, or non-intellictual if the other persons opinion is not the same as yours. Its quite obvious that most people on here know a lot about football, just have a lot of difference in opinions. I would say thats an ignorant post, but I am not 10. Thanks.

[VolunteerGeneral]

It`s pretty sad when you think that a high school coach resorts to throwing things to get a point across. That`s pretty childish and immature in my book. I don`t care if it was something that was preplanned (not hitting the kid, but throwing the helmet) or just a spontaneous thing to get attention. High school coaches should never act in this manner. Four year old kids throw temper tantrums. As they get older we teach them to control their emotions. IMO...this coach acted like a four year old. You have to believe it was an accident. Surely he didn`t do it on purpose. If he did, he should be in jail and not in the classroom or football field. Regardless if it was an accident, a young high school kid got injured as a result of the coach being unable to control his emotions. In my opinion, a suspension and anger management classes are a suitable punishment. The suspension should be longer than a week. His actions have put himself and the school district into a potential legal problem. Earlier this year, I accidentally rear ended another car. Not much damage was done and no one was hurt. In fact the kid that I hit apologized for just coming to a complete stop as he was coming down the entrance ramp, but I was the one who was at fault and had to be held liable for damages. Football coaches are a dime a dozen and there is no reason to put up with this behavior.

[caffeinefree]

Could not have said it better General. Sad to see people defend an adult hurting one of his own. Coaches are many things, but this is not one of them. Make a stronger statement. 1 week just does not cut it. He has coached 2 games at WCHS. He has screwed 1/2 the time. He has children. What would he think if it was his? That was not coaching Fri. night at halftime.

[caffeinefree]

Could not have said it better General. Sad to see people defend an adult hurting one of his own. Coaches are many things, but this is not one of them. Make a stronger statement. 1 week just does not cut it. He has coached 2 games at WCHS. He has screwed 1/2 the time. He has children. What would he think if it was his? That was not coaching Fri. night at halftime.

[popeyethesailor]

If you've got the respect of your players and the team believes in what you're teaching them, seems you could fix problems without getting too deep into this stuff. If you've got to throw stuff, kick and yell, maybe the problem is too big to fix at halftime. Maybe you wait til practice Monday and re-establish the ground rules. As CoachT said earlier, every coach has probably dodged a bullet like this at one time or another.

[Edited by popeyethesailor on 9-2-02 6:54P]