PLAYING FAVORITES AND SO SO PLAYERS

[Guest BADBLUE]

THIS IS A CONTINUATION OF A THREAD,WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE THREAD (OPINIONS WANTED:FACTORS OF SUCCESS)ELA/MODERATOR HAD REAL GOOD OPINIONS ON WHAT IT TAKES TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM YEAR AFTER YEAR. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW YOUR OPINIONS OF YOUR FAVORITE TEAM'S COACHING STAFF. HOW IS THEIR COMMUNICATION SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE OF THE GAME AND ASST. COACHES? DO YOU FEEL THEY PLAY FAVORITES OPPOSED TO PLAYING PLAYERS WITH THE BEST ABILITY? WHY IS IT WHEN YOU HEAR ABOUT THIS FAVORITISM, ITS ALWAYS FROM PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND NOT PRIVATE? PLEASE READ OPINIONS WANTED: FACTORS OF SUCCESS AND POST YOUR OPINIONS ON PLAYING FAVORITES AND SO SO PLAYERS.

[mrsoddydaisy]

Private school coaches recruit who they want, so that does not happen there.

[CoachT]

I've always felt that this complaint was the least credible excuse that parents/fans could use, and I say that as a parent myself. I heard it in high school thirty years ago when I played, I heard it when I coached in South Carolina, and I heard it when I coached back here in Tennessee. I heard it with state playoff teams and again with 1-9 teams.

 

If nothing else, few if any coaches would have the luxury of doing such a thing even if they wanted to. There were times I looked around and thought "If only I had a kid to put in the defensive secondary that I wasn;t afraid would get killed if I put him in. The ones I thought wouldn't get hurt, literally, were already on the field.

 

I also heard the statement a lot that "only the rich kids get to play". What nonsense. When I played there were numerous kids who had to catch rides to and from practice because not only did they not have cars, their parents didn't either. One who I heard this said about was an All-State player, signed with UT, and started for the Vols his last two years. Some of our players hauled hay between two-a-day practices because their parets needed them on the farm. When I coached I had several starters who hitchhiked home every night after practice.

 

However, "occasionally" you have a kid who can play whose parent's happen to be well-off. So, you get criticized for playing him only because his parents have money.

 

Now, do coaches play "favorites"? Somewhat. But, the reason they are the favorites is because they can play. Coaches tend to like that. How odd.

[Guest caligula]

Maybe at UTC. When Maryville went 15-0 you had parents who said Hammontree only played favorites and who he liked. They even complained about Nick Giles the Freshman QB but no other Freshman had ever played QB and could not throw...people were jealous because he dressed out on Fridays, but he just kept stats. This may go on on rual crappy teams are in big cities with a school in a close-nit community where everyone knows everyone. But those team stink anyway.

[Guest BADBLUE]

FIRST LET SAY THANKS YOU GUYS FOR YOUR RESPONSE.THE SUBJECT CAME UP BECAUSE OF A GAME I ATTENDED TWO WEEKS AGO.I DRIVE A TRUCK FOR A LIVING ,WHICH ON FRIDAY NIGHTS BRINGS ME TO DIFFERENT TOWNS,THIS NIGHT I WAS IN CHATTANOOGA.THEIR WAS A YOUNG MAN ON THE SIDELINE, WHO MANY FELT SHOULD BE PLAYING,BUT WAS NOT.FANS SAID THE YOUNG MAN RAN A 4.5 FORTY,SAID HE WORKED HARD IN PRACTICE ,SAID HE WAS VERY RESPECTFUL,SAID HIS TEAMMATES LIKE HIM,SAID HE WAS CHRISTIAN,ALSO HE WAS THE BEST ATHLETE ON THE TEAM.I WANTED TO KNOW THEN WHY IS HE NOT PLAYING,ANSWER I GOT WAS VERY DISTURBING.COMING OUT OF MIDDLE SCHOOL THIS YOUNG MAN MOTHER HAD MADE ARRANGMENTS FOR HIM TO ATTEND PRIVATE SCHOOL.BUT SHE DIED, AND HE END STAYING AT PUBLIC SCHOOL.THEY SAID THIS IS THE REASON AND ONLY REASON THIS YOUNG MAN WAS NOT BEING ALLOW TO PLAY,THAT THE COACH WAS UPSET THAT HIS FIRST CHOICE WAS PRIVATE BEFORE PUBLIC.

[tackle]

You should probably only believe 10% of what you hear people in the stands saying. Most of them aren't at practice everyday and they don't have near as much insight as they think they do. I'm sure there are coaches who may unfairly treat a few players, but I would say that is the exception to the rule.

 

I remember sitting in the stands one night listening to a "fan" criticize a coach over and over for his choice of quarterbacks. He felt the coach was playing favorites and wasn't playing the best kid. The "fan" moaned about how unfair it was to the team, the fans and the whole town.

 

The team was Gallatin, the coach was Calvin Short and the game was in the second round of the playoffs with the Green Wave winning to go 12-0 on the season.

 

I personally had a hard time believing anything that "fan" had to complain about.

[Edited by tackle on 9-26-02 8:26A]

 

[Guest MailMan]

Posted by mrsoddydaisy:Private school coaches recruit who they want, so that does not happen there.

 

I am not even going to respond to this outrageous remark! Again not all Privates...

[ELA]

Good head coaches listen to their assistant coaches and play who they say is ready! I don't know of many coaches who don't play the best 11-15 players in every game (22-25 if they platoon). I have always depended upon my assistant coaches to tell me who is ready to start on any given week and the trainers play a role when it comes to injuries. If a kid is less than 100% you have to ask yourself is the starter at 60% as good as his second at 100%? You also have to ask yourself if the starter can be 100% the next week if you limit his playing time this week!

 

I'm sure there are some coaches who tend to play their favorites, but I think the term "their favorites" comes from what they see in practice each week. The kid that comes out and works his behind off may not be as good an athlete as his second but I will try to find a way to work a good kid "into the mix" if he is ready and the starter isn't performing up to his ability.

 

You are exactly right about the fans not being at practice! You just don't know who has twisted an ankle the day before a game, who missed practice, was in detention, or broke some team rules during the week of preparation for the game. You don't know when one guy shows up with a bad attitude and his position coach decides to start another kid over him for a quarter to see if that results in an attitude adjustment. All of these things are coaching decisions and the average fan would not be privy to these events.

[Guest caligula]

The most vocal critics are usually women...they talk too much. Some of what you were talking about, respectful...liked...and a Christian are good attributes to have but do not translate to field success. Also it helps to be a good athlete but that doesn't mean a good football player. I played with kids who ran 4.6's squatted 400 benched 300 and had 40in verticles but they played guard tackle and end (you know the joke). If you bust assignments and can't do the plays right you need to be on the sidelines. Don't listen to the fans that wear poodle sweaters. Don't listen to em.

[wardawg2038]

To me I think few coaches play favorites. Many reasons for that. I think all the above responses are good. Coaches are with these kids every day sometimes more than their parents. The coach nows which kid can perform and get the job done and which kid is not ready and may struggle. For all the talk about high school sports andhow they help the maturity process, leadship skills and teach kids alot the bottom line sadly anymore for the coach is win or get fired! So I feel in alot of situations the coach does not have the luxury of playing a less talented player that he happens to like over a more talented player. Coaches want to see their teams succeed and they will play their best 11 every Friday night unless something has happened such as injury, disciplinary action, blown assignments or something that most fans and parents may not know about. I feel alot of times this playing favorites comes from a kid's parent or parents who feel their child should be playing more or who wants their child to be as talented as they were or thoughtt they were. So I try not to pay attention to the nonsense as a coach even though it is hard at times. I hope I have helped.

[Guest BADBLUE]

ALSO LET ME INCLUDE,AFTER THE GAME I HAD THE PLEASURE OF MEETING THIS YOUNG MAN.I MENTION, THAT I 'VE HEARD SOME VERY NICE REMARKS ABOUT HIM,HIS RESPONSE WAS THINK YOU SIR I APPRECIATE IT.I WATCH HIM DOING THE GAME ,ALWAYS CHEERING AND OFFERING TEAMMATES ENCOURAGEMENT . HE WAS SECOND IN LINE TO SHAKE HANDS AFTER THE GAME AND HE APPEARED TO BE VERY POPULAR WITH THE OPPOSING TEAM.AFTER HE SAID HIS PRAYER,I ASK HIM WAS HE ANGRY ABOUT NOT PLAYING.HE SAID NO SIR,BUT I'M ANGRY FOR THE TEAM, WE CAME UP A LITTLE SHORT TONIGHT.BUT COME PRACTICE MONDAY,WE WILL IMPROVE ON SOME THINGS,THEN MAYBE WE WILL COME OUT ON TOP NEXT WEEK.IF I WAS A COACH OF ANY SPORT, IT WOULD BE MY WISH TO HAVE A GROUP OF YOUNG MEN OR LADIES WITH A ATTITUDE LIKE THIS.CHATTANOOGA FANS DON'T WORRY, THIS YOUNG MAN IS GOING TO BE OKAY.

[thelma]

Super post CoachT. I think when comments come out like that they are more directed toward the childs family and not the coach. People's jealousies seem to rule them from time to time and they say things like that. Again, good post!!