MBA

[onetwotwoone]

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 play linebacker for the Big Red. 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 so you all can get a view from a player.

 

Coach M 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. Of the field he is a good person and mentor. He has encouraged me to become a better student and person. 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. 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 (100 on the team, 2 have problems). 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, and generally they stem from players and parents thinking they should be starting when they are not. 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.)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

 

 

Well said. The most factually accurate and articulate post on this entire thread.

[CoachT]

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 play linebacker for the Big Red. 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 so you all can get a view from a player.

 

Coach M 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. Of the field he is a good person and mentor. He has encouraged me to become a better student and person. 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. 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 (100 on the team, 2 have problems). 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, and generally they stem from players and parents thinking they should be starting when they are not. 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.)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

Excellent post

[Mohair]

If these violations occurred in 2008, without the coach's knowledge, why is he being fired? Perhaps the parties who supplied the tuition should step up and absolve McGugin. The school could admit the violation, pay the fine, and accept the consequences. That's what gentlemen would do!

[sarahpalin]

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

 

James ,

well spoken and I do appluad you for standing up and not hiding behind a screen name in support of your coach.

However I think i can tell you just about any player from FRA, Brentwood,Oakland, Maryville and East Memphis would say the same about thier coach.

Is your ex coach a scapegoat ? I wont answer that - Did he know what was going on ? I wont answer that - time will tell.

 

call it Fin. assistance and i will still tell you its recruiting. . . . .

 

im still looking for the tuba player at MBA ,BA or Ensowrth from East nashville

[retiredtothebleachers]

A private school cheating is not so unbelievable. Its been going on for decades. Its sad, but it happens. What is more unbelievable is that they got caught and now all those who regularly stated "prove it"... well, here you go.

 

This is just the tip of the iceberg. It happens all over with privates.

 

The sad part is that Bernard wont have the backbone to have TSSAA do anything about this MBA fiasco. He will say they handled it internally and TSSAA is satisfied with that.

 

There was recently a case involving illegal "tuition forgiveness" involving a BGA athlete that just recently transfered to a public school. It was an effort to get the sthlete to stay and they threatened his eligibility. Benard knows about it, knows they illegally forgave the student's tuition. He did nothing.

 

 

There is egg on MBA's face, but that will be the end of it.

[futurembaboy]

Gentleman, Scholar, Athlete.........The essence of what it means to be a part of the great tradition of Montgomery Bell Academy.

 

These words were chosen carefully many years ago. They apply to the students but must be exemplified by the Board, the Headmaster, and the Coaches. It is so unfortunate that majority of the responses to the circumstances revolving around Coach McGugin are simply not founded in truth. Rules have been broken, promises breached, and unfortunately, to this moment, there has been a false sense of accountability provided by him.

 

The problem began years ago. Unethical decisions prompted yet another unethical decision, then another.............. The "spin" on all of this has been his unsuccessful attempt to cover up what seems to be a pattern of behavior. Putting any blame on any person or any thing, other than Coach McGugin is truly unfortunate and dismaying.

 

It is sad that the actual facts involved in this situation may never come to light. In the meantime, I suggest that everyone remember that the end result of this is that Coach McGugin did something wrong. MBA administration recognized the facts quickly, and acted appropriately. If they did not believe that he had done anything wrong, he would not have been asked to resign. it is my belief that if the leaders of our country would act in a similar way, we would all benefit beyond imagination.

[countrycan]

An interesting read...

 

My question is with no apparent violation (see the newspaper) then why remove the coach?

 

Sounds like some big $ (Bill Wilson, etc) gave the headmaster no choice.

[oblong]

An interesting read...

 

My question is with no apparent violation (see the newspaper) then why remove the coach?

 

Sounds like some big $ (Bill Wilson, etc) gave the headmaster no choice.

Over the yrs of C McGugin's tenure, there have been several families and young men who have had conflicts with the coach. Bullying players, verbal abuse, etc on the part of the coach led to these conflicts. Notwithstanding young Mr Kay's loyalty to his coach, there are many who believe C McGugin's treatment of these young men was highly inappropriate. In reading between the lines, using the financial aid event as a reason for dismissal is a convenient smokescreen and gift from the school to the coach. Better to lose your job on a technicality in interpreting TSSAA rules than to go public with accusations of bullying and mistreatment of young boys, especially if you want to coach again. MBA is not beholden to any large donor ( Tommy Frist as an example), so I doubt that a big donor pushed him out the door.

[Hoganknows]

After reading the story in the Nashville Tennessean this morning...one of the Gentlemen or Athletes needs to informed Daniel he has been fired...Good Luck to All

[TNMan11]

Over the yrs of C McGugin's tenure, there have been several families and young men who have had conflicts with the coach. Bullying players, verbal abuse, etc on the part of the coach led to these conflicts. Notwithstanding young Mr Kay's loyalty to his coach, there are many who believe C McGugin's treatment of these young men was highly inappropriate. In reading between the lines, using the financial aid event as a reason for dismissal is a convenient smokescreen and gift from the school to the coach. Better to lose your job on a technicality in interpreting TSSAA rules than to go public with accusations of bullying and mistreatment of young boys, especially if you want to coach again. MBA is not beholden to any large donor ( Tommy Frist as an example), so I doubt that a big donor pushed him out the door.

Thank you for speaking for the silent majority. This could only have happened if the above were true. These are the same reasons he lost his job at FRA. Abusing players, parents, not keeping his word (lying), and unethical promises dumped on and cleaned up by the boosters/parents. With the above being his report card as a mentor to these young men, he should not be in a position to cause this type of problem a third time. Thanks again for putting some sanity into these post!!!

[KWoodroof]

On your way to meet with the headmaster, you probably walked past the Partick Wilson Library. Or while in school there you might have applied for a Wilson Language Grant, a Wilson Science and Engineering Grant, or a Wilson Student Grant. I'm assuming "this guy" is one in the same, but I may be wrong.

I'm not sure of any of the Wilson grants or their origin, but Patrick Wilson Library was the product of a "generous gift from Mrs. Justin Potter," Whose grandson Patrick had attended MBA's lower school, and died in a car crash (Wills, 2005, p. 266)

[TheBigRedDog]

I have spoken with someone close to the situation and this is what I was told:

 

The MBA player in question suffered a concussion during a football game at MBA and was taken by ambulance to the hospital. The money raised by a group of parents was to help with his medical bills that insurance did not cover (perhaps ambulance ride, multiple follow up MRIs, etc) and NOT with tuition. A check was written and given to McGugan, the head coach, who, in turn, gave it to the parents of the player. Simple as that.

 

I was alao told that there is indeed a small faction of parents, students, and board members who have had it in for Daniel for some time now. Reasons for this are that he is supposedly too hard on the kids in practice, uses abusive language, and hasn't given enough playing time to certain kids. While this small group of detractors does exist, I'm told the majority of folks on The Hill support Daniel. Mr. Kay's statement above seems to confirm this.

 

This is what I was told by a current MBA parent and fellow alumnus whose child is not a football player. Take it for what it is worth.

 

To me, the manner in which this whole situation has been handled is an embarrassment. Perhaps Daniel did do something wrong. I don't know. We may never know. But, I think in this situation you've got to look to the top at the man in charge, Brad Gioia. Asking Daniel to step down? If you're going to fire the man, just sack up and fire him. Don't put out a press release stating "I've asked Daniel to step down as football coach, but to remain as a teacher". What a joke! As a proud MBA graduate, I have had enough. Let me be the first on this board to call for him to step down as headmaster. He can always stay on as a teacher.

Edited April 16, 2011 by TheBigRedDog