Signal Mountain

[ferrell]

Coach Lennon didn't become an All-American wrestler, a state champion coach and a top level theater instructor because he is laid back and lacks a backbone. His passion and energy level have been what has inspired his former pupils at ND & Cleveland to be CHAMPIONS (on and off the mat)for the last 2 decades. He has a gift to push and inspire kids to be the best they can be. Does he give kids tough love? You bet he does! The sad thing is too many parents these days want to protect their kids from tough love. And this includes proper discipline and being held accountable for their actions in and out of school. Is pushing a kid to be the best they can be and not taking excuses abusive? I don't think so. Now maybe his intensity and approach were not a great fit for Signal Mountain. That happens sometimes.

 

That being said, every single person I know in the ND and Cleveland communities supports Coach Lennon and appreciates his passion for developing champions in wrestling, the theater and in life. I just hope the parents of the kids Coach Lennon was trying to help and discipline will get a clue and try to work harder on their kids than trying to ruin the reputation of a legendary teacher and coach.

[TNWrestling]

TNwrestling- you seem to be a big supporter of Coach Lennon's. I can understand not wanting to face the truth about someone you like, but isn't that what Coach Paterno did in the case of Sandusky? I don't have a dog in the fight either but I do know that there were numerous kids mistreated by Coach Lennon. They werent just yelled at and pushed to work hard. One kid wasnt even allowed to wrestle last year because Coach Lennon didn't want him to beat the boys who were older than him. That same kid was told that he was not to be doing extra practice during the offseason. Coach Lennon didn't want any of the kids wrestling Freestyle/Greco or doing any extra work to get better. He wanted total control of when they wrestled and what weight they wrestled. He had 4 hour practices on many school days and at least 1 hour of that would be running sprints. He had emotional outbursts that made the kids afraid to talk to him at all. He may have been a great wrestler and a good coach at one time, but obviously he is having some personal issues now.

 

An hour of sprints I doubt it, running maybe. But are you saying having long, tough practices is a bad thing? How else do you make champions?

[SMwrestlingFan]

Absolute travesty by Signal Mountain school administration, this is on them. John Lenon is a leader of men, a teacher/great coach who guides learning in life lessons..... you know the stuff you look back on later in LIFE and say thank goodness he was there for me.

 

What is the lesson in this situation?

 

This is another example of a serious lack of real leadership, an absence of support and double dealing by administration. Leadership is doing the right thing and is built on discipline, follow through on that promise of structure and the respect that gains. Clearly, there are well documented examples of the serious lack of disciple in the athletic programs and in the general school population.

 

But let's stick to wrestling on this board....

The schools wrestling program is in a building mode, setting the foundations for future success of its alumni (read: life lessons), up-and-coming athletes, our school and our community. I saw a bright future with a clear upward trend in wrestling skills, growing participation and results during Coach Lenon's time as head coach. Administration failed to support these efforts at best - at worst they did not understand them. Administration completely failed to support this effort with the very poorly handled change of an assistant coach a year ago. The ex-coach drove a campaign to discredit and demean the program building effort through the children; yes he took his anger for removal to the wrestlers and parents (after assaulting Lenon)....the result various negative letters to administration, several unsigned....all this is on the Principal's poor handling of the change. They follow this absolute fumble by limiting the replacement effort from qualified candidates only putting a man in place at the last minute, loosing valuable summer coaching time with the team.

 

Pushing on, when you build a program you need every teaching minute you can get, all hands on deck and a man in every roster/weight class. Since wrestling is a team sport (ask Hixson) a responsible coach wrestles as many men as possible.....some parents believe a kid should pick his roster spot, limit the teams ability to win, pick when he has to make weight...all driven by his parents; who log a negative letter to administration against the program building efforts.

 

These are examples of what Lenon was faced with before we even get to Mr Presley. Lenon forges on installing a wrestling team (wrestlers & families included) code of conduct contract modeled after the one used by Bradley Co. that clearly outlines the expectations and consequences for our team conduct.....young mister Presley is a story in lost opportunities, a young man who just can not control himself, (this community knows his true colors) continually makes choices that negatively effect the wrestling teams ability to win, his classmates, his family & himself. Due to his absence for various cause: he was suspended again, he was skipping school, he did not want to, ect...you pick the excuse. And yet he is given MANY opportunities to return to the team, I believe in second chances & so does John Lenon --- another SPECIAL conduct contract is used and signed by Brock, Coaching staff and administration...JUST THIS YEAR.

 

You ask yourself how much "stuff" is to much!!

 

All this before Brock goes to an off campus school activity, a wrestling match at Ooltawah, while serving a school suspension (again!!) for his actions at the city park. Being present is against Hamilton Co rules, the SM wrestling conduct contract AND his SPECIAL conduct contract. Then looses control of himself when asked to keep quite or move to the stands and engages in yelling at Lenon in front of another community, their wrestlers and coaches, only to be restrained by team mates. I for one would really like to see the video on this final display, I bet formal charges of assault could be leveled and stick.

 

REALLY! Just how much is to much!!

 

Back door double dealing by administration lead to another example of lacking leadership or DISCIPLINE in a situation that is clear cut; they would like us to think that John just resigned.

 

I know let's ask the children we are to be TEACHING if all this is going to OK with them!! REALLY!!

 

The whole thing stinks!!

It stinks for young Mr. Presly -- who is just begging for some structure and direction, that I hope he finds.

It stinks MOST for the wrestling team members who did do the right thing, act the right way and who started the building process now left un-supported by administration and finds itself back at square one.

It stinks for our community!!

 

I support John Lenon.

[SMwrestlingFan]

TNwrestling- you seem to be a big supporter of Coach Lennon's. I can understand not wanting to face the truth about someone you like, but isn't that what Coach Paterno did in the case of Sandusky? I don't have a dog in the fight either but I do know that there were numerous kids mistreated by Coach Lennon. They werent just yelled at and pushed to work hard. One kid wasnt even allowed to wrestle last year because Coach Lennon didn't want him to beat the boys who were older than him. That same kid was told that he was not to be doing extra practice during the offseason. Coach Lennon didn't want any of the kids wrestling Freestyle/Greco or doing any extra work to get better. He wanted total control of when they wrestled and what weight they wrestled. He had 4 hour practices on many school days and at least 1 hour of that would be running sprints. He had emotional outbursts that made the kids afraid to talk to him at all. He may have been a great wrestler and a good coach at one time, but obviously he is having some personal issues now.

 

Kale needed to wrestle in the 8th grade last year, not varsity. When you build a program (I know it is long view) you move to keep kids motivated, being a varsity team member is surely that for Kale and his parents. Add to that that Kale actually lead the middle school team to many victories, had a great year and won the county trophy for himself....again building a program you want motivated, confident wrestlers that know how to win and lead their team. I am sure these were the goals Lenon had for Kale, because I spoke with John about this point

 

Kale and the other stud freshman are (or were) the foundation for future program achievements....at least they should be, now that we are back to square one ....I guess we will see.

 

If the roster/weight classes are not full with 14 wrestlers (SM has yet to have a full squad), your challenge and beating another of the few who can wrestle for your team is of NO USE TO THE TEAM!! Be a team member not a selfish deva & deva 'rents, help your squad win where ever you can...sometime that means you do one or two things you don't want to do. HELLO, welcome to being a freshman.

 

 

BTW: I know for a fact that Lenon never asked kids not to do summer workouts, he made himself available and lead our team with/through summer workouts.....I never once saw Kale.

[SMwrestlingFan]

I'm late joining this conversation, but would someone answer this question: if Coach Lennon did these horrible, unlawful things, and so many people apparently saw them happen: why hasn't a warrant been issued for his arrest? If, and until, someone comes forward with some proof, and he is suspended, or fired, or arrested, frankly, this stuff is hard for me to believe. This is against the law folks...IF it happened.

This is a great question!

Where was administration IF this did happen, WHEN it went down or right afterword?

 

I think young Mr Presley is strongly miss characterizing the situation to his self-centered ends.

[SMwrestlingFan]

Seems like you're trying to make excuses for the coach. Clearly there was an issue between the coach and the wrestler. It's also clear the administration didn't think the wrestler did anything bad enough to be kicked off the team. And its very clear that the accusations against the coach have some merit, so much so that another coach quit because she didn't feel it was being handled properly.

 

No question the student has made some mistakes and he was punished by the school administration. Now you want to blame him. I sure didn't see DoctorP blaming anyone for her son's actions, other than having had enough to get into a shouting match with the coach. Also don't think anyone said he destroyed property. Seems like you are sensationalizing in an effort to justify the unjustifiable actions of the coach.

 

Oh, did you know this student has a full academic scholarship to Alabama? I would gladly take that dissapointment as a parent:)

 

Alabama does not give full academic scholarships to kids without the grades to back up his 32 on the SAT...you should know that Brock won't be going there as his grades rank him in the BOTTOM third of his class.

Now if he could just keep shut, stop bulling others, study and do the work....maybe he could have done a bit better.

 

To bad, I see a WHOLE lot of me in him.

[pantheon]

Coach Lennon didn't want any of the kids wrestling Freestyle/Greco or doing any extra work to get better. He wanted total control of when they wrestled....

 

Absolutely untrue.

[Luvwrestlin]

Kale needed to wrestle in the 8th grade last year, not varsity. When you build a program (I know it is long view) you move to keep kids motivated, being a varsity team member is surely that for Kale and his parents. Add to that that Kale actually lead the middle school team to many victories, had a great year and won the county trophy for himself....again building a program you want motivated, confident wrestlers that know how to win and lead their team. I am sure these were the goals Lenon had for Kale, because I spoke with John about this point

 

Kale and the other stud freshman are (or were) the foundation for future program achievements....at least they should be, now that we are back to square one ....I guess we will see.

 

If the roster/weight classes are not full with 14 wrestlers (SM has yet to have a full squad), your challenge and beating another of the few who can wrestle for your team is of NO USE TO THE TEAM!! Be a team member not a selfish deva & deva 'rents, help your squad win where ever you can...sometime that means you do one or two things you don't want to do. HELLO, welcome to being a freshman.

 

 

BTW: I know for a fact that Lenon never asked kids not to do summer workouts, he made himself available and lead our team with/through summer workouts.....I never once saw Kale.

 

Interesting theories. I for one am aquainted well enough with the Signal Mtn situation to know that there are very few committed wrestlers participating in Signal Mtn wrestling. The wrestler that you are speaking about at least spends significant time working on his wrestling skills because I have seen him all during the spring and summer wrestling Freestyle/Greco. From my own son's wrestling career, I know that it takes good quality wrestling partners for wrestlers to improve. If you continually wrestle kids who offer no opposition, you actually go backwards. Why should a kid be asked to continually carry a team of wrestlers who don't seek to get themselves better?

 

The most amazing thing about this whole thread is the fact that adults would blindly support a coach just because they knew him once or heard he was good. Truth is- most of the wrestling people I know think that Lennon was a great wrestler but that he has always been a little off. He seems to enjoy practicing his "theatre skills" by creating a lot of drama everywhere he goes.

[csemary]

Interesting theories. I for one am aquainted well enough with the Signal Mtn situation to know that there are very few committed wrestlers participating in Signal Mtn wrestling. The wrestler that you are speaking about at least spends significant time working on his wrestling skills because I have seen him all during the spring and summer wrestling Freestyle/Greco. From my own son's wrestling career, I know that it takes good quality wrestling partners for wrestlers to improve. If you continually wrestle kids who offer no opposition, you actually go backwards. Why should a kid be asked to continually carry a team of wrestlers who don't seek to get themselves better?

 

The most amazing thing about this whole thread is the fact that adults would blindly support a coach just because they knew him once or heard he was good. Truth is- most of the wrestling people I know think that Lennon was a great wrestler but that he has always been a little off. He seems to enjoy practicing his "theatre skills" by creating a lot of drama everywhere he goes.

 

To me the most amazing thing about all this if any of the negative stuff being said about Coach Lennon was true then why has their not been any legal action taken against him? Why would he be allowed to continue to teach at the school? My guess is because its not true!

[pantheon]

The most amazing thing about this whole thread is the fact that adults would blindly support a coach just because they knew him once or heard he was good. Truth is- most of the wrestling people I know think that Lennon was a great wrestler but that he has always been a little off. He seems to enjoy practicing his "theatre skills" by creating a lot of drama everywhere he goes.

 

People only see the product and make judgments based on such, which is why as a society we're shocked when we learn about the "goings on" of one who we assumed was beyond reproach. However, as to your premise, we also can assume the opinions of those against Coach Lennon are equally skewed and relegated to this experience. Whatever that may be.

 

Given today's culture of hyper-sensitivity toward the "student experience," I'm sure the legal system would have stepped in by now if any of the fantastical things mentioned in this thread were near the truth.

 

What we have here is a divorce. And often, divorcees remarry. If Coach Lennon even wants to continue coaching, I'm sure a door will be open in the future.

 

I admit, I do not know the "truth," but to discount people's past experiences with Coach Lennon is inane. Legal actions have character witnesses for a reason.

Edited February 8, 2012 by pantheon

[SMOD]

Alabama does not give full academic scholarships to kids without the grades to back up his 32 on the SAT...you should know that Brock won't be going there as his grades rank him in the BOTTOM third of his class.

Now if he could just keep shut, stop bulling others, study and do the work....maybe he could have done a bit better.

 

To bad, I see a WHOLE lot of me in him.

 

get your facts straight before you start trash talking kids. he surely does have a ride to bama, and he could probably go about anywhere he wanted. And i think you ment the ACT man. But i would like to ask you to please change your name because you poorly missrepresent the signal mountain wrestling community.

 

and there must be some really good grades up here, because i talked to Brock, and he has a 3.5 gpa to back that 32. So please stop attempting to trash kids adn grow up a little.

[SMwrestlingFan]

get your facts straight before you start trash talking kids. he surely does have a ride to bama,.... there must be some really good grades up here, because i talked to Brock, and he has a 3.5 gpa to back that 32. So please stop attempting to trash kids adn grow up a little.

There are some very good scholars at the high school that is true AND Bama does give out of state scholars with 3.5/32+ ACT(your right again on the test) a full ride. Putting the facts straight is the point here, while these are true, not for him...cause he still does not have that GPA; even though he told you so (there is a trend in statements here & it makes a grown up wounder about other statements and sources)

 

...BTW, why did his brothers post graduation plans for UTC make his introduction at Senior night, but not Bama's full ride for him...hum, that would BE THE PLACE to focus on this achievement.

 

Pummeling through,

SMwrestlingFan