In a world of "win at all costs", it is great to know we have a coach with high integrity like Jerry Kill. I don't think we should worship him and the man is probably not perfect, but it is great to know we have a guy that stands up for what is right.
If you think about it, he has scholarship players, assistants, GAs, walk-ons, trainers, department administrative assistants, all under his charge.. Most importantly, his own behavior. That is a lot of people to be in charge of and many were studs at their home town high schools and highly competitive individuals who have some sense of entitlement and used to getting their way.. You cant think that every person you have around you, with that many people, are always going to do the right thing. But you have to be able to deal with it correctly when the situations arise... To me, that is the blessing of Coach Kill besides the wins. I hope we will always do whatever it takes to keep a guy like this around. Kids, though they will never say this, are desperate for someone in their lives that have that sense of integrity to look up to. Yes, national championship would be great but I just don't ever think at the expense of trying to do what is right.
This came to mind today as Bowling Green's basketball coach, Chris Jans, was dismissed after one year. That is local to me. Jans was a heck of a coach that was turning the program around but had one incident....one incident....at a bar at the end of their season, cost him his job. If you were at the Minnesota-BGSU football game a few years back, you know that Bowling Green is basically a farm town with a college campus. Someone stuck a college in the middle of a corn field. Not a lot to do in the area so the bar scene is where it is at for a lot of the kids. Well, people that have a small town mentality are looking for stuff/crap to put on someone in authority. In Jans case, he had a confrontation with a bar patron the last day of BGSU's season and someone recorded it on a cell phone camera. Jans was probably emotional after the loss. The recording was sent to the University, who in turn, evaluated it. Dismissed Jans after one year. Jans was considered a real good basketball mind and was a top assistant at Wichita State before taking the BGSU position. A good coach that probably did all the right things before this and maybe would have in the future. But ONE INCIDENT clouds the minds of the jury of public opinion, which seems to hurt some yet others seem to come out unscathed. With electronic devices and social media, the jury of public opinion gets to decide before the case gets to the law system, so that is something all coaches have to keep in mind. Everything happens in real time with social media and electronic recordings.
Calipari is probably one of those "teflon guys" that things seem to roll off but he wins, so everything is all forgiven for his fanbase. Bruce Pearl had the Deon Thomas incident when he was assistant at Iowa then the Aaron Craft incident at Tennessee. Yet he seems to get jobs with no problem. Kelvin Sampson didnt come out too well nor did Clem Haskins, though the body of work that Clem did and his helping of many kids wont be emphasized but "GQ PUBLIC" will just think of the academic scandal at Minnesota.. Minnesota basketball has definitely seen the actions of a few cause the public to view the program in a skewed way. Musselman(ticket incident), Dutcher(University of Wisconsin issue) and Clem. Probably all great guys but people remember that stuff. Those are basketball things not football but I just have to say that Minnesota had "hit a home run" when they hired Kill. I hope that is true for Pitino, as well... Love to see a national championship banner for football and basketball but so much more proud that we have a coach with integrity.
This post was edited on 4/2 2:48 PM by Vifan
If you think about it, he has scholarship players, assistants, GAs, walk-ons, trainers, department administrative assistants, all under his charge.. Most importantly, his own behavior. That is a lot of people to be in charge of and many were studs at their home town high schools and highly competitive individuals who have some sense of entitlement and used to getting their way.. You cant think that every person you have around you, with that many people, are always going to do the right thing. But you have to be able to deal with it correctly when the situations arise... To me, that is the blessing of Coach Kill besides the wins. I hope we will always do whatever it takes to keep a guy like this around. Kids, though they will never say this, are desperate for someone in their lives that have that sense of integrity to look up to. Yes, national championship would be great but I just don't ever think at the expense of trying to do what is right.
This came to mind today as Bowling Green's basketball coach, Chris Jans, was dismissed after one year. That is local to me. Jans was a heck of a coach that was turning the program around but had one incident....one incident....at a bar at the end of their season, cost him his job. If you were at the Minnesota-BGSU football game a few years back, you know that Bowling Green is basically a farm town with a college campus. Someone stuck a college in the middle of a corn field. Not a lot to do in the area so the bar scene is where it is at for a lot of the kids. Well, people that have a small town mentality are looking for stuff/crap to put on someone in authority. In Jans case, he had a confrontation with a bar patron the last day of BGSU's season and someone recorded it on a cell phone camera. Jans was probably emotional after the loss. The recording was sent to the University, who in turn, evaluated it. Dismissed Jans after one year. Jans was considered a real good basketball mind and was a top assistant at Wichita State before taking the BGSU position. A good coach that probably did all the right things before this and maybe would have in the future. But ONE INCIDENT clouds the minds of the jury of public opinion, which seems to hurt some yet others seem to come out unscathed. With electronic devices and social media, the jury of public opinion gets to decide before the case gets to the law system, so that is something all coaches have to keep in mind. Everything happens in real time with social media and electronic recordings.
Calipari is probably one of those "teflon guys" that things seem to roll off but he wins, so everything is all forgiven for his fanbase. Bruce Pearl had the Deon Thomas incident when he was assistant at Iowa then the Aaron Craft incident at Tennessee. Yet he seems to get jobs with no problem. Kelvin Sampson didnt come out too well nor did Clem Haskins, though the body of work that Clem did and his helping of many kids wont be emphasized but "GQ PUBLIC" will just think of the academic scandal at Minnesota.. Minnesota basketball has definitely seen the actions of a few cause the public to view the program in a skewed way. Musselman(ticket incident), Dutcher(University of Wisconsin issue) and Clem. Probably all great guys but people remember that stuff. Those are basketball things not football but I just have to say that Minnesota had "hit a home run" when they hired Kill. I hope that is true for Pitino, as well... Love to see a national championship banner for football and basketball but so much more proud that we have a coach with integrity.
This post was edited on 4/2 2:48 PM by Vifan
