[alabamabluezebra]

Editorial
Coaches should be accountable


After a football game between Lanier and Pratt ville high schools got out of hand on Oct. 14, resulting in fights and an exchange of angry words between the coaching staffs, students were suspended and the schools were fined. Those punishments were more than justified.

But apparently nothing was done to punish the coaches involved, and that is not justifiable.

According to a report by game officials, coaches from Prattville High School used racially charged language to describe players or coaches on Lanier's team, and coaches from both teams used foul language that would make a sailor blush.

Despite those allegations by its own officials, the Alabama High School Athletic Association failed to take action against any coaches.

AHSAA Director Dan Washburn wrote in a letter to the principals of the two schools that there "was poor behavior and language exhibited by coaches on the field." That's putting it mildly.

But Washburn's further comment in the letter that it "cannot be determined who said what" is perplexing, because one of the game officials specifically cited Prattville head football coach Bill Clark as one who used "profanity and racially charged language" toward the Lanier coaching staff. The report by the game referee said that three officials heard Clark refer to Lanier coaches or players as "monkeys."

Beyond the allegations of embarrassing cursing and racially charged language, it is clear that game officials believed that at least some of the coaches involved and even the principal of Prattville High School behaved in ways that helped to pour fuel on the fire instead of trying to calm what easily could have become a dangerous situation.

"The behavior and language of Prattville's head coach Bill Clark and their principal nearly incited a skirmish between Lanier's coaching staff and themselves," said the report by a game referee.

While the AHSAA might not be able to take direct action against a principal, it certainly should be able to do so against Clark.

Judged by wins and losses, Clark is an outstanding football coach. But his alleged behavior raises questions about whether he should have anything to do with coaching young people.

Other than perhaps that exhibited by the game officials, there were few examples of proper behavior here. The Lanier coaches failed to keep their players on the sidelines, for example, and they apparently responded to the racial remarks with heated language of their own. But the alleged behavior of some Prattville coaches and even the principal was particularly reprehensible.

While game officials did not cite the principal for using racist language, they did say he used a "string of profanities" to berate officials and contributed to an already tense situation.

There are at least two bodies that have not lived up to their responsibilities to ensure that those who work with young people maintain their decorum and provide positive examples.

The first is the Autauga County School Board, which should demand that both the Prattville principal and head football coach at the very least apologize to the student bodies of both schools. The board also should consider suspending them for a considerable period. The board should make it clear publicly that any future behavior of this kind, especially the use of racially insensitive language, will not be tolerated.

About one out of four Autauga County students is African American, but that really is beside the point. The school board owes it to all students, regardless of race, to show it will not tolerate racially insensitive language from school officials.

The other body that has dropped the ball in this situation is the high school athletic association. Even if the coaches who used racially insensitive words could not be identified, AHSAA should have suspended Clark because he is the man in charge of the team whose coaching staff made the comments. If he did it himself, as at least one game official maintains, he certainly should be suspended.

By acting only against students and schools, AHSAA sends the message that it is an old-boy network that will let coaches get by with behavior that would get any other public employee fired.

AHSAA should look closely at its policies to ensure that coaches are being held to at least the same standards as players and schools. In fact, they should be held to much higher standards than players. Based on this situation, that does not appear to be the case.