Can coaches learn?

[Randal]

In your experience, can ill-mannered coaches learn manners? If you T a coach for bad manners (this is my catch-all phrase for the standard suite of ills) does he/she behave the next time you work one of their games? Perhaps more importantly, if you T a coach for bad manners does he/she behave thier next game, when someone else is working one of their games?

I am going to guess, from my eperience, that your answer to the above questions is that some do and some don't. So, in your experience, what fraction of coaches learn and what do not?

[Snake~eyes]

They don't learn manners, they just learn what level of crap you're going to take so the next time they have you they know how far they can go. Coaches won't behave their next game with other officials unless adminsitration has also stepped in.

[ChrisSportsFan]

IMO, coaches act like they do for a variety of reasons:
A. to see what you will allow.
B. see if they can influence a call from you.
C. heat of the moment competitiveness.
D. fire up their team.
E. they don't know the rules and truely think they're right.
F. i'm sure there's several more that I just can't think of right now.
(these are in no particular order)

If you're talking about A, B C and sometimes D. Then I think they learn and change. If you're talking about the coaches in E, they know they're right and you're wrong and unless an AD or someons steps in, they'll never change.

[imagomer]

Philisophically, ...I think Most, or at least some coaches can learn/improve their coaching skills, just as most/some officials can learn/improve their officiating skills. Selfish idiots won't learn to behave. The others will do whatever gives them the most satisfaction while providing tolerable negative reinforcement. I think, Officials can sometimes help improve the reasonable coaches' behavior by eventually earning respect/credibility by being professional - fair, consistent, well-positioned, knowledgeable, sharp, etc. Many HS coaches will behave better when they trust the Official. I know many HS coaches will "ride" a rookie-seeking some advantage, but not a credible vet. I also believe Officials should consistently provide that negative reinforcement. Finally, maturity and knowledge have made me a better coach and Official - educating the coaches who are willing to be educated helps, but there's no time to educate during the game, and the coach isn't listening anyway. If you ever get a chance to have a real, non-sarcastic, non-confrontational conversation with a non-selfish-idiot type coach, you may be able to teach him or her something. Best method: Get the coach to officiate a few games.

[Damian]

Every time I have had to T up a coach, we end up having great games afterwards. I don't have any close relationships with any, but in each game I come to, they are glad to see me and know their game will be called well.

[Mark Padgett]

Originally posted by Snake~eyes
They don't learn manners, they just learn what level of crap you're going to take so the next time they have you they know how far they can go. Coaches won't behave their next game with other officials unless adminsitration has also stepped in.

You hit the nail right on the pointed head.

[Adam]

Had to toss one from a YMCA game Saturday. I'd had him twice previously, and T'd him the first time. The second game, he was more acceptable in his behavior.
Saturday, however, he didn't do so well. My partner whistled his kid for a shove off ball (pretty sure it was the second push, but we didn't see the first one). Coach went ballistic, and after warnings from my P, walked too far onto the court. Whack. This was the first quarter.
Fourth quarter. Kid reaches over the back without fouling on one of his kids, and I pass on the call. He's asking for the "over the back call." The I hear, "this officiating! Jesus!"
Whack! He's done.
The YMCA here is trying to determine whether he should be allowed to coach with them anymore.
Oh, I forgot to mention. His team ended up winning by about 40 points; and that was one of their closer games. They were real close to a forfeit, though.

[ref18]

Only the good ones learn. As I've posted my 2 "year later" stories you can see one coach learned and the other one, is still an a$$

[ChiliBob]

I agree with most all posts here. Coaches can be trained just like officials are with experience. We have one local coach that is famous for his rantings over the years. One official said of him, "he has 12 years of a single season of experience". This year things are different he is calm and quite (he is undefeated so far!).

[SpeedyGonGoalie]

They probably can, especially if they are suspended or their T's cost their teams a game, but there are a few types who can't:

1)"(Insert big-name pro or college coach here)-in-training": Won't learn because he assumes he is a great coach, and thus will not accept that a loss was ever his fault.
2)"I need to work the officials": There are coaches who believe officials are enemies, and thus they think they need to constantly fight for better officiating.
3)Parents or "my players are too good to lose": Both are irrational, plain and simple. Either because the players are their kids, or because they believe their players are much better than they think.

I could go through all the players (ref intramurals at a college and you'll see them all), but those coaches will probably never learn because they don't see officials as making mistakes, they see them as conspiring against them, or attacking them.

[Forksref]

Originally posted by ChrisSportsFan
IMO, coaches act like they do for a variety of reasons:
A. to see what you will allow.
B. see if they can influence a call from you.
C. heat of the moment competitiveness.
D. fire up their team.
E. they don't know the rules and truely think they're right.
F. i'm sure there's several more that I just can't think of right now.
(these are in no particular order)

If you're talking about A, B C and sometimes D. Then I think they learn and change. If you're talking about the coaches in E, they know they're right and you're wrong and unless an AD or someons steps in, they'll never change.

Add a corollary to C - "My team is behind."

[SF]

In my experience, after coaches get T'd up, they know that you're not afraid to call the T so they watch their actions a little more.

Of course, there are always those who are just jackasses and will act like an idiot every time. Luckily, there seem to be less of these.