Dishonest Coach

Originally Posted by PG_Ref

After the time out, if you were going to address the coach, maybe you should have asked the partner who told you this to witness the conversation.

Bingo. Always have a third person involved in these conversations. Not only can your partner confirm what the coach said right in front of him, this prevents the conversation from turning into a game of he said-she said.

I had an acquaintance of mine give a technical to the coach of one of the best teams in the state. The coach wanted to talk about it, so he invited my acquaintance (a few weeks after the game) to a talk in his office. Alone. Needless to say, some very negative things were said by the coach, but because they were alone, nothing can be done about it.

Always bring a third.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by seanwestref

...The coach wanted to talk about it, so he invited my acquaintance (a few weeks after the game) to a talk in his office. Alone. Needless to say, some very negative things were said by the coach, but because they were alone, nothing can be done about it.

Always bring a third.

No way, no how would I ever do this.

[VaTerp]

Originally Posted by seanwestref

Bingo. Always have a third person involved in these conversations. Not only can your partner confirm what the coach said right in front of him, this prevents the conversation from turning into a game of he said-she said.

IMO this is giving way too much credence to the game the coach is trying to play. I'm not even entertaining this and depending on the situation may ask my partner(s) about it in the locker room. But I'm never having a conversation with a coach about what my partner said or bringing my partner over for that kind of convo. It's still a he said/he said only now you are doing it in person and the coach will just create another lie or add to the level of confusion.

And when would you possibly have time to do this? During timeouts or between quarters I may QUICKLY answer a reasonable question from a coach but I'm not having a conversation that lasts more than a few seconds.

I had an acquaintance of mine give a technical to the coach of one of the best teams in the state. The coach wanted to talk about it, so he invited my acquaintance (a few weeks after the game) to a talk in his office. Alone. Needless to say, some very negative things were said by the coach, but because they were alone, nothing can be done about it.

Always bring a third.

Do you work for an assignor or do ADs schedule officials in your area? Either way this is just a horrid idea IMO.

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

No way, no how would I ever do this.

+1. Not only would I never do it anyway but our assignor would absolutely have our heads if we did something like this.

Originally Posted by VaTerp

And when would you possibly have time to do this? During timeouts or between quarters I may QUICKLY answer a reasonable question from a coach but I'm not having a conversation that lasts more than a few seconds.

If a coach wants to take a whole timeout to have a discussion with me, I am fine with that. As long as he remains respectful. How he uses his timeout is up to him; if he does not want to coach his team and make it better, but instead talk to me, that is his prerogative.

Originally Posted by VaTerp

Do you work for an assignor or do ADs schedule officials in your area? Either way this is just a horrid idea IMO.

It varies greatly. Perhaps 40 percent assignor, 60 percent AD's. For the big schools, as in the case I mentioned above, the AD assigns for Varsity and uses an assignor for everything else.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by seanwestref

If a coach wants to take a whole timeout to have a discussion with me, I am fine with that. As long as he remains respectful. How he uses his timeout is up to him; if he does not want to coach his team and make it better, but instead talk to me, that is his prerogative.

It most certainly is *not* his prerogative. I'll answer a quick question, but then I'm going to my timeout spot, which is nowhere near his bench 90% of the time.

Not sure how he's going to continue a conversation long distance since he certainly won't be yelling at me.

Originally Posted by Rich

It most certainly is *not* his prerogative.

Why not? If taking a minute to speak with him will increase and better your communication, why not do it? Coaches are people too. They may not always act like people sometimes, but I would not have a problem talking to a coach for a while.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by seanwestref

Why not? If taking a minute to speak with him will increase and better your communication, why not do it? Coaches are people too. They may not always act like people sometimes, but I would not have a problem talking to a coach for a while.

Because the conversation never goes well. Ever. A question gets answered, but I'm not holding a prolonged discussion with him. It won't appease him, either, so there's no point to it.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by seanwestref

Why not? If taking a minute to speak with him will increase and better your communication, why not do it? Coaches are people too. They may not always act like people sometimes, but I would not have a problem talking to a coach for a while.

I can give you a number of reasons. Here's two:

(1) While you're spending a minute with one coach, how do you think the other coach is reacting?

(2) How will it look when the conversation goes south after 45 seconds and the coach tells you that you suck? What will everyone else see and how will it affect your credibility?

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by seanwestref

Why not? If taking a minute to speak with him will increase and better your communication, why not do it? Coaches are people too. They may not always act like people sometimes, but I would not have a problem talking to a coach for a while.

There is not a single supervisor I know of that wants his officials conducting minute long conversations with the coaches.

There is absolutely nothing to be gained by having this conversation. You are not going to change how you officiate the game and he is not going to change how he coaches. And how much time are you going to take after the time-out when the other HC wants to know what your discussion is about? And when are you going to inform your partner(s) the important information that was gleened from this discussion? Or are only you and that HC suppose to benefit from the conversation?

The coach is there to coach. You are there to officiate, and you are officiating as part of a team. Now what if the other coach wants to spend the next time-out having a conversation with your partner? Now you've put your partner in a negative situation b/c how can he justify walking away from the coach after what you did in the previous time-out?

This is very selfish thinking on your part. You are not giving any regard to the other coach, your partner(s) in that game, and future officials who have to deal with that coach.

[icallfouls]

Originally Posted by seanwestref

Bingo. Always have a third person involved in these conversations. Not only can your partner confirm what the coach said right in front of him, this prevents the conversation from turning into a game of he said-she said.

I had an acquaintance of mine give a technical to the coach of one of the best teams in the state. The coach wanted to talk about it, so he invited my acquaintance (a few weeks after the game) to a talk in his office. Alone. Needless to say, some very negative things were said by the coach, but because they were alone, nothing can be done about it.

Always bring a third.

I would certainly question the judgment of this official.