Real Team Attitude - Would You Want Him?

[OverAndBack]

You gotta remember, these are kids we're talking about. I know there are a great many kids who "get it," who are polite and respectful and have had good upbringings and such, but they're still young people and they do stupid stuff sometimes (I know, I have two of them).

I think one of the many jobs of a college coach (if they take their jobs seriously) is to educate and mold young people in more ways than just getting them to play their sport better.

If I'd recruited the kid who was all petulant after such a loss, I'd like to think I'd remember that he's probably 17 years old and, rather than looking at it as a negative, I'd look at it as an opportunity. I'd have an opportunity to help shape a young person and give them the benefit of my experience, hopefully that would pay off for him down the road.

Now, does that mean I'm going to look the other way in a Lawrence Phillips situation or brush transgressions under the rug like at some schools (or give out some Bobby Bowden-like meaningless punishment like make a guy sit out a quarter of a bowl game)? No. Nor am I going to say I'd never cut my losses eventually and give up on a kid.

But this is behavior that, while far from optimal, isn't out of the ordinary for a young person, especially a young athlete who plays an emotional sport.

I'd look at it as an opportunity, whether I was the kid's coach or the kid's father.

This is part of what we're here for, boys and girls.