Air Force VS Northwestern

[shocker]

Just wondering what everyone's thoughts are on the Air Force vs Northwestern incident. Here is the link to read about it and view the play http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=1612760#

This is why coaches should stay off of the field. It looks to me like the assistant coach intentionally hit Harrick. I think the officials did the right thing in this situation.

[Warrenkicker]

I also think that the officials dealt with it correctly. Coaches in college are always getting out on the field. The officials know that they will get off the field when needed and hardly ever have to give sideline warnings. The problem with this play is that the coach actually ran around an official to get to where the problem happened. He should not have been that far out. The officials probably wouldn't have said anything to him if nothing had happened. The Big 10 should probably send something to Northwestern (and the rest of the Big 10) that they can't have coaches out there like that and if it happens again then there will be consequenses.

[cmathews]

The coach should be fired...no ifs ands or buts....I am not an air force fan, I am a Wyoming Cowboys fan, which I know is tough right now LOL...I mentioned that to show I am not looking through clouded vision....the coach intentionally elbows haridge in the throat...I believe whole heartedly that harridge should have been thrown out, and due to the fact that the official probably didn't see the elbow I agree the crew dealt with it properly....Northwestern needs to step up to the plate and fire this guy, there is no need or justification for his actions...

[MD Longhorn]

I don't see the video. Is it on the website from the link above? If so, I can't find it.

I want to see it to judge intent for myself.

[cmathews]

mb, when I clicked on it it took me to an espn web page and in the right margin the video was there....

[TXMike]

I could not tell for sure from the video clip on the web but our local ABC affiliate ran the clip during sports segement tonight. The coach clearly threw his left elbow at the QB. I should have known that an Academy kid woul dnot rweact like he did unless he had been wronged. And his little punch in the coach's ribs was pretty weak. Definitely not designed to do anything other than let the coach know he felt he had been attacked. I hope Northwestern takes some action but I doubt they have the huevos to do anything!!!

[cowbyfan1]

Air Force player was correctly ejected. Coach should be fired not only for throwing the elbow (the school is defending him though from what I have read) but for also getting the QB thrown out and having the back up come in and lead Air Force to the come from behind victory.

[JMN]

What a bunch of horse puckey!!

The coach INTENDED to strike the QB.

Let's see:

1) Coach on field - USC
2) Coach intentionally strikes player - PF or USC? Doesn't matter, eject him!
3) The Mtn West didn't see a problem with it - CYA; protecting the coach; losers.
4) Wonder where the kids from the lower levels get the idea that they can get away with anything!

My view is that if the coach had stayed in the box where he was required to be by rule, then this incident would never have happened.

Too bad the coach doesn't step up and take it like a man. I can respect his honesty (not condone his actions) if he said "I acted inappropriately and do not excuse my actions. I apologize to the QB and ask his forgiveness. In the heat of the action, I lost my judgement and acted foolishly. I'm sorry!"

Wouldn't that be refreshing??

[AlabamaBlue]

Coach shouldn't have been on the field, but Harridge shouldn't have retaliated either. Easier said than done, I know.

[alabamabluezebra]

I've watched the clip many times and I don't believe the coach hit the Air Force player on purpose. What reason would he have to punch the player?

[cmathews]

You've got to be kidding me...at what point does your elbow naturally come up to your shoulder and rotate out to an opposing player on accident?? I can understand if he says he got caught up in the moment, but to say he didn't "hit" him purposely I can't buy....I still think he should be fired for that type of incident...I agree completely that harridge should have been ejected...and he is lucky he isn't sitting out a game for fighting...but the coach needs to be a man and step up and admit what he did..

[shocker]

If you watch carefully, you will see the coach throw out his elbow into Harrick's throat area. Then he brings his arm in around his player. In my eyes, it looks very intentional and if nothing happens with this assistant coach, the NCAA is just asking for those types of actions. Punishment must be enforced now before it gets out of hand. It's just like a game you are officiating. If you let smack talking and taunting go on early, the game may get out of hand later.

To answer your question, he was a defensive coach. It's his job to go after the offense and I think he got to wound up and took a cheap shot because he had the chance. Keep him off the field and that chance lessens.

[MD Longhorn]

I'll be honest - from the angle we get, it certainly does look intentional. But it also looks anomalous, and you have to question why he'd hit the guy. I sure wouldn't want to fire this guy unless I had another view - one where I could see the coach's face. If he's not even looking at the QB, it's possible this was a stumble, or someone out of view jogged his arm. It looks clumsy at the very least, and if his intent really was to hit the guy, he made a poor job of it.

[TXMike]

Bama: Have you seen the incident on the TV or just the clip that is posted on the internet?

Woody Paige's take:

NU coach offers up excuses
By Woody Paige, Denver Post Sports Columnist

Possibly, in a few years when Chance Harridge is flying an F-16C into harm's way and protecting the life and liberty of young Americans, including Jada Peterson, her dad finally will apologize to the United States Air Force officer.

Maybe, by Sept. 16, 2006, when the Air Force football team returns to Evanston, Ill., to play Northwestern, the 41-yard-old Jay Peterson will have grown up.

Most likely, the Northwestern assistant and the school's head coach, Randy Walker, will be fired before Harridge finishes pilot training or the next inevitable victory by the Falcons over their inferior Big Ten opponent.

Peterson and Walker must be liars, fools, dressmaker's dummies or unskilled manual laborers - or a dangerous combination.

Certainly, those two dull objects with a dim-bulb coaching mentality certainly shouldn't be supervising young student-athletes.

After belatedly and reluctantly scanning a tape of his deliberate or accidental assault on Harridge on Saturday afternoon, Peterson said, "Wow, I don't remember that."

Peterson is neither an officer nor a gentleman.

In the game at Northwestern, Harridge, the Falcons' accomplished senior quarterback, fumbled, and John Pickens recovered. Without thinking, Peterson recklessly rushed out onto the field to man-hug the linebacker and - this fact is indisputable, except to Peterson - his flailing left elbow struck a sharp, direct blow to Harridge's chin.

Harridge responded to the forearm burst with a right cross to Peterson's side.

Harridge was charged with a flagrant foul and ejected from the game.

Peterson was not penalized, continued to coach and has not been suspended, admonished or even cautioned about similar future conduct.

Instead, Walker, Northwestern athletic director Mark Murphy and Big Ten Conference commissioner Jim Delany have shielded and supported the coach.

I'm surprised the three "adults" didn't claim that Harridge used his chin to slam into Peterson's elbow. How juvenile.

The cover-up is unbecoming.

Until the video was released, Walker wouldn't divulge the name of the assistant. Eventually, Walker griped that it was "preposterous" for anyone to believe that Peterson intentionally hit Harridge.

It was not preposterous for anyone who looked at the slow-motion tape of the incident to reach that sound conclusion. Several impartial viewers have said it was evident Peterson loaded up his forearm to pop Harridge in the jaw.

To begin with, Peterson didn't belong on the field - and should have drawn 15 yards for the rules violation. Then he clearly lifted his elbow and changed its trajectory toward and into Harridge's face.

Peterson was very pleased about the turnover. He had watched in agony from the sideline (where he stayed) last year at Air Force Academy as Harridge ran and threw for three touchdowns in the first 16 minutes and en route to a 52-3 rout over Northwestern. And Peterson was forced to review that game over and over since. He desperately wanted revenge - but, alas, even without Harridge, Air Force rallied to beat Northwestern, 22-21.

For days afterward Peterson hid behind Walker's back and refused to address the issue.

Col. Randy Spetman, the Air Force athletic director, said it was "a very unusual situation for an assistant coach to be on the playing field and to strike a player." Coach Fisher DeBerry said he would expect to be fired if he pulled a similar stunt - "and rightly so ... I'd be very concerned if one of my assistants did something like that."

W. PAIGE ON ESPN
Woody Paige can be seen regularly on "Around the Horn," which airs daily at 3 p.m. on ESPN and 12:30 a.m. on ESPN2. He can be heard from 5-6 p.m. Wednesdays on ESPN radio 560 AM. He can be e-mailed here. For more information about Paige, visit WoodyPaige.com.

Former Ohio State coach Woody Hayes was fired for striking a player in the 1978 Gator Bowl, and his successor, Earle Bruce, was fired at Colorado State for, in part, grabbing the face masks of his own players.

What do they teach the coaches in that conference? Even if a coach won't admit he purposely threw an elbow at a player, in a civil society a man who has bumped another apologizes.

But Peterson has no such class or dignity. He remains in denial.

When, at last, he was confronted by Jay Mariotti, late of The Denver Post and now a longtime columnist at the Chicago Sun-Times, Peterson seemed indignant that the accusation had been made.

"I am very disappointed in them. I don't understand the motivation" of the Air Force Academy, he said.

The motivation might be to get the coach to understand that none of his post-fumble actions should have been tolerated.

"I'm wrong to go on the field, but I got caught up in the celebration," Peterson said, justifying what he did. "I do that quite a bit."

By his own admission, Peterson erupts. And he will again as long as Northwestern and the conference don't punish him.

Peterson's memory is as faulty as his judgment. The coach maintains he doesn't remember anything that happened - a convenient excuse.

Harridge shouldn't have counterpunched, but he was kicked out of the game and humiliated, and he later addressed his teammates and appeared contrite.

Peterson is not being held accountable. Rather, the head coach, the school and the conference have treated Peterson as if he were the victim.

But that attitude is typical in this football program at Northwestern, a university that purports to have higher standards.

In August 2001, safety Rashidi Wheeler and other Northwestern players were required to participate in a rigid conditioning exercise - 28 sprints of 40 to 100 yards. The 22-year-old Wheeler collapsed and passed out, but the drill proceeded.

Wheeler died.

When his mother sued, the university's argument was that Wheeler had taken an ephedra-based supplement.

The football coaches wouldn't accept any responsibility for the death.

Thank goodness Harridge wasn't seriously injured by Peterson's field rage.

Possibly, maybe, most likely, Peterson would have claimed self-defense

[JMN]

So,

For most of us, this is a common Friday night:

We start out keeping our sidelines cleaned up.

Then, later in the game we let coaches inch onto the field; just a little bit.

Then, after clearing the sideline before a kick, we bump into the assistant coach as he spills onto the field as he watches the run back.

As difficult as it is (and impossible for some schools in your area, we all know the ones), we have to better manage our sidelines for the sake of the players, coaches, and yes, the good ol officials.

For Peterson to claim that he regularly gets excited (layoff the Viagra, ) is no excuse for his actions. And, it tells us that the D1 officials have the same problem we have of trying to keep coaches off the field.