A disturbing trend on the board that I hope doesn't continue this weekend

[WOSgrad]

Usually as the lone utility of a game update thread for me is to update our scoreboard, I generally will not read a thread once I have gotten a final score in that game.  The only time I may look in a game thread after game day once is when the game thread continues to have life almost a week after the final gun has been fired as it indicates that something is amiss.  I had the opportunity to do that in about 4 different cases and there was certainly something amiss and all for the same reason.

It seems that in all 4 of these cases (I won't mention the specific schools, but after I reveal the problem, I think it will be pretty obvious of which ones I am talking about) supporters of the teams want to lay all of the problems of a team at the feet of the coaching staff, or more particularly, the head coaches at these schools.  I understand frustration at losing to a rival, losing a game that you thought your school should win or by more than you though they should lose by.  But some of the statements in the 4 cases have gone way far beyond that.  They openly question the ability, and in some cases the desire, of these coaches to put a good team on the field. 

Folks, we simply have to stop that.  Jordan Wilson has prided himself on this site being a place where all members of our local community, including coaches, could come to talk about what we all love to talk about, high school sports.  And make no mistake, coaches DO read this site.  However, who would want to come to a site where they are not only told they lack the ability to place the squad of your dreams on the field, but that they really don't care if they do or not.  If you truly feel that way, there are places to have your grievances aired and possibly addressed.  However, this is not one of those places.

Simply airing your problem with a coach here simply accomplishes no end.  It only serves to divide teams and distance coaches from the communities whose support, not scorn, is what they need to maintain the respect amongst their ranks and progress their teams to the point that the fans believe they should be.

Not to mention that such conduct is against the rules of this board.  But I would rather put it in terms of a request that you folks, who I know are capable of restraint even in the extreme moments of frustration, exercise that restraint so that more rigid enforcement of the rules is not necessary.  I do so with this warning, should my request not be heeded, that more rigid enforcement will become necessary.

Thanks for indulging me.folks.

Edited October 23, 2015 by WOSgrad

[jayhawk]

"the emperor has no clothes"   I'm afraid I'm guilty of the above grievance and in the future will exercise more restraint. This won't be a problem this Friday because Dayton is in a bye week -. Go Broncos !

[Alpha Wolf]

The best post all year.  It is so easy to 2nd guess every decision that a coaching staff makes during a game from the stands.  I always say, if you can do better, get out there and do it yourself...

[Hagar]

Great post (much like Gibbs does to Dinozzo).  IMO we tend to forget people are variables.  One area coach gets repeated praise (deserved), but everyone else expects "their" coach to produce the same results.  We're all different.  

Do the kids look up to the coach?  Is he teaching "life lessons"?  Good work ethic?   There's a lot of good coaches who don't win Dist Championships.  

[NDNation]

Thank You!

[JRidge]

This was a good post as sometimes we can be a bit abusive on this site based on our personal feelings.  On the other hand some of the statements are true and what is hidden in the dark shall be revealed. That's life and this site is a forum of expression that sometimes offends others. I will definitely apologize for offending anyone I'm not perfect. I do have a problem with coaches who mismanage games or players consistently though so shoot me. Lol

[BMTSoulja1]

Great post, Grad.  

[liltex]

Welp certainly 4 teams making playoffs=saves some jobs smh thanks UIL some make playoffs before scrimm#1 & some are just happy,happy as Phil Robertson.Regardless of the w/l record if kiddos aren't getting taught life lessons & some coaches expect all the credit then they should except the critizm that comes w/any paid employee=it's a job & every year  there is hundreds of coaching changes posted=this is serious bussiness our future adults may die on a battlefield =they must learn leadership/honor/pride/teamwork/hardships/hard work/God/choosing your friends wisely=football is a game(should have some fun in it)afterwards ea.will have to earn a $ having someone above you holding you accountable.The game is forever being tweaked/changing/getting 5 qtrs out of 4.If you ever stop learning you're headed for hire list soon,the utimate answer=how will your kiddos remember their coach=lasts a lifetime

[Uncle Pig]

This was a good post as sometimes we can be a bit abusive on this site based on our personal feelings.  On the other hand some of the statements are true and what is hidden in the dark shall be revealed. That's life and this site is a forum of expression that sometimes offends others. I will definitely apologize for offending anyone I'm not perfect. I do have a problem with coaches who mismanage games or players consistently though so shoot me. Lol

Get you a 4 year degree from an accredited university and you can see to it that nothing(games or players) are mismanaged. I'd be willing to bet there is an accredited university within driving distance of your residence. Come up with the cash to pay for tuition, study your butt off, and you can be a coach in 4-5 years...nothing to it!

[PlayActionPass]

I am going to agree with this post on one hand and disagree with it on the other.

Yes, we should all be respectful of the coaches in this area, because all of them have paid their dues and earned the opportunity to lead their respective programs how they see fit. They were hired to do a job, and that job is to produce the best quality football teams they possibly can.

Now, with that being said, healthy, productive criticism is sometimes warranted and necessary. Coaches are not gods, they are not omnipotent and without faults. Sometimes they have their own agenda and do not make decisions that are in the best interest of the kids as a whole. When these times arise, I think it is our right as observers to point these issues out.

High School football is about the kids, the schools and the communities. Sometimes, coaches put their own agendas in front  of the best interest of the kids, schools and communities. Those coaches need to be exposed for what they are and this public forum is sometimes the best place to educate the masses on these issues.

[L-Train11]

I completely agree with what was said... Sometimes we forget that coaching is a job just like anything else. Mistakes are going to happen. If I was fired for the first mistake I made, then I wouldn't have a job right now. These guys are human, with wives and kids and bills and worries and regrets just like all of us... If people at work have an issue with me then I would hope they would come directly to me in a professional way and address it and not go around griping about it to everyone else. You can't truly understand what goes into coaching high school football unless you've done it yourself!

[Pepper Brooks]

Well said Grad.

 

[WOSgrad]

I am going to agree with this post on one hand and disagree with it on the other.

Yes, we should all be respectful of the coaches in this area, because all of them have paid their dues and earned the opportunity to lead their respective programs how they see fit. They were hired to do a job, and that job is to produce the best quality football teams they possibly can.

Now, with that being said, healthy, productive criticism is sometimes warranted and necessary. Coaches are not gods, they are not omnipotent and without faults. Sometimes they have their own agenda and do not make decisions that are in the best interest of the kids as a whole. When these times arise, I think it is our right as observers to point these issues out.

High School football is about the kids, the schools and the communities. Sometimes, coaches put their own agendas in front  of the best interest of the kids, schools and communities. Those coaches need to be exposed for what they are and this public forum is sometimes the best place to educate the masses on these issues.

Healthy constructive criticism is one thing. Questioning calls or even position decisions in the heat of a game is not the problem.  The problem is when it graduates to coaches being accused of, as you put it, having an agenda that conflicts with the good of the program.

I really do appreciate that you and others see this as a place to go to see that whatever problem you have with a coach is brought into the open.  The problem with that is that bringing the problem in the open here accomplishes nothing.  We at SETXsports have no decision making ability and, quite frankly, neither do the posters that are here.  In other words, there may be some education that occurs, but if there is truly a problem, those that need to be educated, the powers that be in a particular school district, are usually not.  That can only be accomplished by approaching them directly privately or by attending a school board meeting and addressing the issue publicly. And if the problem is truly there, I think it your duty to pursue it in that manner so that the kids get what they need. 

[PlayActionPass]

Healthy constructive criticism is one thing. Questioning calls or even position decisions in the heat of a game is not the problem.  The problem is when it graduates to coaches being accused of, as you put it, having an agenda that conflicts with the good of the program.

I really do appreciate that you and others see this as a place to go to see that whatever problem you have with a coach is brought into the open.  The problem with that is that bringing the problem in the open here accomplishes nothing.  We at SETXsports have no decision making ability and, quite frankly, neither do the posters that are here.  In other words, there may be some education that occurs, but if there is truly a problem, those that need to be educated, the powers that be in a particular school district, are usually not.  That can only be accomplished by approaching them directly privately or by attending a school board meeting and addressing the issue publicly. And if the problem is truly there, I think it your duty to pursue it in that manner so that the kids get what they need. 

I will agree with that 100%.

[gohornets23]

I am going to agree with this post on one hand and disagree with it on the other.

Yes, we should all be respectful of the coaches in this area, because all of them have paid their dues and earned the opportunity to lead their respective programs how they see fit. They were hired to do a job, and that job is to produce the best quality football teams they possibly can.

Now, with that being said, healthy, productive criticism is sometimes warranted and necessary. Coaches are not gods, they are not omnipotent and without faults. Sometimes they have their own agenda and do not make decisions that are in the best interest of the kids as a whole. When these times arise, I think it is our right as observers to point these issues out.

High School football is about the kids, the schools and the communities. Sometimes, coaches put their own agendas in front  of the best interest of the kids, schools and communities. Those coaches need to be exposed for what they are and this public forum is sometimes the best place to educate the masses on these issues.

Not trying to be combative..but asking an honest question...what do you think qualifies you or anyone else on this board, to be the one that exposes these coaches agendas? I can only assume that most of the regular posters on this site are fans of a program, or have kids who play in the program. So the information you get comes from one of two sources

1)rumors in the stands

2) players on the team

I would be extremely careful making judgement calls on other people based on either of these

be rational...who is more likely to have an agenda?

A coach who works long hours for low pay who's goal is life is to put out the best team and help kids....a parent, who only cares about their kid and not the team...or even worse a teenager..whose priorities are most likely all screwed up just like ours were when we were teenagers. 

He didn't mention it by name but the original poster almost certainly was referring to all the bad stuff being thrown out at the coaching staff over at that purple school....I saw the highlights of that game....on one play the black and gold team threw a deep ball into the end zone..the DB from purple was in a position to make a play on it...it was him, the receiver, and the ball....the receiver came down with the ball for six...great play by him...how exactly is that a coaches fault?..do you think he's not coached as a defensive back to make a play on that ball? Do you think that there's some other kid on the sideline that would have knocked that ball down but the coaches don't play him because they don't like him?....countless other examples. You can willy nilly about play-calling all you like, but ultimately players make plays or they don't. 

[PlayActionPass]

Concerns should be directed to the appropriate person. Either the Head Coach, Athletic Director, Superintendent, of the School Board need to hear the voices of the people who truly have concerns about the direction of the program or the agenda of a coach.

What this Board does is give people a chance to vent their frustration and receive empathy from others who may be experiencing the same issues. I don't think there is anything wrong with that. If coaches are on here and read about some of the concerns then maybe their eyes will be opened to situations that they weren't aware of. Just an opinion, and we all have one and ultimately, on this matter, yours is the one that matters the most. But I would hope that you wouldn't eliminate this as a place where we can come and vent and sometimes criticize people who should be thick skinned enough to handle it.

[PlayActionPass]

Not trying to be combative..but asking an honest question...what do you think qualifies you or anyone else on this board, to be the one that exposes these coaches agendas? I can only assume that most of the regular posters on this site are fans of a program, or have kids who play in the program. So the information you get comes from one of two sources

1)rumors in the stands

2) players on the team

I would be extremely careful making judgement calls on other people based on either of these

be rational...who is more likely to have an agenda?

A coach who works long hours for low pay who's goal is life is to put out the best team and help kids....a parent, who only cares about their kid and not the team...or even worse a teenager..whose priorities are most likely all screwed up just like ours were when we were teenagers. 

He didn't mention it by name but the original poster almost certainly was referring to all the bad stuff being thrown out at the coaching staff over at that purple school....I saw the highlights of that game....on one play the black and gold team threw a deep ball into the end zone..the DB from purple was in a position to make a play on it...it was him, the receiver, and the ball....the receiver came down with the ball for six...great play by him...how exactly is that a coaches fault?..do you think he's not coached as a defensive back to make a play on that ball? Do you think that there's some other kid on the sideline that would have knocked that ball down but the coaches don't play him because they don't like him?....countless other examples. You can willy nilly about play-calling all you like, but ultimately players make plays or they don't.

I don't mind being questioned on my motivation for anything.

I may not be in a position to judge a particular situation like the one you are referencing. But, I can speak from a position of authority on the overall concept of questioning a coach.

Coaches get in this business knowing that every decision they make will be questioned. And those that rise to the top have justification for all of their decisions. And the great ones are able to field all questions without trouble, because they know that the decisions they made were done with the best interest of the team in mind.

 

[NDNation]

Bottom line: A Coach wants to WIN. Its called Job Security!

I don't think any of them would intentionally set the team up to lose.

 

[Uncle Pig]

Do coaches question how John Q Public stacks the cokes, installs the internet, mixes the chemicals, checks out customers, treats patients, drives the truck, saws the logs, builds the house, paves the road, etc....I'd be willing to bet not many coaches care how all of the above mentioned jobs are done, yet these same people continually question the coach?  Not fair

[Bigdog]

Great post Grad.

[tvc184]

It doesn't matter how qualified a person is to speak on a situation or how true anything may be.  There might be legitimate gripes, actual abuses by a coach, ulterior motives, favoritism or anything else. 

The problem isn't whether something is true or if it is a valid situation or opinion. It is simply the owner of this forum's opinion that this is not the proper venue for such discussion. There are other places to make such thoughts. SETX Sports wants to keep this site away from that kind of chatter.

[itsallabouttheH]

Urban Meyer says "you are either part of the solution or part of the problem". He "claims" he walks into HS coaches offices and ask the coach, "is this kid and his family, a part of the solution or a part of the problem?" We all fall under this category....IMO

[TxHoops]

One more request from a non-mod:  WOSgrad starts a thread for each and every game each week.  He does this well before kickoff.  There are a lot of games each week so some will be on the second page when you are looking (I know it must be painful to hit "next" or the little 2 at the bottom of the page).  Please find the thread and post updates in that thread only.  Do not start your own thread for the game just because you don't see one on the first page. 

Maybe it's just me but this is a pet peeve of mine.  Those of us that like to keep up with a lot of games on game night rely on these threads.  When you have more than one thread covering the same game, it just doesn't work well.  

[NDNation]

and it causes the the real game thread to get pushed back more.

[WOSgrad]

One more request from a non-mod:  WOSgrad starts a thread for each and every game each week.  He does this well before kickoff.  There are a lot of games each week so some will be on the second page when you are looking (I know it must be painful to hit "next" or the little 2 at the bottom of the page).  Please find the thread and post updates in that thread only.  Do not start your own thread for the game just because you don't see one on the first page. 

Maybe it's just me but this is a pet peeve of mine.  Those of us that like to keep up with a lot of games on game night rely on these threads.  When you have more than one thread covering the same game, it just doesn't work well.  

This admin endorses this non-mod request. 

I know I talked about this at the beginning of the season, but this current board layout does not allow me to get all of the game threads on page 1.  Now, I will be the first to acknowledge that sometimes I do miss a game thread and if that is the case, I truly welcome the back up in getting one created.  But as TxHoops said, you will need to go to page 2 (and even sometimes page 3) to ensure that is the case.  For the most part this has not been a problem and I do appreciate the patience shown....but there are the occasional ones.