No College Coach Immune to Travails

[LonnyDemaree]

Every college football coach holds his collective breath during the summer months in hopes that none of his youngsters hit the police blotters. However any coach that’s been in the business any length of time know that from time to times those things will occur. The thing they hope for is that it is minimized. James Franklin the Vanderbilt University head football coach has just incurred his first major travail in his Vandy experience as his first head coaching job. He had to dismiss four kids for their involvement of a sex-crime. We are sure that was hurtful to him but to his credit he did the right thing.

Top Twenty Classes

When teams get into recruiting a higher caliber player often times what comes with the better athlete is an escalated chance there will be some baggage ala; some kids from bad backgrounds; one-parent homes; teachers keeping kids eligible for Friday night, letting kids get by with things they don’t deserve; parents not doing their job; the media into hype, and coaches putting a higher premium on winning than developing character. Kentucky as well as Vandy has entered into the realm of higher vulnerability. The thing is the Vandy’s and Kentucky’s of the SEC cannot afford it because it’s much more difficult to make up the deficit on the depth chart.

A Wildcat Setback

Case in point, Rich Brooks was bitten by the dismissal bug when he had to dismiss Curtis Pulley. The common belief was that Pulley redshirted because of academics but that was not the complete story. It was a mutual decision by him and Brooks and okayed by the school. In other words the setup to put a two year space between Pulley and Andre Woodson blew up In Brooks’ face when he had to dismiss Pulley because he hit the police blotter that summer. In a somewhat different manner Brooks thought he could keep it rolling when Woodson was gone.

Football Power’s Absorbing Losses

During the tenure of head coach Urban Meyer at the University of Florida much was made of his twenty-nine arrest of his players but nothing much was ever heard of over the same stretch that Georgia head coach Mark Richt had thirty. A couple of years ago Richt had to dismiss running back Isaiah Crowell, who was the best back to come of the Georgia high school ranks that year and was an instant star at Georgia. The coach replaced Crowell and they never missed a beat in the running game.

Leadership Importance

Mark Stoops said at the beginning of spring practice that he wanted to develop leadership on the team and he felt like he got that accomplished. Their job is not only on the field but off the field in keeping their teammate out of trouble. There is enormous pressure on these coaches to win because its big business and some of them are led to take some chances on star athletes. Hopefully Stoops can traverse the travails.

[akaukswoosh]

Hopefully Stoops can traverse the travails.

Ditto!

[MickintheHam]

"Case in point, Rich Brooks was bitten by the dismissal bug when he had to dismiss Curtis Pulley. The common belief was that Pulley redshirted because of academics but that was not the complete story. It was a mutual decision by him and Brooks and okayed by the school. In other words the setup to put a two year space between Pulley and Andre Woodson blew up In Brooks’ face when he had to dismiss Pulley because he hit the police blotter that summer. In a somewhat different manner Brooks thought he could keep it rolling when Woodson was gone."

You're correct it is not the entire story. However, Rich knew what he was dealing with all along. The arrest was not the first strike with Pulley. I doubt Rich put all of his eggs in the Pulley basket. He had too many warning signs. I'm sure he had more confidence in Hartline than you are willing to acknowledge. Pulley was a risk from day one.

[dan_bgblue]

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I am trusting the staff to determine the quality of the person they recruit as much as I trust them on the quality of the athlete they recruit. Also I have no doubt that there will be an occasional bad apple or apples in the recruiting bag, and I expect the staff to deal with that in a professional manner.