The hypocrisy of coaches

[zjcvols]

I'm not a huge Gregg Easterbrook fan, however, he brought up a great point about the hypocrisy of coaches about agents:

"...As for Saban's pimp analogy, he said of agents who hand out money, 'How are they any better than a pimp? I have no respect for people who do that to young people. How would you feel if they did it to your child?' This from a coach whose football program graduates only 55 percent of its players. (Look up any Division I graduation rate here.) Saban uses up young people's college years to win games and big paydays for himself -- then graduates barely more than half of them. To use his own words, how is he any better than a pimp?"

It was in his TMQ article (or book it seems). Saban isn't the only one, but he kind of made the big deal about it. Just thought it was a great point.

 

[hatvol96]

I'm not a huge Gregg Easterbrook fan, however, he brought up a great point about the hypocrisy of coaches about agents:

"...As for Saban's pimp analogy, he said of agents who hand out money, 'How are they any better than a pimp? I have no respect for people who do that to young people. How would you feel if they did it to your child?' This from a coach whose football program graduates only 55 percent of its players. (Look up any Division I graduation rate here.) Saban uses up young people's college years to win games and big paydays for himself -- then graduates barely more than half of them. To use his own words, how is he any better than a pimp?"

It was in his TMQ article (or book it seems). Saban isn't the only one, but he kind of made the big deal about it. Just thought it was a great point.

Saban is supposed to do their classwork for them? The best quote I ever saw on that issue came from Wimp Sanderson. When asked what percentage of his players graduated, Wimp replied "Every single one that wanted to. I haven't stopped one yet." If a guy is bringing in nothing but academic spelunkers with suspect transcripts and test scores, that's one thing. Guys capable of doing the work failing to get a degree is entirely another.

 

[zjcvols]

Saban is supposed to do their classwork for them? The best quote I ever saw on that issue came from Wimp Sanderson. When asked what percentage of his players graduated, Wimp replied "Every single one that wanted to. I haven't stopped one yet." If a guy is bringing in nothing but academic spelunkers with suspect transcripts and test scores, that's one thing. Guys capable of doing the work failing to get a degree is entirely another.

Look, I agree with you. Players are required to do their work. However, how many coaches would allow a player to miss a practice on a Wednesday because he has a huge test the next day that could severely affect his grade. Just a hypothetical situation, but I bet very, very few would.

 

[hatvol96]

However, how many coaches would allow a player to miss a practice on a Wednesday because he has a huge test the next day that could severely affect his grade.

In my experience, most of them. Ineligible guys don't make many plays. Also, with the amount of mandatory study hall players have, a guy who needs to cram the night before has nobody but himself to blame.

 

[droski]

Saban is supposed to do their classwork for them? The best quote I ever saw on that issue came from Wimp Sanderson. When asked what percentage of his players graduated, Wimp replied "Every single one that wanted to. I haven't stopped one yet." If a guy is bringing in nothing but academic spelunkers with suspect transcripts and test scores, that's one thing. Guys capable of doing the work failing to get a degree is entirely another.

yes, but some universities unquestionably do a better job supporting these athletes than others. of course most of them have mediocre football programs.

 

[tigervol9802]

Easterbrook used to be great. His piece on how the laser in the World is Not Enough isn't possible is to this day one of the funnier articles I've ever read. And then he decided he was to become the moral voice of all football instead of an occasional reference and I got tired of it.

I agree. College athletes are given every opportunity in the world and then more to succeed. If they can't do it they can only blame themselves. There comes a point where you can't hold someone's hand, and my guess is it a year plus or minus of age 20.

 

[zjcvols]

In my experience, most of them. Ineligible guys don't make many plays. Also, with the amount of mandatory study hall players have, a guy who needs to cram the night before has nobody but himself to blame.

I wasn't talking about cramming. I should have been more specific. I meant that a kid who isn't the smartest kid that has studied hard but still needs a lot of work. But anyways, I think the point Easterbrook was saying is that, yes, what agents are doing are wrong, but coaches also use these kids for money and sometimes don't have their best interest at heart.

 

[zjcvols]

I also think part of the issue are the fans. Let's take Manning. Kid was non-stop watching film in college. But he also is very smart and good maintain a good GPA and get a degree. A lot of kids can't do that. We want Tyler Bray and Matt Simms to be in the film 20 hours a week. Some fans don't really care that a kid makes good grades or not.

 

[KB5252]

What a student athlete chooses to do with the privileges given them is their business. A coach should take pride in graduation rates but they should never take credit. Perhaps Saban should have higher graduation rates but you can't blame him for it IMO.

 

[milohimself]

I suppose that if you've got a school that is a percieved NFL factory, you're going to get lower graduation rates from early exits and kids who put way more effort into their game than their grades. I don't know the stats, but I'd imagine that, generally speaking, a programs success and it's graduation rate are inversely proportional.

A coachs only real responsibility is making sure his team is comprised of guys who can maintain eligibilty.
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[droski]

how many early exists does bama have? i bet no more than a couple per class at the most.

 

[Nightowl]

"This from a coach whose football program graduates only 55 percent of its players. (Look up any Division I graduation rate here.) Saban uses up young people's college years to win games and big paydays for himself -- then graduates barely more than half of them. To use his own words, how is he any better than a pimp?"

A 55 percent graduation rate from a 4-Year College is pretty normal, for anybody, athlete or not. In fact, it's above the national average...

Why many college dropouts say they left: the need to work - CSMonitor.com

"At four-year institutions, the completion rate hovers around 40 percent."