Joe Pa' lays down the law at State College

booker · 05-23-2007, 08:45

I'm sure there used to be a time when something like this wouldn't have made headlines, but I'm glad to see that some coaches out there are still willing to apply a little discipline to athletes that for all intents and purposes believe themselves to be above the rules.

Taking Out the Trash

Hipshot · 05-23-2007, 09:35

Way to go, Joe!

Goggles Pizano · 05-23-2007, 09:43

"But this is why Joe Paterno is Joe Paterno

He isn't worried about hurt feelings. He isn't worried about potential recruits. He isn't worried about guys sacking garbage on Sunday morning.

He's worried about the reputation of his players, his program and his school. He's worried about cleaning things up immediately, starting with the stadium."

This is why I love PSU. Thank you JoePa!

rubberneck · 05-23-2007, 10:21

I hope JoePa and the rest of the coaching staff hold themselves accountable as well. I have no problem with holding the players accountable for the actions of some of them, but if they are guilty of bad behavior than a case could be made that the coaches are guilty of poor leadership.

bandycpa · 05-23-2007, 13:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by rubberneck:
I hope JoePa and the rest of the coaching staff hold themselves accountable as well. I have no problem with holding the players accountable for the actions of some of them, but if they are guilty of bad behavior than a case could be made that the coaches are guilty of poor leadership.

I think he is showing great leadership by doling out the appropriate punishment at this point. The coaches can't watch their players every minute of every day, but they can find a way to make the team accountable to themselves. If a kid can find an unsupervised moment (and they will), they will exploit it. Sometimes you can keep the barn door closed; but, if it opens and the horse gets out, the only thing you can do is put the horse back in the barn first...then close the door back! That's what Coach JoePa is doing right here, and he's doing it in such a way that the team will hold itself accountable from here on out, and will deal with anyone who steps out of line accordingly...even if Coach is not there.

The thing I like best about how he's handled this situation is this: The easy thing to do would have been to kick the offenders off the football team (or, at least, suspend them for x amount of games). We see way too much of that today, and all it does is give the offender reason to keep doing what they're doing and give the coach a clear conscience (and kudos from the media for being a "tough coach who wouldn't put up with such things"). Instead, Coach did the really tough thing and made all of them pay for the sins of the few. A lesson the team will never forget, and maybe a turning point in life for the ones who caused the trouble to begin with.

Gotta love that man. Go Nittany Lions!

Bandy

rubberneck · 05-23-2007, 14:21

Quote:

I think he is showing great leadership by doling out the appropriate punishment at this point. The coaches can't watch their players every minute of every day

No they can't, but there were 65+ PSU football players that are being held to account for someone else's failings. In fact there are 21 kids who aren't even enrolled at PSU yet that will have to pay the piper, and 21 who are but won't have to because they have used up their eligibilty. If collective punishment is the order of the day than the coaches should take theirs as well. You can't say with one breath that the coaches have no control over their players all the time and then hold teammates accountable for someone else's behavior. They have as much control over their teammates as their coaches do. It has to cut both ways.

Don't get me wrong, I am all for discipline. Lord knows I see plenty of kids today who have no clue what the word means and are in desperate need of some. IMHO coaches are ultimately responsible for the behavior of their athletes. Just ask the former Duke Lacrosse head coach. It is the coaches job to explain to the athlete what is expected of him. When nearly 20% of your program participates in a drunken brawl I would take a good hard look at who exactly is setting the standard and why they failed.