Ohio State Football Forum

Ohio State Football Forum

Ohio State football fan talk.

HOW MUCH ‘SHOULD’ WE EXPECT OF HEAD COACHES?

+5 HS
Chicago Connection's picture
August 13, 2018 at 4:22pm
50 Comments

As anybody who follows the Buckeyes on a daily basis can tell you, a fella can get dizzy just thinkin' about all the recruits that personally call and text Urban Meyer on a daily basis. 

And that's just ONE of his daily coaching duties! 

Beyond that, he has to tend to his relationships with 100+ current players (and their parents), as well as countless former Buckeyes, not to mention, oh, yeah, overseeing practices, coaching games, tirelessly analyzing film, whether of his own players, innumerable recruits, the competition, and more, on top of which he has to keep up with the latest schematic trends in football, manage support staff, keep tabs on the hottest coaching prospects (i.e., to replace his current coaches when they inevitably leave), chat with NFL scouts, participate in charity events, deal with the local and national media, routinely report to the Athletic Director, and a whole lot more, in which case...

I'm amazed the guy has time to sleep, much less snoop through the windows of his coaching assistants to know EXACTLY how they're handling their domestic affairs! 

But, hey, that's why Meyer earns the big bucks, right?

Well, no, actually. 

There's a RATIONAL human limit to how far ANYBODY can stretch themselves. 

In fact, maybe fatigue contributed to Urban Meyer not handling Big Ten Media Day in ideal fashion, or for that matter, Zach Smith's situation (that is, IF Meyer didn't handle his case as he should have... that particular allegation remains to be proven). 

I honestly don't want to apologize for Meyer, but I would like to inject a dose of practical reality into the discussion of this "scandal" by looking at it purely from the perspective of time management vs. workload vs. public expectations, so...

If we assume that Meyer has duly reported incidents to Gene Smith and the Ohio State administration, yet he didn't to a single thing more than that, then given all of Meyer's other responsibilities, is it fair or reasonable to expect that Meyer (or any other coach in the country) should be required do anything more than this, which is exactly what many mouthpieces in the national media have either claimed or implied?

Mind you, just to be clear, if any coach is a personal witness to abuse or has been handed smoking gun information about domestic abuse, felony offenses, I believe that her or she absolutely should intervene and take immediate action as appropriate (while still respecting due process as required by law). 

However, shy of being handed any smoking guns, just how much should we expect college football coaches to do, that is, beyond faithfully reporting such matters? 

Should it be the job of a coach to personally police the behavior of their staff and players, and if so, to what extent? 

Where do YOU draw the line?

Personally, I try to be rational, and I think the word "RATIO," which is embedded in the word "RATIOnal," is the key to understanding that concept, which tells us that a rational response is one that is proportional. 

Ergo, when I consider the proportionality of a coach's workload and time constraints relative to his ability to personally police the behavior of his staff, this is clearly an irRATIOnal expectation.

Yes, I agree with anyone and everyone that domestic abuse is proportionally a paramount concern, but that's only IF and when we know that such abuse either has occurred or has been alleged in the first place. 

So, again, what are YOUR thoughts? 

This is a forum post from a site member. It does not represent the views of Eleven Warriors unless otherwise noted.

View 50 Comments