After BK blowout, coach seeks Tigers willing to play

This man's wisdom, maturity and professionalism is profoundly reflected in his words.

First, I can only assume (and hope) "Idahofun" is being sarcastic. Determining inflection is so hard in the written form. Secondly, and most important, a head coach placing the entire blame on the team for an overwhelming loss is a pathetic gesture and goes against the principles of coaching at all levels of competition. Find a new team when the old team brings dishonor through its' actions off the field, not because they lose. Remove a player because they consistently act in an unsportsmanlike manner, not because they only completed 40 percent of their passes. One of the pricinciples of leadership is you can delegate authority, that's why they select Team Captains, but you can never...NEVER...delegate responsibility. It sounds to me like Coach Rodney quit the team, not the other way around. There was only one person there Friday night who lost that game. Not the kids...it was Coach Rodney.

Yes, I was being very sarcastic.

Wow Coach Rodney, publicly questioning the character of the young men on your football team.As a parent that has had a young man go through 3 sports for 4 years in Mountain Home and as bad or good the programs were not once did he ever get his character questioned publicly,I know that his efforts were always left on the playing field and his willing to compete we're not only fueled by his own competetive nature but also by the motivation of his coaches at the time he was playing and the coaches he was inspired by throughout his youth. I think the ones who have quit are the coaches.Calling kids quitters in a local news paper are not things coaches at any level do or are inspiring to any athlete or performer Mr. Rodney maybe your efforts in preparing the kids week in and week out should be questioned not their character.You job is to mold young men and make them better tomorrow than they are today.

HeidiandJesse its not Rodneys job to mold these young men. that is the parents responsibility. It seems today we as a society like to blame everyone else for the issues that are out there. But it falls upon the shoulders of the parents to train and teach the children.

Raising a child is difficult. It takes a village. It is everyone's responsibility. Seems to me the Coach is the one blaming.

I think it is interesting that people are arguing the role of coaches in our children's lives. I think the issue in this circumstance is that Mr. Rodney is an educator/coach. It isn't professional to call out kids in a public forum, It isn't mature to not take any responsibility for results you are directly involved in, and obviously wisdom has not been demonstrated. Maybe he had a momentary lapse of judgment, maybe he is straight up a jerk. I don't know. I do know I am surprised that there isn't more discussion of just how inappropriate his public comments are.

Biggin, Parents and Grandparents teach the children, morals, standards, right, wrong. The coach teaches them, in this case, football. The coach, especially the head coach, determines the direction the game goes by calling on plays and choosing team members who can best run those plays. The coach determines the direction the practice sessions go. The coach pushes the team in the direction that it needs to go. The coach, in this case is pushing them out the door and off the field. Praise in public, punish in private. This really falls back on Mr Rodney and his staff. They failed the players, not the other way around. But to place blame in a public rant in the newspaper was unforgiveable.

Typically, people tend to get defensive when they know that they, or someone they feel an intrinsic need to protect (e.g., a child or loved one), are being held accountable for their actions, or in this case, a lack thereof.

Not one single player name was mentioned, outside of performance statistics, so I am not sure why it is being assumed that innocent children are being targeted, blamed, or shamed in a public forum. The comments address the current culture of mediocrity that many young people seem so quick to adopt. The attitudes of many of today's athletes AND students include behaviors wherein they actively choose to "settle" through lack of accountability and effort, minimal desire to improve through training/conditioning/studying and by displaying varying levels of commitment (which are typically in direct correlation to the amount of control they, or their parents, perceive that they have, or want to have, over program functioning).

Perhaps, blame could be placed on the coaches for even allowing certain individuals the opportunity to put on that uniform but, I can't imagine, especially at this point, ANY of them are relishing in their inability to see into the future...especially since there is, by no means, some HUGE amount of students in the athlete pool and even fewer who want to commit to giving 100% effort, 100% of the time, regardless of the outcome.

It's truly unfortunate when people who forsake time with their own families for the benefit of the children of any community are rewarded with uninformed, unsubstantiated attacks on their ethics, professionalism, knowledge and/or character.

Relax...take a deep breath...no one called out YOU specifically, or even YOUR possibly disrespectful, unappreciative or unmotivated child, but... if that got you a little bit fired up as either a parent, caregiver or fan...you may want to take a little time for some introspect and re-evaluate whether or not you just might be the one modeling zero- accountability, blame-shifting and complacency while you are sitting at home ranting over a few quotes from a coach that (gasp!) wants ALL 11 GUYS on the field to give their ALL during EVERY game in an effort to reach a common goal.

And, Hey!, while you are online, make sure you check the "Help Wanted" section (or even the MHSD website) for those frequently-open-for-long-periods-of-time coaching positions...then you, too, will have the opportunity to showcase all that expertise and deep insight on the actual field or court...rather than being limited to the stands or a comment section.

The sad truth is comments like these, directed at the kids in general or specifically, can put a bad taste in the mouth of a child that wants to go out and play. Who is to say the team is not giving it their all? I have seen first hand, how comments can diminish an athlete's drive to the point of not wanting to perform. Show me on player that likes to lose. Show me a player that wants to give their all after they being kicked while they are down by their own coach. I don't make my statements off the cuff...I DO volunteer. (that means I take time out from my family without pay)

How does one justify with "who is to say the team is not giving their all" while simultaneously refusing to consider any other argument? The person who spends almost every day with them for hours JUST SAID they were not giving their all...that is exactly the platform of this "debate." I didn't read anywhere in the article or in any comment where anyone said that players enjoy losing.....but, they do, present as not motivated to do whatever it takes to win. If they are "down" it is because of a combination of factors; including ALL stakeholders in the program. A coach stating the OBVIOUS should not be considered "kicking" anyone "while they are down." If you are giving 100%, you inherently know the coach ISN'T talking about you (refer back to my very first sentence). If you are still upset at this point in the post, then fast forward to the part about a call to introspect being in order if you even remotely attempt to apply this to yourself in any way, shape or form. Lastly, like I said, apply, get hired, and sprinkle all your vast knowledge across the town as the savior of whichever program, while getting a stipend (which means you take time out from your family WITH pay).

Publically humiliating the team may or may not get the results the coach is after. I do not claim to know all there is about coaching. I am merely debating the fact that this could have been done in a more appropriate fashion. I usually don't post on here because of the hateful nature it generally takes, but, felt strongly enough about the topic, being someone who was adversely effected by a coach's statements.

oregondux, I can appreciate your comments, and agree to an extent. This, however, is about the venue that Coach Rodaney used to address the loss to BK and the reason for the loss. Let me ask you something? Most adults these days are either employed or wish they were, so I will assume you are employed and answer to a supervisor, employer, owner, someone about your job skills. Very, very few of us are "perfect" at what we do for a living, myself included. That means at some point someone in a position to give us "feedback" has had to "talk to us" about our performance. Assuming you are employed, and assuming you need "guidance" at some point, how do you want that "guidance" delivered? In the company breakroom with 10,000 other employees listening or one on one, in private, just you and them? That's the issue here. Regardless of the drive or motivation of the players, regardless of the frustration experienced, you DO NOT place the blame in the manner Coach Rodney did. You do that in private, in the locker room, just you and the players.

Ramjett, I understand what you are saying and your assumption that I am employed is, in fact, correct. Many of the life skills I acquired throughout my life were via sports and the coaches who took the time to teach me that results are achieved through hard work, accountability, focus and commitment (and it was NEVER sugar-coated). This being said, I haven't received a lot of negative feedback because I try to avoid settling for mediocrity . When it has happened, I was much more disappointed in myself for not excelling than I was humiliated by who might have overheard, witnessed, or gossiped about, it.

These types of values and ethics are engrained by the myriad adults present in a child's pre-adult life (family, coaches, teachers and mentors) so any feedback that is, or has been, given should be interpreted as needing to step up and produce. No adult should have to tolerate whining or complaining about the disparities of Jr. High, High School, or even College, athletics. More kids need to learn and be constantly reminded that they are the key stakeholders in their successes. There are always going to be people who are bigger, faster, stronger or smarter to face on the battlefields of life. Tolerating complacency by any leader (Coach/CEO/Supervisor, or otherwise) only sets the entire organization up for failure.

As I previously said, the players who gave 100% know that this was not directed at them and it will not affect their ability to practice and perform. The ones who place self before team and leisurely sit back and allow everyone to defend them (rather than go out and make it their mission to prove the Coach wrong) will become those very employees getting that not-so-desirable feedback from future employers whether it be via email, memo, or in front of 10,000 people in the breakroom...and if their attitude and motivation remain the same post-high school, they will more than likely be one of those "wishing" they were employed.

Oregondux,

I cannot argue with anything you said in your latest post. Really, I cannot argue with Coach Rodney's impressions of the team's performance or lack thereof. However, the one thing you did not address is the one thing that concerns me most about the article in the newspaper, and that is really what this discussion is ultimately about. The method Coach Rodney used to point out his solution to the problem as he sees it. His comments IN THE PAPER were inappropriate. They were best said in the locker room TO THE TEAM, not a reporter or the readers of the Mountain Home News.