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Wednesday, November 27
 
The 'third season' has just begun

By Bill Curry
Special to ESPN.com

"NO FOOTBALL COACHES ALLOWED," proclaimed the huge signs.

We were on a family trip to England, learning to drive on the wrong side of the road, and were startled at the cryptic notices at the entrance to service areas. "Bill, you are not allowed in here," my wife joked.

The kids in the back seat giggled as it dawned on us that in England a "coach" is a "bus", and that "football" is "soccer". In speaking with the local merchants we learned that buses loaded with the fans of some teams were so drunk and destructive that they were unwelcome.

"Bunch of bloody vandals, I say," intoned one clerk.

U.S. sports fans have been getting a bad rap for some time now. Some immature parents have tried to destroy youth sports with insane behavior, abuse of their own and other families' children, and the most absurd lawsuits ever produced in our litigious society.

Some fans believe it is their birthright to trash football stadiums, tear down goalposts, scream obscenities at coaches and belittle teen age players.

The truth is obvious. Most fans are well-behaved, and all of us should keep our enthusiasm for athletic teams in perspective. Theories abound about the reasons for our aberrant behavior and any attempt at a thorough examination of that subject would make Leo Tolstoy wince.

What neither coaches nor anyone else in our business should be required to endure is the moral and professional equivalent of a public execution. There is some morbid fascination in our culture with the occasional hanging, and given that the law no longer allows for such we use our games as substitutes.

The word fan is a derivative of "fanatic". Maybe that intimates something. Suffice it to say that responsible coaches, administrators, parents and fans are embarrassed and are addressing the conundrum.

The recent Miami-Marshall incident -- in which a Marshall fan was knocked to the ground by a member of the Miami (Ohio) coaching staff -- calls into question the behavior of coaches in this context. They are held to a higher standard as they should be.

In fact, it is in those very moments of embarrassment that the coach has one of her or his best opportunities to teach restraint and dignity.

Everyone is watching, and they will remember the moment of humiliation longer than the moment of triumph. This is not conjecture on my part.

I have had total strangers approach me and repeat with startling accuracy something I said in difficult circumstances a decade before. My former players seem to remember everything I said, no matter the passage of time.

We are all grownups when we sign on to coach. We should never complain nor alibi when the heat is on. We are expected to understand what goes with the territory, and to be about our business with no expectation of sympathy.

What neither coaches nor anyone else in our business should be required to endure is the moral and professional equivalent of a public execution. There is some morbid fascination in our culture with the occasional hanging, and given that the law no longer allows for such we use our games as substitutes.

Last December I wrote the following regarding George O'Leary's situation with Notre Dame:

"Football coaches are great dreamers. We believe we can overcome, create the master plan, be the difference. Our character varies with the same diversity of ambition and moral structure as military leaders. Our 'characters' run the gamut from some of the best to some of the worst role models.

We share one common attribute: we are, almost to a man, driven souls. We believe in winning, if not at all costs, at least at dear cost. We work 90-hour weeks, month after month, year after year, in pursuit of the perfect performance. We exact severe tolls on families, personal relationships and our own health, certain that when we 'win it all' everyone will understand, even cheer.

When one of us slips, loses too many games, or does something reprehensible, judgment is swift and merciless. Metaphorically, it is a public execution. If you doubt my words, watch the sneers and listen to the jeers when one of us goes down. Imagine yourself the object of such."

In the sport of football, there are actually three distinct seasons each year. They are the recruiting frenzy, the actual games, and "Off With His Head". The latter season can commence as early as October and continue ad infinitum, ad nauseam, until some administrative action is forced.

The cruel manifestations of The Third Season include but are not limited to Firecoach.com websites, 24-hour radio talk shows spewing venom, harassment of one's spouse and children in public and in school, vicious sportswriters' polemics and funny looks real and imagined.

If and when the actual firing takes place, there is often a sense of relief. There is also a growing realization that the emotional toll on the families will be years in the healing process.

Do other folks endure worse scenarios? Of course they do, but usually not as publicly, and not with the blatant glee of their detractors, most of whom do not know the coach.

Bobby Williams of Michigan State, R.C. Slocum of Texas A&M, John Mackovic of Arizona, Ron Zook of Florida and others of their ilk are fine men who love their players and try to do the right thing. They deserve to be evaluated based of the criteria delineated by their institutions.

They do not deserve to be publicly ridiculed or scorned as if they had committed crimes against humanity. They do not deserve public execution.

Remember that the next time you are tempted to jump on the pile when the whistle has blown. There is no one there to throw a flag, and you have to decide whether you wish to be part of the problem or part of the solution.

ESPN college football analyst Bill Curry coached for 17 years in the college ranks.





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