Coaches' words betray status as teachers

By Barry Jacobs
Feb 21, 2009

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When Roy Williams accidentally dropped the “F-bomb,” to adopt the euphemism popular in accounts of the incident, the slip was met with gasps of surprise, clucking tongues, and shaking heads. That Williams’ post-game press conferences are broadcast live on a large regional radio network only amplified the reactions.

Williams let down his verbal guard previously on national television. Just moments after his Kansas squad’s loss in the 2003 NCAA championship contest, CBS reporter Bonnie Bernstein inquired about his interest in taking over at North Carolina. The question was predictable, and so was the coach’s dismissive response. His candor in disregarding the camera was both refreshing and unfortunate.

Wednesday night’s language choice had a different effect, eroding the aggressive sense of moral superiority adopted by many North Carolina fans in relation to Duke and its head coach, Mike Krzyzewski.

Two criticisms frequently aimed at Krzyzewski regard his won-loss record and his bench decorum.

Krzyzewski could challenge his mentor, Bob Knight, for career victories if he coaches for another three seasons. Should he fall just short, critics will point to the decision to ask the NCAA to attribute the Blue Devils’ 2-13 record in the second half of the 1995 season to interim head coach Pete Gaudet.

Krzyzewski was sidelined due to injury and exhaustion during the period his assistant ran the show. Other coaches, including Hall of Famer Phog Allen, for whom Dean Smith played at Kansas, received similar NCAA dispensations. Still, this resort to technicality meets with disdain in many quarters, often but not exclusively where the Tar Heel faithful gather.

Then there is Krzyzewski’s X-rated vocabulary and hectoring sideline manner. Lip readers watching telecasts of Duke games know well that Coach K is apt to express his displeasure, usually toward officials, in a matter both vociferous and profane. His outbursts have dwindled as he ages, and most game officials take the blasts in stride. Similarly, given his bionic hips, creaky knees, and greater maturity, Krzyzewski is not as physically demonstrative on the sidelines as he once was.

Meanwhile Tar Heel fans long basked comfortably in the knowledge that Smith, the UNC coach for 36 years, and his successor, Bill Guthridge, were scrupulous in maintaining public decorum. They did not curse, did not even tear off their sports jackets in expressions of dismay. When students at the Smith Center resorted to a popular chant derisively citing bovine excrement to characterize an official’s call, Smith invariably hurried to wave them into silence.

Williams is not visibly bothered when today’s Carolina students take up the bull-stuff chant, which in fairness happens rarely. The coach also uses barely-disguised but marginally acceptable words such as frigging to express his displeasure. Wednesday night he went farther, undermining any justifiable claims of superior comportment compared with Krzyzewski.

In fact, the more interesting aspect of Williams’ slip was what it revealed about the inner workings of a game in which well-compensated men dressed in ties and jackets, fancying themselves teachers, role models, and representatives of great universities, think nothing of employing various degrees of derision, emotional excess, and verbal assault to guide the young people they lead. It’s difficult to imagine anyone else in virtually any walk of life getting away with similar behavior.

Williams, a man with a temper, admittedly resorts to profanity in practice and huddles. Virginia’s Dave Leitao is probably the worst practitioner of the black verbal arts among ACC coaches. Those seated by his bench have been shocked by Leitao's language. So, probably, was All-ACC guard J.R. Reynolds when, during a break in the action a few years ago at the Dean Dome, his coach screamed loudly that he was a Williams-word disgrace to the University of Virginia.

Recently Leitao has toned down the abuse in public, waiting until others are out of earshot to let loose. This is commonly how it’s done. A coach must be highly successful like Knight or West Virginia’s Bob Huggins to get away with behavior that could get a struggling Leitao fired.

Surely it's not easy to operate in a competitive, intensely scrutinized setting for months on end. Inevitably, assertion and aspiration give way to frustration and anger. The results are not pretty.

Witness Maryland coach Gary Williams. During a game the competitor within erupts regularly to vigorously express displeasure. Displacing his anger, Williams periodically – and somewhat comically -- scurries down his bench to berate players or assistant coaches who are seated quietly, minding their own business.

Maryland’s Williams does know how to damp his inner fire once a game, impromptu lecture, or even an official’s admonition are done. The inability to find that balance in part led to unseasoned Matt Doherty’s dismissal as UNC’s head coach in 2003.

Wednesday night a mature, well-adjusted Roy Williams inadvertently crossed the verbal border between the acceptable and the cringe-inducing. He regretted it immediately, and said so. Still, it’s a mystery why coaches believe themselves exempt even in private from the bounds of decorum that apply in most classrooms or offices.

Those who claim a teacher’s mantle have a special obligation to lead by example, to model appropriate behavior, rather than claim exemptions that may result in embarrassment, coarsened public dialogue, and worse.

Most Recent Comments

RE: Coaches' words betray status as teachers

Those who think that learning /motivation only occurs under conditions of sweetness, classical music, and complete acceptance of differences did not sucessfully complete some of the training I received from the US Army.

The coaches and players want to win, be the best, they keep score. Losers, individually and teams, are identified and discussed. In competitive team sports coaches often NEED to let the young men know the full extent of coaches displeasure in a way that will motivate them to improve.

I'm not a UNC fan, but I understand what pressure does to a man's mouth.

RE: Coaches' words betray status as teachers

I agree with Objective. You can tell a lot about a person's intelligence and self control by what comes out of his/her mouth. Been a Heel's fan all my life and proud of the way Coach Smith handled himself. That's why I look up to men like Tony Dungy who take the high road and set a good example. I have a two year old at home. My little boy immitates me all the time; even when I'm not expecting it. One little slip up like Roy's, and I might have some explaining to do at church or daycare. I happen to like ole Roy and don't think we need to "nail him to a tree" for this. But just think about the power words have. What if Roy had used a certain "N" word. I say Roy, don't use it at home, at practice, or at the golf course. That way, it doesn't slip out when you don't want it to.

RE: Coaches' words betray status as teachers

Barry Jacobs makes an excellent "point" in this well-written article. Some responses/comments are disappointing in that they suggest that "everyone does it... no big deal", or that someone else is worse, i.e., Coach K, or that geographic location is a factor. Neither reason is a good one to support the blatant use of profanity by coaches that is directed at their players or game officials. Also, most people do not consider collegiate coaches as "teachers", for one thing most are paid more in one year than the typical professor will make in his/her entire lifetime, rather it is the coaches who frequently refer to themselves as teachers. I agree that the "F" word seems to have become so common that it may not have the impact it once had, but that rationale fails to support its use in public. Roy Williams, and other coaches, demand that their players control their emotions. Look at Roy's reaction to his own player's emotional reaction in the first NC State game. Should not Roy also be expected to control his emotions? My answer is emphatically YES! IN general, we tolerate or "overlook" things said and done by coaches and athletes that we would not tolerate from others. And, for perspective, I hold multiple degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill and I am a true "Tar Heel" in every possibly way.

RE: Coaches' words betray status as teachers

many of us no longer equate "teacher" -- esp. at the college level -- with the kind moralistic expectations that Jacobs presumes in this article. questioning and contesting puritanical norms are an important part of a good education, especially at the college level. plus anyone who has ever played organized sports at the high school and college level knows that coaches have been dropping the f-bomb a long time (!). what's more astonishing is to hear that a coach like williams actually tries to *avoid* or *minimize* his use of such language.

RE: Coaches' words betray status as teachers

Well technically this whole section is for commentary articles and a chance for us to hear the opinions of the professionals so I see no fault in a reporter stating his opinion in a well-written column.

With that aside, as a media-communication student, I believe it is a big deal when someone commits a violation such as Roy's on live radio, television, etc. Mainly because it is breaking the law and the rules the FCC have set forth. Roy had a chance (although it is unlikely) to get in some legal trouble for his slip up so again it is a big deal. If you don't quite understand check out the supreme court ruling in F.C.C. vs. Pacifica, which highlights the controversy of the late George Carlin.

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Barry Jacobs