These days, with Virginia Football enjoying a surprising turnaround after last year's nine-win season, people like me who think the coach ought to be fired are seen by other UVA fans as crazy. Yet my objection to Al Groh has never been his ability to win, or to coach a team. My problem(s) with him are 1) he browbeats the press and alums, acting like Parcels without Parcels portfolio or record of accomplishment and 2) he can't keep his players in school. UVA lost 6 starters to academic problems before the season started and we lost this year's starting quarterback to problems with the law. News this morning of YET ANOTHER UVA player being arrested.
Either Groh has to do a MUCH BETTER job of recruiting players with better character, or he must run a better program, one that keeps these guys in school by ensuring they get whatever academic counseling/tutoring they need AND that they receive character counseling, oversight and in some cases, harsh discipline to counter-act whatever impulses there are in their nature that cause them to misbehave.
Groh is not running a program that brings credit to the University. He is winning, but I would rather lose if the price is the reputation of the school.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
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9 comments:
Bravo! I wish more alum of ALL universities had the same philosophy toward their football (in particular) programs.
like Vandy!
Hey, look at Joe Pa at Penn State. His program ain't so clean any longer.
We all have our problems. I went to NCSU and we're right on top of Duke and UNC. Our local paper "The News and Observer" hates us (as well as Duke, can you spell lacrosse?). But Carolina can do no wrong. When Marion Jones (a UNC grad and leader of their NCAA champ basketball team) got into trouble I swear the N&O wouldn't mention she went to UNC. But they repeatedly harped on the fact that her husband was a State grad.
Now the UNC basketball program has had former players (M. Jordon for one) call recruits, a clear violation. They have had pick up games with former players and recruits, another clear NCAA violation. Hear about it? I didn't think so.
On animal farm some animals are more equal than others.
I don't like the orange sweatshirt much either.
Don't kid yourself - nobody other than a few sensitive alumni and faculty members are going to think any less about a school's academic reputation because its football players don't graduate or commit a few crimes.
Virginia still has a solid graduation rate and these slip-ups are going to occur...with athletes and tuition paying students. I would not get all that hung-up on blaming Groh for these types of mistakes.
I too have to am disheartened with the state of affairs of the football program and I take umbrage with old marrying young's comments about not getting hung up on a few slip ups... At risk of stating the obvious, student-athletes are different from tuition paying students (1) because they are not paying for their education, (2) they are more high profile than other students, so with this privileged status comes responsibility. Student-athletes know this when the enroll. It is part of the "contract" which they enter when they agree to enroll as student-athletes.
7-4, 8-3 are respectable seasons when the players are conducting themselves as upstanding respresentatives of The University, and performing academically as well.... when this is not occurring, then alum like us get antsy because we do have high expectations of all who walk The Grounds.
Thanks for the support, Wahooligan, and I welcome you to the site.
CW you hit the nail on the head. Groh's lack of control over the team he is paid to run is he downfall. It's bad enough when winning teams have this crap.... but to have this behavior and still be mediocre ...no way
CW and Wahooligan--
I'm right there with you on this one.
jts
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