Love, Hate and Criticism

Coaches involved in all levels of athletics are subject to high criticism and quick judgment. Make a bad call, lose a game or say the wrong thing to the media and people will hate you. Win a game, a championship, turn a program around or be a positive public figure and people will offer their first born child to you. The difference between being loved and loathed as a coach can often rest on the result of your season.

Go 9-1 and everyone is a fan and you are the best thing to happen to this school since its inception. Hey, everyone loves a winner. Go 5-5 and you might as well move out of town because you have become the outcast.

Meanwhile, coaches have to deal with a plethora of internal problems. Every team must endure injuries, but not every team is prepared to lose starters. There are team problems, coach problems, lack of funding for the program and the pressure put on the program by the school and community to win. Nobody outside of the team sees the hard work that results in a victory, but by the same token, no one sees the internal struggles that result in defeat.

In high school, maybe this year's senior class just isn't as gifted as the rest of the league. In college, maybe the coach is building a program and is starting from the ground up with youngsters. In the pros, maybe it is a new system that the coach is implementing or maybe the money isn't there to bring in the star athlete. No matter the cause, when you lose, people just look at the final score.

It's easy to judge, I just wish we would give these guys a little more of a chance. I'm not different, I judge just like everyone else. I'm not a big Charlie Weis fan for a lot of reasons that have nothing to do with his record. But look at his situation. When he was with the New England Patriots and they were winning Super Bowls, he was literally a god amongst men. He took the job at Notre Dame and the Irish fans we're in a frenzy because Charlie Weis was going to restore the glory. After a tough 5 year tenure at ND, I have yet to find the fan that still loves Charlie Weis. They dislike him because of his win-loss record. These people do not know Weis for anything more than his record. I understand that his job was to win and he didn't and maybe he isn't the coach we all thought he was, but I fully believe that a person should be judged on much more than his/her win percentage.