Quick Hit: Discipline Problems

Coaches hate losing and distractions the most. When those two things happen during the course of the season, and they do, it drives them crazy. Well, down in Tallahassee, Florida there seems to be daily distractions for Florida State Head Coach Jimbo Fisher. To say that this is not an issue would be to say that Pete Rose doesn't gamble. What do coaches have to do to correct things like this?


The fights, domestic violence, drugs, or any other type of felonies that are broken are the result of bad decisions made by the player, not the coach, but what kind of responsibility do the coaches have? As a person who coaches young people, it all comes down to setting the ground rules and making them stick for everybody. Regardless of importance to the team. The third string offensive lineman gets the same consequence as the first team lineman. What brings down a teams chemistry quicker than most things is when the players see the difference in consequences between players on a team. This has to be something that coaches now have to adhere to at some point.


Jimbo Fisher is going to have to institute some type of team self monitoring where the upperclassmen keep the younger players from making some stupid mistakes. He may even have to have some of his coaches go out and monitor there player whereabouts on a Friday night. That may be a very tough thing to do because players are so mobile nowadays that finding any of them on any given night may prove fruitless.


However, these discipline problems are the players problems. When I see the Florida State quarterback in a bar and he is underage I think to myself, "Why?" Why does this person want to put themselves in a situation where they can lose their scholarship and really have no recourse or choice after that. Why do they want to punch a woman? What is inside them that says punching a woman is okay in ANY circumstance? Nobody knows except the player that perpetrates any kind of assault like that. I heard something the other day that has crossed through my mind a few times in my life when I've seen this kind of violence happen. A friend of mine said, "If the boss says 'don't go to the bar' you don't go to the bar." I absolutely agree with that statement. These players/kids are over the age of 18 and that means adult consequences with whatever negative actions they decide on doing. By not following what the coach or boss says, you are saying to your coach and team that you are bigger than the team. Which is incorrect. If the coach found you to play for him, he can find another player just like you that won't make stupid decisions and won't cause him or the school any headaches.


In the end, these coaches need to start taking a hard line with these kids who think they are above the law or the team (Jameis Winston). When coaches like set tough ground rules down and actually follow them for every player regardless of talent they will see team chemistry is much better and that these distractions that they despise simply go away. Just saying...