Bleacher Report - Articles by Jason Whitlock

Turner Gill Needs to Find Program That Fits Him

Jason Whitlock — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 08:10:46 -0500

My critics accuse me of being a deliberate contrarian. It is not true. I simply see the world differently.

That probably explains why I see Tommy Tuberville as the lone victim in the Gene Chizik-Turner Gill-Charles Barkley controversy surrounding Auburn football.

Tuberville — not Gill — is the injured party. Tuberville — not Gill — has 110 career victories and a 7-3 record vs. Alabama. Tuberville — not Gill — is the accomplished, experienced, decorated, proven head coach who got run out of a job so that Auburn could hire a man riding a 10-game losing streak at Iowa State.

If his name was Tommy Obama and his father was an irresponsible Kenyan, there would be blood filling the streets of Alabama this week.

Instead, somehow we've surmised that Auburn officials reenacted Mississippi Burning on Turner Gill, the thanks-but-no-thanks candidate.

OK, now that I have your attention, buckle up. We're going to travel deep into the college football-black coaches maze. It's an important topic, an issue that should be addressed with a level of sophistication and honesty that a Hall of Fame basketball player and rabble-rouser can't muster.

Turner Gill, the black head football coach at Buffalo, is one of the most promising coaches in the game. He has a chance to be a superstar. Auburn wasn't the right "fit" for Gill.

One Gatorade shower doesn't qualify Turner Gill to take over a major program. But it should help him find the right job when the time comes to leave Buffalo. (Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)

That word — "fit" — is frustrating to people outside the college football world. They don't understand the uniqueness of each college football environment.

They think college football isn't much different from the NFL, where the teams are all generally located in major cities, recruiting is a nonfactor, the style of play is pretty uniform and kissing the rear of a wealthy booster means lunch with Jerry Jones.

Head-coaching diversity is easier to achieve in the NFL because the clubs operate in diverse communities and the playing field is level. The "fit" in the NFL is all the same. It's a two-question test: 1. Can you be a consistent leader of young men? 2. Do you know the game?

There are far more variables in the collegiate game: 1. Can you connect with the high school coaches in the area? 2. Can you schmooze boosters? 3. Do you have the connections to put together a coaching staff appropriate for a particular conference or region? 4. Are you good at projecting and developing talent? 5. Do you have the discipline and passion to recruit?

The list is endless.

Turner Gill, a former quarterback at Nebraska and a native of Fort Worth, Texas, failed the fit test at Auburn, and that statement has nothing to do with his race. Gill likely would've destroyed a bright coaching future by winning the job at Auburn.

Auburn officials now surely regret doing the right thing and giving Gill an interview. For their trouble, they've been labeled as bigoted and unfair by a prominent, well-meaning alumnus.

Gill, based on Buffalo's rapid improvement during his three-year tenure, is qualified to interview for any college job in the country. It's easy to understand why Auburn's search committee wanted to meet Gill. There was an outside chance that he would blow them away during a face-to-face session.

Unlike pro football, and pro and college basketball, you don't really land college football jobs with your resume. It'll get you in the door, but you secure the job with the delivery of your game plan. You have to express an exceptional understanding of what it takes to win at a particular university and inside a particular conference.

The game plan at Auburn is different from the one at Syracuse and the one at Washington and the one at Boise State. Geography, academic requirements, restrictions on salary pools for assistants and coaches could all impact how a head coach constructs his staff.

Gene Chizik, a former defensive coordinator at Auburn, surely outshined Gill during the interview process.

OK, is my point that racism plays no role in the embarrassing number of black Division I football coaches?

That is not my point at all. Of course racism plays a role. But so do many other things, including things that we (African-Americans) control.

We're not going about correcting this problem in a strategic fashion ... unless you consider screaming "racism!" in a crowded room a strategy.

John Thompson became a college hoops coaching legend at Georgetown and opened the doors for plenty of other black coaches with his success.(Gary Newkirk/ALLSPORT / Getty Images)

Oh, it's great TV, and it ensures that Auburn will think long and hard before inviting another brother to campus to talk football. But it's not getting us any closer to producing the John Thompson of college football.

Big John created equal opportunity in college basketball coaching. The program he built at Georgetown opened minds across the country and made it possible for a school like Arkansas to welcome Nolan Richardson as its coach.

College football needs a Big John Thompson, a coach who was the right "fit" at Georgetown when "fit" mattered in hoops. Big John, like his contemporary, Temple's John Chaney, was the perfect coach to build a program at a predominately white school located in a chocolate city. No one in D.C. cared that Big John scowled, played an all-black lineup and recruited kids who needed his tough-love approach.

Big John fit. He took over a 3-23 program and turned it into a powerhouse. He won the national championship in 1984, becoming the first black coach to do so and a symbol of black excellence.

A year after his championship, Arkansas hired Nolan Richardson, the first black hoops coach in the SEC, the Big John of the south. Nolan recruited wonderfully, advanced to three Final Fours and won a championship.

Hoya Paranoia begat 40 minutes of hell, Big John spawned Big Nolan. Because of those two giants, black college basketball coaches are commonplace in the best conferences.

Do you know who the most successful black college football coach is/was?

UCLA's Karl Dorrell, the man with a sparkling 35-27 record in five years, the man pink-slipped after consecutive disappointing seasons.

Tyrone Willingham has the most victories — 76 to go along with 88 losses and one tie.

Dennis Green went 26-63 at Northwestern and Stanford. Sylvester Croom finished up at 21-38 at Mississippi State.

The complaint is black coaches get bad jobs. Do you think John Thompson took over a traditional power? Or do you think John Thompson found a job at a place where he could build a powerhouse?

We're not being strategic. Dorrell, a UCLA alumnus, is the only black coach who landed somewhere he truly fit. The problem is he got there before he was truly ready for the responsibility. Ron Prince, relieved of duties at Kansas State, could still turn out to be a great head coach. Arrogance and inexperience cost him at K-State.

Turner Gill is not ready for the BCS. He's had one winning season in three as a head coach. His signature victory — an upset of Ball State in the MAC championship — came on a night when his opponent gave the game away with turnovers.

I watch MAC football. I played in the conference and enjoy it on TV. Most of the people flapping their gums about Turner Gill have never watched him coach a game. They've seen the Ball State highlights of Buffalo defenders picking up fumbles and running them in for scores.

There was no coaching masterpiece. Skin color and a 15-22 record don't qualify you to coach in the SEC.

Let me repeat: Turner Gill has all the necessary ingredients to be a coaching star. He could be the black Urban Meyer if we allow Gill to develop.

Urban Meyer introduced an offensive system (the spread), molded two mid-major programs (Bowling Green and Utah) into squads that routinely whipped BCS schools and then jumped to Florida and the SEC.

Gill's dream destination after next season should be TCU, which is located in his hometown. Oh, Gill would be a great fit at several Big 12 schools, too, particularly Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska. Gill would've been a nice choice at Syracuse this offseason.

But he doesn't need to be rushed into the BCS. He shouldn't haphazardly seek every job that is available. If the Black Coaches Association would really like to see Gill succeed, someone should be in the ear of decision-makers at TCU preaching to them about Gill. Gary Patterson won't be at TCU much longer.

And friends of Gill need to help him and his coaching staff understand they weren't the victims of some sort of racial injustice this offseason. It's hard to coach when you're carrying a cross.

The Bulls have a bowl game to play in, and next season they must prove their three overtime victories weren't some sort of once-in-a-generation football fluke.

Barkley put a bull's-eye on Gill's chest. Every coach in the MAC will be gunning to take down the media golden child and BCS coach of the future.

I'm glad Barkley has the courage to use his clout and platform to participate in the hiring process at Auburn. He's engaged, and that's good. Too many black athletes lose contact with their universities when their playing careers wrap up. They forfeit their opportunity to influence the process.

But we have to open our eyes and recognize that unfairness can be extremely colorblind. I've spent the past six years deeply involved with former Ball State football coach Brady Hoke (new coach at San Diego State) and his staff. I was fortunate to participate in the hiring process, and I spent this past fall helplessly trying to prevent the Ball State school president from running him off to a "bad" job.

I learned a lot. Competition/athletics are ruled by objective results. Administrators on college campuses are ruled by politics and ego. Anybody, regardless of color, can get screwed when a group of ego-driven politicians decide what to do about a coach who threatens their influence.

It took quite a bit of effort to run Hoke away from our shared alma mater. If nothing else, Ball State's school president is dogged when it comes to athletics incompetence and negligence. Adding to a legend that already included hiring an AD with a resume far shadier than George O'Leary's and writing Ronny Thompson a $200,000 apology for dirtying the school's reputation with half-baked accusations of Klan-like racism, Jo Ann Gora ran off her most successful coach with hidden-from-the-public-but-easy-to-recognize indifference and disdain.

The school earned back-to-back bowl bids for the first time in history, and she responded with back-to-back refusals to upgrade the salaries of some of the lowest-paid assistants in the MAC.

Her motive? She, her husband and her athletic director, who recently received an online diploma, reached the conclusion that the loud-mouthed, glory-seeking offensive coordinator was the primary reason the team won 12 straight this season. Pushing Hoke to San Diego gave her the perfect opportunity to elevate the OC to head coach with the promise of more money for the assistants.

This game is dirty and indiscriminately unfair.

Buffalo, after an 8-5 season, just promised to make Gill one of the highest-paid coaches in the MAC and upgrade the salaries of all of his assistants.

Yes, there is a disadvantage to being a black candidate or a black head coach. But race does not singularly define any of these issues.

As best I can tell, Miami's Randy Shannon, Houston's Kevin Sumlin and Buffalo's Gill are in situations where they can have success and/or advance. We need to assist them where they're at and identify locations where they can be successful again.

Once one of these guys reaches the mountain top opportunities for other black coaches will follow quickly.

You can e-mail Jason Whitlock at ballstate0@aol.com.

This article originally published on FOXSports.com.

Read more of Jason's columns here.

NFL Truths: T.O. a Big Part of Romo's Problem

Jason Whitlock — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 08:35:32 -0500

The NFL Truths are back, and they include a little bit of everything, including my long list of pathetic excuses for my Ball State Cardinals losing to an inferior team.

10. Tony Romo is starting to develop quite the reputation: big-game choke artist.

His three-interception afternoon against the Pittsburgh Steelers sparked a couple of friends to text me disparaging remarks about Jessica Simpson's boy toy.

"Romo most overrated QB n history!"

"Don't get Romo hype. Sucks."

I like Romo and have a theory that he's just the latest talented QB to be undermined by a dysfunctional, bipolar relationship with Terrell Owens. It's just a theory. I'm not ready to swear to it.

But T.O. and his sideline histrionics wear on a quarterback. He's like the hot stripper you tried to clean up and convert into a real girlfriend. It's a lot of fun until the moment she has her second drink while out to eat with your parents. You unravel quicker than she does.

Romo appears to come unglued in December when the outcomes mean the most.

In three seasons as Dallas' starter, Romo's numbers the final four games of the regular season and playoffs are rather revealing. The Cowboys are 3-8 in those games. Romo has tossed 12 TDs and 15 INTs. His completion percentage drops to 58, a full six points lower than his career average.

Throw in his fumbled PAT snap in the Seattle playoff loss — his first season as a starter — and it's easy to argue that Romo struggles in the clutch.

It's probably unfair, but I blame T.O. The environment he creates with all of his ranting and raving is not one conducive to consistent QB play. Can we agree that Joe Montana was the best big-game QB in NFL history? Do you remember Jerry Rice acting like a deranged idiot on the sideline?

You can't turn a T.O. into a housewife.

9. Speaking of Owens, it's not surprising that I completely disagree with his assessment of Keyshawn Johnson's broadcasting abilities.

This week Owens called Johnson and Emmitt Smiff "dumb and dumber." Johnson and Smiff work for ESPN and have been critical of the underachieving Cowboys in recent weeks.

Look, I have no idea why Smiff would ruin the classy reputation Emmitt Smith built as a running back and dancer. Will Smith not share his NFL and "Dancing with the Stars" money with Smiff?

Whatever, I'm off topic. Johnson is blossoming into a broadcasting superstar. Once he masters the art of self-deprecating humor, Johnson could become the Charles Barkley of football.

It bothers some people that Johnson is a bit of a hypocrite. He routinely blasts Owens and others for behavior he once demonstrated as a receiving diva. It doesn't matter. Johnson is an analyst now. His criticisms seem fair, accurate, authentic and informed. Last week he suggested there was a breakdown in trust between Romo and Owens and that lack of trust explained why Romo looked to Jason Witten on critical downs. That's good stuff.

I like the whole NFL Countdown crew, but Chris Berman, Tom Jackson and Keyshawn Johnson could be the equivalent of Ernie, Kenny and Charles.

8. A friend who works in the mailroom at the Miami Dolphins football complex intercepted this letter intended for linebacker Joey Porter.

Dear Joey:
We just want to thank you for doing your part to promote the idea that young black men should arm themselves with handguns and shoot each other at the first sign of trouble. We watched your recent TV interview discussing Plaxico Burress' overhyped and harmless mishap. As you know, Plax's accident was a total fluke and aberration. Black men don't shoot themselves with handguns when they're at nightclubs drinking. They shoot each other. The focus on Plax is much ado about nothing. Concealed handguns, alcohol and your attitude will keep the black-on-black crime rate strong!
Thanks again,
Imperial Grand Wizard David Duke

7. The Baltimore Ravens have surrendered 20 total points in their last three games, and Ray Lewis is in the process of cementing his legacy as the Dick Butkus of the modern era.

Ray Ray and Butkus are the standard for middle linebacker play. Lewis has been putting it down for 13 years. He's carried the franchise for more than a decade. He's ferocious, intimidating and productive at 33. And he has the Ravens in serious playoff contention.

Will Lewis be a bigger legend than Butkus? I'm not sure. Playing in Chicago helped Butkus. It's sad to say, but maybe Ray's off-the-field troubles will enhance his legend.

6. Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia Eagles finally won a close game, beating the Giants by six points.

Before the victory over New York, the Eagles had won their previous contests by 35, 9, 14, 13, 19 and 29. That's an average margin of nearly 20 points. Meanwhile four of Philly's five losses were of the single-possession variety. The Eagles lost to Dallas by 4, Chicago by 6, Washington by 6 and New York by 5.

My point is the Eagles are not a horrible team. They had a chance to win every game but one this season (36-7 loss to the Ravens). If the Eagles sneak into the playoffs, they're a very difficult out.

5. After spending much of the offseason campaigning for Brett Favre to return to Green Bay, I'm quite happy the Packers are 5-8 and pretty much out of the playoff picture. However, Aaron Rodgers isn't to blame for Green Bay's disappointing season.

It's Ted Thompson's fault.

After being a sturdy strength a year ago, Green Bay's defense has withered thanks to Thompson's neglect. Green Bay Post Gazettecolumnist Mike Vandermause does a nice job pointing out Thompson's incompetence here.

Vandermause points out that Thompson has used just five of Green Bay's 20 draft picks in 2007 and 2008 on defensive players, and only one of those players is a starter.

Vandermause doesn't speculate about Thompson's motive. I will. When you spend two years plotting the overthrow of Brett Favre, you bend over backwards trying to make sure that his successor has all the tools necessary to be a wild success.

Why else would Thompson draft Kansas State receiver Jordy Nelson with Green Bay's first pick in 2008? I love Jordy. He's going to be a terrific pro. But the Packers were stocked at receiver. It wasn't remotely a position of need. Jordy was Favre insurance.

4. On Monday, Buccaneers defensive tackle Ryan Sims made his first start since the 2005 season. On Monday, Carolina running backs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart combine to rush for 301 yards.

Coincidence?

Not if you followed Sims' Kansas City career. After Sims' five seasons in Kansas City, I'm not sure why any team would give him a contract as a backup. Monte Kiffin is supposed to be some sort of defensive genius. I'd love to hear him explain what makes Sims an NFL-caliber defensive tackle.

3. There's a joke among comedians that George W. Bush screwed up so bad as president that he made it possible for America to elect its first black president. Cleveland comedians might crack a similar joke about Romeo Crennel.

Romeo is so bad that Clevelanders are giving real thought to supporting the idea of bringing back Marty Schottenheimer as head coach.

Damn! Someone in Cleveland needs to ask why Marty always looks best in the rearview mirror. Seriously, football fans in San Diego and Kansas City also reminisce about Marty's wonderful regular seasons.

Are regular seasons more important than playoffs? And if so, why are so many people demanding playoffs in college football?

2. I'm going to stick to the facts about the derailed bandwagon I was driving for my Ball State football Cardinals, losers to Buffalo in the MAC title game.

A. I predicted the Cardinals would go 12-0, and they did. I never mentioned 13-0. Check the original column.

B. Typical inept MAC officiating stole a Quale Lewis touchdown that would've given my Cardinals a 10-point lead in the third quarter and put the Buffalo Bulls away.

C. The MAC is stupid for holding its championship game in Detroit at Ford Field. It's a terrible environment for a poorly attended college game.

D. Ball State forfeited its emotional advantage when it announced it wouldn't travel to Idaho to play Boise State in the Humanitarian Bowl. That decision ensured the players would be flat in the MAC Championship.

E. Nate Davis had the flu and didn't play with his normal amount of high-energy enthusiasm. He's still the best pro quarterback in the college game.

F. If Ball State president Jo Ann Gora treated the football coach the way she treated the women's basketball coach, my Cardinals would make an even stronger BCS run next season.

G. Everything I saidabout The World Wide Misleader is 100 percent factual.

1. Whew, the shine wore off Jim Zorn and Jason Campbell quick.

Clinton Portis might have thought he was taking a shot at Zorn this week when he blasted Washington's head coach during a radio interview. The reality is Portis ensured that Zorn will be looking for a scapegoat for Washington's collapse. And Campbell will fill that role nicely.

You can e-mail Jason Whitlock at ballstate0@aol.com.

This article originally published on FOXSports.com.

Read more of Jason's columns here.

Sean Avery Might Be Dumb, but NHL Overreacted

Jason Whitlock — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:01:19 -0500

Just about everything in the sports world I get.

Take Plaxico Burress for example. He isn't that hard to understand. To him, and many other misguided black athletes, a concealed handgun isn't that much different from a diamond-encrusted Rolex watch. Expensive jewlerry and a Glock are the can't-leave-home-without-'em necessities for many athletes/wannabe rap stars.

I have nothing profound to say about Plaxico's stupidity. He's trapped in a self-destructive cultural mindset that won't be altered by get-tough suspensions from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

I also have little news to offer, as it relates to Notre Dame retaining The Great Weis Hope for a fifth season. Notre Dame made a huge mistake giving Charlie Weis a contract extension, but the cost of fixing that mistake and the gettable candidates to replace TGWH prohibit the school from dismissing him. I get it.

What I don't understand this week is NHL commissioner Gary Bettman's overreaction to Sean Avery's slightly off-color joke about his peers dating his exes.

I am not trying to be flip, primitive, or insensitive. "Sloppy seconds" has never been to my knowledge, an obscenity.

I acknowledge that perhaps I was raised poorly. My parents divorced when I was four or five years old. My dad let me and my brother spend too much time sitting on a bar stool talking sports at his tavern, Jimmy's J Bar J.

My mother liked to play bingo and cards, take an occasional road trip to Churchill Downs and spend a Saturday morning playing the numbers at the local "peashake" houses. She didn't hide it.

But I was also raised at 25th Street Baptist Church. My dad once spanked me for saying "fart." I had well-established boundaries of decency and respect. And the Whitlocks, we love to laugh. We laugh at ourselves, the people we love, and everybody else. A dirty joke with a good punch line is always welcome at a Whitlock gathering.

My friends, a healthy cross section of blacks and whites, rich and poor, male and female, old and young are all the same way. I like to feel I'm part of mainstream America, with mainstream American values.

I just can't fathom the Sean Avery controversy. This has to be some kind of desperate publicity stunt for a terrific sport that is being ignored.

Obviously, Avery did not have to crack his joke in front of TV cameras. He should've saved it for the locker room, but indefinitely suspended by the league? Predictions that he'll never play again for the Dallas Stars?

Have we heard from Elisha Cuthbert? Is she pulling a Vivian Stringer and claiming that her role as Kim Bauer on "24" has been ruined by Avery's immature attempt at gamesmanship directed at Calgary's Dion Phaneuf?

I am not denying that Avery is an idiot. He has previously been accused of uttering a racial epithet at Georges Laraque. The league took no action because it was an impossible-to-prove he-said-it, between Avery and Laraque.

I'm sure that history played a small role in Bettman's overreaction. Bettman, I'm sure, is trying to stop Avery from turning into the NHL's John Rocker. Bettman could've handled it by issuing a statement from the league apologizing to Cuthbert and any offended fans and promising to suspend Avery for his next, remotely inappropriate public comment.

OK, that's my quibble with Bettman. My real problem is with my peers in the media. I think we're too quick to go for the death penalty when it comes to verbal screw-ups. We can never see the gray areas and just want hard and fast rules.

Avery may be just as dumb as Rocker, but Avery is not John Rocker, yet. Avery isn't even Fuzzy Zoeller, who mean-spiritedly tried to diminish Tiger Woods' first Masters title with a fried-chicken joke.

For now, Avery is a garden-variety simpleton. Some might argue he's Charles Barkley without the timing, occasional substance, and fawning friends in the media. And I'm one of those fawning media members, even though Sir Charles has made some mistakes along the way (I never liked the Shirtless Charles in Chains Sports Illustrated cover, but I loved his take on LeBron and New York. It's always a mixed bag with Chuck).

My point is we're trying too hard to paint Avery as a despicable human being. ESPN ran a graphic, referencing the fact that Avery called another player "fatso" and described an announcer as "terrible."

How is that any different from what Barkley does during TNT's pre-and post-game shows? Barkley is the best studio analyst in the business.

We have to cut people a little slack, even people we don't like. Avery gets to be offensively flawed up to a point. He's yet to cross the line however. We shouldn't push him over it.

You can e-mail Jason Whitlock at ballstate0@aol.com.

This article originally published on FOXSports.com.

Read more of Jason's columns here.

Ball State: The Story ESPN Doesn't Want You to Know

Jason Whitlock — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:30:41 -0500

This was going to be your run-of-the-mill, I-told-you-so column gloating about my Ball State Cardinals running the regular-season table and climbing to No. 15 in the BCS poll.

I predicted all of this in August, and many of you justifiably thought I was simply mouthing off about my favorite football team in hopes of shining light on my long forgotten, never-remembered, mediocre playing days at Ball State and hamming it up in hopes of landing an invite to Dave Letterman's "Late Show."

Look, there are people with tape of Western Michigan's Joel Smeenge waltzing by me in 1987 and 1988. I have no interest in drawing attention to my playing career. And as much as I love and support my fellow BSU alum, Letterman, the "Late Show" doesn't quite stack up to sharing Oprah's stage. I've been to the mountain top.

My goal as a journalist/columnist is to be right about issues others don't see coming or don't have the courage/intellect to address.

Ball State football in 2008 provided a perfect storm. And the more I thought about this column and tracked my Cardinals throughout the season, the more perfect this storm became.

The column became bigger than an I-told-you-so moment. If I wrote a column every time I was right about something, I'd spend my entire career penning columns lampooning Charlie Weis' collapses. That would get old ... after four years or so.

Ball State's football season perfectly illustrated my problem with ESPN and why I believe the World Wide Leader is the most evil and destructive force in the sports world. It has driven and hastened the destruction of authentic, independent, democratic, courageous sports journalism.

ESPN is the enemy of the truth, and all who believe a pursuit of the truth is the lifeblood of a genuinely free society must stand against the Wal-Mart-ization of sports journalism.

I reached this conclusion when trying to figure out why Ball State quarterback Nate Davis isn't one of the top-five Heisman Trophy candidates and Ball State coach Brady Hoke isn't the front-runner for national coach of the year.

Do not laugh. I'm not on a high from Tuesday night's 45-22 thumping of Western Michigan, which secured Ball State's undefeated regular season and placed my Cardinals in the MAC Championship game. I'm not an overzealous fan. I was cold and rational in August when I told you the Cardinals had the schedule, personnel and maturity to run the table.

And I'm cold and rational now when I tell you that Nate Davis is the best player in college football and Hoke has turned in 2008's best coaching performance. I love Ball State. I'm not willing to lie for Ball State.

If it was 1985 and Sports Illustrated and print journalism were still the institutions driving the conversation in the sports world, a Ball State football alum and a late-night talk-show host wouldn't be the media people telling you about Davis and Hoke.

Believe it or not, before ESPN purchased the majority of relevant sports programming and seduced most of the creative, independent-thinking, connected sports writers to join its evil empire, there was this magical time when substance and the little guy actually had a voice in the sports world.

There was a time when writers would champion guys such as Gordon Lockbaum (fifth in 1986 and third in 1988) and Joe Dudek (ninth in 1985) for the Heisman Trophy. It's difficult to believe now, but in 1982 the 10 top vote-getters were all actually really, really good college football players: Herschel Walker, John Elway, Eric Dickerson, Anthony Carter, David Rimington, Todd Blackledge, Tom Ramsey, Tony Eason, Dan Marino and Mike Rozier.

Yes, back before one television enterprise monopolized the sports world, you actually could put together a serious run at the Heisman even if you weren't the starting quarterback of the top-ranked team Kirk Herbstreit and Brent Musberger just anointed.

Since 2000, here are your Heisman Trophy winners: Chris Weinke, Eric Crouch, Carson Palmer, Jason White, Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, Troy Smith and Tim Tebow.

Do the 10 guys I named from 1982 form a better group than the eight winners from the new millennium, and if so why?

The conversation about the Heisman Trophy and all things in sports has been dumbed down by the World Wide Leader.

This year the network pretty much decided you had to play quarterback in the Big 12 to be in consideration for the Heisman Trophy. At different times throughout the season, Chase Daniel, Sam Bradford, Graham Harrell and Colt McCoy have been declared the leading candidates to win college sports' most prestigious individual award.

When Oklahoma embarrassed Texas Tech, Bradford shot past Harrell. Here's what's frustrating. I live in Big 12 country. I follow the league and have watched them all play regularly. Texas Tech receiver Michael Crabtree is the best football player in the Big 12.

Here's what's more frustrating. Not one of the Big 12's quarterbacks is in the same physical ballpark as Ball State's Nate Davis. It's not close. They can't match his arm, instincts, touch, accuracy, presence, ability to move in the pocket, out of the pocket or make plays when things break down.

They can't match his resume. Getting Ball State to 12-0 under the best circumstances is far more difficult than getting Oklahoma to 11-1. I know Ball State's schedule isn't as difficult as Oklahoma's. I also know Bradford is surrounded by far more talent than Davis.

Look, if the sports world didn't operate under the control of a sports-media dictatorship, I wouldn't have to provide you the context. A powerful, unbiased, independent journalist would've traveled to Ball State during the summer and talked with the man who recruited Tom Brady to Michigan (Brady Hoke) and the man who coached Tom Brady at Michigan (Ball State offensive coordinator Stan Parrish).

Hoke and Parrish can put Nate Davis in context more effectively than I can.

Nate Davis has the tools to be better than Tom Brady. Hoke and Parrish will tell you that, and they absolutely adore Tom Brady.

If you watch Nate Davis play, he looks like the second coming of Brett Favre.

Now, ESPN2 has broadcast Ball State's last four games. The first game I believe Lou Holtz and Mark May provided the color commentary. It was their first real look at Davis, and they were appropriately complimentary and a bit guarded. The second game was against Miami of Ohio and a non-descript B team called the game.

The last two games were against Central Michigan and Western Michigan, two top-40-caliber squads who provided the Cardinals legitimate tests. Ray Bentley, an all-time great at CMU, a former NFL linebacker and a passionate follower of MAC football, was the color commentator.

Unfortunately, ESPN did not require Bentley to leave his Central Michigan pom poms at home. Nor did the network force Bentley to disclose all pertinent information, such as the fact that his son is a walk-on member of the CMU football team and that the Ball State coaching staff declined to offer Bentley's kid a scholarship despite Bentley's request.

If the viewers knew all the relevant information coloring Ray's commentary, then they probably would've understood why Bentley spent the entire Ball State-CMU broadcast pretending that CMU's outstanding MAC quarterback, Dan Lefevour, was on the same level as Ball State's once-in-a-lifetime passer.

As a journalist, it's important that I disclose to you that I love Ball State. When I have a bias, I let you know it in hopes that you will read my commentary in context. I'm hoping most of you reading this realize or remember that I worked at ESPN for many years and parted company (was fired) with the network three years ago primarily after Mike Lupica and "Sports Reporters" producer Joe Valerio made it clear that I would not be allowed to talk about Barry Bonds and steroids in a way they found disagreeable. (There's more to the story and you can Google and find all of the additional background rather easily.)

ESPN is so financially tied to the organizations it covers and so devoid of basic journalistic ethics that it cannot properly analyze the sports world. ESPN just bought the BCS television package. It has a vested interest in promoting all things BCS.

If you're going to televise multiple Big 12 games in primetime on ABC and ESPN, you have every reason to promote the myth that the majority of Heisman Trophy candidates play in the Big 12.

Let me tell you what passes for courage and independent thinking at ESPN. Chris Fowler dropped Ball State out of his AP top-25 ballot last week after the Cardinals beat a then-9-2 Central Michigan team on the road.

I'm not someone who believes Ball State belongs in a BCS bowl game. Any team — not just a mid-major — needs a top-25 victory on its resume before you even begin the BCS argument. We don't have it. Right now, we've earned the right to be ranked — in my opinion — anywhere from No. 18 to 23. If we finish 14-0, I'll be satisfied with a ranking between No. 10 and 15.

What Fowler has done is ridiculous and reeks of the kind of simple-minded arrogance that permeates ESPN. Fowler has had his ass kissed for too many years. He travels around the country during football season and everywhere he goes, there's an Army of BCS sports information directors waiting to kiss his ass and tell him how great "GameDay" is.

He has never been a professional journalist a day in his life. He's a TV personality. He knows what someone else has told him. I'm not 100 percent sure, but I'd suspect he hasn't worn a jock since junior high school.

This is the combination that is killing the sports media. No journalism background, no real athletic experience and no backbone. No clue. Fowler wouldn't make a competent blogger.

"GameDay" and Fowler are unlikely to ever visit Muncie, Ind. ESPN2 televises midweek MAC games in November. Fowler must primarily worry about his reception at BCS institutions. You would not believe how many alleged "journalists" and "media personalities" spend much of their time fretting about whether an SID, a coach or a player likes them. It's an embarrassing obsession among the media.

Fowler knows little about football and nothing about Ball State. His celebrity status justifies his AP vote.

He can't fathom the difficulty of going undefeated in any conference, especially one that is traditionally as evenly matched as the Mid-American Conference.

Brady Hoke built the Ball State football team around two players, Nate Davis and receiver Dante Love. In the fourth week of the season, in the middle of the school's most important game of the season, an Indiana University football player nearly paralyzed Dante Love with a legal and fair hit.

Love lay stretched out on the field motionless for more than 20 minutes. I knew the season was over. Love's career was over. He was Robin to Davis' Batman. Seventy percent of Ball State's offensive playbook was predicated on getting the ball to Love or pretending to give the ball to Love. He returned kickoffs, was our No. 2 tailback and quarterback. He was going to catch 120 passes. NFL scouts loved him.

Hoke and his team adjusted on the fly. Hoke orchestrates the defense. For two years, Davis, Love, Stan Parrish and the offense carried the football.

Brady Hoke and the defense elevated their production and performance from the moment paramedics carted Love off the field. While the offense struggled to score points without Love, the defense kept the opposition out of the end zone and created turnovers.

Ball State is the most disciplined, well-coached team in college football. Check the stats. The Cardinals almost never get penalized. We're the least flagged team in the nation. We're in the top 20 in the country in turnover margin.

Someone like Chris Fowler can't grasp how that helps you win football games. No penalties, no turnovers and Nate Davis are how Ball State would beat the ACC or Big East champions, teams that will play in BCS bowl games.

When you have a great quarterback and a coach who has matured over six years into one of the best in the business, anything is possible, even a school like Ball State being in the BCS discussion.

This story needs to be told. It's an awesome tale with lots of gory details. Hoke is at a university where the administration works pretty much in direct opposition to the success of the football program.

Our school president, Jo Ann Gora, wants to be the face of the university until the moment she lands a job at an elite East Coast university. She stars in the TV commercials aired on ESPN2. Three years ago she delighted in paying the women's basketball coach more money than Brady Hoke, a Ball State alum with very deep roots at the school.

At one time, President Gora had the ideal, liberal sports resume: A female women's basketball coach (Tracy Roller) was the highest paid coach at the school, an angry, spoiled, militant, high-profile black man was the men's basketball coach (Ronny Thompson) and the football coach and his staff were the lowest paid in the conference and didn't have offices.

Roller had a self-admitted mental breakdown and quit shortly after inking her new contract. Thompson claimed Gora's athletic department was racist and quit.

Hoke built one of the nation's best teams, is the MAC's eighth-highest-paid coach and still doesn't have his own office.

Stories like Hoke's and Davis' used to define my profession and enrich our enjoyment of sports. Now we're fed a steady diet of Donovan McNabb didn't know games could end in a tie and fake Red Sox press conferences.

We're dying by suicide and ESPN is Dr. Jack Kevorkian. You're dying, too. ESPN just hasn't told you yet.

You can e-mail Jason Whitlock at ballstate0@aol.com.

This article originally published on FOXSports.com.

Read more of Jason's columns here.

Media's Mistake Way Bigger Than Donovan McNabb's

Jason Whitlock — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:19:20 -0500

I'll begin by quoting a diverse cross section of my respected friends and peers in the media:

Warren Sapp: "When I heard him say it, I almost passed out. I thought, 'This will follow you for the rest of your career.' Your legacy in the league, Donovan, will be throwing up in the Super Bowl, Rush Limbaugh and now 'I didn't know there were ties in the NFL.' ''

John Smallwood: "One of the most embarrassing gaffes in recent sports history."

Ashley Fox: "And then there was the gaffe to beat all gaffes on Sunday. Every time I hear the clip, it sounds more absurd that McNabb didn't know that regular-season games that are still tied after 15 minutes of overtime end in a tie."

And Bob Ford wrote a column titled: "Testing McNabb's NFL IQ"

I don't get it. I don't understand all the fake outrage from my media colleagues over Donovan McNabb's harmless ignorance of the rulebook. The phony, manufactured controversy says far more about us (the media) than it does Donovan McNabb.

Trust me, McNabb forgot more about football last night than most of his critics have learned in a lifetime of pretending to cover the game.

And I'm not saying that to insinuate that I know more about football than Sapp, Smallwood, Fox or Ford (all of whom I genuinely like and respect). Although, if they really believe McNabb's rulebook blindspot in some way impacts his ability to be an effective NFL quarterback, then I'm quite sure my knowledge of the game surpasses their combined information by several football fields.

Had McNabb failed to launch a last-gasp Hail Mary pass against the Bengals, I would then understand all the fuss and bluster.

And we damn sure know had McNabb's Hail Mary fallen safely into a Philadelphia hand and secured victory, no one would care that McNabb was unaware NFL games could end in a tie.

Before I go further, let me put all my cards on the table. I'm a homer for Donovan McNabb. He and LaDainian Tomlinson are my two favorite active players. I love the way they carry themselves on and off the field.

In this era that has been hijacked by hey-look-at-me-bojangle athletes, I delight in watching Donovan and LT excel at the highest level while representing themselves, their families and their organizations in a positive fashion.

I want McNabb to win a Super Bowl. I've long since reached the conclusion that it's not going to happen in Philly, where the fan base takes pleasure in torturing the city's biggest stars and the media refuse to adequately chastise owner Jeffrey Lurie and head coach Andy Reid for failing to support McNabb with complementary offensive playmakers.

Is McNabb blameless for the club's post-Terrell Owens slide to mediocrity? No. McNabb, from my view, is a weak fourth-quarter quarterback. I lost a bit of faith in McNabb in Week 2 when he double-pumped a fourth-quarter handoff, fumbled and cost Philly the chance to put Dallas away by two scores. He topped it off with a two-minute flameout at the end of the game.

It's fair to question McNabb's nerves and ability to perform in the clutch. Owens did that when he talked about McNabb throwing up in the Super Bowl. T.O. basically said McNabb didn't have the necessary tummy for the situation.

But this focus on McNabb's football intelligence is absolutely ridiculous. If McNabb is anything, he's bright. His understanding of the game and the position he plays is exceptionally high.

That's why he toned down his running game and accentuated his ability to play from the pocket. Rather than listen to the misguided idiots who wanted him to "revolutionize" the position by being a playground quarterback, McNabb chose the path that made Joe Montana, Tom Brady and Terry Bradshaw multiple Super Bowl winners.

NFL players do dumb (spit) on a weekly basis. They take penalties for excessive or orchestrated celebrations. They blow assignments. They lose their cool and hit opponents after the play.

I'm supposed to believe not knowing the NFL's overtime rule is the "gaffe to beat all gaffes" or "one of the most embarrassing gaffes in recent sports history?"

We better define "recent" because it wasn't that long ago that Ron Artest ran into the stands to clock a beer-throwing customer.

McNabb's mistake was being too forthright. His alleged "mistake" had zero impact on the game.

I find the fraudulent indignation about the "mistake" embarrassing. My industry is so lacking in original thought and imagination that we think it's a big deal when we discover we know some insignificant detail about the game that a millionaire player doesn't.

That's what's driving all of this. We're so lost in the sports media world, so overexposed and overextended writing and talking on TV and radio that beating up McNabb over an innocent error passes as hard-hitting originality.

And we wonder why it gets easier every day for the public to ignore us.

You can e-mail Jason Whitlock at Ballstate68@aol.com.

This article originally published on FOXSports.com.

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The 10 Best and 10 Worst NFL Coaches

Jason Whitlock — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:43:31 -0500

People complain there's not enough praise in my NFL Truths column. So to fix that, I'm naming the 10 best and 10 worst NFL coaches of the 2008 season so far.

The 10 Best

1. Redskins' Jim Zorn: Doesn't get near enough credit for turning Jason Campbell into a legitimate starting quarterback. Campbell was headed toward being a draft bust before Zorn arrived. Last year Todd Collins saved Washington's season filling in for Campbell late. This season Campbell is completing 64 percent of his passes and has avoided the big mistakes while leading the Skins to a 6-3 start in the league's best division.

2. Patriots' Bill Belichick: I was in the house when Tom Brady went down in the season opener. I wanted to write that Bernard Pollard's low blow ended the Patriots dynasty. I texted Jeff George's cell number to New England general manager Scott Pioli. The Patriots were done. Obviously I underestimated Belichick. Depending on what happens tonight against the Jets, he has the Patriots atop the AFC East and in position to be considered the AFC's second-best team.

3. Panthers' John Fox: He entered the season on the hot seat and things got considerably warmer when he was forced to suspend his best player (Steve Smith) for the first two games. The Panthers started 2-0, are 7-2 overall and off the radar in terms of Super Bowl threats. No one will pay attention to the Panthers until they face the Giants in late December.

4. Titans' Jeff Fisher: Most people would put Fisher at the top of this list. I don't because the Titans are undefeated mainly because Vince Young got hurt and went momentarily kooky. A healthy VY and the Titans are 7-2 and just another good team in the AFC. Young's meltdown was a blessing for Fisher. He gets out from underneath the mistake the Titans made drafting Young.

5. Falcons' Mike Smith: I honestly don't know anything about Smith. I don't know where he came from. I don't know whether he's a defensive-minded coach or offensive. But there's no doubt he's done a wonderful job developing Matt Ryan. And I'll give Smith credit for signing Michael Turner and making him a feature back. Even if the 6-3 Falcons lose the rest of their games, Smith's rookie season has been a smashing success. He and Ryan have made Atlantans forget Michael Vick.

6. Giants' Tom Coughlin: The Giants dumped Jeremy Shockey, lost Osi Umenyiora, have to deal with Plaxico Burress and play in the NFC East. Coughlin is putting together his best coaching performance. But everyone expected the defending champs to be good.

7. Bears' Lovie Smith: The Bears are pretty damn good when Kyle Orton plays quarterback. They're averaging 26 points. I thought it was crazy to open the season with Orton as the starter. My only complaint with Lovie was the squib kick at the Atlanta game that set the stage for a terrible loss.

8. Cardinals' Ken Whisenhunt: I give him points for resurrecting Kurt Warner as a franchise quarterback. But Whisenhunt loses a few points because he coaches in the NFC West. Three of Arizona's six victories are against the 49ers and Rams. The Cardinals are a nice story. But there's no reason to take them seriously. I don't like their running game. And good teams will take advantage of Arizona's defense.

9. Ravens' John Harbaugh: He's riding the second-best rookie quarterback (Joe Flacco) to playoff contention. Harbaugh also gets the luxury of coaching the Ravens at a time when Ray Lewis is putting the finishing touches on a Hall of Fame career and making his closing argument for being the best middle linebacker of all time. It's illegal to run on the Ravens this season.

10. Buccaneers' Jon Gruden: He lost his quarterback (Brian Griese) and tailback (Cadillac Williams) and the Bucs are still sitting at 6-3. The Bucs have a mediocre offensive line and 50-year-old Joey Galloway is the team's deep threat. Somehow Gruden gets this offense in the end zone often enough for the Bucs to be competitive.

The 10 Worst

10. Saints' Sean Payton: Someone has to take the blame for New Orleans' 4-5 record. I don't have a real problem with Payton. It's impossible to win in the Big Easy. There are just too many distractions in NO to build a successful football franchise.

9. Bengals' Marvin Lewis: The Bengals avoided 0-16 by beating the Jaguars, although 1-15 is a real possibility. Lewis created the Chad Johnson situation. Lewis didn't learn from the Denny Green mess and allowed Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh to take over the Bengals the way Randy Moss and Cris Carter once did the Vikings. Let that be a lesson to any future NFL coaches. Don't let your wide receivers determine the personality of your football team. It cost Denny Green his job in Minny and it's likely to cost Marvin in Cincy.

8. Broncos' Mike Shanahan: Would someone please talk John Elway out of retirement so he can save Shanahan's reputation? I consider Shanahan one of the game's great coaches. It's getting harder and harder to make a pro-Shanahan argument.

7. 49ers' Mike Singletary: The end of the "Monday Night Football" contest against the Cardinals is all the evidence you need to understand why I wanted Singletary to pass on the San Francisco job. Singletary has a chance to be a great NFL coach. Unfortunately, he took a head-coaching job before he was ready. Singletary can't manage the clock. All the whining about the refs spotting the ball wrong or too quickly just points to Singletary's inexperience and the folly of having Mike Martz as an unsupervised offensive coordinator.

6. Packers' Mike McCarthy: With Brett Favre at the helm, the Packers were one play from the Super Bowl. With Favre run off to New York, the Packers are 4-5 and in jeopardy of missing the playoffs. You have to blame McCarthy and general manager Ted Thompson for Favre's absence. Aaron Rodgers has been pretty damn good. He's not the problem. Apparently he's not the answer either. McCarthy wanted to be the big hero for letting Favre go, well now McCarthy and Thompson look like fools.

5. Cowboys' Wade Phillips: If the Cowboys don't rally and make the playoffs, Phillips will likely be the scapegoat and fired. He deserves it, even though Jerry Jones is the main reason the Cowboys underachieve. Jones hired Phillips to oversee the bunch of talented bad boys Jones showered with enough money to make the players uncooperative. Pacman Jones, Tank Johnson, Terrell Owens and Jessica Simpson are just a handful of high-profile idiots Phillips is expected to handle. Phillips is blowing it. But it's a job that was too much for Bill Parcells, too.

4. Jaguars' Jack Del Rio: He's the captain of the most undisciplined ship in the NFL. Thank God Jacksonville is off-Broadway. No one pays attention to the multiple arrests and countless off-the-field problems Del Rio's players encounter. The Jags are as bad as the Bengals. Somehow Del Rio has avoided being as big a laughingstock as Marvin Lewis. Jacksonville lost to Cincy. Enough said.

3. Chargers' Norv Turner: Philip Rivers is allegedly having the best season of any quarterback in the league. LaDainian Tomlinson, for my money, is still the best running back in the league. OK, the Chargers lost Shawne Merriman to a knee injury. That doesn't excuse San Diego's 4-5 record in a division that includes the Chiefs and the Raiders. Norv is a very mediocre head coach.

2. Browns' Romeo Crennel: The new Art Shell is leading the league's most disappointing team. Crennel can't tame Kellen Winslow's mouth or bad attitude. Crennel can't get Braylon Edwards to hold onto the football. The 3-6 Browns quit against the Broncos. Crennel played a role in the Browns giving Derek Anderson a new contract. Yeah, Romeo is making Charlie Weis seem like a Notre Dame success story.

1. Eagles' Andy Reid: Twice this season Reid has taken the game out of the hands of Donovan McNabb and tried to win at crunch time with his running game. Here's a coach who loves to throw on damn near every down except when the game is on the line. I also blame Reid for the Eagles failing to trade a second-round draft pick for Tony Gonzalez. Other than the one season with Terrell Owens, McNabb has made a living throwing the ball to the James Thrashes of the world. It's ridiculous. I'm convinced the Eagles don't want to win it all.

You can e-mail Jason Whitlock at Ballstate68@aol.com.

This article originally published on FOXSports.com. See photo galleries of Top 10 Best Coaches and Top 10 Worst Coaches.

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Nice Time to Ride to the Rescue, Charlie

Jason Whitlock — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 05:39:14 -0500

It is very brave and quite magnanimous for The Great Weis Hope to throw his offensive coordinator under the bus by publicly announcing his decision to reclaim leadership of the Notre Dame offense with defensive powerhouses Navy and Syracuse on the Irish schedule.

Too often, I waste column inches blasting Charlie Weis, Notre Dame and the lifetime contract awarded to an unproven blowhard. I never take the time to point out the good side of "Pear Bryant."

Well, that changes today.

I cannot deny the courageousness and nobility of Weis embarrassing offensive coordinator Mike Haywood following Notre Dame's 17-0 loss to Boston College over the weekend.

Look, most college coaches of reasonable character and integrity would've stripped Haywood of his control of Notre Dame's offense privately. A low-key, moderate-ego coach would've kept the behind-the-scenes maneuvering behind the scenes.

But Weis has virtually no ego. He is arguably the most ego-less coach working today.

That's why he made it crystal clear to anyone who would listen that he will be responsible for any offensive success the Irish have when they face defensive juggernauts Navy and Syracuse.

The undersized Middies are giving up just 27 points per game to Division I opponents. The 2-7 Orangemen are nearly as stingy, surrendering just 37 points per outing.

As you can see, a week after battling the nation's 10th-best defense (Boston College), it's extremely noble for Weis to alert the media of his plans to fix Notre Dame's offense.

I'm sure the same media members who championed Weis' lifetime contract will once again sing his praises when the Irish show remarkable improvement and climb to 7-4 before getting waxed by USC.

Again, Notre Dame's progress and Pear Bryant's greatness can best be seen by analyzing Washington's failure under Tyrone Willingham. You must remember that Tyrone Willingham's recruiting is what destroyed Notre Dame football, and as long as Tyrone is recruiting — no matter the school — Notre Dame won't be any good.

That has to be the explanation. I realize The Great Weis Hope is in his fourth season and has a roster flush with mature talent he recruited. And I realize that Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski made a point to remind his players that none of them was good enough to be recruited by Pear Bryant. (I must admit I stole the Pear Bryant nickname from an e-mailer.)

You would think that superior talent and the decided schematic advantage that Weis promised upon his coronation as Notre Dame messiah would allow the Irish to at least kick a field goal against Boston College. That's naive thinking. You don't understand the damage being caused in South Bend by Willingham's recruiting in Seattle.

And if you can't understand that, then you surely can't grasp the self-serving motive of Weis retaking over his offense with two weak opponents on the schedule.

It's no secret. I dislike Charlie Weis and despise the free pass he was given by the media when he was handed a huge contract extension for doing less than Willingham.

Weis is a bully and a coward, and his well-timed announcement that he would abandon this "head coach stuff" so he could bail out his offense proves my contentions.

He's planning on the Irish averaging 35 points the next two weeks and selling his impatient fan base on the myth that he's making real progress. He's hoping the media will assist him in selling this lie.

Weis is an average college head coach with horrendous people skills. That's not a good combination. Bobby Knight had poor people skills, a brilliant mind and a superior work ethic. Nick Saban is a football Bobby Knight.

Weis might be a reverse of Pete Carroll, who bombed in the pros and excelled in the collegiate game. Coaching in the NFL is easier. Everyone is on more equal footing. There are fewer variables. You can hire someone else to evaluate talent. College coaches have already developed the talent.

Weis is in over his head coaching the college game.

There are rumors that Notre Dame might pull the plug on The Great Weis Hope if he loses to Navy.

I'll be rooting for Notre Dame this weekend. I want Charlie Weis at Notre Dame as long as I'm a columnist. His failures and the rationalizations offered up by Notre Dame fans are worth two to three columns a year.

Hell, I've written two this month and could easily get a third if Navy pulls an upset. Stay tuned.

You can e-mail Jason Whitlock at Ballstate68@aol.com.

This article originally published on FOXSports.com.

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Black Coaches Need to Pick the Right Jobs

Jason Whitlock — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 06:33:55 -0500

From afar, the premature dismissal of Kansas State football coach Ron Prince appears to be a tale of a black coach cut down before receiving a fair opportunity in a backwoods environment.

From ground zero, the fall of Prince is a cautionary tale, revealing the perils of a talented, charismatic, immature coach crashing and burning in a dysfunctional, athletic-department environment that could in no way nurture his development.

There is reason for outrage today. With Prince joining Tyrone Willingham in the unemployment line at the end of this month, Division I college football will have just four African-American head coaches, a shameful statistic.

But allow me to ask a difficult question. What role do we (black people) play in keeping the number low?

The question is not asked to dismiss or diminish the role of America's still-existent racial inequality. The question is asked to challenge us to consider ways of combating it other than pointless whining.

That is the lesson of Barack Obama.

Life and America are equally unfair. That reality does not have to define your existence or level of success. Our 44th president was abandoned by his father, left to be raised by his grandparents, grappled with a dual racial identity, had his patriotism questioned by hypocrites and still managed to win the hearts and minds of a diverse cross section of America.

He did it by focusing on Barack Obama, not on how the Sean Hannity crowd feels about Barack Obama.

Some black people don't like my perspective because I'm too fixated on "us" rather than "them." My initial reaction is to question "our" behavior rather than "theirs," which often leads me to criticize Chad Johnson's buffoonery, etc.

I do it because I recognize America's imperfections while fully understanding our capitalistic democracy is superior to all other forms of economy/government and provides amazing opportunities for people willing to seek first to fix themselves.

I'm rambling. Ron Prince's experience at Kansas State is an example of what is limiting black college football coaches. A talented coach with limitless potential took a job that he wasn't ready for at a place that wasn't ready for him.

White football coaches make the exact same mistake. But their history in America is far different than ours so their strategy/path can be different and they have far more margin for error. Again, life is not fair.

Black football coaches must target and pursue the right jobs.

College football needs its version of John Thompson. Big John and what he built at Georgetown in the 1980s are the reason schools are unafraid to hand their basketball programs over to black men. Thompson inherited an off-the-radar, 3-23 basketball program and built a powerhouse in his own image in a city that could handle Big Black John.

Ron Prince replaced a beloved, vibrant, still-living-in-Manhattan (Kan.) legend, Bill Snyder. Following a legend is never a good thing. A black, devout intellectual, arrogant, first-time head coach replacing a reclusive, humble white coach in a rural area is a recipe for disaster.

Unfortunately that was only the beginning of Prince's problems at Kansas State.

He had no competent administrative guidance. There was no one there to tell him when he was screwing up. Snyder worked alone and without interference.

Prince carries himself like the smartest man on campus, and he very well might be. But his brand of book intelligence has little traction at a school for future farmers. He talked over everyone's head. He promised to be bold and daring and take on any team anywhere at a place where Snyder promised little beyond hard work and delivered nine to 10 victories a season.

Prince ran off his assistant coaches with abusive, humiliating treatment. He once punished his assistants by making them run stadium stairs. He treated his players worse. After this season's loss to Louisville, he reportedly put his players through a strenuous conditioning session when they arrived back on campus at 3 a.m.

Ron Prince needed help. He needed a strong A.D., someone able to explain to him where he was and what that meant, someone willing to help him see that you can't be Bobby Knight in the new millennium, especially when you're not backed by a truckload of national and conference titles.

I promise you Ron Prince could be a successful head coach. He was rushed to a BCS school and the wrong BCS job.

Given time to develop as a head coach off-Broadway, things very well might have turned out differently for Ron Prince.

Take a look at Turner Gill at Buffalo. He's in his third season in the Mid-American Conference. His career record is 11-21 but his reputation is impeccable. He was the MAC coach of the year in 2007 after guiding the Bulls to a 5-7 record. Buffalo is 4-4 this year and has a shot at representing the East in the MAC title game.

Gill is taking the proper path to coaching greatness. He is likely to get a BCS job in the next two to three years. When he gets it, he'll be ready.

Top-flight black BCS assistant coaches should be targeting mid-major head-coaching jobs. The MAC, Sun Belt, Mountain West and Conference USA are good proving grounds for future BCS coaches. Gill and Houston's Kevin Sumlin hold non-BCS jobs.

Many black assistant coaches limit their opportunities because they're too shortsighted. They're unwilling to pursue a MAC or I-AA job because the pay might be less than being a position coach at a BCS school.

No risk, no reward.

Brady Hoke, who is white, took a pay cut when he left Michigan to lead his alma mater, Ball State, the 17th-ranked team in the country. Even after a raise following a 2007 bowl season, he is still paid poorly ($240,000) by even MAC standards, has no coaching offices and the school's administration recently suggested in an Indianapolis Star story that it has no interest in properly supporting his success.

But six seasons into his tenure, he's developed into the perfect BCS candidate and positioned himself (if he chooses) to bolt from a university that doesn't appreciate or comprehend what he's accomplished.

Playing the coaching game is not nearly enough. Playing the coaching game properly is the only thing that will lead to significant progress for black college coaches.

You can e-mail Jason Whitlock at Ballstate68@aol.com.

This article originally published on FOXSports.com.

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Turn the NFL's Bad Boys into a Reality Hit

Jason Whitlock — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:50:31 -0400

I think too much about the NFL. Sometimes this narrow focus causes me to fantasize about preposterous things that could never happen.

Today I'll provide you an example.

I'd like to see commissioner Roger Goodell turn the league's "discipline problem" into an off-season, reality-TV show that would crush the ratings of "American Idol" and a Paris Palin-Denzel Obama debate/romantic comedy.

Think about it. NFL players' inability to avoid off-the-field trouble has transformed the commissioner's job from being primarily about negotiating television contracts and labor agreements to presiding over the People's Court.

Goodell's legacy as czar of America's pastime is tied to whatever level of success he has in weeding the Pacman Joneses out of the league or getting them to repent and behave. Goodell is a combination of judge, warden, probation officer, and therapist.

Why not add executive producer of a smash-hit, reality-TV show tentatively titled, "Arbitration Court?"

Hear me out. The league has a television network that desperately needs a ratings driver. Its collective bargaining agreement with the players association is about to be voided by the owners. It's in the best interest of ownership and players to increase revenue by any means necessary. The commissioner needs a tool to reward players for good behavior and punish players for bad behavior. Major League Baseball has an arbitration system.

A cutting-edge, entrepreneurial visionary would find a way to turn a negative into a positive.

Why allow Pacman Jones to damage the image of the league without turning a buck off of his strip club escapades?

Watching Pacman, his agent, a lawyer, and his posse march into a courtroom setting and try to salvage his contract would be the kind of must-see, off-season TV that would make the Nielsen-ratings machine blow smoke.

Here's how it would work:

At the end of the season, each NFL team would be allowed to recommend two players be sentenced to off-season Arbitration Court. A team could charge one player with a felony, seek to have his entire contract voided, a return of the unearned, pro-rated portions of his signing bonus, and a one-year ban from the league. In essence, this would be the Pacman-Michael Vick scenario.

A second player could be charged with a misdemeanor, and the team would seek to have his following-year compensation reduced. This would be the Plaxico Burress-Chad Johnson scenario (or a healthy free-agent signee who stunk). They're just garden-variety idiots/locker-room cancers.

Now, on the flipside, for every player the team hauls to Arbitration Court (and the maximum would be two per year), the players on that team would be granted the right to recommend a player go to court to have his compensation drastically improved. The players would make the recommendations by team vote. They could nominate one player to get a whole new contract and another player to get a one-time bonus.

The felony cases would be argued in front of a seven-man jury consisting of current and former players and coaches and would require a 5-2 vote for victory. A three-man jury would hear the misdemeanors and a 2-1 split would prevail.

The cases would be tried and aired in March before the draft, eight teams per week. Misdemeanor trials would last four hours of evidence presentation, 30 minutes for closing arguments and 30 minutes for juries to deliberate and vote. The felony cases could stretch over two days.

The NFL Network could broadcast the proceedings live and jump from case to case.

I know this sounds crazy, but just imagine the ratings. Dream with me. It's March 2006 and Vikings management is smoking hot and wants revenge for the embarrassment of the Sex Boat Scandal. Fred Smoot Doggy Dogg is charged with the heinous felony of groping multiple strippers while operating a yacht. The prosecution's first witness is Destiny, a thick, platinum blonde nursing student from a tiny, mobile-home suburb just outside of St. Paul.

What would you watch, a first-round NCAA Tournament game between North Carolina and Jackson State or Destiny's riveting account of the whereabouts of Smoot Doggy Dogg's paws on the afternoon in question?

Come on, this is television gold.

NFL players would love it. Their biggest complaint is that they're not as recognizable and marketable as NBA players. The reason they concoct all of the over-the-top, on-field celebrations and gyrations is to increase their star power.

Many of them have their agents constantly hunting down TV deals. The league would be wise to create its own reality show and turn a profit off the Flavor Flav wannabes.

You can e-mail Jason Whitlock at Ballstate68@aol.com.

This article originally published on FOXSports.com.

To read more of Jason's columns, click here.

Willingham's Failure Doesn't Make Weis Better

Jason Whitlock — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 06:52:34 -0400

Here's what Notre Dame football fans don't seem to comprehend:

1. I've never stated that Tyrone Willingham was a great (or even good) coach; 2. I never blasted Notre Dame for firing Tyrone Willingham; 3. My problem with Charlie Weis and Notre Dame is the premature, undeserved lifetime contract he received after proving nothing and the reach-around Notre Dame and Weis received from most of the media during his first season.

I've written two columns spelling out my position on the Great Weis Hope. Here and here.

Notre Dame fans are having trouble grasping either column. They somehow think that Willingham's failure at Washington justifies giving Weis a record contract at Notre Dame. They also believe that Willingham's demise nullifies the truths expressed in my previous columns about the Great Weis Hope.

Sorry, Charlie.

Even with the Irish sitting at 5-2, every word in those columns still rings true. Notre Dame and a hefty percentage of the sports media overreacted to Weis' hot start, and Weis' complexion played a role in the overreaction.

As of today, we have little evidence that Weis is a better college football coach than Willingham.

Notre Dame fans are repeating the same mistake they made in 2005 when the school overpaid for Weis. They're turning conceited based on a glossy record compiled against weak competition.

San Diego State, Michigan, Purdue, Stanford, and Washington—ND's victims—have a combined record of 9-32. Only Stanford, 4-4, has more than two victories.

I'm not saying that the Irish haven't made progress. Hell, a year ago the Great Weis Hope finished 3-9 and lost back-to-back games to Navy and Air Force. Although, if you listen to Notre Dame fans, those losses, like all ND losses under Weis, were a byproduct of Weis having to play with Willingham's pathetic recruits.

You know, Navy and Air Force routinely pluck four- and five-star recruits from across the country. A great coaching mind like Weis' couldn't be expected to overcome ND's obvious talent deficiency against the service academies.

I'm losing focus.

Has the Great Weis Hope so lowered expectations at Notre Dame that a 5-2 team incapable of cracking the top 25 is worthy of celebration and I-told-you-so emails?

Man, I thought Weis was supposed to be the equal of Bob Stoops and Pete Carroll. Charlie claimed he'd never get outcoached, he'd never lose to Michigan State again and that after his first 5-2 start every team in the NFL was ready to fire its coach and land the offensive coordinator who carried Bill Belichick and Tom Brady to the Super Bowl.

What happened to that Charlie?

Stoops won a national championship in his second season at Oklahoma. Carroll won titles in his third and fourth seasons.

Notre Dame fans need to get over their fixation on Tyrone Willingham. He's not their problem anymore. His inadequacies don't strengthen Weis' resume. Willingham's resignation at Washington isn't going to make Notre Dame a national-title contender or justify Weis' bloated salary.

Charlie will have to do that himself.

He can begin to do that over the last month of the season. Notre Dame's last five opponents—Pittsburgh, Boston College, Navy, Syracuse, and USC—own a combined record of 22-14.

OK, so it's not quite as difficult as the obstacle course Mack Brown and the Texas Longhorns have been navigating (Oklahoma, Missouri, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech), and it's not the equivalent of playing in the SEC. But it's a good little test for Charlie Weis in his fourth season. He's had a long exhibition season to build confidence and prepare his troops.

If he goes 3-2, I'll consider it a passing grade and abstain from taking another potshot at him until next season. If he goes 4-1, I'll call it progress and agree that he's the coaching equivalent of Frank Solich. If the Irish overcome Weis' shortcomings and run the table, I'll strongly consider writing an apology column.

If they fall on their face and lose three or more games, I'd speculate that most Irish fans would prefer Willingham be named Notre Dame athletic director than read my follow-up column.

You can e-mail Jason Whitlock at Ballstate68@aol.com.

This article originally published at FOXSports.com.

To read more of Jason's columns, click here.

Only Goodell Can Judge Pacman Jones

Jason Whitlock — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:42:21 -0400

The insanity of employing a professional football player who needs 24-hour protection from his own mental imbalance just reared its ugly little head like Putin over Alaskan airspace.

Adam "Pacman" Jones, according to Dallas police, brawled Wednesday night with one of the four bodyguards Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hired to stop TuPacman from running afoul of the law.

And now the football world watches with bated breath to see how effective Jerry Jones' cleanup crew will be in hushing up witnesses, the bodyguard, police, and hotel staff so that the NFL can continue to pretend TuPacman is stable enough to remain a cast member on Jones' reality TV show.

My money is on Jerry Jones. Terence Newman is out for at least the next month and a half with a sports hernia. The NFC East is the most talented and competitive division in football. Jerry Jones believes he can't win the Super Bowl without TuPacman.

The Cowboys will concoct a very elaborate story exonerating TuPacman.

At some point today, I expect the bodyguard to take full responsibility for the scrap and argue that TuPacman was really acting as a peacekeeper. One of TuPacman's attorneys, speaking to an ESPN reporter, stated that he's "not satisfied anything has happened."

Wow, I haven't heard anything that lame since the night I lost my virginity. Hey, that was decades ago. I've improved. I swear!

The police incidents that involve Adam Jones usually end with victims declining to press charges, friends taking responsibility for the drugs or charges being dismissed. TuPacman just happens to have the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time on a consistent basis.

It's just bad luck mixed with a little racial profiling. That's it.

Or maybe it's not. I say that because Jerry Jones purchased four security guards to monitor TuPacman around the clock. I say that because the Cowboys have demanded that TuPacman avoid going to the kind of event that he attended Tuesday night/Wednesday morning at The Joule Hotel in Dallas—a movie premiere with alcohol, groupies, and other celebrity entertainers such as rapper Ludacris.

The Cowboys recognize that TuPacman can't handle the spotlight, the responsibility of stardom, and money. TuPacman doesn't know when to say when.

I don't know TuPacman. I don't know Britney Spears, either. But TuPacman and Britney sound like unstable birds of the same feather. They just have different jobs. Britney is paid to lip sync and look sexy while getting as close to publicly naked as the law allows. Adam Jones is paid to do violence on a football field.

Britney and Adam both struggle to stay within their lanes when they're away from work. Britney flashes her crotch, hail damage, and bald head. Adam flashes his temper and horrid judgment. Britney might harm herself. Adam might harm someone else.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell would be a fool to allow TuPacman to remain a representative of the league. O.J. Simpson did not harm the NFL brand. Rae Carruth did.

Jerry Jones is probably willing to continue employing off-duty cops to protect TuPacman from himself. Jerry might even retain the bodyguards during the offseason. But we've just been offered evidence that TuPacman will attack his protectors.

Like the Alaskan airhead, there's little difference between TuPacman and a pit bull. You never know when they'll explode and turn on their owner.

Goodell should intervene on behalf of Jerry and Adam Jones.

If a grown man or woman needs 24-hour surveillance, it's an indication they're the president of the United States, incarcerated, or dangerously unstable. Of the three, there are just two legitimate options for TuPacman Jones.

Goodell needs to give Adam Jones two options: 1. Retire from the NFL and head to the CFL or start a rap career; 2. Enter an intensive, year-round counseling and life-management program and return to the NFL next season.

TuPacman's 2008 season should be over and his NFL career should be finished until he aggressively deals with his demons. The league, Jerry Jones, Deion Sanders, Jim Brown, and many others have tried to reach out to Adam Jones and mentor him. He's not interested. He's in denial. He's a ticking bomb. We've seen this before with Lawrence Phillips. We know how this story ends.

This is way too high risk for Jerry Jones and the NFL. What happens if one of Jerry Jones' paid bodyguards has to take significant, potentially lethal action against Adam Jones (or one of his friends) the next time he's enraged?

You can e-mail Jason Whitlock at Ballstate68@aol.com.

This article originally published on FOXSports.com.

To read more of Jason's columns, click here.

10 NFL Truths: There's a Reason Receivers Are Crazy

Jason Whitlock — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:16:18 -0400

If you're an NFL wide receiver, or someone in total denial of Sarah Palin's incompetence, do not read this week's NFL Truths.

10. My reaction to the Al Davis news conference: The NFL made a huge mistake when it began implementing rules in the 1970s that made the wide-receiver position non-contact.

Wide receivers and their petulant, irresponsible behavior and attitude pose the greatest threat to the NFL's popularity and a coach's job security, and it's all because the rules provide them more protection than any other position, except kicker/punter.

Receivers are free to act like idiots because, for the most part, they can avoid the play-to-play beating that most other players experience. And, yes, I saw the hit Anquan Boldin absorbed.

What did Al Davis say that made me come to this realization? His complaint that Lane Kiffin didn't want Randy Moss.

Some experts have wrongly concluded that Kiffin and Davis' difference of opinion about overweight and unprepared quarterback JaDaunte CulpeppeRussell led to Kiffin's dismissal.

Nope. It was Moss, the man who cost Dennis Green his job and split up Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers.

Davis was a fountain of truthful information.

He mentioned that Green Bay General Manager Ted Thompson incorrectly concluded that Moss could no longer run. Davis complained that the Patriots tampered with Moss when he was still an Oakland Raider.

Davis, like Brett Favre, is pissed that Moss went to New England and helped Tom Brady set every offensive record known to man. Davis believes JaMarcus Russell could be an effective quarterback if all he had to do was stare down Moss and fling bombs to him.

9. More proof of my theory about receivers can be found in Dallas, where Terrell Owens whined about only getting 20 opportunities to help the Cowboys beat the Washington Redskins.

Keep in mind, Owens, like Moss, has never won a Super Bowl, but he portrays himself as the ultimate authority on winning in the NFL.

Owens is now in the process of costing Wade Phillips his job. Phillips and Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett are so afraid of Owens becoming a disruptive force that the Cowboys abandoned their running game and forced the ball in Owens' direction against the Redskins.

Of course, the gameplan failed to make T.O. happy, and he immediately threw Phillips, Garrett, and QB Tony Romo under a bus. Phillips, Garrett, and Romo might want to call Jeff Garcia, Andy Reid, and Donovan McNabb for a little insight on how the rest of this season might play out.

I was really proud of ESPN's analysis of Owens' behavior. The addition of Carter (and subtraction of Emmitt Smith) to this crew has made ESPN's pre and postgame show my favorite.

8. A little more proof of my theory that receivers are the NFL's most dangerous plague can be found in Cincinnati, where Chad Johnson talked about his love of the Dallas Cowboys, his desire to play with Terrell Owens, and his plan to kiss the midfield star at Texas Stadium.

Care to guess whom the Cincinnati Bengals play this week?

Yep, the Dallas Cowboys. On a conference call with Dallas-area reporters, Ocho Cinco was at his bojangling best.

"If I was in Dallas, they would have to change all of our damn games to pay-per-view because you need to pay to see that," Johnson said. "I'm serious. I'm so serious. They would have to put all the games on pay-per-view. Because you can't just watch a show like that for free. 81 and 85? Come on, now."

It would be a remake of Spike Lee's movie Bamboozled. Johnson would be Mantan and Owens would be Sleep n' Eat.

7. Have I mentioned Plaxico Burress' troubles in New York and how they fit my theory that receivers are the NFL's biggest group of idiots?

What about Steve Smith sucker-punching a teammate during training camp?

I could mention Matt Jones, Chris Henry, and even Marvin Harrison's offseason incidents, but it would just be piling on.

NFL receivers are coddled, dysfunctional, and unstable. Spare the rod; spoil the child. The rules limiting downfield contact with receivers need to be rolled back to the 1960s.

6. I don't blame Tom Cable for taking the Raiders head-coaching job. Art Shell is the only coach who had his reputation hurt by working for Shallow Al.

Yes, Cable will soon be blamed by Davis for everything that is wrong with the Raiders, but Gruden landed a job with the Buccaneers, Bill Callahan became head coach at Nebraska, Mike Shanahan won Super Bowls with the Broncos, and Norv Turner took over the San Diego Chargers.

Getting dumped by Shallow Al pretty much enhances your reputation. Lane Kiffin is likely to get a nice head-coaching position in the college ranks, probably at the BCS level.

Cable will collect a nice check and won't receive any of the blame when JaMarcus Russell proves to be a bust.

5. One last thought on the Raiders and Shallow Al Davis: What he said about former front-office executive Michael Lombardi rang true to me.

Shallow Al fingered Lombardi as a snitch to the media and as someone who bad-mouthed Art Shell. I don't have a problem with anyone bad-mouthing Shell. I used to rip Shell when he was winning games with the Raiders the first time he was head coach. Let me also add that I've met, and like, Lombardi.

I just always suspected that Lombardi was the guy who fed Bill "The Sports Guy" Simmons the information that provided the substance to the hilarious columns Simmons would write about Shell.

Also, I'd like to mention that my favorite blogger, Mike Florio at profootballtalk.com, is mysteriously in the tank for Shallow Al and the way he fired Kiffin. I can't figure out what Florio's angle is on this one.

Are Florio and Shallow Al exchanging e-mails? I can't believe my man Florio would play favorites when his reputation is built on blasting agents and reporters who play favorites.

4. Breaking news: Tony Mandarich also revealed, in his shocking interview with Inside the NFL, that he is white and tall.

I just would've never believed that Mandarich used steroids and is tall and white. I had no freaking idea about any of this. I can't wait to get my hands on his book that is due out in March. According to my sources, Tony will also reveal that the earth is round, I'm fat, and Bill Clinton cheated on Hillary.

3. The Tennessee Titans would be fools to give Kerry Collins a lucrative contract extension, no matter how many games he "wins" for the Titans.

Can you say Derek Anderson?

Any veteran who can avoid making big mistakes could win with the Titans. Collins is a slightly better version of Trent Dilfer. Yes, that makes Collins a significant upgrade over Vince Young, but it would be foolish to give Collins any real money.

2. I feel sorry for Aaron Rodgers.

Brett Favre threw six touchdown passes last week. This week, he'll keep his ironman streak alive. The Packers are 2-2 and Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy are under immense pressure to prove they didn't make a mistake pushing Favre out of Green Bay. And Rodgers has a bum shoulder.

That's a recipe for ignoring sound medical advice and playing before you're ready. Rodgers should get it over with early and sit out this week's game. He doesn't have to pretend to be Cal Ripken.

1. Sarah Palin vs. Joe Biden tonight feels like Super Bowl III, the New York Jets vs. the Baltimore Colts.

Honestly, I would skip the Super Bowl to watch Paris Palin try to string together coherent thoughts on issues she's just heard about in the past week. Tonight's debate is easily the most anticipated television event in my lifetime.

I would rather watch Paris Palin make a mockery of our corrupt, substance-less political process than watch the series finale of The Wire.

If Paris Palin pulls an upset, it will go down as the biggest surprise since Broadway Joe derailed the Colts.

This article originally published on FOXSports.com.

To read more of Jason's columns, click here.