"Excuse Me Coach, Blame Points to You"

By Aimee Zagelow

Why in all the midst of teams playing under their potential, the finger always points to the coach? As we have seen in recent sports news, coaches like Wade Phillips and Brad Childress for example, have been fired mid-season due to poor records and dreadful play by their team.

Another coach on the hot seat is Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat; he was rumored to get the boot due to the Big Three not producing wins only a quarter into the NBA season.

Many people tend to disagree with firing a coach due to the teams’ lack of effective play. Before you make your stand, let’s take a moment and analyze the definition of a coach.

There are many definitions of a “coach.” According to Wikipedia's definition of a sports coach it reads, “In sports, a coach or manager is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.

This type of coach gets involved in all the aspects of the sport, including physical components of the game. The coach is assumed to know more about the sport, and have more previous experience and knowledge.

The coach’s job is to transfer much of this knowledge and experience to the players to develop the most skilled athletes. Combining these aspects of the sport, the coach is accountable for the overall performance of the team or player.”

The most important issue remains, is the coach solely responsible for the overall performance of a team or player?

Teams go through rough spots, injuries, inconsistencies, mental blocks, and several other issues that the average fan can’t begin to understand.

I speculate owners would agree that it is much easier to fire a coach than to change up the whole roster. Players are under huge contracts with little room for change or movement.

So as you take your position on this topic remember this, like any coach in any discipline it coincides with focusing on the problem, finding a solution, for a successful outcome.

If a team or player is playing poorly, it is the coaches’ job to fix it or face consequences that can often lead to dismissal.