Well, once again, it's over.
Too much over so little?
Not really but maybe a little over the top.
The Putnam situation has been remedied as Dave Austin is back as head coach although the official title is now co-head coach with Athletic Director Chris Coderre. As Coderre told me last night, for all intents and purposes, the program will be under the guidance of Austin with Coderre just adding a helping hand.
No question, there should have been some punishment for Austin's selection of words directed at a player over that player's performance. This is not the world of our fathers and mothers, some things are just not tolerated any longer and Austin did deserve a one or (for consistency's sake due to a similar situation over the winter with boys basketball coach Tony Falzarano) two-game suspension for his choice of words.
Putnam Principal Bill Barry made it a much bigger deal when he either accepted or forced a resignation from Austin and then anointed himself as head coach.
He could have simply suspended Austin for two games, have assistant coach Dennis Walsh pilot the team for those games, let the parents know what happened and be done with it. Would it have leaked out to the press, probably, but it wouldn't have been as much of a show as it was.
There is also the issue of what was said between Austin and Barry in their closed door meeting that prompted the resignation, only the two of them will know as there were no other witnesses.
No excuses here but Bill Barry is still a first-year principal and both he, and Dave Austin, probably have learned some valuable lessons.
Let's hope the rest of the year is a little more tame in Putnam.
1 comment:
You say "...Putnam Principal Bill Barry made it a much bigger deal when he either accepted or forced a resignation from Austin and then anointed himself as head coach.
He could have simply suspended Austin for two games, have assistant coach Dennis Walsh pilot the team for those games, let the parents know what happened and be done with it. Would it have leaked out to the press, probably, but it wouldn't have been as much of a show as it was.
There is also the issue of what was said between Austin and Barry in their closed door meeting that prompted the resignation, only the two of them will know as there were no other witnesses."
Please consider the very real possibility that it was Dave Austin who "made a much bigger deal" out of it by refusing to modify his behavior and threatening to resign if required to do so. There is a reason he is not making the specifics of his meeting with Mr. Barry public. Ask him about it off the record and see what he says. Blaming the principal for this fiasco is like blaming parents for ruining their teenagers' lives by grounding them when they violate their curfew. Teenagers' lives are more often ruined when parents don't have the guts to do their job as parents.
A coach has a huge influence on a large group of students. One who cannot or will not inspire his players without using profanity or insults needs to step aside or be closely monitored until he can do so.
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