[Part 1 of 3: This three-part article addresses the current environment in collegiate athletics related to the student-athlete experience. Athletics directors and other campus administrators need to engage student-athletes in meaningful and systematic ways to promote communication, trust and accountability. The student-athlete experience must enhance overall educational goals at every institution. Find out how we can help with our student-athlete experience assessment services.]
Part 1: Hear No Evil
Many of the recent media reports about alleged coaching abuses, indiscretions or scandals reveal a lack of awareness on the part of athletics department administrators. In some cases a plea of “innocence through ignorance” from presidents and athletics directors only made situations worse when evidence surfaced that these people actually were aware of the issues.
All it takes is a cell phone to capture a picture, video or audio recording of a less than professional situation, and a social media account to broadcast it to the entire world. Before you know it, Deadspin.com or ESPN.com is running with the information and sending a crew to set up outside your office waiting for your response to the situation.
A now famous example is the men’s basketball coach at Rutgers, where leaked video evidence led to weeks of continual negative publicity, the firing of both the coach and the athletics director and public criticism of the University president.
At University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, student-athletes, and their parents, alleged psychological abuse from the men’s basketball coach. A lengthy and expensive independent investigation cleared the coach and he kept his job, but the situation received national negative publicity.
In another example, this time from the world of NCAA Division III, a men’s golf coach at a Christian college was fired after one of his student-athletes secretly recorded a post-tournament tirade.
Why would any student-athlete lash out at a coach, a program or an institution with such damning evidence? It’s hard to know, but athletics administrators must do their due diligence to understand program cultures and experiences their student-athletes receive.
Here’s why:
1. Never Assume
Assumptions can come from arrogance or from fear. In either case it’s dangerous for athletics administrators. The old adage is true: “When you assume you make an ASS– out of U– and ME.” It is easier to assume everything is fine, but investing a little energy to find out for sure will either 1) reaffirm your assumptions or 2) blow them up. Either result is good because you can demonstrate effective management and concern for a critical element of your program.
2. Hear No Evil
Ignorance is never an excuse, but administrators and presidents have often tried to offer it up as they fire a coach and pledge a new commitment to student-athletes. Assuming that everything if going fine because you don’t hear any complaints or see any issues is a big mistake. In NCAA enforcement terms, “failure to monitor” a program includes student-athletes and their experiences.
3. Today’s Student-Athletes Are Different
There was a time when hard-nosed, yeller-screamer coaches were the standard. The successful ones were revered, and feared. However, in those days respect for authority was still a commonly held value.
Today, student-athletes feel entitled, and will act out if their experiences are out of line with their expectations. At many small colleges and universities, especially non-scholarship programs, student-athletes feel even more entitled to voicing their opinions (along with their parents, but that’s a topic for another article). Coaches and administrators must adapt to this change in order to effectively communicate with today’s student-athletes.
Coming in Part Two:
- Don’t Ask = “Don’t Care”
- Risk [mis]Management
- Pay Now or Pay Later