Mass resignations in Holmdel High School football program ( Over Disruptive Student/Player)

Newsday ^ | 10-27-2005

[Cagey]

HOLMDEL, N.J. -- The head coach of the Holmdel High School football team, Joe O'Connor, has resigned along with all nine assistant coaches over what O'Connor says was an undermining of his authority by the school administration.

O'Connor quit Monday, saying the administration had reinstated a player after the coach made him leave the team over discipline problems. On Wednesday, nine assistant coaches decided to resign from the team as well in a show of solidarity with O'Connor.

[AD from SpringBay]

"We were trying to do this for the players who did the right thing, who didn't skip class or practice or argue with the coaches,"

Amen and bump for all the good kids. Bump for all the good kids who have to endure the class idiots, the criminals, the bullies, and mooks and midrifs who seem to get away with any and everything. Bump for all the good kids who study and who stay in school and who do the right things. Bump for the good kids who go to church and who don't mind saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Bump for the good kids on the honor roll. Bump for the good kids for whom the administrators will never bend over backwards. Bump for the good kids who work hard and save their money for college. Bump for the good kids who are on the team and without whom there would be no high school 'stars'. Bump for the good kids who have good friends. Bump for the good kids who don't make children until they get married. Bump for the good kids who understand that what you wear on the outside is never as important as who you are in the inside. And bump for all the good kids that I have forgotten, the ones who never get mentioned.

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

When this child gets fired from a job as an adult, are his parents going to complain to the former boss and get anywhere? Highly unlikely.

This kid is destined for one of the following three........

early death

drug use/ dealing

prison

Rewarding behavior that would make all the coaches quit is idiotic!

Of course we know that many school boards are comprised of idiots!!

[The Red Zone]

Why does a team need "nine assistant coaches"?

[Eagle Eye]

I know of some good college football programs that don't have nine ass't coaches

And they're probably not very competitive.

Nine in only three each for varsity, JV and freshman teams.

[BTHOtu]

School officials have declined to say why the player was reinstated. The school has a progressive discipline policy in which players are supposed to be given official warnings for disciplinary violations such as skipping class, according to Franceschini. If the violation is extremely serious, the discipline may exceed a warning.

The "progressive" discipline policy should not apply to athletics. Liberals suck.

[moasicwolf]

How refreshing to see a man of principle honor, and strength of character!

[Born Conservative]

[bonfire]

Yep. My oldest came up against these kids frequently. Their daddy's would show up, throw some weight around, and the kid would be scott free. It was always for the "team", doncha know.

Good for these coaches.

[ByDesign]

The linked article shed some new light - this player is most likely a prima donna type, and the wall of silence around why the kid did'nt practice that day, and why he was reinstated says volumes - he's got parents or relatives connected to the powers that be here.

Good for the coach, for standing up for principle. What burns me is they're saying they may revisit this later and punish the coach, because he did'nt give a 60 day notice.

I hope he has a good attorney - he could blow this whole thing wide open, if he gets it into a court room, and show why this kid was shown such blatant favoritism, and why an authority in the situation - the coach - was ignored and overrruled.

[TCats]

"When this child gets fired from a job as an adult, are his parents going to complain to the former boss and get anywhere?"

No. Instead he'll probably go Postal because the employer was wrong - He couldn't be wrong, ever. His parents and other enablers told him so for his life up to that point.

[Steely Tom]

Why does a team need "nine assistant coaches"?

Ask someone who knows football.

[Cagey]

Bump for your thoughtful post.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Nine assistant coaches in a high school ?

[babble-on]

Do we have any idea what the kid actually did?

[Mathews]

That shouldn't make a difference.

[kinghorse]

Because academics just get in the way of a good high school athletics program silly.

At our Middle School the kids get 5% extra credit in English/Reading if they attend the English/Reading teacher's girls volleyball games.

Teaching is simply an avenue to coaching these days.

[bonfire]

On second thought: I'll bet this kid wasn't a first string player. No way would the coaches have kicked him off.

[Sgt_Schultze]

Read the link in post 13. Apparently there are enough parents who side with the school that they have volunteered to become assistants.

[noname07718]

The Holmdel school system is just a small part of the whole make-up of Holmdel. It is a very privileged community with a lot of $$. Bell laboratories (Lucent) built there years ago and lured all of these high priced Engineers to wide open farm land. They are all spoiled and used to getting their own way in everything.

Another can of worms is Middletown South High School. They are very used to getting students out of their school districts to fortify their teams. Any team that has lost to any of the Middletown South teams should look into the actual qualifications for all of the Middletown South players.

Another example would be Christian Brothers Academy. They recruit some of their students based on their physical ability and over look their academic qualifications.

In simple terms, it aint a perfect world. Kids are taught early that money qualifies them for privileged treatment. This is a bad lesson for life.