17th
I’ve coached sports for 20-plus years. Granted, it’s always been at the youth and high school level.
I coach competitive travel baseball over the summer, middle school basketball in the winter and one year I even coached freshmen football.
Ok, so I don’t have the credentials of a former college football player at the University of Michigan or head coach of San Fransisco 49ers like Jim Harbaugh or even that of Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz.
But I still know how coaches should act on and off the field, which prompts me to say: What was Jim Harbaugh thinking?
He charged to midfield to congratulate Schwartz acting like he had won the Super Bowl, and he had played in the game himself. Did you see him untuck his shirt? What’s up with that? You’re not a player, you’re a coach, and you’re there to set an example.
Common sense says you congratulate your assistant coaches and some nearby players, within reason because you’re in front of the cameras, then you shake your opponent’s hand with respect.
You save the chest-thumping for the locker room or when the cameras are off.
As for Schwartz, I don’t really care for how he acted, either.
But I understand the spirit of competition, and sometimes you lose it when the opponent pushes you over the edge. The key is to “lose it” without totally loosing it.
If you’ve ever coach, you know what I’m talking about.
I’m sure a lot of you will say, “What do you know?” “You have no clue!” Or, “Buddy, you’ve only coached year of freshman football, that does not make you an expert on the NFL.”
You’re right. I’m not ready to coach in the NFL.
But if this is what professional sports has become then I’ll stay coaching 8th grade basketball for the love — and respect — of the game.
Follow John Gonzalez on Twitter at Twitter.com/GRGonzo.
