By Kirby Whitacre

Kirby Whitacre is Director of Athletics for the South Bend Community School Corporation, which includes four high schools and 10 intermediate centers, and has also served at Mishawaka and Zionsville High Schools, all in Indiana. He has written numerous articles and been a guest speaker at state, multi-state, national, and international conferences on sports issues. In 2007, he published his first book, Buddhism, A Westerner's Compendium, reflecting his interest in pursuits beyond athletics. He can be reached at: kwhitacre@sbcsc.k12.in.us.

Just when you think everything is going smoothly, it hits. One of your coaches does something wrong and you need to react. Maybe your new boys' basketball coach was ejected from last night's game. Or your girls' soccer coach cursed at a player in front of an audience of parents. Then there's the phone call we all dread: a coach on your staff has been arrested.

Even if we do a thorough and careful job with every coaching hire, coaches inevitably make mistakes. Because we are in an educational setting, we need to react with great care. And because we are in the public eye, we need to be savvy about the way we handle these sensitive situations.

In my years in athletic administration, I have dealt with coaches who got drunk in public, broke governing rules of their sport, helped incite a small riot, and got too physical with their athletes. Some of my most sleepless nights have resulted from pondering what to do about coaches in trouble. But I have been fortunate to receive guidance from other experienced administrators and some outstanding attorneys along the way.

Overall, I've found the best strategy for handling these difficult situations is to do four things. One is to use soundly measured judgment, focusing on the physical and emotional well being of the student-athletes. Two is to get upper-level administrators involved and follow their advice on confidentiality and the laws governing such matters. Three is to communicate with players and parents. And four is to always remember that in education we are dealing with a most precious commodity: children.

ON THE JOB
Broadly speaking, the types of problem behaviors that coaches exhibit fall into three categories. The first are those that relate to the expectations of the job. Examples include not following stated policies, poor sportsmanship, interacting inappropriately with parents, and not meeting important paperwork deadlines.

Any of these mistakes can give your department a black eye when they occur in a public setting or result in a negative repercussion for a student-athlete. If a coach gets a technical foul that affects the outcome of a well-attended playoff game, there will be calls for his or her firing. If not meeting a paperwork deadline results in an ineligible student-athlete, there will be major fallout.

But when problems are recognized early in a coach's tenure, they can be handled with much less disruption. If you see that a coach gets heated on the sidelines, you can deal with it before an intense playoff game sets him off. If you realize off the bat that a coach is not great with paperwork, you can work with her on developing this skill before it's too late.

The key to fixing these on-the-job mistakes is being vigilant about monitoring your coaches' actions--especially new coaches. Take the time to watch practices, games, and what happens on the bus or in the locker room. Talk to the coach frequently about how things are going. Be an active mentor.

Then provide them with guidance to nip any potential problems in the bud. It's tempting to wait until the end-of-season evaluation to discuss problems, but that is often too late. It's critical to constantly assess and address how they are doing in areas that affect student-athlete welfare or can have a major impact on other people, such as:

• proper facility usage
• supervision of student-athletes
• transportation safety
• confidentiality
• sportsmanship
• media relations
• budgetary and purchasing issues
• team rules/discipline
• paperwork.

The problem can often be solved by simply taking the coach aside and offering friendly yet concerned advice. Many of my coaches have responded well to this approach. And if they do not, I will turn to official warnings or minor discipline.

Some coaches get themselves into trouble because of their personalities. They are seen as dictatorial, moody, unapproachable, uncaring, or maybe even arrogant. This must be addressed early on because parents and the public expect coaches to have well-developed people skills, which is not an unrealistic expectation.

In these cases, it falls to athletic administrators to smooth the "rough edges" off a coach. I usually start by talking to the coach about something I've seen him or her do. Maybe I witnessed the coach talk harshly to a student-athlete who had a legitimate complaint. I ask the coach about the incident and explain that it is not acceptable behavior in our program. Sometimes, coaches do not even realize they come across as uncaring until it is brought to their attention.

For example, one coach was consistently arriving late to practice, causing players to stand outside and wait in the cold. I communicated to the coach that this was a safety issue and could not be tolerated. He immediately corrected the behavior. He was not being late deliberately and my reminder was all it took to get him to show up on time.

If a problem continues, I will implement more formal action. To start, I usually issue a memo to the coach encouraging the correcting of the behavior. Next steps may be suspension from a game or two, formulating an improvement plan, requiring training in the problem area, and/or written reprimands. Sometimes, we will place the coach on probation, generally until the end of the next season. In cases where termination is likely, I always involve a higher-level administrator.

Slightly more serious on-the-job problems include coaches who fail to follow the bylaws and rules of their conference, state association, or even the NFHS. We had a very successful coach who was found to violate a rule that was going to affect the eligibility of his athletes. He claimed everyone broke this particular rule and he was being singled out. We were able to negotiate with the governing body to not suspend the athletes and suspend the coach for the rest of the season instead. We also put him on probation for a year. He felt we should have defended him rather than punish him, but our philosophy is that the kids come first and a rule is a rule.

Another example of not following rules involved a coach who let an athlete go through tryouts without a signed physical. The coach had previously been suspended for violating other rules of the state governing body. The athlete failed her physical when a heart condition was found. We immediately fired the coach.

GETTING PERSONAL
The second category of mistakes are what I call "breeches of moral conduct." This can be something that offends community sensibilities, or the coach not acting as a proper role model. It might entail a DWI arrest, public intoxication, gambling, personal financial problems, actions leading to a student-athlete injury, demeaning or derogatory comments, a lifestyle not within the moral parameters of the community, and a host of other possibilities.

Issues in this category are often the most difficult to resolve. The question inevitably asked is: What is a matter over which the school has jurisdiction?

An athletic director must also understand that many of these issues are potentially devastating to the career of the coach involved, so it's important to act with care. Your other coaches will be looking to see how much you support your coach--their future loyalty may rest with what you decide to do.

To start, we need to understand that there are laws protecting the coach from employment repercussions. One such law covers age discrimination. Sometimes, a veteran coach is no longer performing at his or her previous level. In these cases, criticism should not be that "time is passing her by" or "he's getting old and out of touch." Instead, it's important to state very specific problems and ask for correction by a certain time period.

In some states and within some school districts, sexual orientation is also an area of protection. A while back, I faced a group of parents wanting me to fire a coach in my program who was openly gay. She was a good coach but probably not a great coach. She was unquestionably a good person who cared about her athletes. The parents' stated complaints did not have to do with her sexual orientation, but I knew this was their main issue with the coach.

I talked with the coach about the fact that she had lost the trust of the parents and what she might do to regain it. After we spoke, she decided to resign. It was important that her sexual orientation not be part of the conversation unless she broached it.

Should I have refused her resignation and figured out a way to get her through the problem? I knew the community well and knew the parents would use their influence to disparage her and probably damage her reputation. They were smart enough to not talk about her personal life, but would attack her in other ways. Ultimately, I think it was best for her to find a coaching job in another community that would better appreciate her sincerity, effort, and caring approach to coaching.

A key factor with this second category is understanding the culture and values of your community. In some towns, a DWI arrest is something to be disciplined, but forgiven. In other communities, it is seen as morally reprehensible--maybe a drunk driver who caused fatalities is a part of the community's history. When I was athletic director at a small rural high school, community norms dictated that any coach spotted in the local bar would immediately lose parents' trust.

Another example is a coach who uses an ethnic slur. In my current school district, which has a large minority population, we do not tolerate any coach who demonstrates racial insensitivity. That would be grounds for immediate firing.

Sometimes, it's difficult to know whether an incident is indicative of a coach's true colors. For example, a new coach, already a respected member of the community, often patted his female athletes' backsides. I talked to the players, who said they noticed this behavior, but that it really didn't bother them. Yet, the more I thought about the situation, the more I realized that parents would not be okay with it and it would eventually become an issue. I spoke with the coach and told him to stop doing it. He resigned.

Was the quick resignation an admission of something more? I do not know, but I do know that requiring him to change his behavior was important. If he had not resigned, I would have watched his actions carefully throughout the season.

Along with figuring out the correct response to any of these situations, there are other areas to think about. One is that there may be public outcry, and the media will want information. It is usually best to cite privacy laws and say, "We cannot comment on personnel matters."

The team and parents will also need to be addressed. Always let them know the issue is being seriously looked into. If an interim coach is taking over the team, he or she should be introduced immediately. However, even these stakeholders should never be provided with specifics that could be construed as violating privacy laws.

One year, I had a coach who battled with parents the entire season. He had very poor communication skills and came across as dictatorial. After a game toward the end of the season, a parent approached him and things quickly escalated into a small riot. We fired the coach, but also held several meetings with the parents to explain what was happening. We also talked to parents about how we would handle the final games of the season.

It is also critical that you seek the assistance of higher-level administrators as soon as possible and involve them every step of the journey. With their guidance, you may want to procure testimony from the coach (it is always best to have this in writing), any police reports or public documents that you can obtain, and most importantly, advice from your school district's attorneys.

If the facts are not clear, or if there is not significant proof of the allegations, upper-level administrators will frequently decide what course of action to take. Generally speaking, penalties in this second category include written reprimand, coaching probation, suspension, required counseling, and finally, termination.

If your job security is important to you, it is ill-advised to attempt to impose a punishment or exonerate a coach if you do not have the support of your supervisors. That said, if you feel bound to take a stand consistent with your values, you can certainly disagree with others' decisions. Just understand that it will likely result in consequences for you.

CAREER ENDING
The final category contains the most unforgivable of offenses in which a coach might be involved. These include causing a severe injury or death to a student-athlete, sexual involvement with a minor, selling drugs, inappropriate use of computers or text messaging, spousal or child abuse, racial prejudice, or any serious crime. Inappropriate actions that relate to issues with young people are particularly devastating for a coach and athletic department.

Any accusations along these lines incite the public, cause the most media attention, and will absolutely involve hour upon hour of damage control by administrators. Emotions are very raw, and the sense of betrayal or violation of a societal taboo is great.

When the incident involves a student-athlete, the athletic administrator must act quickly and decisively by securing the immediate safety of the child and removing the coach from the situation. I have seen many cases in which the athletic administrator began dealing with the coach and assumed the child was being taken care of by someone else. You must ensure the child's safety first. And it is always good to maintain contact with the student-athlete's parents throughout the ordeal and offer support--unless the school's attorney directs otherwise.

After the child's safety has been addressed, the coach will need to be placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. This action assures the public that the situation is being taken seriously and protects everyone involved, including the coach. This is generally paid leave with the coach sometimes being prohibited from contact with other employees and certainly prohibited from being near students.

The next step in many cases will be to gather documentation, police reports, and so forth. Some cases will require you to interview the coach, but in others you will not have access to the coach. You must work carefully with your administration and attorneys, offering your observations and following their directives explicitly.

The public, media, parents, and perhaps the booster club will have to be addressed to allay fears and explain that decisive steps are being taken. In completing these tasks, your supervisors and attorneys will be your greatest guides.

Any athletic administrator or school district that does not act decisively for the protection of all and work diligently to ease public fears is asking for a serious problem to become an absolute disaster. It may not be fair that a coach is treated as guilty before being proven so, but it is the reality of accusations in this category.

BEST JUDGMENT
Unfortunately, in my career, I have dealt with most of the problems listed in the above three categories. The situations are always difficult. Ultimately, all we can do is use our best judgment, learn from experience, and ask others for advice.

When deciding on the proper consequences for a coach who has done something wrong, I think long and hard about his or her actions leading up to that point. I think about the pros and cons of any decision I may make. And I think about what the future will look like depending on what I choose to do.

I am also sure to always check my moral compass. And I concentrate on what is best for the kids, not the adults.

Another part of my inner discussion is how much support and contact I offer the "accused" coach and his or her family. To not offer any support is a serious blow to a colleague and may undermine your relationships with the rest of the coaching staff. But the community usually wants administrators who protect their kids to quickly distance themselves from the accused. How to proceed in the area of support is a huge decision. My only advice is to assess each situation individually and do what feels right.

The hardest situations are often when a veteran coach loved by the community must be disciplined or fired. There will be community outcry afterwards, yet you can't defend your decision publicly due to privacy laws. In these cases, I remind myself to be patient and let the situation run its course. It always does, even if it takes months for the gossip and discussions to end.

Sometimes these decisions will make or break your career. Show what you're made of by using your best judgment, taking others' advice, and understanding community norms. Then, stand firm in what you believe in and put on a layer of tough skin.

And do know that each time you handle such a situation, you are gaining additional wisdom for dealing with future coach mistakes. The more experience you obtain in making tough decisions, the more self-trust and confidence you will have. And that will lead to approaching the next problem with a quiet but definite resolve that benefits all involved.

Sidebar: TWO ALLIES
Sometimes, a coach will make a mistake and claim, "I didn't know that was wrong." One of your greatest allies against such a statement is a comprehensive coaches' handbook. This book can clearly spell out the expectations of coaches, help them understand rules and policies, and provide a proactive training tool.

Our coaches here in South Bend, Ind., must sign a statement upon receipt of their handbook that they will review, fully understand, and support the content. Failure to do so is indefensible.

A second ally is to provide training in some of the most critical and confusing areas or responsibility. For example, live or taped training sessions regarding appropriate interactions between coaches and student-athletes are very useful. Coaches should be exposed to such training once or twice per year and made to sign off on attendance and understanding.

None of us will ever prevent all the coaching problems that are headed our way. However, if proactive policies can prevent even one, they are well worth it.

Author Kirby Whitacre writes on how to create a coaches handbook on the blog section of our Web site on:
www.AthleticManagement.com/blogs.php.