I Figured Out What's Grating Me With the Morley Dismissal

Yes, it's a self-referential link, sorry. I needed a venue to express what was bugging me with the Morley (and now Langley) dismissal(s).

7 months ago Graysnail 9 comments 0 recs |

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I agree with the feeling.

(I just don’t know where I should be responding!)

No coach is perfect; for all his flaws, you could never say that Fulmer didn’t understand what cutting a scholarship of might mean to the long-term life of a player. He’s said before that most players who lose scholarships wind up back where they were before college, and for a lot of players that isn’t a pleasant return.

It’s really hard to make a fair judgment without the whole story on these players, but it’s not unreasonable to imagine that the new staff might be handling some of the players incorrectly. Your point about the difference between a rookie and a freshman or between a 2nd-year player and a sophomore is very correct. Yet all these coaches are very familiar with college coaching – more familiar than Weis was, in fact. So it’s hard to say.

But it’s fair enough to make a note that this staff may indeed be too impersonal with the players. I’m not saying that and I’m not even trying to suggest it to be so; the evidence right now merely cannot preclude that possibility.

by Hooper on Apr 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Well-written and thought out

But I’m obliged to say that I disagree, in general. Granting athletic scholarships to players is not a one-way street. They are expected to come to the university, work hard, produce, and make money for the athletic department (who in turn pays for scholarships). I am on academic scholarship at the University of Tennessee, and if I do not meet certain requirements, those scholarships are no longer offered. I don’t see why it should be any different in the football realm.

When you’ve got guys out there, like Nick Reveiz who, I believe, is a walk-on who earned a scholarship, it doesn’t seem fair that a guy like Morley should continually be granted mulligans. That said, I admire Morley’s tenacity and drive to get himself academically eligible again, but those efforts do no preclude him from having to continually make wise decisions.

by rblakeh on Apr 10, 2009 12:21 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree with this.

Well written though, I enjoyed it, and made some very valid points. I think I come down somewhere between your analysis of the humaneness of Fulmer and the impersonality of Kiffin. My thought is that there has to be a cutting point where the two sides have to split. You cant keep giving them second chances as there are plenty of guys around the country who would kill for that spot, that chance. If you are going to waste your scholarship, and not put your best foot forward – tell me why you should deserve to keep it. Athletes in big name programs have so much afforded to them that normal students do not get, if you dont understand how lucky you are, then you dont deserve to keep that scholarship.

Yes, for some, this spells a damning fate, but are you doing them any favors by letting them slide by year after year, not putting their best effort in? This may just be a tough love decision that wakes them up out of this mindset.

now with less meyton panning.

by Pride of the Southland on Apr 10, 2009 9:34 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not suggesting they maintain their scholarhips.

I apologize if I sent that message. How Kiffin wants to run the team is entirely up to him. I was always thinking some kind of unofficial help, where the crew steers the recently kicked-off player towards the resources within the academic program they’ll need to graduate. The players didn’t just sign on to the football program when they come to Tennessee, they sign on with the university.

Having some kind of transition program – whether it’s official or not (I’d bet unofficial) – would go a long way towards assuaging my concern. I’m not drawing judgments at this point through. The piece was driven more by the sudden rash of guys getting kicked off the team than anything else.

by Graysnail on Apr 10, 2009 3:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Isn't there something in place that helps ex-players finish up their degrees?

I can’t remember the details, and it may just be for players who left early to play in the NFL. It’s worth thinking about, either way.

by rblakeh on Apr 10, 2009 5:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's what I don't know.

If that infrastructure is there, and non-players (but people otherwise affiliated with the football team – or heck, any athletic team) can access it, and they know how to access it, then I’m all right.

by Graysnail on Apr 10, 2009 9:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yes, there is.

I don’t know all the details, but as far as I understand it, any athlete who leaves (in good standing) to pursue an athletic career may resume their degree at any time.

by Hooper on Apr 10, 2009 11:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Kiffin may never be as "hug their necks" towards his players as Fulmer was

But I think we just need more time and an entire season to see exactly how his personal relationships with his players are going to fully play out. You make good points though.

by Will on Apr 10, 2009 11:05 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I gota disagree

I take exception to your statement that Fulmer was more concerned with the players off-the-field and that Kiffen is just concerned with on-the-field results. Fulmer’s teams have been notorious for their of-the-field issues. So much so that the the award for the program with the most egregious arrest record is called the Fulmer Cup.

Couching the lack of program discipline as Fulmer’s concern for the players after their dismissal is somewhat short-sighted. If he was truly concerned for the players, he would have instituted the sort of strict discipline necessary to steer the bulk of the kids in the right direction. That’s what Kiffen did by dismissing Morley. Setting up an expectation that actions have consequence, and in doing so, teaching these kids perhaps the best life lesson they can learn.

by ChicagoVol on Apr 14, 2009 2:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs