The UNC Academic Scandal: The Power of a Coach

When reflecting on a 38 year career in coaching, the late Hall of Fame basketball coach, Don Meyer stated, "...I love to see how a team can improve and kids improve...And that is why I coach.  I mean, there's nothing better than that.  It just eats you up inside how lucky you can be to coach" (Olney, 2010, p. 141). Although Meyer was respected nationally for his knowledge of the game and willingness to share amongst his colleagues, the influence he had on the lives of his players is worth noting.  Steve Smiley, a player for Meyer at Northern State University in South Dakota, commented on the impact Coach Meyer had on his life off the court (Smiley, 2005).

...I knew that my experience as a basketball player at Northern would serve me in every area of my life, simply because I was blessed to be around Coach Meyer and learn his life lessons for five years.  He taught me how to completely engross myself in the team concept and worry about other people, instead of putting the emphasis on myself.  I will forever be indebted to Coach Meyer... (p.190-191).

When a student-athlete enters into the athletic environment with a coach, instantaneously a power-relationship develops between the coach and the student-athlete (Potrac & Jones, 2011).  Often given enormous freedom to implement their own policies and procedures, coaches are in positions to significantly impact the athletic experience of those they lead. Coaches have the ability to create environments that can positively or negatively impact the success of their student-athletes on and off the field of play (Simon, 2013). 

Arguably, the power-relationship between coaches and student-athletes is greater in collegiate athletics.  The student-athlete is reliant on the coach for scholarship funds, exposure to the next level of competition, skill development, and an opportunity to be successful on the scoreboard.  It would be disingenuous to believe collegiate coaches are unaware of the power-relationship they have with a student-athlete.  Throughout the history of collegiate sport, coaches have utilized power-relationships in a positive manner to motivate athletes to astonishing accomplishments, build lifetime relationships, and provide them skills for future success.  

Coach Vivian Stringer led the 2007 Rutgers Women's Basketball to an unprecedented NCAA Final Four by overcoming a season filled with challenges on and off the court (Stringer & Tucker, 2009).  Known for her rigid and tough-minded approach to team building, University of Tennessee Women's Basketball Coach and Hall of Fame inductee Pat Summitt, intentionally developed long-term relationships with her student-athletes (Summitt & Jenkins, 2013).  When Steve Smiley finished his playing career with Don Meyer, he published a book about his experience and included a section for former players to publicly express their appreciation to Coach Meyer.  Many of Coach Meyer's former players commented on how he taught them skills for life after basketball (Smiley, 2005).   

Unfortunately, there are also instances where coaches have also wielded their power to the detriment of their student-athletes by demeaning them, objectifying them only as a means to achieve success (i.e. victory and financial gain), and failing to serve as a moral role model when allowing the pressure to win to become the prevailing goal.  In 2013, University of Rutgers Men's Basketball Coach, Mike Rice made national news when a video surfaced of him belittling players with racial and homophobic slurs (Van Natta, 2013).  Coach Rice seemingly viewed his student-athletes as a means to winning basketball games and brandished his influence on them in a negative manner to secure victory.

The recent academic scandal at the University of North Carolina similarly reveals the prioritization of victory above all else.  A report commissioned by the University of North Carolina outlined widespread academic fraud over an 18-year period.  Academic advisors pushed student-athletes towards "sham" classes, and student-athletes were clustered in certain academic programs to increase their GPA and subsequently their eligibility to participate in athletics (Wainstein, Jay, & Kukowski, 2014).  When questioned about their familiarity with the "sham" courses, the UNC coaches during this time period denied any knowledge of the classes, deferring the responsibility to the academic advisors hired by the athletic department (Wainstein et al., 2014). 

Turning a "blind eye" to potential problems surrounding one's program is nothing new in intercollegiate athletics.  Legendary Hall of Fame Basketball Coach John Wooden was criticized for failing to control overzealous athletic booster Sam Gilbert's involvement with his team (Davis, 2014).  The late and former head football coach at Penn State University, Coach Joe Paterno failed to act on allegations that former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was sexually abusing young boys over a number of years.  And in 2007 Hall of Fame coach Bobby Bowden denied involvement in an academic scandal at Florida State, where he served as head football coach for over 40 years.

Not surprisingly, coaches are competitive people and when faced with scenarios where they are accused of failing to act, they often fight back or simply pretend they were never involved in the first place.  But by transferring responsibility to academic advisor's these coaches are relinquishing any responsibility for the academic progress of their student-athletes.  Interestingly, this practice of deferring responsibility is contradictory to the approach most coaches' use when recruiting.  When recruiting prospective student-athletes, coaches often promise parents they will guide the personal growth and development of their child, including the promise of a quality education and the opportunity to obtain a degree. 

From what we know, the coaches at UNC were less than truthful with student-athletes and their parents.  Despite having opportunities to help student-athletes achieve future success off the playing field, the UNC coaches claimed to have no knowledge of the independent study courses, essentially refuting their earlier promise to monitor the academic progress of their student-athletes.  In doing so, the UNC coaches seemingly failed to utilize the power-relationship with their student-athletes in a positive manner with regard to academic achievement.

Current and former UNC coaches connected to the scandal will likely continue to engage in power-relationships with student-athletes and utilize this relationship to accomplish team goals and further develop a successful program.  Additionally, they will probably gauge their impact as coaches on their success getting their student-athletes to come together as a team, refine and improve their skills, and help them reach higher competitive levels.  But in collegiate athletics the impact of coaches surely goes beyond merely helping student-athletes reach their athletic potential.  Richard Taylor, a former player under Coach Don Meyer recognized the lifelong impact the coach had on his life (Olney, 2010).

In the years after he graduated, Taylor kept all of his notebooks in a bookcase behind his desk at work, and from time to time he would pull them out and look through them.  He was convinced that the best preparation for his personal and professional future was playing basketball under Meyer (p.21).

Coach Meyer clearly recognized and valued the impact he could have beyond game scores and intentionally provided personal growth opportunities for his student-athletes.  That coaches can powerfully influence their student-athletes on the field of play is obvious. Less obvious but perhaps just as important to remember are the opportunities coaches have to also impact the lives of their players off the field.  Coaches best remembered by their players take time to build lifetime relationships and ensure their student-athletes are well prepared for a life beyond sports. 

References:

Davis, S. (2014).  Wooden: A coach's life. New York, New York: Times Books.

Olney, B. (2010).  How lucky you can be: The story of coach Don Meyer.  New York, New York: Random House, Inc.

Potrac, P. & Jones, R. L. (2011).  Power in coaching.  In Jones, R. L., Potrac, P., Cushion, C, and Ronglan, L. T. (Eds.), The sociology of sport coaching (135-151).  New York: Routledge.

Simon, R. (2013). The ethics of coaching sports: Moral, social, and legal issues.  Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Smiley, S. (2005).  Playing for Coach Meyer.  Victoria, BC: Trafford Publishing

Stringer, V. & Tucker, L. (2009). Standing tall: A memoir of tragedy and triumph.  New York, New York: Three Rivers Press.

Summitt, P. & Jenkins, S. (2013).  Sum it up. New York, New York: Random House Inc.

Van Natta, D. (April 3, 2013).  Video shows Mike Rice ire.  Retrieved from: http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/9125796/practice-video-shows-rutgers-basketball-coach-mike-rice-berated-pushed-used-slurs-players

Wainstein, K. L., Jay, J. A., & Kukowski, C. D. (2014).  Investigation of irregular classes in the department of African and Afro-American studies at the university of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Retrieved from: http://advancingrefor.staging.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/UNC-FINAL-REPORT.pdf

Biography: Dr. Pete Van Mullem is an Assistant Professor in Sport Administration at Lewis-Clark State College. He has a Ph.D. in Sport Ethics from the University of Idaho and has over 14 years of coaching and athletic administrative experience at the high school and collegiate level.