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TechnographWhy blame coaches for their team's loss, failure?
By Kevin Spitz
Posted: 5/1/08 Section: Columns
The man who holds the record for the highest regular season winning percentage of all time, Avery Johnson, was fired by the Dallas Mavericks yesterday. During his tenure, the Mavericks went to the NBA Finals once and were consistently one of the best teams in the league. From reports in various newspapers and from ESPN.com, though, it seems as if Johnson lost his way with both ownership and the players and it was time for a change.
When it comes to successes and failures, coaching is always a very interesting topic to discuss. What makes a coach so successful for a certain period of time and then have that success disappear?
Looking back at the recent history of Chicago's two baseball teams, I point out that former White Sox skipper Jerry Manuel won the Coach of the Year award in 2000 for the White Sox's impressive 95 win season. Four mediocre seasons later, he was fired.
In addition, Dusty Baker won three Coach of the Year awards with San Francisco and was highly touted by the Cubs when he was hired to be the coach that ends the curse. Baker lasted four years before he was fired.
But was it ever really coaching ability that led to their demise? Could it have been? When it comes to strategy in any sport, different coaches have different theories as to what works the best. The ones who can refine those theories and adapt seem to hold up the best, but it's not like a coach would ever lose those skills once they gain them.
So it would seem to me that the ones who actually determine the outcome of the game are, yes you guessed it, the athletes on the field. Too much emphasis is put on coaching and coaching decisions.
Keep in mind this only goes for pro sports, not college ones. College coaches have a unique job, in that they need to convince talent to come to their program as well as coach them. At the same time, the coach can be blamed for a lot more failures because he is the one recruiting the talent that plays for him. In addition, in college, players still have a lot to learn about fundamentals. There is a lot that coaches can still help teach.
When it comes to successes and failures, coaching is always a very interesting topic to discuss. What makes a coach so successful for a certain period of time and then have that success disappear?
Looking back at the recent history of Chicago's two baseball teams, I point out that former White Sox skipper Jerry Manuel won the Coach of the Year award in 2000 for the White Sox's impressive 95 win season. Four mediocre seasons later, he was fired.
In addition, Dusty Baker won three Coach of the Year awards with San Francisco and was highly touted by the Cubs when he was hired to be the coach that ends the curse. Baker lasted four years before he was fired.
But was it ever really coaching ability that led to their demise? Could it have been? When it comes to strategy in any sport, different coaches have different theories as to what works the best. The ones who can refine those theories and adapt seem to hold up the best, but it's not like a coach would ever lose those skills once they gain them.
So it would seem to me that the ones who actually determine the outcome of the game are, yes you guessed it, the athletes on the field. Too much emphasis is put on coaching and coaching decisions.
Keep in mind this only goes for pro sports, not college ones. College coaches have a unique job, in that they need to convince talent to come to their program as well as coach them. At the same time, the coach can be blamed for a lot more failures because he is the one recruiting the talent that plays for him. In addition, in college, players still have a lot to learn about fundamentals. There is a lot that coaches can still help teach.
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Jay
posted 5/01/08 @ 3:23 PM CST
Though I agree partly with the premise that coach's sometimes are blamed too much for losing (or credited too much with winning), I feel the column doesn't address much of the coaching staff's responsibility. (Continued…)
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