National Collegiate Athletic Association |
CommentDecember 1, 1997
Guest editorial -- Curtain comes down on a well-done career
BY JAMES FRANK One of the most remarkable careers in all of competitive sports came to an end Saturday, November 29, 1997, when Eddie Robinson retired as head football coach at Grambling State University.
During my decades of involvement in collegiate sports, from playing college basketball to coaching in the college ranks to serving as a university president to working as commissioner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, I have never personally witnessed anything close to the phenomenon of the Eddie Robinson legacy. He is revered in all walks of life because his influence isn't limited to the football field -- it transcends all spectrums of society. I remember quite well the first time I met Eddie. It was in 1964 at an NCAA Convention in New York. However, my first time conversing with Eddie was at the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics meeting in Hollywood, Florida, in 1982. Right then and there, I knew that the man I shook hands with and conversed with was something special. His genuine kindness radiated throughout the room. His sense of humor was refreshing. His zeal for fulfilling the American dream was overflowing. With each word he spoke, the circle of admirers around him grew larger and larger. Yes, before he eclipsed Bear Bryant's record for most victories, before many of the Hall of Fame honors started being bestowed upon him, he had already become an icon, a role model and an American legend.
extolled the virtues of good citizenship, obeying your parents, receiving a quality education and staying drug-free to young people in every speech he delivers, regardless of the setting. Amazingly, while uplifting our youths, he inspires all of us to reach for the stars, to be the best we can be, regardless of age, gender, race, nationality or religious preference. At the start of the 1997 football season, I knew that the countdown toward Robinson's retirement was on. I, like countless others, was prepared to savor every precious moment I could while in his presence. Just knowing that the coach's remarkable career was nearing its end has allowed everyone to get mental snapshots of America's greatest coach of all time roaming the sidelines, doing what he has done since 1941. In a way, I am saddened to think that next year, Robinson's majestic presence will be absent from the sidelines. Someone else will have to fill his shoes. Someone else will have to carry on the great tradition that he established at Grambling and which he helped to establish in the SWAC, as well as in all of college sports. Knowing Eddie Robinson as well as I do, I am cognizant of the fact that while he will not be coaching next year, he will definitely be a goodwill ambassador for competitive athletics. He will continue to accentuate the positive and preach what's good in society and in every human being. He'll continue to tell youths that there are no obstacles that can't be overcome with hard work. And he'll continue to give people like me ample reason to proudly proclaim that "I know Eddie Robinson" and that "Eddie Robinson is my friend." James Frank is commissioner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Letter to the Editor -- Develop integrity through associationCongratulations to Clarence Underwood Jr. on his guest editorial in the November 11 issue of The NCAA News. It was right on target. Unfortunately, like most such sensible notions, it will probably go unheeded, the rule book will only grow, and the monthly infractions report will continue to read like an insert of jokes. Some 20 years ago, I recall having a discussion with the (now retired) athletics director of Queens College. He speculated about doing away with the rules book and assuming a certain amount of ethics and honor among athletics departments. If a coach grew suspect about another college's ethics or degree of honor, he could simply drop it from his schedule. Over time, it would eventually become clear that you would only have opponents with similar philosophies on your schedule. And, over time, you might see the NCAA divided into two divisions: the ethical-honorables and the outcasts. Perhaps I'm naive, but imagine doing something directly related to the educational mission of colleges with the money -- also energy and time -- saved if the NCAA didn't need an enforcement division or if colleges didn't have to hire compliance officers? While individuals like Mr. Underwood have it, common sense never was a strong point of the collective NCAA.
Edward Jaworski Opinions -- Leaders must reassert benefits of athletics competition
Robert F. Kanaby, executive director "Honestly, I'm a little concerned where we are now. I think the sports culture in this country is at a crossroads. It has an opportunity to continue to contribute and do a whole heck of a lot of good for young people, and, eventually, for this society we call America. "But we're at a point now, which is one of the reasons for the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance, where we've raised this issue with the NCAA and the junior colleges and the NAIA and the professional leagues. There's some agreement now.... "We're seeing a lot of things in sports now that we didn't see before. We've created an industry where we are simply creating a mind-set of, 'I'm going to be treated differently,' and 'at an early age I'm going to be able to do things that other people my age can't do.' We've created an industry that almost allows you, in theory, to retire in three years. That's unheard of in our country.... "I mean, kids are still going to go from high school into the NBA, but we have to be certain there are continuous balance points brought forth to the rest of the kids who are not going to the NBA. If (they) think that's what life is really like, it's not."
Demands on coaches
Dave Odom, men's basketball coach "Let's be honest: The more you're being paid, the more you're asked to give. But in the last 10 years, the job description seems to expand each year. The explosion in popularity of ACC basketball has meant that an increasing number of people want to touch it, and the coaches are the conduits. You become a public figure, a celebrity of sorts. It's reached a point where some sanity has to be restored to our profession.... "Beyond actually coaching your team, recruiting is more intense than ever before. It keeps you on the phone or on the road at certain times of the year. You'd think July would be a down time for basketball coaches, but you're on the road for three weeks at summer camps. If you don't do it, you fall behind. "In addition, a coach has less control of his players away from the court but greater responsibility for their actions. You're accountable for the academic records and social behavior of the players for 24 hours a day. "Then there are all sorts of fund-raising requests, not just for the university and the athletics department, but for business sponsors and charitable causes. There are a lot of hands you need to shake and a lot of mail to be answered. "I had to delegate one guy just to sort out all the mail requests -- everything from autographed basketballs to speaking engagements. "The better your team, the more is asked of you. We want that, but it doesn't make it any easier. At Wake Forest, we've gotten a taste of it in recent years. I can only imagine how much more of a burden it is at a Duke or a Carolina."
Mike Krzyzewski, men's basketball coach Discussing the 1994-95 basketball season, which he sat out because of a back injury and exhaustion: "When I was sick, I learned that I had been fulfilling too many requests without bothering to make decisions about whether I had enough time to accommodate them. It's still a concern. I allowed myself to be overscheduled in recent weeks. I should have put up a wall between all the requests and October 18, the day we opened practice. It can and does get to you."
Gender-equitable pay
Editorial "No more excuses: That's the message the federal government is sending schools that continue to illegally drag their feet when it comes to paying female coaches fairly. "Thirty-three years after Congress outlawed wage discrimination on the basis of sex, female coaches still receive a fraction of the pay their male colleagues take home. And when it comes to industries with pay disparities, coaching is among the worst. "But in new guidelines, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is attempting to guarantee female coaches their due by spelling out the legalities of setting coaches' pay. The guidelines make it harder for schools to cheat female coaches and easier for victims to sue. They also send high schools and colleges a message that's long overdue: Female coaches can't be penalized for coaching women. "Female students have made great strides in the 25 years since federal law has required schools to provide them with equal opportunities in both academics and athletics. Yet 60 percent of all coaching pay still goes to men, with the highest pay and benefit packages reserved for those coaching men's football and basketball teams. "Universities offer a host of excuses for the higher men's salaries. Men's sports produce more money. The market drives men's salaries up. Male coaches work harder. They have more responsibility. "Some of that reasoning makes sense, and the government is willing to accept it, with one condition: Schools must have legal reasons for paying their male coaches more. "That means schools arguing that market forces have inflated men's salaries will have to detail their bidding wars. And a college can't pay a men's soccer coach more for packing arenas and attracting corporate sponsors unless the women's coach was provided with the same resources to develop and market her soccer team. "No one pretends the federal guidelines will equalize coaching salaries instantly, though they should make for some interesting contract talks. Nor do they attempt to tamper with outside market forces.... "The guidelines have a limited, yet important, aim. They make schools justify what they're paying coaches and explain why -- instead of making excuses."
Walter Olson, senior fellow "Fresh from its push to protect mental illness in the workplace, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is back with its next social-engineering venture: arm-twisting pay parity between men's and women's coaches. The likely results? More outside meddling in college sports and worsening of the current Title IX disaster for such sports as men's track, wrestling and diving. "News flash: Women are different from men. College football is a huge business, and it won't have a female equivalent as long as women are free to avoid it. Extremes of physical competition don't play the same role in women's lives as in men's. "Yet Brown University got rebuffed when it defended its small excess of male varsity positions by noting that men were more likely to try out for teams. After higher-ups settled a lawsuit by accepting varsity quotas, Cal State Northridge this June proposed dropping men's baseball, soccer, swimming and volleyball. Title IX-driven cuts have devastated 'nonrevenue' men's sports, with gymnastics teams, which numbered 133 in 1975, down to 32 today. "After a token concession that not every volleyball coach may be entitled to the pay of a Big Ten football wizard, the new EEOC guidelines start in with the bad news. Comparisons between dissimilar sports? No problem. Offers based on market rates or current pay levels will be suspect: 'Cultural and social factors may have artificially inflated men's coaches' salaries.' "Worse, the EEOC hints that women's coaches should win even if their programs are revenue washouts -- in one famous case, the Southern California men's basketball program brought in 90 times as much revenue as the women's -- if colleges didn't advertise and promote their squads as heavily as the men's, though to hype a fanless team may be to throw good money after bad. In a typical stroke of micromanagement, the agency suggests a college may lose if it 'sets up weekly media interviews' for a red-hot men's team but not its languishing female equivalent. "Washington flexes its muscles. What keeps on atrophying is freedom."
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His retirement came after coaching at one school for 57 years, fielding 55 teams, winning an unprecedented total of more than 400 games, and, in the process, becoming an icon, a role model and a true American legend.
Of all the things that make Eddie Robinson a remarkable human being, the one thing that stands out most to me is his unyielding desire to help uplift the youths of our society. Like a Southern Baptist preacher, Eddie has