Coach Wilson - My Coach

To Whom It May Concern

            It has recently been called to my attention that there is currently an attempt to have the Athletic Director/Coaching/Teaching duties at Buhl High School of Mr. Stacey Wilson removed. This, to my understanding, is being done by the parents of a young man who believed that he is being treated unfairly. I will not speak on this particular situation, acknowledging that I no longer live in Buhl and simply do not have all the facts which have caused issue. But what I can speak on is my experience with the particular man in question, his character, values, and how he has influenced my life.

I am going to start by stating that I do not call him by his first name, his last, “Mr. Wilson”, or any other name. I simply refer to him as “Coach” and that is the way he will be referred to in this letter.

            I remember as a child, elementary ages, wanting nothing more than to one day be a football player at Buhl High School. The players in those days were my heroes and I spent a great deal of my time pretending to be one of them. It was in these years when I became a “Ball Boy” and was really brought into the world I had so desired to be a part of. Having a role in the program brought on another level of responsibility for the coaches. They now had a group of children who they wanted to be a part of the team, but now had to look after essentially. Coach was part of the staff in these days, and I remember him being there and treating us well. We were given small jobs to do, and were expected to perform these jobs, small parts which we were held accountable for daily. At the time I had no idea but this insignificant part would become the cornerstone of my life at Buhl High School. The kindness to get youth involved, the responsibility they assumed by doing this, and the responsibility I was given were all very important.

            As I began playing football and developing my skills the high school coaches were constantly around. They always had words of encouragement, and Coach was there. When high school finally came around I felt extremely comfortable immediately. This was primarily in part to having had the opportunity to already build a strong relationship with Coach over many years. This is when I began to learn the most important lessons. My freshmen year was spent on the Junior Varsity team. I learned many skills on the football field. But it was in the weight room, the summer before and then during the school year, where I began learning the most valuable lessons that year. Coach helped instill a work ethic that I previously didn’t understand. Working hard and doing the right things when no one is watching became apparent, and he showed me the type of dedication and commitment this required.

            My sophomore year rolled around and Wilson and I both found ourselves in a new world. I moved up to varsity, and Coach was now in his first year as a head coach. That year I had to grow up and accept the responsibility which I had been given, but Coach and I had a level of trust built from years of being around one another. I didn’t know how much his dedication to not only his current athletes, but also the youth in the community would prove to be until then. During that year we had success as a team, and Coach was always pushing us and making us strive to become the best we could be. The next year would be another example of the type of man and coach he was.

            My junior year was trying to say the least. We were a dismal 2-6 in the games. This would have been an easy time for a coach to get upset, frustrated, mad, or even give up. But not Coach. Coach was determined to make the best of it. He continued to push us and look for the best out of us. We were not a good team that year, by any stretch of the imagination, but Coach never gave up on us. He never let us get down on ourselves, which is a value I’ve been able to embrace and I am thankful for. In athletics and life there are constantly trial and tribulations. But your true character isn’t showed during your successes; it is instead most obvious in how a person deals with adversity. Coach showed us, by his example and teaching, how important this was. I can look back now at that season and know that I would have not been the same athlete and person without going through that and having Coach lead me through it.

            My senior year was a polar opposite. We had grown into a good football team, a mixture of kids who had created an especially strong bond between one another. We had also grown close to our entire coaching staff. This comfort and chemistry between everyone was essential to our success that season. My relationship with coach had grown in to an almost father-son type. Our trust level between one another had become unbelievable. He didn’t have to say a word to me and I could understand him. It was a bond like I would have never imagined as a child when I was a ball boy for the high school. I call Wilson coach out of pure respect, and in the final home game of my football career Coach made a gesture to me which I cherish still today. It was fourth down and about twelve yards. We had talked about and practiced a fake punt all year, but we’d never pulled the trigger. As I jogged to the formation Coach yelled at me. I turned around and looked at him and he simply said, “It’s your call Senior.” There were two things that struck me about this. Coach had called me something I had never been called before. “Senior”. Such a simple word, but it was what I believe was a sign of our relationship and respect for one another. Needless to say it meant a lot to me. The second thing that Coached showed me in that moment was his trust in me. We had spent every game of our careers together. Up to that point I had played every varsity game with him as my coach, and every varsity game he had coached I had been a player. In that moment he turned over more responsibility to me than I could have imagined. A head coach had turned over the role, ego aside, to a player and possibly the outcome of a game. But it wasn’t just any game, it was the District Championship. I remember making the call, running the fake, getting up from being tackled and seeing Coach’s reaction on the sideline. He later told me, “Hell of a play kid.” I knew that I had become what he had been pushing me and wanting me to become.

            The few stories I’ve shared do the impact of Coach on me and many other kids no justice. He has been an incredible role model. I am so blessed to have played for a man with the character like Coach. The lessons I’ve learned from this man are invaluable. To lose him in the community of Buhl would be an absolute shame. I am sorry that people feel that this is needed, but I must disagree. He is the type of person you can ask for anything and can trust. He is a great coach, leader, motivator, man, father, husband, and I am proud to say I played for him and happy to say that he is a friend of mine now as an adult.

A concerned and saddened Alumni,

Mitchell S. Bourner

Class of 2006

Thank you for everything Coach

A valuable lesson I’ve learned from Coach is how to deal with adversity in life. When you get knocked down, get back up. But the most comforting this about that lesson is that when I do get knocked down in any situation, and when I go to get up, if I look up I know Coach will be there with an outstretched hand ready to help me.

Happy Valley.......or is it?

I haven’t been blogging faithfully, strictly because of the busy life I have been dealing with as of late. BUT, this week I am so MAD that what has come to light this week makes me voice my opinion on the matter that is coming to light at State Park, Pennsylvania. I do not even know where to begin voicing my frustrations, disgust, sadness, and disappointment in the situation that is playing out before our eyes. I have seen grown men cry and become angry about what is going on, and students riot and act irrationally. I myself have been so maddened by what has happened I found myself clinching my fist while reading the indictment in its entirety. This goes beyond anything I would have even imagined. What has happened is inexcusable and unforgivable. Amongst all the controversy and mudded details there is one simple truth to all of this. What happened was wrong, at every level. We can all agree that Jerry Sandusky is a demented and sick person. A predator to the most disgusting level it is sad what he has done to the victims. But this isn’t about him. He is no longer the controversy here. People such as Joe Paterno (head coach at Penn State University), Tim Curley (Athletic Director of Penn State University), Gary Schultz (Vice President of Penn State University), Graham Spanier (President of Penn State University), Mike McQueary (Graduate Assistant and Assistant Coach at Penn State University) amongst many others are now the controversy. The men who I have mentioned are all public figures and leaders at Penn State University. Another thing that connects these men is their lack of responsibility and poor judgment used in the Jerry Sandusky case. Every one of these men knew of the actions, or at least knew something of the actions, and carried out only their legal requirements in addressing the situation. Mike McQueary is the first person I’d like to single out here. This man, he was 28 years old at the time, saw a man raping a boy in the locker room showers. He said he even knew that both the child, about 10 years of age at the time, and Jerry Sandusky both saw him. Instead of confronting the situation he simply went to his office and called his father. He then left the building all together and did nothing else to stop what was going on. He instead passed the information on to Joe Paterno and expected him to take care of the matter. My question is Why didn’t he do something right then and there? How could he see what was happening to a 10 year old boy, a child who needs the protection of an adult, an completely let that kid down by doing nothing to stop it. How can you make eye contact with someone who is being abused and violated, see that pain in his eyes, make eye contact with a man who is performing such inexcusable acts and see the pure evil in that man, and do absolutely nothing about it? HOW? He should have stopped what was happening at the moment by whatever means necessary. Instead he didn’t. Then he told his superior. His superior passed it up the chain of command. And it continued that way. Those people, not including Mike McQueary, did the right thing in that instance, but their follow up actions are where they went wrong. Nothing happened and these men allowed it to be covered up and acted like it didn’t happen. In this situation they should have gone to a measure of calling the police. If that didn’t work they should have gone to the media. If a story is brought to light in the media, people are forced to take action. A simple phone call to ESPN would have ended the tragedy then and there. All of these men are supposed to upstanding citizens, role models, and good people. They all failed miserably in this case. Leaders of an institution should have the moral fiber to act against such an atrocity. But they didn’t. They chose to go on with life and act like nothing happened. They allowed the predator to continue with his life the same as it was. They chose the public view of the University and their jobs over doing what was right. This is why every last one of them should be without their jobs. Anyone who had a whisper or what was going on should have to suffer the consequences. There is no question that these men’s lives are forever changed by this. But more importantly are the victims who will be forever affected by what happened, and what happened to the victims is incomparably worse than losing a job.

Top Ten's

This is a double issue of the Top Ten from the past weekend, since I missed college football’s kickoff weekend. So here we go…

Kickoff Weekend…

10. Jesse Palmer still has the best hair in the biz. Not to mention his own show with David Pollack and an Applebee’s commercial with the Swami. Get some Jesse!

9. Lights, ¾ inch freshly mowed grass, sold-out stadiums, tailgating, and the fans.

8. Uniforms. How about the Nike Combat Jerseys. Pretty phenomenal. Not to mention the Technicolor dream coats the Terrapins of Maryland donned in their bout with Miami.

7. Cheerleaders. Are you kidding me. Did you see TCU’s sideline gals. Probably digitally created.

6. Kirk, Lee, Reese, Dez, Erin, Holtz, Brent, and Rinoldi. If I die I want Brent Musburger to give my eulogy.

5. Kellen Moore and Boise State beating Georgia in a primetime game.

4. Baylor beating TCU in a barn burning upset. Not to mention circling the Big 12 wagons and stopping A&M from moving to the SEC (for now).

3. Michigan played defense!

2. LSU smothered the fast paced Duck offense and showed they are for real, even with the suspensions.

1. Mother Nature, causing delays and altering the endings of games all over. Never really seen weather do that to so many games all at once.

-Football is back folks. “Let’s GO!”

Week Two…

10. Auburn wins another close game. That streak has to come to an end sometime soon.

9. Minnesota’s Jerry Kill. Get better coach!

8. Texas version 2.0 of McCoy-Shipley. Not often that happens right?

7. Close games. Last weekend had some great games.

6. Oklahoma State offense looking like it was running plays against air most of the time when they played Arizona. Weeden made it look easy.

5. Texas has won twice in Austin already. That’s two more than they won there all year last season. I think that deserves a second shoutout in one week.

4. We all remember that guy Cam Newton. That controversial Heisman winner, and quarterback of national Champion Auburn from last year. He went off in his first NFL game last year. 422 yards, 24-47, 2 TD’s, a rushing TD, and NFL Rookie Quarterback records. Honestly can’t say I saw that one coming.

3. Iowa State won against Iowa in a Rivalry Game usually dominated by Iowa. Overtime in that atmosphere must have been intense.

2. Alabama rolls Penn State in Happy Valley. The Tide made it look easy after a bit of a sluggish start.

1. Denard Robinson and Michigan. In the Big House’s first ever night game Denard exploded again against Notre Dame. His second half performance was one of the best I have ever watched to date. Even as pretty as that last throw looked I couldn’t get over how ugly those throwback Michigan jerseys were though. Great Game!

Week 1: Offseason Turmoil

With an offseason full of turmoil the college football landscape is facing some trying days in the not so distant future. Old coaches, new coaches, NCAA sanctions, freshmen stars, tattoos and cash, suspensions, realignment, TV rights, the Longhorn network, spring camp, fall camp, tornados, pro-style offense or spread option, and combat uniforms. With all that going on its hard to believe that not even a snap of the 2011-2012 season had been played yet.

Realignment has begun with various big names, (i.e. Nebraska, Colorado, TCU, and Boise State) jumping ship and joining new conferences. Now with the dominos all falling it seems everyone wants a little bigger piece of the pie. Texas A&M is attempting to join the SEC, only to be stopped by nearly all the rest of what is left of the Big 12.

                But maybe the only bigger story in the offseason than realignment is the NCAA investigations and sanctions. Players accepting impermissible benefits, coaching scandals, and new cars and “who paid for them?”. Now comes the question, “Should college athletes be allowed to make money while attending college?” Here is what I think about that…

                NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If someone is seriously considering that these kids should be getting paid I would love to hear a legitimate argument in favor of that. I’ve heard the “marketability” thing mentioned. No one can deny that some players are definitely marketable and could be making a killing off of jersey and merchandise sales. But that would completely defeat the idea of an amateur athlete. Let’s look at the definition of the word “amateur” first.

Amateur: one who engages in a pursuit, study, science, or sport as a pastime rather than as a profession. (Webster’s Dictionary)

Paying a college student money or even allowing him to make money off of his name and that of the respective university would be going against what it is to be an amateur athlete. And in all reality is that player the person who is marketable or is it the university which he plays for? I’d have to say that the university wins that one more times than not. That would be allowing a kid to make money off of a school which is paying to educate that individual. Doesn’t seem right to me. If an athlete is worried about his marketability maybe he should strive to be not only the best athlete he can be for three or four years, but also the best example he can be. Athletes can come out of college being marketable in may different aspect, not just jersey sales and shoe contracts.

                Also in my opinion student-athletes are being paid. I’m a college student and I pay tuition and have a job. I have no problem with this because I am paying for something which will benefit me down the road. I would never expect an athlete to have a job, that would be almost impossible to balance a school, social, work, and athletic life at the same time. But kids shouldn’t be having money put into their pockets while attending school. They are having an entire education paid for, along with room, board, food, books, and a few other perks of being an athlete. If these kids are worried about having some cash at their disposal then maybe a student loan would work. Hell, almost the entire student body takes out student loans, why can’t the athletes do this too?

                If we, as a sports community, desire to have the athletes paid I think I’ve devised a plan to allow these kids to make some cash.

Since football players are required to compete at a collegiate level until the end of their junior season (3 years removed from high school) I think that it is after that the athletes should be allowed to sign endorsements. Maybe an academic goal should be reached and a player is only allowed to sign endorsements once he is academically a senior in college. Put some emphasis on the kids to reach an academic goal, not just an athletic goal. I do not think that the university should be able to pay the players any amount of money what so ever in order for them to stay for their senior year. This would solve a simple problem. Those few players who have been able to build and maintain their marketability through hard work for three years should be able to benefit. This would also keep some players in college through their senior year because money is not the issue anymore. College players play for the love of the game, but at a certain point it becomes a business decision to become professional. This would allow universities to graduate more players, give fans what they want in seeing their favorite players one more season, and I believe giving the athletes themselves what they want (a chance to finish their senior year at their college without the decision of going pro looming over their head from a financial standpoint). A solution would benefit everyone, especially the fourth year athletes. I would also say a cap should be put on just how much money kids should be able to make. 50,000 would be a good limit. Throw in the allowance to make up the amount indebted regarding student loans and the athlete is sitting pretty in my mind. This is more than most kids make after graduating college, and is definitely more than enough to “get by” in your senior year of college. I don’t have a problem seeing some college athletes in a commercial here and there, smiling in the front seat of a car at a local dealership, or even signing a one year shoe deal. That isn’t going to deface the purity of the sport in my opinion, and it keeps the money given to “kids” in check. No one wants to see a senior rolling up to fall camp in a Range Rover or wearing a Rolex in class.  Maybe a bonus should be allowed for Academic All-Americans and other academic goals, accomplishments in the community, amongst other things not athletically related.

The problem with paying underclassmen, in my opinion, is that they have not yet “earned” that privilege yet. A senior has put in his due diligence to the sport and his university and should be allowed perks, especially when finishing out what he started four years earlier. Paying underclassmen also gives certain universities recruiting advantages. If a kid is offered an Adidas shoe deal out of high school he is almost certain to go to a university which has a deal cut with Adidas. Advantage to that school.

Overall, if you want to be paid as a college athlete go out and prove your worth over a few season, work hard, get good grades, be a positive member of the university and community alike, and earn respect and show it likewise. This gives student athletes the means and rewards to stay all four years. And if you are worried about your marketability as a student athlete well that’s good. You should care about your image, grades, school, and when you graduate with that degree you are that much more marketable to have a profession in something other than sports.