Coaches of athletic teams are hired to provide leadership and usher in success at all levels of sport.
They are expected to help athletes improve at their respective sports while also instilling real-world values in them.
Photo courtesy of MCT
Not all coaches do their job the same way, though.
For example, some coaches like to spend time talking to the media, and others do not.
A coach talking to the media is a typical experience in the sporting world. However, some coaches go too far and become the focal point of their teams.
This should rarely be the case, and most coaches do a great job at shunning attention.
Ozzie Guillen, the manager of MLB’s Miami Marlins, does not fall into this category.
Guillen ignited a firestorm in his new city—he was formerly the coach of the Chicago White Sox—by saying he loves former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
Florida boasts a large Cuban-American population that hates Castro and is now asking for Guillen’s head.
Through this, Guillen has burdened his teams and caused them to worry about something other than the game itself. This is not what a good coach is supposed to do.
John Tortorella, the manager of the NHL’s New York Rangers, also consistently brings negative heat upon his team, because he cannot keep his mouth shut.
Tortorella was fined $20,000 last Saturday for criticizing members of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Tortorella has brought undue negative attention to a team that was at the top of its game for most of the recently completed regular season.
Just because he feels the need to sound off publicly about issues does not mean he should do it, especially when it can only cause problems for those who he is supposed to be leading and helping.
We get laughs out of coaching rants from the likes of Guillen and Tortorella, but they serve no legitimate purpose because they are not meant to help anyone or fix anything.
Sometimes a coach becoming the focal point of his or her team has some merit.
For example, Stan Van Gundy, the coach of the NBA’s Orlando Magic, recently went public about one of his players apparently trying to get him fired.
That said, Butler sports fans should consider themselves lucky—they do not have to deal with coaches who have overbearing egos and large mouths.
Men’s basketball coach Brad Stevens always directs attention away from himself, as do Butler’s other coaches.
Baseball coach Steve Farley, tennis coach Jason Suscha and volleyball coach Sharon Clark—the three longest tenured Butler coaches—have all achieved success without blabbing to the media.
Quiet coaches in sports can be a blessing in disguise.
Hopefully, Guillen and Tortorella can figure this out in the near future.
