Prep football coach resigns after profane rant leaked on YouTube

[Blue_Tires]

A profanity-laced pregame rant by a Tennessee high school football coach has cost him his job and stoked a controversy about what constitutes appropriate motivational language in school sports.

As reported by the Associated Press and Memphis Commercial Appeal, among other sources, Collierville (Tenn.) High football coach Shawn Abel resigned on Tuesday, two days after an aggressive, profane pregame speech he gave to his football team on Friday night was leaked as an audio file on YouTube.

While Abel told the Commercial Appeal that he was not specifically asked to resign, the coach offered his resignation when meeting with Collierville principal Dr. Tim Setterlund on Monday after word of the presume rant's leaking first came to light. Setterlund accepted the coach's offer to step down, though there has been no firm decision on whether he will be allowed to continue in his position as an Advanced Placement calculus and precalculus teacher at the school. As of Wednesday, he had been placed on administrative leave from that position.

"My initial thought was, 'I can't believe the sanctity of the locker room has been violated,'" Abel told the newspaper. "But I have to be the grown-up in this situation. I have to be smarter. It was a lapse in judgment and I didn't use good judgment.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/oct/24/collierville-football-coach-shawn-abel-resigns/

This is how America dies, people...

[Angry Dragon]

1. I am confused by your last sentence...............

[WinkyDink]

3. So am I.

[Blue_Tires]

4. It's just my utter shock that

1. supposedly a player or someone in that locker room was hurt/insulted/offended at the comments
2. that person actually recorded it
3. that person actually posted it online...
4. a coach loses his job over it

[MineralMan]

8. Yes, that appears to be what happened.

:shrug:

[Iggo]

14. The funny part is...

5. the coach can't figure out what went wrong

That's what makes it a feel good story for me. Beautiful.

[Blue_Tires]

19. How could he? I'm willing to bet that the coach

heard similar language from head coaches when he was a player, assistant coach, and now that he's a coach/teacher, hears the same from fans in the stands, students in the hallway and even his own players in the locker room...So he probably is dumbstruck at the public outrage

[Angry Dragon]

30. teenagers - adult

If you can only motivate by swearing then you have no business coaching a high school sports team

Is it okay for a teacher to swear at students to motivate them to do better on tests, to study harder, to read more and pay attention??

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. omg. I've turned the volume down and his voice is still hurting my head.

[Iggo]

5. '...sanctity of the locker room...'?

LOL...dude.

Turn off the ESPN for a few minutes a day.

[sharp_stick]

10. These are the same people

that equate playing football with going into battle and call themselves "warriors".

[Morning Dew]

6. Motivational language?

Geesh - that was a tirade. Nothing motivational about it.

[MineralMan]

7. Coach is a moron!

Nothing new to see here. These are adolescents, not adults. It's a game. Motivating a team works better in other ways. Sounds like this guy is in the wrong calling.

[Blue_Tires]

16. Still if the player had a legit gripe there were a hundred better ways to handle it

than the 'gotcha' secret recording...

and last I checked, the kid (assuming it was a player and not an assistant with a grudge or the equipment boy or whatever) always had the option to leave the team if things were that bad...

[MineralMan]

34. The player's a kid. I'll cut him some slack. Coach is a big, grown-up

adult. No slack. There are better ways to motivate teenagers on the athletic field.

[DefenseLawyer]

9. Good grief.

I'm glad I never heard anyone swear when I played high school football. I don't know what I would have done. I don't even want to think about it. Surely it would have ruined my life.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

11. i am going fetal just thinking about it... n/t

[MineralMan]

12. Not all high school coaches swear at their team.

Not by a long shot.

[DefenseLawyer]

15. And some do.

If saving the world from salty language is your mission in life: a). You are failing miserably and b.) your mission in life is idiotic.

[MineralMan]

33. I hate to be the one who tells you this, but your opinion and mine

are exactly equal. And you know nothing about me or my "mission in life." Seeya.

[sharp_stick]

13. Someone once told me that

Brian Urlacher wept uncontrollably following Lovie Smiths use of the work damnit after a loss. ;-)

Very sensitive guy that Urlacher.

[Blue_Tires]

22. I read somewhere that an Arizona State player with a fundie upbringing

had the stones to ask Frank Kush (who's on the Mt. Rushmore of alltime hotheads) to watch his language, with the resultant trainwreck-y goodness that followed...That has to be more of an urban legend than true...:)

[LanternWaste]

17. While it most likely would not have ruined my life

While it most likely would not have ruined my life and I certainly don't mind thinking about it, I believe we can validly imagine that one day it's merely swearing, the next day it's only a religious prayer, the day after that... :shrug:

[ProdigalJunkMail]

18. our team had a 'cuss-can'

dime per word for MOST swearing... fuck was a quarter...and if we were having a bad game...at half...our defensive coordinator would stuff $20 in the can on the way into the locker room. we knew it would be epic!

sP

[Blue_Tires]

20. our football/baseball/basketball coaches would have needed a bank loan

and this was a very conservative catholic school I went to...Our basketball coach was even vice-principal..

[ProdigalJunkMail]

21. it has always amazed me that people are so sensitive to simple words

back then it was funny to most of us on the team (on some level) be never EVER did we think that it meant Coach was a bad guy or didn't really care about us. that 10 minutes in the locker room was far outweighed by the time and effort he put into our lives on and off the field...

sP

OnEdit: we ended up buying a nice stereo for the weight-room with the money in the can from my freshman year alone...

[tularetom]

23. What a surprise - a football coach is a horse's ass

One night after our team lost a close game, our coach called us "a bunch of okies and beaners".

We talked about losing games on purpose just to get him fired but we couldn't bring ourselves to do that.

Besides it wasn't that hard for us to lose even when we tried not to.

He got fired a few years later for allegedly groping some kid's mom when she visited his office to discuss her son's progress in math.

[pacalo]

24. For those who don't have a subscription to commercialappeal.com, here's an alternative link...

http://www.sportsgrid.com/weird-but-true/shawn-abel-coach-rant/

[Earth_First]

25. Boo-"fucking"-hoo!

I bet a few of these young men grow up and join the military.

If you think this was salty language, whoo-wee!

[MineralMan]

36. The drill sergeant I had in basic was a Mormon.

He never once swore at us. Not once. And yet, he got everything out of us he needed to. At the final formation, it was our flight that got the trophy. So, even in the military, if you consider the Air Force the military, it's not necessary. Leadership is necessary.

[DefenseLawyer]

37. There's just one thing, Dude.

Do ya have to use so many cuss words?

[KansDem]

38. "Salty language"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGbQBl8KlCo

The fun starts at 0'42"...

[workinclasszero]

26. Oh heck that wasnt that bad

Have any of you been through basic training? Hoo wee!

Now there's some pros at verbal and mental abuse there, let me tell ya!:hide: :patriot:

[Earth_First]

27. I swear drill sergeants/instructors don't sleep at night...

They stay up comming up with the next set of demoralizing comments for the next day.

Sometimes, throughout all of that it was hard to maintain composure when you were thinking" "wait, did he just say that?"

:rofl:

[workinclasszero]

31. I know, right? LOL! /nt

[Pisces]

28. Wow, whoever posted this is going to have the shit beat out of them. I don't think you join

football and not expect some rough language. I am sure the coach had a reputation before the season started. You don't become a hardass over 1 game. I don't think the coach should be fired, but I do think he should be censured.

[mikeytherat]

29. Knute Rockne's "Win one for the Gipper" speech: WARNING - shocking lack of profanity

Knute Rockne gave his "Win One for the Gipper" speech to the Notre Dame players at halftime of the 1928 Army game. Rockne was trying to salvage something from his worst season as a coach at Notre Dame. To inspire the players he told them the story of the tragic death of the greatest player ever at ND, George Gipp. Although historians believe that it is doubtful that Rockne's version of Gipp's last words was true, Notre Dame did win the game against Army.

Knute Rockne:
Well, boys ... I haven't a thing to say.
Played a great game...all of you. Great game.
(He tries to smile.)
I guess we just can't expect to win ‘em all.
(Rockne pauses and says quietly.)
I'm going to tell you something I've kept to myself for years --
None of you ever knew George Gipp.
It was long before your time.
But you know what a tradition he is at Notre Dame...
(There is gentle, faraway look in his eyes as he recalls the boy's words.)
And the last thing he said to me -- "Rock," he said -
"sometime, when the team is up against it -- and the
breaks are beating the boys -- tell them to go out there
with all they got and win just one for the Gipper...
(Knute's eyes become misty and his voice is unsteady as he finishes.)
I don't know where I'll be then, Rock", he said - "but
I'll know about it - and I'll be happy."

(There is a hushed stillness as Rockne and the crowd of boys look at each other. In the midst of this tense silence,
Rockne quietly says "Alright," to the men beside him, and his chair is wheeled slowly out of the dressing room.)

A Player:
Well, what are we waiting for?

With a single roar, the players throw off their blankets and rush through the doorway

mikey_the_rat

[DefenseLawyer]

32. Harry Truman resigns after calling reporter a "son of a bitch"

DU (had it existed) would cheer.

[trumad]

35. Listened to it and I'm cracking up.

That's it? Seriously---

My High School coach made this guy sound like Mother Teresa.... Plus--- at 18 I was in Boot Camp with Drill Sargents that would scare the shit out of you.

Again---that's it?

[Blue_Tires]

42. I remember needing to bite my tounge to suppress laughter

during a few halftime rants by our coach

[KurtNYC]

39. This was before a game -- not at halftime or after. Kinda weird

Love the "sanctity of the lockerroom" BS.

The audio upset my dogs. I'm not kidding. Had to shut it off twice (but I thought it was tame after all the build up).

[guitar man]

40. That's it?

Pretty mild compared to some of the fits my coaches would throw. :D

[KurtNYC]

41. Let's go now to the ghost of Chris Farley for the rebuttal :

Now, (coach Abel) you are probably saying to yourself, "Now, I'm gonna go out, and I'm gonna get the world by the tail, and wrap it around and put it in my pocket!!" Well, I'm here to tell you that you're probably gonna find out, as you go out there, that you're not gonna amount to Jack Squat!!" You're gonna end up eating a steady diet of government cheese, and living in a van down by the river! Now, young man, what do you want to do with your life? English teacher and debate coach?
...
We-e-e-elll.. la-de-freakin'-da! We've got ourselves a writer here! < jumps across the room > Hey, Dad, I can't see real good.. < lifts his glasses off and on his face > ..is that Bill Shakespeare over there?
...
Now, I wonder.. (coach Abel), from what I've heard, you're using your paper, not for writing, but for rolling doobies!! You're gonna be doing a lot of doobie-rolling when you're living in a van down by the river!

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/92/92smattfoley.phtml