Candid Coaches: Stances vary slightly on punishing violence against women
Following in the footsteps of our college basketball brethren here at CBS Sports, college football writers Dennis Dodd, Chip Patterson and Barrett Sallee spoke with one-fifth of the 130 active coaches leading FBS teams entering the 2017 season. They asked for honest opinions on everything from NCAA rules to social issues to their peers in the profession. We will be sharing their candid thoughts over a two-week period leading into the season.
With the scandal at Baylor consistently in the news throughout the 2016 season and violence against women -- sexual assault or otherwise -- a continuing issue across college campuses nationwide, teams are focused more than ever on preventing such incidents and being pressured more than ever to take decisive action when such incidents take place. It is for these reasons that we asked the coaches surveyed how they plan to deal with such events going forward. This question was left open-ended, but responses fell into one of two categories.
If a player is accused of and appears to have committed sexual assault or violence against a woman, how would you handle it?
Answer Responses Zero tolerance / immediate dismissal 65 percent Wait for investigation / immediate suspension 35 percent
Explain yourselves
"I do not think a coach should ever put himself in a position to decide who is right [after an accusation]."
"How does Baylor avoid almost everybody in the administration in the loop [being punished]? They just put in prison the president and athletic director [at Penn State]. … [Baylor's] as toxic of a thing I've heard in any college athletics."
"They are suspended immediately. At [our school], that immediately goes to Title IX. I do not think a coach should ever put himself in a position to decide who is right."
"To me, we need to suspend until [authorities determine what happened]. Furthermore, as a coach, I'm learning more every day. I'm quickly going to turn it over to the highest authority as fast as I can."
"It wouldn't be just against women. I don't have too many hard and fast consequences. Accused is different [than convicted]. No, they would not immediately been dismissed from the team for an accusation."
"For us, it always starts with we've got to protect our players. Immediately, I've got to suspend you. You don't want to be guilty until proven innocent. I don't want guys to be in a situation where we don't protect them either."
"I know what we would do: We would immediately suspend him. I tell our guys all the time, 'We're not going to turn our back on you. You're still ours no matter what.' They know anything sexual of any nature, anything domestic of any nature you're going to be in a position where it's going to be hard for me to help you."
"I cut him. They know that Day 1. It kind of depends, if they're false accusations. If somebody is at a party and he gets shoved, and he runs into a woman and she gets injured. But anybody who deliberately hits a woman [is gone]."
"Team rules haven't changed. We had a lot more education. We go through the whole judicial process. Turn it over to school, turn it over to police. We can't be the judge, the jury and everybody else."
"They'd be immediately dismissed. That is a character flaw. That's a problem sweeping the United States right now. When I was raised in my age, my dad said, 'You better not hit a woman.'"
Graphic illustration by Michael Meredith
Breaking it down
Coaches, understandably, were careful with their choice of words when responding to these questions. Even though anonymity was granted and they could speak freely, every coach appears to be aware of the issues with how assault allegations are handled not only in college football but across college campuses throughout the country.
Some coaches kept it by the book, referencing school policies like immediate suspension from all team activities with the rest of the decisions regarding punishment handled by the Title IX office. Others have policies even stricter than those in the student handbook, suggesting that any kind of legitimate accusation violence towards women results in immediate dismissal from the program.
In general, they seem to favor immediate action of some kind, but once we get beyond that first press release from the sports information department, the methods and approaches differ. Many coaches who are quick to act with a suspension from all team activities also favor leaving the decision-making in the hands of authorities -- "innocent until proven guilty," one coach points out, and "We can't be the judge, the jury and everybody else." Some coaches mentioned a commitment to the player or coach in question as part of the policy with a "we're not going to turn our back on you" message tagged to an initial punishment that leaves the door open for a return from suspension after the school or authorities investigate the matter.
One thing is for certain: The recent revelations of mishandled assault allegations in college football have made it a priority in the mind of coaches. Several coaches mentioned the education they install into team meetings with speakers and lessons on respecting women, and one even said the topic gets almost as much attention as academics. The dividing line seems to fall with whether the immediate action is dismissal from the team or suspension until innocence or guilt is proven by the school or local authorities, but the coaches we spoke to fully support immediate action in the event of allegation when it comes to violence against women.