Academic Ineligibility

I am not just the coach over at Milwaukee College, I also teach an arts class.

This may come as a surprise to those of you who know other Division 1A football coaches. Coaching is a full-time job, what with recruiting, reviewing tape, preparing for next week's game, fending off the corporate sponsorship. But here in Milwaukee, I devote a significant amount of my time teaching the arts.

And today I had to hand out several failing grades. I emerged from class feeling strange. I ran into a fellow instructor and I said that I couldn't help feel like their failing grades was a reflection of my own instruction. This is much the same way when I hear comments about how my team's 5-6 record is a reflection of my coaching, one assumption being that another coach could extract perhaps several more wins (or losses) from the same team.

My colleague said that it was a natural response, to question one's abilities as an instructor when a student comes up incredibly wanting.

...

We return to the friendly but unlucky confines of Rolling Mills to face The University of Akron Zips of the Mid-American Conference. We have a chance to finish the season at 6-6. That's step two in building a national championship.