As the esteemed Yahoo Sports writer, Dan Wetzel, wrote in conclusion of his editorial piece on this subject:
No Tennessee fan knows for sure, though. It’s just one loose accusation, based on what a guy said a guy said that no one with the authority or interest in pursuing criminally or civilly proved, or even pursued because no one really believed it.
That isn’t a lot of reason to go paint rocks – and use them to crush a man’s career and reputation.
While Schiano is doing quite well professionally as the Associate Head Coach of a perennial pigskin powerhouse such as Ohio State, Wetzel’s assertion that Tennessee’s actions have severely tainted Schiano’s brand is unquestionably spot-on.
As for Tennessee’s athletics director John Currie, well, I think the first three words of this piece say it all.
Gutless. Cowardly. Inept.
In my Microeconomics class at Washington University in St. Louis, we recently discussed the topic of Game Theory. In all games, there are players, decisions, and consequences. If we fit the Tennessee situation into a simply Game Theory model, and we take it from the point when Schiano and Currie both signed the MOU on Sunday morning, let’s consider the options Currie had to contemplate.
As the social media mob engulfed the situation with their defamatory claims regarding Schiano, Currie had one of two routes to choose from:
Option A…Gather more facts, stem the tide, and when it came time to announce the coach at the press conference, stand by his man. Call this the principled route.
Or, Option B…Panic in the face of mounting social media pressure from disillusioned fans and blowhard politicians who act as if they all are Harvard Law graduates, and severe ties with Schiano to quell the bloviating masses. Call this the coward’s route.
Currie chose Option B.
As a result:
- The program has become an even greater laughing stock.
- Currie has eviscerated his own brand, coming off as a bumbling weakling who lacks the gumption and leadership skills necessary for the task at hand.
The question now is whether Schiano will pursue legal options. One route is a breach of contract lawsuit, which may not have legs if all persons did not sign the MOU.
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Gutless. Cowardly. Inept.
Whatever words you wish to use, these three must be at the top of the list when describing the manner in which the University of Tennessee athletics department backed out of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Greg Schiano on Sunday.
Schiano, who is currently the Associate Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator for The Ohio State Buckeyes, was in line to become the next Head Coach at Tennessee. But when word of his impending hire became public, a social media mob of Volunteer faithful – with seemingly about as much legal expertise as the rejects from the My Cousin Vinny auditions – were somehow able to convince the athletic administrators and decision-makers at Tennessee that a guy claiming another guy told him something about what some other guy saw over 20 years ago is somehow tantamount to a smoking gun.
To recap:
- Much of the outrage by Tennessee fans on Sunday was directed at a reference to Schiano in a 2015 deposition that was unsealed last year as part of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal at Penn State. Schiano was an assistant under defensive coordinator Sandusky at Penn State from 1990 to 1995.
- The deposition was that of a former Penn State assistant coach, Mike McQueary (a guy), who said that another Penn State coach at the time (Tom Bradley…i.e. the another guy) told McQueary that Schiano had talked of seeing Sandusky abusing a boy in the early 1990s.
- Schiano was never implicated by any other party over the course of the Sandusky investigation.
- Sandusky is serving 30 to 60 years in prison for his conviction on 45 counts of sexual abuse.
When asked about this matter in 2016 by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Schiano said “I never saw any abuse, nor had reason to suspect any abuse, during my time at Penn State.”
Furthermore, Schiano’s current boss and one of America’s most decorated collegiate football coaches, Urban Meyer, spoke out on his behalf Monday.
Even furthermore, Anthony Lubrano, a trustee at Penn State since 2012, said in a statement Monday that Schiano “had nothing to do with the Sandusky scandal. Any stories about his involvement are completely uncorroborated and without basis in fact. To impugn Mr. Schiano’s character based on hearsay alone is irresponsible and unfair.”
As the esteemed Yahoo Sports writer, Dan Wetzel, wrote in conclusion of his editorial piece on this subject:
No Tennessee fan knows for sure, though. It’s just one loose accusation, based on what a guy said a guy said that no one with the authority or interest in pursuing criminally or civilly proved, or even pursued because no one really believed it.
That isn’t a lot of reason to go paint rocks – and use them to crush a man’s career and reputation.
While Schiano is doing quite well professionally as the Associate Head Coach of a perennial pigskin powerhouse such as Ohio State, Wetzel’s assertion that Tennessee’s actions have severely tainted Schiano’s brand is unquestionably spot-on.
As for Tennessee’s athletics director John Currie, well, I think the first three words of this piece say it all.
Gutless. Cowardly. Inept.
In my Microeconomics class at Washington University in St. Louis, we recently discussed the topic of Game Theory. In all games, there are players, decisions, and consequences. If we fit the Tennessee situation into a simply Game Theory model, and we take it from the point when Schiano and Currie both signed the MOU on Sunday morning, let’s consider the options Currie had to contemplate.
As the social media mob engulfed the situation with their defamatory claims regarding Schiano, Currie had one of two routes to choose from:
Option A…Gather more facts, stem the tide, and when it came time to announce the coach at the press conference, stand by his man. Call this the principled route.
Or, Option B…Panic in the face of mounting social media pressure from disillusioned fans and blowhard politicians who act as if they all are Harvard Law graduates, and severe ties with Schiano to quell the bloviating masses. Call this the coward’s route.
Currie chose Option B.
As a result:
- The program has become an even greater laughing stock.
- Currie has eviscerated his own brand, coming off as a bumbling weakling who lacks the gumption and leadership skills necessary for the task at hand.
The question now is whether Schiano will pursue legal options. One route is a breach of contract lawsuit, which may not have legs if all persons did not sign the MOU.
source http://hdsportsnews.com/gutlessness-of-tennessee-athletics-department-severely-taints-greg-schianos-brand/
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