Sep 12, 2015; Reno, NV, USA; Nevada Wolf Pack head coach Brian Polian questions a penalty in the second quarter of their NCAA football game with Arizona Wildcats at MacKay Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports
Nevada’s head coach Brian Polian is not the first coach this season to be in hot water with his Athletic Department, fans, media or his team.
The Arizona football team last Saturday benefited from bad behavior exhibited by the opposing head coach of the Wolf Packs Brian Polian. Polian spent the better part of his post-game presser apologizing to everyone about his behavior and how he has to work on diminishing his new bad reputation.
Nevada Head Coach Brian Polian was penalized twice in last Saturday’s game against Arizona for unsportsmanlike conduct. Arizona’s head coach was not, and hasn’t ever been penalized for his behavior in a game.
On Tuesday, Polian found out that he was going to be fined by his University, which is not fun, his outbursts will cost him a whopping $10,000! According to Sports Illustrated, this behavior is not new, it’s been going on for three years. So stop-gap measures have been put in place for the season.
The post game presser went something like this, ”I am incredibly passionate about this job,” he said, “I am incredibly passionate about our young people. I don’t apologize for my passion. I don’t apologize for my energy. I’ve got to do a better job of focusing.”
RELATED STORY — >> Brian Polian Gets Fined and Apologizes for His Behavior in the Arizona vs Nevada Game
I think Polian went too far, his conferences referee’s struggled all weekend with opposing Pac-12 teams fans disagreeing with their calls (Arizona and UCLA at least.) But you didn’t see Rich Rod out of control, even with his decimated defensive line and some horrible calls which did not go Arizona’s way.
Next: UCLA Coach Jim Mora
September 5, 2015; Pasadena, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Jim Mora speaks to quarterback Josh Rosen (3) during the first half at the Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
UCLA head coach Jim Mora has not been given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty this season. That said, he did get some attention from the media in the pre-season. According to LA Daily’s News reporter Jack Wang, Coach Jim Mora yelled at quarterback Josh Rosen in front of the media. Was it the right move?
Fly War Eagle
If you want to look at Rosen’s first game, I would say it worked! Sports broadcasters couldn’t contain themselves after the end of UCLA’s first game of the season, you would think that Rosen could be the next Mariota. He seems to be the golden child of the Pac-12, for now at least, and there’s a good reason. Rosen’s been excellent in his last two appearances.
Interesting fact. The Rosen’s and the Mora’s are neighbors and family friends. We found out from announcers during a boring second half of the UCLA vs. UNLV game that Rosen is the son of Ivy Leaguers, who were professional Ice-Dancers. On top of that, his father is a spine surgeon who at some point was up for a huge job; the US Surgeon General post. It’s a small town, Manhattan Beach, heck Colin Cowherd lives here now as well as Coach Sarkisian and almost all fo the LA Kings.
Whatever the case, I think it worked for his young true freshman quarterback. We will never know though if Rosen tuned out Mora during the zingers being thrown in Rosen’s direction, or he needed that type of motivation. I am assuming he tuned him out; a unique trait most teenagers have mastered.
According to LA Times Reporter Chris Foster, Mora was method acting in a sense:
"Cue Coach Jim Mora. “You’re not at … Bellflower St. John Bosco,” Mora screamed. “That’s why you have not been named the starter.” Rosen threw another Hail Mary and Mora got colorfully descriptive: “You can’t hit an open receiver down field with no defense.” “The ‘Anointed One.’” “Go back to Bosco and beat some more [bad] teams.” Finally, Mora looked at the members of the media present and yelled, “Tell your readers that is why he has not been named the starter.” And, scene."
Wang also interviewed a former high school and current UCLA teammate of Rosen’s who thought that having his head coach yell at him probably didn’t phase Rosen:
"Sophomore safety Jaleel Wadood, who also played with Rosen in high school, figured Mora’s colorful outburst wouldn’t be a major issue for the quarterback. “He never gets rattled,” Wadood said of Rosen. “That’s what I like about him the most. Even when things are going tough, and everything’s not going his way, he’ll find a way to dig it out. He’s a pretty strong kid.”"
My problem with all of this is not how Mora said it necessarily, or what he was trying to accomplish, my problem is with what he said. And maybe, just maybe, he could have said it in front of the team, but not in front of the camera. For those of you in Tucson, Mora’s statements were aired on every major Los Angeles 11:00 news sports segment, it was big news for the night.
Next: USC Coach Steve Sarkisian
Dec 21, 2013; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Southern California Trojans coach Steve Sarkisian (left) and athletic director Pat Haden at the Las Vegas Bowl against the Fresno State Bulldogs at Sam Boyd Stadium. USC defeated Fresno State 45-20. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
It’s old news, but just in case you have been climbing the Alps or something else more exciting, USC’s head coach Steve Sarkisian ‘acted a fool’ less than a month ago at the Salute to Troy booster event. He says he took medicine, then had a drink, and that’s why he was slurring and cussing during his speech. Several people at the event mentioned that he was taking in shots of fireball and had one too many.
RELATED STORY –> USC’s Sarkisian Delivers Drunken F-bomb Filled Speech, Apologizes
But you’re already sick of hearing about it, and I am tired of writing about it. Sarkisian’s team has blown out their last two opponents. They beat Arkansas State 56-6, and then they beat Idaho 59-9 the following weekend. Impressive. This weekend USC takes on Stanford at home. This game will be a big test.
Sarkisian did, however, receive an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty last season according to LA Times reporter Gary Klien:
"Last season, Sarkisian and Haden were reprimanded and Haden was fined $25,000 by the Pac-12 Conference for “inappropriate sideline conduct” during USC’s 13-10 victory over Stanford. Sarkisian summoned Haden to the field late in the third quarter of the Stanford game after he was called for an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty."
Since he was scolded and schooled by his AD Pat Haden, Sarkisian has not been in the news for any bad behavior. So far so good. We haven’t yet seen how he handles the pressure on the sidelines in a close game this season, but I predict he will ice the kicker if things get too close. Remember Arizona fans? I felt it was a desperate move and way too late a whistle, but it worked against the Wildcats last season, the Trojans beat the Wildcats at home.
Florida State Head Coach Jim McElwain is not a Pac-12 coach and Arizona will probably not be playing his team this season. But he did made news in a major way this past week with his emotional outburst towards a player. One more coach was running wild.
Next: Florida State Head Coach Jim McElwain
Sep 12, 2015; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain reacts against the East Carolina Pirates during the first quarter at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium . Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Florida State Coach head coach Jim McElwain, the topic of many morning sports shows, also was seen yelling on the sideline last weekend. McElwain wasn’t yelling at the referees; he was yelling at Gator running back Kelvin Taylor, the son of former NFL running back Fred Taylor. And he yelled at him for a good 10-15 seconds for being penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct for motioning a throat slash after scoring. the penalty eventually resulted into a score for the other team.
Arizona Wildcats
The slur-studded rant may have been warranted but for the fact that he was caught on national television. He was totally out of control.
For the last couple of mornings on ESPN’s Mike and Mike show, there has been a debate involving different analysts, including the players father, on whether the yelling was abuse or not. Mike Golik argued that Coach McElwain had every right to chastise his player because his antics hurt the team. Mike Greenberg just plain felt McElwain was out of control, and could not believe that the coach was out of control yelling at a player for being out of control.
On the same show this morning, Seth Greenberg, ESPN Basketball analyst, felt the situation should have never happened in the first place. Basically, if the coach advised all the players not to over-celebrate or do anything of the like during the game, maybe it would have never happened. Still another guest felt that this generation of young men is different and that this type of verbal beating in public doesn’t necessarily work. Lot’s of opinions.
Kelvin’s father John didn’t seem too upset about what happened to his son on the sidelines, but he wasn’t happy either, “He got caught up in a celebration that his own man used to do, I’ve throat slashed many times, I’ve even gotten fined for it,” he said, “he made a selfish act..I try not to get too involved in the coach should have did this the coach should have did that having been a player.. yes, I do think it’s been a bit much.”
As far as apologies, McElwain apologized, sort of, “There’re lessons that even I learned..I am pretty passionate about what we do,” he said, “It’s one of those things I gotta learn from, I’m not proud of it, and neither is my mother, 95-94 years old. I got an earful from her too.”
As the sports world debates whether he was wrong or right, you be the judge. Here is Coach McElwain’s ‘Vitriolic moment’ care of campusinsiders.com:
With Arizona Head Coach Rich Rod, there’s no doubt he yells, but he never seems out of control, he even seems to control himself pretty well when the rest of us are losing it in the stands or at home. I think because he enjoys his job so much, and he really cares about his players, and he has been down a different road than most head coaches.
I predict Coach Rich Rodriguez will not be getting any unsportsmanlike conduct calls this season.