Florida coach suspended for taking in homeless player

[JRSherman]

I think this is pretty messed up. I don't really care if he's playing football for the guy or not. The guy took it upon himself to house a homeless kid and place the kids wellbeing in a higher position. I do NOT believe that the coach would just dump the kid if he didn't play good enough.

I do, however, find it weird that the school "self reported the violation" then insist that the coach didn't violate any rules. If he wasn't violating any rules, what did they self report it for? This is the part that seems to me like it should be focused on.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/blog/prep_rally/post/Florida-coach-suspended-for-taking-in-homeless-p?urn=highschool-273393

 

[Old Fart]

I saw that yesterday. Kind of a sad thing all around.

 

[BoomerShooter]

Didn't they make a movie about this last year with Sandra Bullock?!?!

Ok ok all jokes aside - this just shows the messed up world we live in - you try to do something right - and you get screwed over for it.

 

[ewheeley]

Sometimes, in situations like this, people need to learn to follow the spirit of the law, not just the exact wording. The coach meant well, and shouldn't be punished.

I remember reading a story a looong time ago about Rick Majerus. I don't even remember where he was coaching at the time. But a player of his lost his father, and upon finding out, Majerus took him to get a bagel and talk about it. BAM! NCAA fine!

 

[Blinocac200sx]

It's a huge problem we have these days. We have to have everything spelled out in black and white, and we have zero tolerance when you slip outside those lines. Nobody wants to make a judgement call. It's why we have so freakin many laws, we can't decide whether someone is doing wrong or not, we have to have some rules tell us if they are.

 

[WRH1234]

I believe teachers have some sort of rule/policy that they are legally required to report certain things to the Dept Human Services…even if they “suspect” some things. Maybe there’s some teachers out there that can clear that up. But if that’s the case he should have reported a child as homeless. I know it’s a sad situation that one person can’t help another without violating some rule or policy somehow.

 

[Devilsbcoach]

I understand why the rule is in place. Even here in Oklahoma we have coaches "taking in" kids as a way to circumvent the rules of eligibility. This case seems legitimate and IMO the coach, school, team, nor kid should be punished, but simply looking the other way opens the door to a whole other set of problems.

 

[hard_r]

there are ways to go about things, and in 1963, just taking a kid off the streets into your home and calling him son may have been acceptable. now there's DHS and child services that are government agencies we pay for for a reason. Another thing to ponder is this: If the kid had not been a football player, would the coach have taken action as he did?

 

[_CY_]

how sad... at least the community is behind the coaches actions.

 

[tm8634]

thats jacked up, theres nothing wrong with what hes doing, just leave him alone...