ABUSIVE COACHES: Is It Still Okay for Coaches to Yell and Scream at Their Players?

There was a lot of discussion over the last few days when long-time coach Tom Izzo of Michigan State lost his temper during a game – and there was plenty of video of him screaming and yelling at his young embarrassed player.

Because the game took place on national TV during March Madness, fans quickly lined up as to whether Izzo should be reprimanded for his angry outburst with his freshman player, or whether it was no big deal. That is, Izzo had every right to chastise his player.

Same with head coach Tim Cluess of Iona College in the game against UNC on Friday night in the tournament. During a time-out, Cluess was seen reprimanding, and then benching, one of his star players.

Which leads to the question: In this day and age of coaches and being politically correct, are coaches still allowed to yell at their players?

I full recognized that there was a time in this country that this kind of question would never be asked. I mean, it was accepted that coaches routinely screamed and yelled at their players – both in games and in practices.

But today? Have the parameters changed or shifted?

That is, we do know coaches are never allowed to grab or punch or poke or push any player at any time for any reason. And Coach Izzo never touched his Michigan State player. Nor did Coach Cluess.

And coaches are theoretically not supposed to use any kind of profanity or swear words around their team. At the HS level, if an umpire, ref, or official hears any profanity from a coach, that’s immediate grounds for ejection.

Okay…..but is it okay for a coach to yell and scream at his players in public during a game?

There were numerous calls on this topic this AM on WFAN’s Sports Edge. And the insights were all good ones:

For starters, most felt that youth league coaches (e.g. coaching kids who are elementary school age) never have any reason to yell or scream. That’s because young kids are definitely going to make lots of mistakes as they are just learning the sport. Yelling and screaming will push them away from the activity – not encourage them.

But at the HS/travel/club level, coaches can raise their voice SO LONG AS the content of the message is to help the team or the individual win or improve their performance. There’s an important line to be drawn, though, between yelling at a player to “hustle back on defense” or “move faster” as opposed to making it personal, as in: “What’s wrong with you? Are you lazy? Or just stupid?”

There’s a big, big difference. And coaches should note it.

Some callers today said that kids need to develop a thicker skin as they reach HS age, and they just learn when coaches bark at them. Perhaps.

But others pointed to coaches like John Wooden who never raised his voice at his players, and also believed that if a discipline matter had to be handled, it was best done behind closed doors, and not open to the public. Considering how much success Wooden had in his career, it’s pretty hard to argue with his approach.

The point, though, is well taken. Yes, in the heat of battle in a game, coaches are going to raise their voice to help guide their team to success. But yelling and screaming with the intent of embarrassing or humiliating their players really doesn’t work, no matter how thick-skinned the player is. In fact, even worse, it usually has the impact of demotivating the player.

One caller this AM said he had been a top basketball player in the early 1980s in NYC, and had big dreams. But his HS coach verbally berated him so much in a championship game that the caller simply quit the sport, didn’t play on the team his senior year, and passed up on numerous athletic scholarships. That one game with that one coach clearly had a significant impact on his life — and it seems, on his HS and college basketball career.

That kind of story breaks one’s heart.