posted by Bill Elder @ 8:38 PM
2 Comments
My recent retirement brought to a close a forty-year career as a coach and administrator in college athletics. I served as men's basketball coach for twenty-eight years at Northeast State Junior College, University of Montevallo, and University of Mobile, all colleges in Alabama, establishing a record of 549 wins and 288 losses. I also served as an athletic director for twenty-nine years at Northeast State Junior College, University of Mobile, LeTourneau University(Texas), Lindsey Wilson College(Kentucky), and Auburn University Montgomery(Alabama). I have been inducted into both the NAIA Basketball Coaches' Hall of Fame and the University of Montevallo Sports Hall of Fame and have been recognized by the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame for my contribution to athletics in the city of Mobile. I was recently contacted by the Athletic Director at Lindsey Wilson College notifying me that I will be inducted into their Hall of Fame on February 16, 2008. I had my first book entitled "All Guts and No Glory" published in 2007. I completed my second book,"The Bucyrus That Was",in 2010.
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2 Comments:
Congratulations on the HOF induction - what an honor! How did you manage to make it so many years coaching in college without falling into the traps of cheating that so many programs seem to fall into these days. The recent IU/Sampson scandal is just another reminder of how messed up it is seems. What are your thoughts on what it takes today?
Thanks for you kind remarks about my being inducted into the Lindsey Wilson College Athletic Hall of Fame. I thoroughly enjoyed my tenure at Lindsey Wilson and being inducted into the LWC Hall of Fame was one of the most meaniful awards that I have every received.
I am as upset as you are about the large amount of cheating that is currently going on in college athletics. There is tremendous amount of pressue on coaches to do what they have to do to win. It seems that administrators at many institutions evaluate their coaches only on their win and loss records. I think that it is important for coaches to win a reasonable amount of games but think other factors such as graduation rates, the teaching of life skills, serving as good role models, etc. also should play a significant role in coaches' assessments. I think that many coaches feel that if they are going to be evaluated soley on their win/loss record, they are justified in doing whatever it takes to keep their jobs.
I made a conscious decision when I started coaching that I was going to stick to my value system regardless of the consequences. I think maintaining my integrity was much more important than doing whatever it took to keep my job.
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