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UAB head coach Garrick McGee on WR Jackie Williams' dismissal: 'The culture of the program overrides talent, in my opinion'
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/...gee_o.html

I think I understood undisclosed reasons better

Interesting response there. Cleared some things up. But still leaves some questions unanswered. It does sound, however, like it could very well be that Jackie wasn't being the kind of leader McGee is looking for. If Jackie is taking short cuts and not really putting his all into practice and studying film then I can maybe understand that. However Jackie can not be the only one acting that way. One thing that stands out to me is that Jackie's dismissal is a lesson to remaining players. That is that talent does not make up for hard work and that no player is beyond being dismissed from the program.

I was perfectly willing to accept undisclosed reasons as an answer as I believe the coach doesn't have to answer to the fans about some decisions he makes. But since he chose to waive that, right, he should be a little clearer.

I can't believe the reporters didn't call him out on the vagueness.

How does removing Williams change the culture?
He says Williams didn't get In Trouble, so why was he kicked off.
What is about removing Williams and not other players changes the culture of UAB?
Why was this decision to change the culture made 3 weeks before the first game, unless there was some catalyst to cause the change.

Makes less sense now since he cleared things up.

I can understand not wanting to bad mouth a player, but if Jackie was slacking in practice and/or didn't have the attitude you expect from a senior leader then McGee should have just said so.

(08-12-2013 12:39 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  I can't believe the reporters didn't call him out on the vagueness.

What reporters? There's only one.

(08-12-2013 12:44 PM)demiveeman Wrote:  

(08-12-2013 12:39 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  I can't believe the reporters didn't call him out on the vagueness.

What reporters? There's only one.

Did you watch the video in the article? There was press at practice today. Probably in part because of Jackie's dismissal.

(08-12-2013 12:46 PM)BeliefBlazer Wrote:  

(08-12-2013 12:44 PM)demiveeman Wrote:  

(08-12-2013 12:39 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  I can't believe the reporters didn't call him out on the vagueness.

What reporters? There's only one.

Did you watch the video in the article? There was press at practice today. Probably in part because of Jackie's dismissal.

Sorry. Perhaps I should have wrote it in blue font.

Not doubting that there were other media members there...but from what I could tell only one person that could be called a reporter.

I've always thought HCGM was great coach, but I honestly think he is a crappy person. How can any of you sit here and believe its ok to ruin a kids life because the coach thinks we might win more games (which we all know is BS). JW did nothing wrong and he is being punished because UAB has a losing culture. Coach had a lot of options here and I think he chose the most drastic choice. I think JW will land on his feet, but doesn't change the fact this is wrong.

Yep, and Drew does a fantastic job for the most part...............it was good to hear that Jamari Staples and Jordan Howard had big days. That is the 2nd time Staples has already been signaled out (3rd if you count signing day).

(08-12-2013 12:48 PM)demiveeman Wrote:  

(08-12-2013 12:46 PM)BeliefBlazer Wrote:  

(08-12-2013 12:44 PM)demiveeman Wrote:  

(08-12-2013 12:39 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  I can't believe the reporters didn't call him out on the vagueness.

What reporters? There's only one.

Did you watch the video in the article? There was press at practice today. Probably in part because of Jackie's dismissal.

Sorry. Perhaps I should have wrote it in blue font.

Not doubting that there were other media members there...but from what I could tell only one person that could be called a reporter.

I'm going by the article which says he told the media (plural)

(08-12-2013 12:49 PM)Dracarys Wrote:  I've always thought HCGM was great coach, but I honestly think he is a crappy person. How can any of you sit here and believe its ok to ruin a kids life because the coach thinks we might win more games (which we all know is BS). JW did nothing wrong and he is being punished because UAB has a losing culture. Coach had a lot of options here and I think he chose the most drastic choice. I think JW will land on his feet, but doesn't change the fact this is wrong.

There is still more to the story you can bet. He said he didn't fail a drug test or get in trouble with the law. Those are about the only specifics. Saying he never got in trouble is rather ambiguous and the statement I question the most from McGee.

seems to me that Mcgee just had a complaint with his work ethic. That he had worked with him prior on...I don't know which of these it could be: Showing up late for team practice, not putting in time in the film room. Staying out partying during preseason training. Gaining weight over the off season and being slow when he should have been trying to get better for the season and possible NFL future. Not doing summer drills with the QB's.

I am not exactly an insider or anything but it seems to me that it was a bunch of little things that Mcgee expects of his Seniors that weren't done correctly.

Time to move on. I watched practice and everybody seemed energetic and ready to play ball. To add my 2 cents worth, #7 Howard is a hoss! reminds me of Corey White, maybe a little shorter and a step slower, but he will run you over.

(08-12-2013 12:49 PM)Dracarys Wrote:  I've always thought HCGM was great coach, but I honestly think he is a crappy person. How can any of you sit here and believe its ok to ruin a kids life because the coach thinks we might win more games (which we all know is BS). JW did nothing wrong and he is being punished because UAB has a losing culture. Coach had a lot of options here and I think he chose the most drastic choice. I think JW will land on his feet, but doesn't change the fact this is wrong.

When a top senior is dogging it on a regular basis there is a problem with the player feeling entitled. This very easily rubs off on other team members, particularly freshmen. HCGM didn't ruin JW, JW did. Rules are not made to be broken, they are made to be followed. Notice after early responses, players have accepted it and moved on(I would guess they know better than us what was going on). I have no doubt this didn't come out of the blue, JW PROBABLY didn't take it seriously because he'd gotten away with it for so long. Defending a player because he's a top player is hypocritical. If he was a walkon would you have been as perturbed? I think not. Bottom line is the guy is gone, how was PROBABLY given multiple chances and did not respond, other folks in administration have PROBABLY been involved in the process. See, without knowing the real story I can say what might have happened, too!

(08-12-2013 12:49 PM)Dracarys Wrote:  I've always thought HCGM was great coach, but I honestly think he is a crappy person. How can any of you sit here and believe its ok to ruin a kids life because the coach thinks we might win more games (which we all know is BS). JW did nothing wrong and he is being punished because UAB has a losing culture. Coach had a lot of options here and I think he chose the most drastic choice. I think JW will land on his feet, but doesn't change the fact this is wrong.

First, you don't know anything that the coach has tried in the past.

Second, you don't know if JW did anything wrong or not.

Third, you don't spend anywhere near as much time with the players unless you are parent or another player (which in the case of the latter, you should have better things to do than be on a message board), so I'll go ahead and trust the coach a little more than a fan.

Fourth, he didn't ruin JW's life. It's a game. If he's good enough to play in the NFL, he'll get a shot. But the school invests tens of thousands of dollars in student athletes in free food, free quarters, and free education and books. It is essentially a job. If an employer decides a person isn't doing his job, he gets fired. Or maybe he shouldn't because that would ruin the employee's life? That's how things work in the real world.

Look, I don't know what happened, nor should I since I'm not the coach. But that was a ridiculous statement.

(08-12-2013 12:39 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  I was perfectly willing to accept undisclosed reasons as an answer as I believe the coach doesn't have to answer to the fans about some decisions he makes. But since he chose to waive that, right, he should be a little clearer.

I can't believe the reporters didn't call him out on the vagueness.

How does removing Williams change the culture?
He says Williams didn't get In Trouble, so why was he kicked off.
What is about removing Williams and not other players changes the culture of UAB?
Why was this decision to change the culture made 3 weeks before the first game, unless there was some catalyst to cause the change.

Makes less sense now since he cleared things up.

I think he's in a tough spot. You're right. He doesn't really owe anyone an explanation about why he did what he did. But he can't literally say nothing, because it's obvious the kid's not out there anymore and isn't going to be back.

At the same time, if you (if I can go all second-person for a minute) specifically state the reasons, then it looks like you're kicking the kid when he's down and that doesn't help him or the program. So you just leave it as "undisclosed." But when you leave it that way, minds (like ours) start to wander into areas he never intended. Was it drugs? Was it grades? Some other criminal issue? And the perception becomes far worse than the reality, which isn't fair to the kid at all. So you say it wasn't those things, but you still don't really want to say exactly what it was because, again, it probably just comes down to the fact that you think he's not worth having around because of his terrible attitude, and saying that doesn't really help anybody.

So yeah...this doesn't really help us understand. But I don't think it was meant to; I think he just wanted to make it clear what it wasn't and leave it at that. I don't know if the reporter(s) tried to call him out or not, but if that's all he's going to say about it there's really not much they can do.

Sounds like a bunch of bull to me.
Why did he wait until fall practice to do this?

Maybe because he was given multiple chances to change?

(08-12-2013 01:39 PM)cb4029 Wrote:  Sounds like a bunch of bull to me.
Why did he wait until fall practice to do this?

Sometimes you've just had enough....(or you see it rubbing off on other players)