By JOHN E. HOOVER Sports Columnist on Aug 30, 2012, at 2:15 PM Updated on 8/30 at 2:15 PM
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Allen Pinkett couldn’t be more wrong.
The former Notre Dame running back commented Wednesday on a Chicago radio station that his alma mater, and presumably other schools, needs a “criminal” element to have a successful football team.
It’s an absurd way of thinking, and it’s inaccurate.
“I’ve always felt like, to have a successful team, you’ve got to have a few bad citizens on the team,” Pinkett said on an interview with “The McNeil and Spiegel Show.”
“That’s how Ohio State used to win all the time. They would have two or three guys that were criminals and that just adds to the chemistry of the team. So I think Notre Dame is growing because maybe they have some guys that are doing something worthy of a suspension, which creates edge on the football team.
“You can’t have a football team full of choir boys, you know? You get your butt kicked if you got a team full of choir boys. So you’ve got to have a little bit of edge, but the coach has to be the dictator and the ultimate ruler. ... You don’t hand out suspensions unless you know you’ve got somebody behind that guy that can make plays.
“I don’t want any mass murderers or rapists. I want guys that maybe get caught drinking that are underage, or guys that maybe got arrested because they got in a fight at a bar, or guys that are willing to cuss in public and don’t mind the repercussions of it. That’s the type of criminal I’m talking about.”
Full disclosure: I never played college football. You can see that much on the little bio to the right. But college athlete or not, I can unequivocally say that Pinkett is dead wrong.
You don’t hand out suspensions unless you know you’ve got somebody behind that guy that can make plays? Whaaaat?
Sorry, Allen. Those days are long gone. Outlaws that ran programs through the mud at Nebraska and Miami and Oklahoma and plenty of others — they’re not welcome in college football any more.
Ask Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy if he wants “guys that are doing something worthy of a suspension.” Or Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops. Or Tulsa’s Bill Blankenship.
Blankenship kicked his best player off the team just before the season opener last year and said it was not a difficult decision. He also suspended his best linebacker this season, probably without even knowing or caring who the backup was or if he could make plays.
Stoops has cleaned house with NCAA violators (I mean, really, who dismisses their starting quarterback, a five-star recruit, a promising sophomore, the day before training camp? Especially without knowing if the other guy can make plays?) as well as various class-skippers, workout-dodgers and those who have committed repeated misdemeanors, though most have been reinstated over the years.
And just this summer, Gundy sent home a potential stud running back for allegedly stealing money from a teammate. When he took over for Les Miles in 2005, Gundy booted one-fourth of his two-deep, and they could all make plays.
And that’s just in Oklahoma. Nationwide, football coaches seem to comprehend more and more that it’s good people who give a team good chemistry, not bad people.
After a firestorm of criticism ensued — including plenty from Notre Dame itself — Pinkett soon followed up with an apology.
“In reviewing my remarks from a radio interview Wednesday, it’s clear that I chose my words poorly and that an apology is in order for these inappropriate comments,” he said in a statement. “My words do not reflect the strong pride and passion I have for the Notre Dame football program.
“I am deeply sorry and did not intend to take away the focus from the upcoming season opener. I especially would like to offer my sincere apology to the current members of Notre Dame’s football team, including coach (Brian) Kelly, the entire Notre Dame community, the IMG College Audio Network and the Ohio State football program. As a proud Notre Dame graduate, I wish nothing but the best for our football team and the University.
“I understand that there may be consequences to my actions and accept whatever discipline is imposed.”
Pinkett chose his words poorly, he says. Not that he doesn’t stand by what he said, but he chose his words poorly.
That’s weak damage control for an accomplished ex-player who became a pretty good analyst on the Notre Dame radio network. But it’s probably too little, too late to save his job at a place that’s as popular for its athletics and as it is respected for its academics.
A well-known athletic director recently told me that his school’s best teams were always, without fail, the ones who had the highest overall GPA.
I don’t know if any of the Stanford Cardinal football team sing in the choir, but having players who care about their own academic work and run with good crowds and make good decisions away from the field certainly hasn’t hurt that program in recent years.
And having “bad citizens” hasn’t exactly helped programs like Arizona State or Tennessee or any countless number of others to win championships, has it?
Nobody is immune, of course. Stanford has had football players get in trouble. Everyone has. Notre Dame itself, for all its academic excellence, has had its share of football players in trouble over the past two decades and still couldn’t win big.
But these days, teams that are successful win games despite whatever “criminal” element might exist on the roster.
Victory at all costs, Mr. Pinkett? Not any more.
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