Said better than I my friend. Agree 100%. Bobbly was a good man. Skirted the line to the "echo of the whistle" in the game of football, but in real life was a great husband, father and grandfather by all accounts and was a man who genuanly cared about people outside of the game. Had he been anywhere else, Gator Nation would likely think much higher of him.
A couple of posters seem to be fishing… looking for a fight or complaint about coaches where there just doesn’t seem to be one. Coaches can be very religious. Napier absolutely is. So what. The hint or query that maybe he is using religion as a prerequisite to be hired or recruited is asinine. There is zero evidence or proof of this. None. The idea that he favors religious kids over others is also ridiculous. We need to stop hinting around about that kind of stuff. Oh i know the response will be I never said he does… just do t think he should… type answer. Why bring it up? No proof not even a hint that he pushes his religious beliefs on the kids or coaches. Do I think it helps… absolutely. Black southern culture is VERY religious. ( So is redneck good ole boy culture. Fight annd party Saturday night, go to church on Sunday.) Even if the recruit himself doesn’t live up to the tenets of said religion…. It is likely his parents, grandparents, uncle, aunts, etc… find religion important and will gravitate to the adult figure, the leader, that shares those views.
Pfft, every program has a Jesus guy, we need a woke coach that can recruit California, do skateboarding tricks and use the correct pronouns
I don't think there is "religious pressure" at most universities. I would imagine even Liberty and BYU are careful to respect the religious freedom of their players. Which isn't to say nothing inappropriate goes on. And college football has been a shit show from day one with lots of improper things going on that would not be tolerated elsewhere.
Interesting question. Probably depends on the athlete/sport. Religion/bible study/etc seems to work for Dabo and a few others. Not sure in of itself it's a major recruiting asset tho. The 'we r family" thing works for mom tho so if that is part of the religion sell then it's probably a plus. I recall Freeze had bible study meetings with his teams at Ole Miss and pulled in some pretty good recruiting classes. Of course money might have been a factor. In the current environment I'd think NIL ($$$) trumps most everything else. I'd put a winning tradition, playing time, pro preparation, coach's rep, GFs, academic support and a few other things above the coach's prayer meetings tho.
You bring up a crucial point. Even raising the question or hinting that perhaps something improper is going on, becomes fuel for rivals to use in their recruiting. Until there’s evidence of such a thing goes on, why is it even being discussed?
In terms of whether or not some kind of religious culture is an advantage, consider coach A sitting down with the mother of an athlete. He says “ma’am, we run a clean program at our school. We hold the athletes to the highest standards of behavior. We encourage honesty, integrity, self-control, and responsibility. And we play hard. You can trust us that your son will be in good hands, and we will look after him. I’m a religious man myself, but I don’t require that of the players. However, I do hold them to a high, moral standard, because that’s what benefits the team the most.” Then Coach B comes in. “Hey lady, your son is going to have a blast on our team. I don’t go in for that religion stuff. He can be as heathen as he wants. We don’t care how he lives his life. All we care about is that he puts out on the football field. As long as we are winning, he can live as riotous as he wants.” Which approach is probably going to win the heart and interest of a caring mom?
Nice straw man there. One could take the former approach, except for the “I’m a religious man myself”. I’m personally indifferent to whether the coach is religious. I do kind of cringe listening to the OU softball team though.
Why cringe? If that kind of community enhances their collegiate experience and they win championships, what’s the problem?
It’s quite clear from what they are saying that their coach is proselytizing. Seems like it would be near impossible to be able to participate in such an environment with differing views…but I’m not close to it so I can’t really know. I’m not sure them winning championships is a justification either way, although clearly in sports it provides a lot of cover.
Bobby Bowden was a hypocrite and liar. I have personal knowledge of both. But most of the time he was a good guy and Christian who sinned like all Christian’s do. May he rest in peace.
