First of all, nobody has said anything bad towards the former coach. In the original post, I made some statements about things I have heard in the past. I was trying to figure out what people think will change now that there is a different coach. I wasn't agreeing with the things that had been said, I was just wondering what other people thought of the new coach and how it will affect the program.
As far as the "pent up hostility", I don't see that. I see a lot of people that have seen Hoover as a good wrestling school and something has been missing. The parents just want the best for their kids and they didn't think they had that. Maybe they were right, maybe they were wrong. Either way, they are just doing what they think is best for their kids. You can't really blame them for that. Any coach of any sport has to expect that pressure from parents and has to learn to deal with that pressure. The best way to deal with that pressure is to have a successful program. The old saying "You can't argue with success" would apply here. If you have a successful program, the arguments will be kept to a minimum. If you aren't seeing much success, people are going to want a change.
I am not saying that I agree or disagree with the decision to change coaches. I haven't been involved with the program enough to say whether it was right or wrong. I know that I saw some things I didn't care for, but I am not the coach. If I knew the reasons for the things I didn't like, maybe I would change my mind. Because I don't know the reasons, I am not going to say whether those things are right or wrong. There may have been reasons that only he knows and that is his decision as a coach. But when you make those decisions, you have to expect repercussions.
I coach youth baseball, and I know that no matter what you do, you will NEVER make everyone happy. You have to do what is best for the team and go on from there. Keeping people informed about your decisions and the reasons for your decisions is one way to limit the repercussions. Some information is best kept to yourself, but in those cases you have to realize that people are going to question the decision because they don't know the reasoning behind it. Coaching is more than just teaching, it is just as much, if not more, public relations.
At the same time, I also agree with you that parents should allow a coach to do his job without interfering. That is what he gets paid to do, let him do it. Everyone has a different style of coaching and just because his style isn't the same as yours does not make it wrong.
Now that I have gotten that out, let's get back to the topic. Whether it was right or wrong, there has been a coaching change in the Hoover wrestling program. That change cannot be reversed now. I want to know what people think about the new coach and the future of the program. I don't want to look backwards, I want to look forward without losing sight of the past.
Where does the program go from here? What would you like to see change? What do you think will change? What expectations do you have of the new coach?
