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Nick Saban, Bob Stoops, and the Danger With Giving Troubled Athletes Second Chances

By Sixto Ortiz

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When coaches give troubled athletes additional chances, it can turn out well, but it can also backfire.

When Bob Stoops chose to give Dorial Green-Beckham a chance after he was dismissed from the Missouri football team for disciplinary reasons – including a troubling allegation of violence against a woman – many college football watchers excoriated Stoops for the decision. The consensus viewpoint outside the OU athletic department was that Stoops sold out his integrity for the slim chance to have an immensely talented receiver who would instantly upgrade Oklahoma’s wide receiver corps.

Alas, DGB never played a down for the Sooners: the NCAA denied OU’s request to grant DGB immediate eligibility to play in 2014, and shortly after the season ended he chose to skip his senior year and declare for the 2015 NFL draft.

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In spite of never playing a down for the Sooners, the oft-troubled wide receiver stayed out of trouble and even impressed some NFL scouts with his willingness to openly discuss his prior lack of maturity. If one of Stoops’ goals was providing a fresh start, consider that one accomplished.

Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide were not so lucky in their attempt to address a similar situation: on March 30th, Saban dismissed former Georgia Bulldog defensive lineman Jonathan Taylor from the Alabama football team shortly after his arrest for domestic violence. Saban and the Tide were pilloried by the media, especially after an awkward press conference where Saban sounded defiant and defensive about his decision to allow Taylor to join the Tide.

Both of these situations involved coaching staffs at premier football schools giving new chances to talented but troubled players. The important difference is that one situation – at least for now – turned out OK, the other one didn’t.

When Stoops took a chance on DGB, everyone assumed he was looking for an easy way to instantly upgrade a thin wide receiver corps. And perhaps that self-serving reason was a key driver for bringing DGB into the Sooner fold.

But, is it not possible that Stoops genuinely felt the need to help Green-Beckham by providing a troubled young man whom OU coaches got to know extensively during the recruiting process with a potentially beneficial change of scenery? Nary a sound was heard from DGB during his time at OU. Something worked.

Oklahoma – just like any other big time college program – has administrative personnel who deal with NCAA player issues daily. So, Stoops probably knew the odds were long that the NCAA would grant Green-Beckham a waiver for immediate playing time in 2014. Still, he granted DGB an opportunity to join the Sooners. Ditto for DGB’s NFL prospects: Stoops must have known that Green-Beckham’s immense physical skills would make NFL scouts forget and forgive past transgressions, and that the odds were long that DGB would choose to return to Oklahoma for his senior season.

Perhaps Saban observed OU’s apparent success with the Green-Beckham situation and felt he could accomplish the same. Perhaps Saban, beyond his insatiable desire to win, was also genuinely motivated to try and help a troubled athlete.

It’s true that the desire to win is the main force driving coaches like Saban and Stoops. Perhaps that desire to win clouds judgement and makes coaches forget about character flaws and focus purely on a player’s abilities on the field. Even the venerable Tom Osborne was once vilified by the media for only suspending star running back Lawrence Phillips for half of the 1995 season after Phillips was arrested for assaulting a woman (a season that, by the way, culminated in a national championship for the Huskers).

But it’s also important to remember that these coaches and their staffs spend more time with these athletes than most people do. They get to know these players, their families, their background, their circumstances. There is a relationship that exists that perhaps compels coaches to take action, even when such action might backfire in the court of public opinion.

If DGB continues to behave and enjoys a productive and incident-free pro career, Bob Stoops may get some credit for helping DGB turn his life around. Jonathan Taylor obviously did not take advantage of the opportunity granted to him and is now paying a steep price. The point is, whenever coaches help a troubled player, for whatever reason, that decision is often a crapshoot that could go either way.

Interestingly, ESPN is now reporting that Jonathan Taylor’s accuser is recanting her story and has filed a written statement to police indicating that she made up the accusation. Tuscaloosa police are now reviewing the charges against Taylor. This situation is certainly not resolved yet.

Next: Top 10 College Football Programs Who Put the Most Pressure on Head Coaches

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