It’s one thing to fire a coach for shoving players and throwing basketballs at them. (I still contend that Rutgers could have made Mike Rice the dodge ball coach, but now  they are suspending Men’s Lacrosse coach Brian Brecht for verbal abuse.

Brian Brecht (Rutgers)
Brian Brecht (Rutgers)
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Says Rutgers Preesident Robert Barchi "While I cannot comment on an ongoing investigation, let me reiterate that there is no place at Rutgers for words or actions that are inconsistent with the values of the university,"  "Our student athletes, as all members of the Rutgers community, should know that our university is committed to promoting an atmosphere of respect and dignity."

Brecht who’s been the coach for the past two years and who’s team is 2-11 with 2 games left in the season will continue to be paid his $130,000-a-year salary while campus police investigate the abuse allegations, school officials said.

When Brecht was hired, he called the head coaching post at Rutgers his "dream job." He noted the first lacrosse camp he attended as a boy was at Rutgers and his first coaching job as a freshman in college was as a counselor at Rutgers lacrosse camp.

The Long Island native previously spent seven years as head coach at Siena College in New York. He was a three-time coach of the year at Siena and led the school to several conference championships and NCAA tournament appearances, according to his biography on the Rutgers website.

A former collegiate lacrosse player at Springfield College in Massachusetts, Brecht previously served as Rutgers’ interim coach in 2001. He also served time as an assistant coach at Hartwick, Penn, Army and Loyola. He is married with two small children.

Brecht’s attorney, Kevin A. Buchan said in a statement, the coach “has an exemplary professional record. He has nothing to hide and will be 100 percent cooperative with the University investigation. He looks forward to clearing his name and getting back to coaching.

 

Rutgers is reviewing practice tapes from all campus sports to look for physical and verbal abuse similar to the behavior that led to the firing of Men’s Basketball coach Mike Rice earlier this month after video emerged of him hurling basketballs at players heads and shouting gay slurs.

 

Assuming the alleged verbal abuse is directed at players,  Do you think we’re getting a little extreme here? It’s one thing for a coach to put his hands on a player but I have no problem with yelling at them or calling them names or whatever they verbally need to motivate them to give their best. If yelling at players were a problem, how long do you think Bill Parcells would have lasted, Or Vince Lombardi for that matter? Coaches have enough to worry about without having to be polite at practice.

 

I’m sure the coach is not trying to hurt their feelings, here but how do you feel? Take our poll and let us know.

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