Jeff Thomas himself says both those tweets were "False info". I think his coach needs to stay out of it.
Illinois Football Recruiting Thread
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Joel Goodson
- dawgville
Accounting for early enrollees (count against last year's class), at least 11.
He wants to keep that Mizzou pipeline cause he knows most kids from east side don't qualify academically to get into Illinois...
Thomas tweeted out that neither bama or mizzou are in his top three.
https://twitter.com/Theregoes4/status/812759595357761536
https://twitter.com/Theregoes4/status/812759595357761536
Just want to reiterate that it's shameful of his coach to inject himself into this process. And doubly so because he tried to eliminate Illinois himself again.
Its cause he doesn't want it to look like he doesn't care about academics by wanting kids to go to every other school but Illinois.....he don't want his kids to keep getting denied admissions and look like he doesn't prepare his players academically for college
Bad schools don't prepare students for college, not bad coaches. There is very little a coach can do besides encourage a player. The natural consequence to a student not getting it done in the classroom is ineligibiltiy. It's not reflection of the coach as much as it is a reflection of the school, or the player himself.
I say this as a teacher/coach working at a not-so-hot school, similar to Esl, so maybe I'm biased. It would not be my first inclination to blame a coach for an athlete's academic performance.
The IHSA could also help by upping its eligibility standards to no pass no play. Currently you only need To be passing 5/7 or so classes to be eligible. Make athletes pass every class to be eligible and they are less likely to fall behind in class, so they get better grades. If they're passing every class at report cards, they're much more likely to get credit on their transcript.
This is a school who went on strike as well....but estl has a history of playing inelgible guys.....
I just hope Thomas stays home lovie can truly be the father mentor he needs to stay afloat...I'm from the Alton area...estl just isn't a good place or environment for a kid...but if you wanna play top football in southern Illinois alot of metro east kids head to east side(estl)
So, you just mentioned where a coach can make that difference. We have specific coaches at our school that require all players to pass all classes regardless of IHSA rules. At the time progress is reported (weekly), if you are failing any class, you don't practice or play and your practice time is spent studying/doing homework.
That's all well and good, but not always that easy. Flip side is teachers have to grade timely/fairly and have accurate grades in the book. At bad schools where there isn't pressure from parents who check their kids grades constantly, some teachers don't grade in a timely manner. If I tried to do what your coaches do at my school it'd be impossible to fairly enforce. Then maybe you say, well then principals should write them up or those teachers should be fired. Cool. But people aren't beating down the doors to teach at crappy schools. So even if you wanna take those steps, it's not always possible.
Nothing stopping a coach from asking for a grade update and/or working with school admins to fix that behavior from teachers. In many instances, coaches have to teach, as well, so it'd be a natural discussion to standardize grading time periods. Simply put, coaches CAN make an impact on students' getting eligible. Coaches should be mentors and role models, and coaches allowing them to slack in class just to win a few high school games, with college and the kid's future on the line, is not something that should happen.
FeelYourPaign
- So Cal
Great discussion of the importance, difficulties and realities of coaching versus eligibility. Thank you guys. Seriously, very good
Bolded: Sounds as though your assuming these things haven't been done. We have an athlete study hall everyday for 30 minutes. We probably don't practice an average of one time per week so we can work on grades. I've had multiple kids walk out of school for the last time for the semester to have their grades drop by 10+ points when they would not be coming back to see the teacher again until after break. I'm at my 6th year in my current position. I have SIX YEARS of dealing with this. If it wasn't for constant grade monitoring all these things would all go unnoticed.
Unbolded: Sounds as though you're assuming slacking is being done. Many times at schools like this, coaches are significantly more than mentors and role models. We are parents. I give multiple rides to and from school every day because my kids parents won't. It's a dangerous area so walking/riding a bike/waiting at a public bus stop just plain isn't smart. I spend probably a thousand dollars of my own money every year on food because they leave school they're not gonna eat at home. As a staff we sit and just talk and chill with different kids in our program for probably about 30 minutes to an hour a day after practice. And I'm married and 2 of my own actual kids. There's a heck of a lot more that goes into it than just practice and play.
To be clear, none of my points were specifically stated as things ESL needs to do/is doing/isn't doing, more of just a general commentary on the role coaches can have in terms of athlete education at the HS level in response to some of the issues you stated that can be in play.
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Yeah I went a little off the deep end too. It's frustrating to deal with some of that stuff everyday. From people I've talked to in similar situations it really seems more like the rule than the exception. It can really limit what you're trying to accomplish in the grand scheme of things.
Ive been lurking on this site for years. This conversation requires a comment. I spent 20 years as a family court judge. I cannot begin to count the times I saw teachers and coaches go above and beyond on behalf of the children entrusted to them. For all of you teachers and coaches and all the others who step up for our children, both athletes and non-athletes, thank you. We are richer for it it. Merry Christmas.
To be clear, while we understand eligibility issues are present here, can we table the whole sideboard that you guys have engaged in on this thread and keep it about recruits? I get that you're responding to others and it started with wondering about a recruits eligibility, but it has fallen off a little bit...in sure there's another thread somewhere where that can all be discussed and we can vent what each other does at the school they work at
Lots of happy Holiday news for the Illini. Have a great 2017!
I agree. That was mostly me going off the deep end. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and gets what they all really want, that Carney commitment.
illinidarrin
- from parts unknown
What time is Carney announcing today?
Not long after the ghost of Christmas future leaves I would guess.
4:00
Is that CST or EST?
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