Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 3, 1993 TAG: 9302030278
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
COACH'S LESSON: (RHYMES WITH CLEAT)
HIGH-SCHOOL sports are important, according to the accepted wisdom, for teaching teamwork and building character. So how do you explain what happened in Richlands?Here are the character-building lessons the Tazewell County football team learned on its way to the state's Group AA Division 4 championship this year:
If you're worried the competition is cheating, cheat. It'll level the playing field.
If you're accused of cheating, lie. The truth would taint your victory, and that would hurt your team.
If you're faced with evidence that you cheated, admit everything. All will be forgiven because, bottom line, you did bring home that trophy. It looks great in the school office.
Football coach Dennis Vaught's conduct on and off the field raises questions about how suitable his brand of win-at-any-cost coaching is for high-school sports.
Vaught allowed his team to wear illegal cleats in the championship semifinal against Salem, he now says, because the Salem team was wearing them. If that were true - and Salem's coach vehemently denies it - the appropriate reaction would have been to protest immediately to the game officials.
Salem may ride a high horse uncomfortably when it comes to inordinate concern for winning football games. But this is not just a question of good sportsmanship. The longer cleats are illegal because they're likelier to stick in the ground. If a player's cleats are stuck in the ground when he is tackled, it can cause knee injuries.
When Vaught was questioned about the cleats later, he compounded his error in judgment by denying he had fielded his team with the illegal equipment.
Salem protested its 17-7 loss to Richlands, and asked the Virginia High School League to nullify the game and vacate the championship title. After that, and after evidence surfaced (from the vendor who sold the cleats) to contradict Vaught's claim, he finally admitted that he had both cheated and lied. He also admitted this was a "mistake."
But he was hardly abashed. He continues to claim that Salem used the same equipment and he did not make a countercharge only because "you don't want to get into a spitting contest with a skunk."
What a generous adversary and inspiring role model.
The VHSL has decided to put Richlands High School on probation for a year. The Tazewell County superintendent has promised to take "appropriate action" against Vaught, but it will be confidential because it is a personnel matter. The high school principal says the coach will be given a written reprimand.
A reprimand would presumably go on Vaught's record, a record that includes a hasty resignation from the Patrick Henry High School staff after being accused of making a racist remark to his team during a halftime talk.
That record seems to matter less to some people than Vaught's 14-0 record this year in gaining the state championship. Indeed, you have to ask: What would be his fate if he'd done what he did with the cleats, but his team's record was 0-14?
When the proud parents of Richlands High School football players consider whether Vaught should be coaching their kids next year, they should keep in mind: He was willing both to put their sons at greater risk of injury than the rules of the sport allow, and to teach them that it's OK to cheat. If you win.
The school will keep its title. Shouldn't it lose its coach?