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POLL: Coach Williams, would you retain him?

Should coach Williams be retained?

  • Yes

  • No

  • Undecided


Results are only viewable after voting.

GBRhuskers

Junior
Jul 15, 2016
1,609
1,805
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Yes or no, feel free to share your reasoning.

His DUI has been dropped to a misdemeanor.
 
It's impossible to answer without knowing how contrite Williams is, what measures might be put in place to ensure future compliance, and the opinion of the administration.

Assuming the best possible scenario, I answered yes. I think he is a good coach who has a good relationship with his players. He has made some serious mistakes, and he can only be retained with some severe guidelines established to ensure compliance, and probably should not coach this upcoming season, certainly not all of it.

People say that everyone deserves a second chance, and while this is not the case in point, it is an opportunity for a second chance at Nebraska and with all the negative attention this has brought him and the university. These might be the wake-up call he needed.

So I'd like to see the university stick by him if he can make the necessary and difficult changes that must be demanded of him.
 
The punishment should fit the crime. For those so quick to judge yesterday, would you be so quick on the trigger if it was you, your dad, your brother? I would keep him but with a line in the sand contract that stipulates any more and you are done.
 
The reality of football (college or professional) is that as long as you can contribute something meaningful to your team then you will be given another chance. We've seen countless examples of how it doesn't really matter if you've committed a crime (or had people pull strings to get you off the hook). That is how life works.

In this particular situation, I don't know what's in Nebraska's best interests. If Williams wasn't an ace recruiter then I would let him go in a heartbeat. The only reason this is even a topic of discussion is because of all the positive momentum he built up in recruiting. Did he already negate all of that with his actions?

I also want to point out how often these disciplinary situations come up in college athletics and how we often expect the university in question to act against their own self-interest then shame them publicly for a lack of morality. Take the punishments out of the hands of those who have a vested interest in the outcome. No team should be given a competitive advantage because their disciplinary committee chooses to take a more lenient path.
 
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The punishment should fit the crime. For those so quick to judge yesterday, would you be so quick on the trigger if it was you, your dad, your brother? I would keep him but with a line in the sand contract that stipulates any more and you are done.
The punishment should fit the crime legally. However, as far as employment, different employers look at the types of infractions when making firing decisions. For instance, a bank may look at an employee caught shoplifting differently than an employee getting a DUI. For the same sentence, say 2 days in jail, the shoplifting might be a firing offense, but not DUI. The former goes toward trust. On the other hand, an airline might not care much about a shoplifting charge, but a DUI might be alarming for obvious reasons. Even behavior not illegal is considered. Someone working on a movie set might not ever be questioned about association with "foreign nationals", but someone working in a nuclear power plant might.
 
IMO - Unpaid suspension for the season to let him work out legal issues and rehab. Reinstatement after the season if he meets certain conditions and agrees that any additional alcohol incidents mean immediate termination. I don't see how a coach working 10-14 hours a day in a stressful environment is going to go through a successful rehab, he is going to need some time off.
 
If he was just some guy selling TVs at Best Buy, nobody would know or care about his case.

If he was a best buy guy, I wouldn't want him behind the wheel. We need him to drive to recruit. Just have little tolerance for this offense, and shared by any that have had someone they cared about have a life altered by a careless and reckless drunk driver.

Good lawyering by someone.
 
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I think he should keep his job. At the end of the day, the program needs to do what is best for the program and in this case, due to his performance, he will be retained.

The University is not the moral police. Hell, no business is. When they police because of morals, they don't do it because they care about the guy. They do it because they think there are more negative ramifications to keeping him.

That will be the case here as well. Someone will look long term at the pros and cons of firing him and I believe due to his performance, he'll be retained. Probably sit out a game or two but that's it.
 
I think he should keep his job. At the end of the day, the program needs to do what is best for the program and in this case, due to his performance, he will be retained.

The University is not the moral police. Hell, no business is. When they police because of morals, they don't do it because they care about the guy. They do it because they think there are more negative ramifications to keeping him.

That will be the case here as well. Someone will look long term at the pros and cons of firing him and I believe due to his performance, he'll be retained. Probably sit out a game or two but that's it.
Will he have Twitter access during suspension? Asking for a friend.
 
Will he have Twitter access during suspension? Asking for a friend.
My prediction re: his Twitter use. He will be silent for a while as his attorney will certainly not want him to admit guilt (or apologize) while it is still an active case. Once there is a settlement, he will issue an apology on Twitter and slowly get involved again. Unfortunately, this news really hurts the guy's reputation. He's no longer just this cool WR coach who out-Tweets opposing coaches, he's the guy who drank too much (multiple times) and got behind the wheel where he put others' lives in danger. It's hard to have that swagger when people think of you that way when you're tweeting.

This whole ordeal just sucks for him. Time heals most everything, however, so in time, things will revert back to the norm.
 
Suspend him for the year and bring him back next year. Give him time to get away, get help, get the legal stuff taken care of and get the shot at redemption. If it were his first, it would be different. This is potentially his third DUI, there should be a stiff punishment at a minimum if convicted.
 
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The punishment should fit the crime. For those so quick to judge yesterday, would you be so quick on the trigger if it was you, your dad, your brother? I would keep him but with a line in the sand contract that stipulates any more and you are done.
I'm not sure what this means. So there are no crimes that should cause someone to lose their job than murder? How does the punishment fit the crime in a professional setting?
 
IMO - Unpaid suspension for the season to let him work out legal issues and rehab. Reinstatement after the season if he meets certain conditions and agrees that any additional alcohol incidents mean immediate termination. I don't see how a coach working 10-14 hours a day in a stressful environment is going to go through a successful rehab, he is going to need some time off.

And it's going to be a massive distraction to the team. His October court date is going to bring it all back up during the season. I think season suspension makes the most sense. It also shows the university is taking it seriously without cutting him loose.
 
It's a serious offense and it's a not a good in terms of him working with and recruiting young guys. Having said that, it is a first offense in terms of his employment at NU and it doesn't involve an illegal substance, nor an inappropriate interaction with a coed. The guy may/may not have a problem with booze, but he definitely has a problem with exercising good judgement.
I am sure he has decent legal help and they are working to pare this down to the minimum in terms of sanctions. I suspect this will end up at the very least with a driving suspension and installation of breathalyzer/ignition after that. Possibly some time in the pokey and community service. If jail is ordered, his employment could be dicey.
 
Good point. He's not going to be able to rent a car for at least a year, so if you send him out recruiting, someone else has to go with him.

There's car services, which our coaches should be taking in the first place so I don't see this as an issue outside of additional money spent. This is assuming he's not confined to state boundaries.
 
He'll be fine. The only people talking about this in a month will be Zach Smith and Urban Meyer on the recruiting trail. I'm fine with that that.
 
Not what I said at all.

I am not here saying he should be fired. The first concern would be addressing what happened and see if there is a concern. They should focus on what is best for him and address how they can help. Everyone worrying about recruits should step back and be more concerned about him. Determining what the charge is is just cluttering what the problem is. If he has a problem, help him. It does not matter how many years were in-between the arrests. How many times did he drive under the influence and not get caught. I think we all can relate to that. But it does not reflex well on Nebraska if they do not do anything. Just my thoughts.
 
The reality of football (college or professional) is that as long as you can contribute something meaningful to your team then you will be given another chance. We've seen countless examples of how it doesn't really matter if you've committed a crime (or had people pull strings to get you off the hook). That is how life works.

In this particular situation, I don't know what's in Nebraska's best interests. If Williams wasn't an ace recruiter then I would let him go in a heartbeat. The only reason this is even a topic of discussion is because of all the positive momentum he built up in recruiting. Did he already negate all of that with his actions?

I also want to point out how often these disciplinary situations come up in college athletics and how we often expect the university in question to act against their own self-interest then shame them publicly for a lack of morality. Take the punishments out of the hands of those who have a vested interest in the outcome. No team should be given a competitive advantage because their disciplinary committee chooses to take a more lenient path.
in any other line of work there would be no discussion. other organizations do not hire or keep employees who repeatedly break the law.
why does a coach get preferential treatment? because of our bias.
when a coach screws up we all become humanitarians because football is more important to us than other humans are
 
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in any other line of work there would be no discussion. other organizations do not hire or keep employees who repeatedly break the law.
why does a coach get preferential treatment? because of our bias.
when a coach screws up we all become humanitarians because football is more important to us than other humans are
A Capital Letter to Start a Sentence
Start every new sentence with a capital letter. This seems like a fairly simple ruling, but there are some quirks.
 
I'm not sure what this means. So there are no crimes that should cause someone to lose their job than murder? How does the punishment fit the crime in a professional setting?
As much as the team needs his recruits, three dui's are at least two too many. Hopefully, if he is convicted he spends time in prison, although I don't know if that's what Nebraska law allows. As for his job, that would surely go away, if he is convicted. But let's let a court speak before we decide his fate.
 
Couldn't he have at least taken a better police station mug shot? I mean, they are never flattering but the blood shot eyes make him look a little too spooky. Parents of recruits are going to freak.
 
Mug shots are never kind.
Nick-Nolte-mugshot---celeb-mugshots-jpg.jpg
 
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