I would only seriously discuss this here: Are there coaches/staff whose politics alienate players?

[hothouse_corn]

In today’s society, I can understand that. That’s why I preach open minds and respectful conversation in these situations even if people disagree. It’s okay to disagree and shake hands after

I've seen you on the RSS change your mind, evolve your stance, etc, so you are one of the unicorn folks on a message board that has at least a semi-open mind.

 

[Blackshirts_Win_'ships]

This is what it comes down to for me. If this staff lacks the awareness or attention to detail it takes to make this small change, then it just doesn’t bode well for their willingness or ability to make all of the changes needed to turn things around on the field.

It’s the easiest thing to do and there’s literally no downside, yet here we are.

Organizational awareness...now there's a thought.

 

[Blackshirts_Win_'ships]

And like @BingoDingo said, create an anonymous account for Twitter. Just like I have for pron on Reddit. Separation of church and state...

Which is church and which is state?

 

[Jim14510]

In today’s society, I can understand that. That’s why I preach open minds and respectful conversation in these situations even if people disagree. It’s okay to disagree and shake hands after

I was joking. I pretty much say everything I'm thinking.

 

[Blackshirts_Win_'ships]

I’m old enough to to remember when part of what made the college experience special was the exposure to new and different perspectives and ideas.

Now it seems that social media has decided what opinions are valid and any dissenting voice is subject to “the cancel culture” backed by our Tech Oligarchs and their approved platforms. Woe be unto you who differ with the one-speak.

Our coaching staff deals with young people every day. I’d like to think they’re aware of social media, the distorted lens it views the world though, and would take appropriate steps to ensure their social media presence was as bland as our red zone offense.

But some responsibility lies with the young athletes that encounter an opinion or belief system which differs from their own. Show some maturity and establish a true dialogue: put the idea(s) on the table and examine them without emotional attachment. Try to understand the other person's perspective and how their ideas and values were shaped. Seek common ground and find out where your differences lie.

A little more dialogue and perhaps we’ll dial down the rhetoric a little and avoid situations where young people are “triggered” by a coach who wears a tee shirt with a media company logo on it.

Empathy is the other missing ingredient, but very well said.

There's a generation or two of parents who also largely failed their children by not properly preparing Johnny and Jane for the reality of the world, but instead opted to shelter them.

 

[Blackshirts_Win_'ships]

Wtf is wrong with people?

How much time ya got, buddy?

 

[Pipe Line]

I've seen you on the RSS change your mind, evolve your stance, etc, so you are one of the unicorn folks on a message board that has at least a semi-open mind.

My closest friends in life say I’m a Liberterian that leans right. Idk everything, but I think I agree with that

 

[Pipe Line]

I was joking. I pretty much say everything I'm thinking.

Lol good. I respect the hell outta that

 

[Baron Winnebago]

It's weird that people fuck around with political ideology

 

[Blackshirts_Win_'ships]

It's weird that people fuck around with political ideology

Especially such poorly-defined political ideology

 

[Baron Winnebago]

Especially such poorly-defined political ideology

I talk to my mom about politics for fun. And she says things about socialism that make me laugh because she's old and clearly has no idea what that word means.

While my grandma is like if people wanna smoke the pot, live and let live bay beeeeee

 

[Alcaus]

Wonderful prompt, OP! I believe this is an issue with many teams, but losing exacerbates the situation. I do know that Randolph has received racist messages from fans. That is unacceptable and could be a contributing factor. That hasn't inhibited for his love of the Huskers, however!!

Are you serious?

What the actual fuck... how anybody could be that way to a kid I’ll truly never understand.

 

[HCFord1]

Which is church and which is state?

In the Frost example, clearly football is church.

In my own personal example, boobs are to be worshipped...

 

[Mood4NU]

It is often implied or sometimes outright stated that there are guys in North Stadium whose views on politics, including sensitive racial issues, have caused rifts with players. The implication is that it's primarily or even exclusively with black players. Duval gets brought up, and it's not hard to make that leap given his image and social media. I believe others have mentioned Davison in this vein, as well. I've also heard Frost and Chin are likely pretty conservative.

There are some very intelligent and informed people here who can discuss matters such as this without it becoming a total shitshow like it invariably would on RSS or even the JV 247 board (there's a thread there right now called "CANCER" that is dealing with this very topic not terribly but also not particularly well).

Some prefatory thoughts from me that I feel might help to frame the discussion:

1) The ubiquity of social media, and particularly the ability to have one's follows and re-tweets/postings viewed by the public, has brought a level of scrutiny to this sort of thing that didn't exist even ten years ago.

2) American civil society is in a worse state and is more polarized politically than it has been in the recent past. There are fewer people in the middle and generally less room for moderate positions and voices in our discourse. This phenomenon appears to be caused by and/or exacerbated by point one above.

3) One can be a conservative without being a bigot. The topic becomes more contentious when you start inserting Trump into the equation, so I'll refrain from making more definitive statements up front, because intelligent people disagree about this point. I will say this: I believe there are Trump supporters who are not subjectively racist and one would have to make structural arguments in order to classify them as such. Whether those appeal to you or not is a separate, very involved discussion.

4) Is there reason to think that Nebraska and its staff is unique in any of this? Do we have more conservatives and/or Trumpers in North Stadium? Isn't coaching generally a somewhat conservative set of men? Do the demographics and political leanings of the state make this more salient for black players who perceive problems? Do the largely white walk-on program and some of the other conservative players (e.g., Chris Walker has been photographed wearing a John Galt t-shirt at lift sessions) contribute at all?

5) One can believe a practice or phenomenon is misguided, wrong, and injurious to society while also recognizing that matters are unlikely to change in the near term. I imagine if this dynamic is, in fact, taking place, it would aggravate many people that players on the team are put off by this and some leave as a consequence. I also imagine that there would be an internal conflict over how this seemingly hinders the ability to produce a competitive football team these days.

I'm coming into this with a completely open mind and just want to hear from people I respect on the matter. So what do you all think? I'll shut up and listen for a while unless people have direct questions for me.

So apparently there is something wrong with just being conservative ?

If you’re (& by you I mean the general population) that close minded & not open to listening to any other ideas than your own liberal or conservative agenda then I would consider you in yourself a bigot ...

anyone closing down to other ideas completely on either side needs to realize they’re being exactly what most of them preach to the other side is wrong & that most people on both sides of the aisle are just everyday normal people like yourself

 

[huskerj12]

It's hard to know for sure, but there is probably something like this going on here and at a TON of different schools right now. The question is whether it's over the line or not.

You can obviosuly be a "conservative" and still be a sane human who is living in the same reality as everyone else, my parents are classic examples. You can have a strict but humble view of the world and a desire to connect with all kinds of players, including guys from inner cities, guys from small towns, Black/white/Latino/etc. I get the sense that is where a majority of football coaches reside, including Frost. I know people rightly wondered why his Twitter account was following weirdo right-winger media people at one time, but as of now I give him a pass on that because I highly doubt he even personally uses his Twitter account at all. Whoever runs it probably followed whatever the app suggested in the beginning. I could be wrong, but he seems more likely to be a luddite than someone scrolling through the MAGA mediasphere.

On the other hand... Car&Lando on RSS just said Frost's chief of staff Gerrod Lambrecht wears a MAGA hat in North Stadium, I know that Matt Davison posted a pic of himself with a MAGA hat at Trump's inauguration in 2017, these are things that should not and cannot be taken lightly and have no place in our football program. If I was a player or assistant coach, especially a Black player or assistant coach, I would absolutely not trust that those guys have my best intentions in mind.

So in my opinion, it's one thing to be a Tom Osborne disciple who believes humility and discipline and fishing trips should lead the way in life, but it's a far different thing to be promoting a hateful movement that has never even pretended to be anything other than hateful. Frost has said and done enough for me to have faith that he's a good dude whose heart is in the right place and genuinely wants to foster a culture where everyone from every walk of life respects each other and becomes a big family. His statement during the anti-racism protests last summer were a great example of that! But I question some of his decisions on who he surrounds himself with.

 

[Jim14510]

So apparently there is something wrong with just being conservative ?

If you’re (& by you I mean the general population) that close minded & not open to listening to any other ideas than your own liberal or conservative agenda then I would consider you in yourself a bigot ...

anyone closing down to other ideas completely on either side needs to realize they’re being exactly what most of them preach to the other side is wrong & that most people on both sides of the aisle are just everyday normal people like yourself

Welcome to the United States!

 

[10InchCorncob]

So apparently there is something wrong with just being conservative ?

If you’re (& by you I mean the general population) that close minded & not open to listening to any other ideas than your own liberal or conservative agenda then I would consider you in yourself a bigot ...

anyone closing down to other ideas completely on either side needs to realize they’re being exactly what most of them preach to the other side is wrong & that most people on both sides of the aisle are just everyday normal people like yourself

The issue is when players feel they're treated differently because of those political view points. I DGAF what someone's politics are. Then again, I don't coach a bunch of kids from different backgrounds. The reality is that if this is perceived to be a race/political issue then it needs to be addressed. I've been a MASSIVE Frost defender for 3+ years. I'm starting to sour.

It's either that 1) We can't identify talent, 2) Our schemes are too complicated for most kids to get on the field, 3) We're bad at coaching, or 4) There's a rift in the program due to politics/race. It has to be one of those things.

What is more likely, that one(or more) of the above are true OR everyone's recruiting profile and vision is wrong on these kids and we get ALL the busts.
Year 1- I'll give Frost a pass because he didn't have much time to recruit
Year 2- He gets another pass because he's still turning the roster over
Year 3- Starting to get concerned that players whom could potentially be juniors are not seeing the field, not developed enough, "swimming in it", or are leaving the program.

 

[Blackshirts_Win_'ships]

So apparently there is something wrong with just being conservative ?

If you’re (& by you I mean the general population) that close minded & not open to listening to any other ideas than your own liberal or conservative agenda then I would consider you in yourself a bigot ...

anyone closing down to other ideas completely on either side needs to realize they’re being exactly what most of them preach to the other side is wrong & that most people on both sides of the aisle are just everyday normal people like yourself

Don't think conservative is the right term here. We have coaches who are open about their support for a "leader" who is openly antagonistic toward the majority of people for whom these coaches are responsible. That's a very reaI problem and isn't a "safe space" issue at all.

 

[Baron Winnebago]

Welcome to the United States!

To be clear, I hate you for reasons totally unrelated to your politics

 

[Jim14510]

To be clear, I hate you for reasons totally unrelated to your politics

I hate you for your politics and I'm not even sure what they are.