John Chaney: try a little anger management

-- L. Maurice Draine

Hall-of-Fame-bound, Temple University coach John Chaney, let his emotions get the best of him, again. On Feb. 22, Chaney decided to “send a message.” Unfortunately, the message came at the expense of two young men, Nehemiah Ingram of Temple and John Bryant of Saint Joseph’s.

In protest against the referees for not calling what he believed was an illegal screen from the Saint Joseph’s team on his players, Chaney decided that is was time to take matters into his own hands. Six-foot-eight-inch, 250-pound Ingram, who typically never gets into games, had his number called Tuesday night. Coach Chaney referred to him as his “goon.” The message was clear: Go in the game and get really physical.

Ingram went into the game and started hacking and fouling everyone. He used his five fouls in four minutes and promptly fouled out. But before fouling out, he sent Bryant crashing to the canvas, breaking his arm. Bryant is a senior, making it his last chance to play college basketball. His career is now cut short because of Chaney’s temper and dirty play-calling.

Ingram isn’t at fault because he was just following orders from his coach. When you’re a bench player and your legendary coach tells you to go in the game and get physical, you don’t ask questions. You just do it. And even if Ingram didn’t want to, how would he tell his coach “no,” and what would the consequences be? That’s like telling your drill instructor you’re not going to run.

After the game, Chaney apologized to everyone and took full responsibility for his actions. He also said that he didn’t regret calling Ingram his “goon” because that term had loosely been used to describe his team last time they faced Saint Joseph’s. Chaney said that when he put Ingram into the game, he did want aggressive and physical play, but in no way did he intend for the Saint Joseph’s player to get his arm broken. Embarrassed and ashamed, Chaney put himself on a one-game suspension. Don’t be so hard on yourself, guy. What Chaney did is actually grounds for termination; his legacy probably will be tarnished forever by this incident. There is no excuse for his behavior. He has been coaching for 33 years, has 721 wins, and he knows the rules.

After all the media coverage, this incident took on a life of its own. Temple University officials had to react quickly. They suspended Chaney for the rest of the regular season, which was only two more games. After Temple came down with their meager two-game penalty, Chaney must have known it wasn’t enough because he decided to remove himself for the entire rest of the year.

Chaney said he called the Bryant family to apologize. He also offered to pay the kid’s medical bills, but all NCAA players’ medical bills are covered by the schools. And Chaney had to know that

This is not Chaney’s first suspension. In 1994, he was suspended for threatening to kill former Massachusetts coach John Calipari during a post-game news conference.

Temple University has wanted to get rid of Chaney for some time now, but couldn’t because he built their program from the ground up. If they want to fire him and bring in a younger coach who is more in touch with today’s players, this is be a perfect opportunity to do so with no backlash. But, if they want to keep Chaney, Temple shouldn’t let him return until he completes a course in anger management.

If you have comments about the sports column or sports in general, send them to drainele@go.metrostate.edu.

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