Feeling Pressed?

Sports writers offer a few simple ways coaches can improve their relationship with the media
by: Richard Scott
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So, you're not witty, charming, and entertaining all the time. So, you tend to be serious, stoic, cautious and devoted to film study and game preparation. That's just fine with reporters.

Well, maybe not all reporters (TV folks aren't journalists, they're entertainers), but you might be surprised to learn which qualities the average college football writer respects in a football coach.

How about honest, approachable, discerning and perceptive? Those are the qualities any beat writer hopes for when he is assigned to cover a football program.

The truth is, football writers don't want football coaches to be something they aren't. It's like asking writers to dress better when they have absolutely no sense of style or fashion. What they really expect from the coach-media relationship might actually surprise you.

In an effort to help coaches gain a better understanding of what reporters expect from a football coach, we polled more than 20 members of the Football Writers Association of America. They're responses might surprise you.

Know your role

According to one prominent national college football writer, "If handled properly by the head coach, media relations can actually help his program. A number of coaches have learned this. Sadly, others have not. Coaches have to understand that the media serves a dual purpose: To inform their readership or viewership of the comings and goings of their favorite football program which, in the process, promotes those programs. And that's fine.

"But the media also has a watchdog responsibility as it pertains to compliance with NCAA rules and professional conduct by players and coaches alike. In order to fulfill this responsibility, tough questions are often asked. A coach can decide what kind of response he wishes to make to these kind of questions. He can be open and honest or he can retreat into his bunker. College football programs, especially the more high-profile ones, do not operate in a vacuum."

The writer cited Florida State coach Bobby Bowden as a good example of these qualities. "Bobby Bowden sets the standard. He decided some time ago that complete openness and access do bring some problems, but the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. His program, because of its success, is scrutinized more than any in the country. But because of Bowden's personality, the program seems to handle it just fine."

One veteran Midwestern writer is very realistic about his expectations. "I expect only minimal cooperation out of a coach. He has a job to do. So do I. He owes me nothing to make mine easier. But he needs to understand that I owe him nothing as well. That said, he owes the people I write for - the readers - to make at least some regular time available to answer questions and for his players to answer them. The worst coaches are the ones who hide or allow their players to hide when times are tough, but who are very willing to bask in the sunshine of the good times."

Open your doors

Smart writers understand that coaches can't be available all the time, but they also know consistent media availability is a smart move for a coach.

"I understand a coach's main responsibility is winning," one veteran Big 12/Southwest Conference writer said. "But I think a smart coach realizes that cultivating the media, while it may not help him actually win, it can help recruiting and - not to be sold short - it can bank him some goodwill if he runs into some tough spots.

"A coach should be at least be available for a weekly press conference and also after practice. The better coaches, in my opinion, also meet privately with the beat writers during the week for a bull session. This gives the coach a great opportunity to answer questions for background, explain things he can't explain in a press conference setting and to try to establish some personal rapport with the writers."

Open practices are a touchy subject. Most writers want it, and many coaches don't. If practices are open, 99 percent of all writers are smart enough to realize they have no business writing about game plans and trick plays. The other 1 percent should be banned from practice.

However, if the star quarterback breaks his leg two days before the big game, it's not realistic to expect a writer to sit on that for two days. It's news, and the whole world will know soon enough anyway.

Either way, if you're going to open practices, meet with the writers before the season and make sure everyone understands the ground rules. If they don't agree to your rules, close the practices and make yourself available for a few minutes after practice.

Tell the truth

If you can't give an honest answer, don't answer. For example, don't lie about injuries. If you don't want to talk about injuries, just say you're not going to talk about them and then be consistent about it. Small lies add up and they'll hurt your credibility with the media and the public, just like that fable about the boy who cried wolf.

"I expect honesty and fairness," a veteran Big 10 writer said. "Certainly, the greater the availability, the better I like it. But as long as a coach is consistent in giving me the same access as he does a competitor, I have no beef. What upsets me the most is when a coach lies in response to a direct question. This happens too frequently because coaches are afraid they'll give their opponent an edge, perhaps by talking about an injured player or a suspended player. Whatever edge they maintain by being untruthful is, in my estimation, never worth the damage they do to their own reputation by being misleading."

Pay attention

Try to know everyone in the local media by name and by face, as well as who they work for and what they're like. Ask your own questions. Check them out. As you do, you'll find out who can and cannot be trusted. One veteran beat writer recalls that new Florida assistant Ricky Hunley "wouldn't let me go off half-cocked writing a pretty feature on a player when Ricky knew the guy was about to get into trouble." Smart move - no wonder some people in the business think Hunley is a head coach in the making.

Another long-time SEC writer said, "I've had several instances of a coach telling me things privately, and I'm able to verify them in other ways and it has allowed me to do a better job in accurately reporting what happened without burning the coach."

Accepting blame

As one of his last acts as a head football coach, a former Big 12 coach launched several booming salvos at the media, saying it was responsible for his problems. He never once mentioned all the games his teams had lost, or the shocking number of player arrests, discipline problems and academic casualties in his program. Once his tirade became public, even fans turned against him, making it easy for the athletic director to get rid of him.

One beat writer who has covered pro and college football explains, "The good ones try to understand a reporter's job, try to help the reporter with the story, and understand that, usually, if he is losing, the stories are going to be negative; if he's winning, they'll be positive.

"One of my favorites, the late Rollie Dotsch, once told me, 'If I'm winning, you can't hurt me. If I'm losing, you can't help me.' There is a lot of truth in that."

Who's on first

One of reporters' biggest complaints is about coaches who abuse the beat writers on a daily basis, but as soon as a national writer walks in the door they turn on the sunshine. The national writer then spreads the word about what a great guy the coach is, while the local reporters continue to suffer his wrath. That kind of two-faced behavior might help for a while, but it will do more harm than good in the long run because the national writers will be the first ones jumping ship when the boat starts to leak. That's exactly what happened to one coach who was fired after the 2000 season, despite his winning record. He burned too many bridges, and as soon as things turned sour, it was too late to repair the damage.

A long-time beat writer who covered that former coach says, "Some days, he was great. Many others, he was one of the most difficult I've ever dealt with. His answers were snide and short. He held grudges and was often unavailable (or just wouldn't talk) about the difficult things, like arrests and discipline and injuries. When he changed quarterbacks, which is quite a newsworthy issue, he refused to talk about why he did it for 10 days."

Be yourself

While any writer would welcome a coach who can spin a good story or deliver a funny or thought-provoking one-liner, it's just not realistic to expect a coach to be someone he can't be.

"As far as being quotable, I'd rather have a coach who's dry but honest and willing to explain nuances and provide background than one who's quick with a quip but utters half-truths as needed to fit his agenda," a Big 12 writer said.

If you want to go "off the record" to explain something, do it. But don't over do it. Save "off the record" for those times when you really need it, and only when a small number of reporters are involved and you know they are trustworthy. Don't go off the record in group sessions and expect every member of the group to honor it, because you'll only burn yourself and the bridges you've built with the honorable writers covering your beat.

Brother to brother

OK, so you don't have to like the media, but it helps to have a healthy relationship with anyone who can potentially do you so much good and so much harm. "Writers are human just like everybody else and we have our biases," one veteran Big 12/SEC writer confessed. "Not that a coach has to cater to the media, but if he treats the media well or at least decently, we're likely to extend him the same courtesy. It may not be right, but it's a lot tougher to rip a coach who you feel is a good guy and is good to deal with on a daily basis. If criticism is justified, then it's going to come a coach's way no matter what. But if the coach is a jerk, he's an easy target to rip when his team may be struggling while a guy who has been good to deal with may get the benefit of the doubt.

"I'm not saying that coaches should be nice to the media just to humor us, but it should help them to be decent and be fair and realize the media plays an important role in helping promote their programs, that we should be treated with professional respect and not just tolerated as a necessary evil."

Richard Scott is a member of the Football Writers Association of America and has been a regular contributor to American Football Monthly since its inception.

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