What Coaches Are For

Oregon quarterback Dante Moore was motionless on the turf, and a USC player who had just been ejected for hitting him was smiling on the sideline.

Start there.

Moore had begun his slide when USC linebacker Desman Stephens II struck him in the head. Medical staff attended to Moore for several minutes before he was carted off and taken by ambulance to a hospital. Seeing him move his hands and feet as he left the stadium was a relief. It did not make the scene on USC’s sideline any easier to watch. Stephens appeared to smile as teammates congratulated him while Moore was still down.

In Knoxville, a different kind of ugliness made its appearance. Texas defensive end Colin Simmons sacked Tennessee’s quarterback, then celebrated by pretending to urinate on him. Simmons was a team captain that day. His stunt drew a penalty and gave Tennessee another chance to keep its drive alive.

One play put a young man’s health at risk. The other was a crude act of disrespect. I won’t pretend they carry the same consequences. But I will ask the same question of both coaching staffs: What happens when one of your best players forgets there’s another human being on the field?

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian gave us part of an answer. He pulled Simmons from the game, addressed the incident with his team, and later described college football as a “look-at-me society.” He said his program has to work against it.

Good. Now keep working.

A captain ought to know better before a flag flies. His teammates ought to know better than to laugh it off. Sarkisian’s response matters because he made clear that talent does not purchase an exemption from standards. What matters next is whether those standards hold when nobody has a microphone in his face.

At USC, Lincoln Riley began his press conference by expressing concern for Moore. I believe that concern was real. Then a reporter asked about Stephens smiling on the sideline while Moore was being treated. Riley said he hadn’t seen it. Asked why Stephens remained with the team after his ejection, Riley said Stephens was part of the team.

Of course he is. That is exactly why the question matters.

A player on your team has just made a dangerous hit. The opposing quarterback is lying on your field. Your player is ejected and then appears to enjoy the attention he’s getting for it. This is the moment when being “part of the team” should mean somebody on that team puts an arm around his shoulder and tells him to look at what he has done.

I’m not asking Riley to pronounce sentence on a player over footage he says he hadn’t seen. I am asking him to see it, deal with it, and say plainly what USC expects from the men wearing its uniform. Concern for Moore and accountability for Stephens belong in the same conversation.

Too often the public is left to supply the outrage a locker room should have felt first. Fans spot the clip. Commentators argue about it. The conference reviews it. Meanwhile, the people standing three feet from the player act as if the most urgent question is whether he can suit up next week.

Where were the teammates saying, “Knock it off”? Where was the coach making certain the lesson landed?

College football asks an extraordinary deal of young men. It asks for early mornings, sore bodies, discipline, sacrifice and trust. Schools defend that demand by saying the sport builds character. Fine. Then character cannot disappear from the conversation the minute it threatens a win.

And let’s give these players enough credit to hold them responsible. Stephens and Simmons made their own choices. They are young men, capable of hearing that they were wrong and doing better. A coach who corrects a player treats him as someone capable of growth. A coach who looks away denies him that chance.

Competitive fire is no excuse here. I want a defensive end to chase the quarterback with everything he has. I want a linebacker who plays fast and hard. I also expect each of them to recognize when a quarterback is giving himself up, and to remember that the man getting off the ground has a name, a family and teammates waiting for him.

Texas and USC both arrived Saturday undefeated. Texas won its game. USC lost to Oregon. Those results matter to the standings. What the coaches do after these incidents matters to the young men who will follow their lead.

Sarkisian took the first public step by pulling his captain. Riley can still take one by confronting what happened on his sideline. Both coaches have the same job today that they had yesterday: teach the young men in their care how to play this game without losing sight of the people playing it.

That is what coaches are for.