Sark’s words might seem harsh at first glance, but in reality any coach would and should have done the same.
Last week, Texas defensive lineman Moro Ojomo made a number of comments about the current state and culture of the football program. Among other things he said, he mentioned that he was tired of losing and that players needed to take accountability for that to change.
So far, so good.
Unfortunately, Ojomo went even further, calling out several players by name and saying what they need to do in order to improve. Fans and media loved it. At last, someone was saying what was wrong.
Not everyone was duly impressed. Among them was head coach Steve Sarkisian. While not disagreeing with what Ojomo said in principle, Sark made it quite clear that such problems should be addressed within the team and not externally. He also commented that Ojomo would not be allowed to speak to the media for some time.
Of course, because this is Texas, the national media began talking about the issue. Andy Staples summed it up well with this tweet:
To quote Luke Skywalker, every word of that is wrong.
Sark, as mentioned previously, did not disagree with what Ojomo said; he disagreed with how he said it. Going to the media and talking about issues (which they can see anyway, as Staples points out) does not help the team get better or produce more wins. It just gives the media more ammunition to write stories that are a distraction.
Ask yourself this question: If Alabama star Will Anderson had made similar comments to the media, what would Nick Saban have done? Answer: Exactly what Sark did. Sarkisian is trying to improve the program and limit the distractions, which any coach worth his salt would do. This is the definition of a non-story.
