Two Western Michigan football players were arrested over the weekend on armed robbery charges. Bond was today at $100,000 each for freshmen, linebacker Ron George and wide receiver Bryson White of Mason, Ohio. They allegedly used a gun and a knife to rob a Kalamazoo woman at her apartment Friday night.
The legal charges facing the two players are: armed robbery, first-degree home invasion and larceny in a building. Western Michigan football coach P.J. Fleck indefinitely suspended the two players from the team upon first hearing the news. When more information surrounding the alleged crimes became available, he kicked the duo off the team.
More importantly, Fleck took complete ownership and control of the situation. His comments showcase exactly what it means to 1.) be a true disciplinarian and 2.) be accountable as the CEO of his college football program.
He took decisive action, and then said everything that needed to be said.
“It falls on one person, and it falls on me, as the head football coach,” he said during the Mid-American Conference teleconference today. Most of the Q&A, as expected, related to the arrest. You can hear all of Fleck’s session at this link.
“I’m the one who offers scholarships. I’m the one who brings people in here. I’m the one, in the last four years, who brought in the type of student-athletes that we want to be very proud of here at Western Michigan.”
“It’s my responsibility to continue to grow higher and simulate exactly (what players need to do) away from their parents. They need to know how to be in a college culture away from their parents. I have to do a better job of simulating that, and it’s all on me.”
Most college coaches never say anything even remotely close to what Fleck said there today when their players get arrested for serious violent crimes. Also, most college coaches do not take the swift decisive action that Fleck did on Monday. The former Northern Illinois star wide receiver was persistent in reiterating the ideal of accountability on this call.
“It’s unfortunate, but it falls on me,” he said. “And I take responsibility for it, as the head football coach, because this is my football team. I’ve got to be completely better.
“We talk about failing is growing in our program, and that goes along with me, too. I told my team that, as well. If you quit, you’re a failure. The one thing about us is that we will never quit. We don’t elect to be around quitters. We’re going to continue to grow higher.”
Whether you love or hate or have no opinion on the Western Michigan football coach entering today, you’ve got to have much more respect for Phillip John Fleck now.
I think he’s a great example of how to hold players accountable for their actions.
Fleck and his Western Michigan football team open the season Saturday at Northwestern, which isn’t too far where he grew up.
Fleck is a native of Sugar Grove, Illinois, like Evanston, a suburb of Chicago.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.