The lawsuit comes…
First thing I want to say to any young coaches out there is a piece of advice that I was given along the way in this business. There are so many battles that you must fight as a coach- with players, with fans, with parents, and with administrators- that you must choose which hill to die on. There is a transience among coaches that is so prevalent that on this website they refer to it as “the coaching carousel”, and if I am not mistaken, this year is a record number. When coaches say “I want to spend more time with my family”, that is more often than not coach speak for I can’t take this place anymore. I’m sure a lot of coaches go into a job like I did- that is, I thought this would be my job until I retired. Due to the factors listed above, however, longevity in one position is actually quite rare, and a forty plus year career in coaching is even rarer.
My hill to die on at Camelback came with the arrival of a new principal in 1996. He obviously had been warned that I had caused the district no end of embarrassment with the whole rent thing. He was also probably had been told to get me in line or get me out- either way, I had to pay. The district athletic director then went so far as to contact Coach Youree and tell him that I had better shape up- obviously wanting Coach Y to relay the message to me, which he did.
The battle started early in the Fall. I was painting part of my house on a weekend, when two of my players showed up at the house wanting to shoot in the gym. Our program had good kids- kids you could trust, or they wouldn’t make it with us. Still, I knew that I would have to go over and supervise them while they shot, and usually we would do some kind of shooting drills. So I gave them my gym key and told them I would be over as soon as I cleaned up from painting. My house is literally within sight of the school- three houses down. They went over, and as luck, or fate, or the Universe would have it, there was a district security guy who just happened to be making his rounds at Camelback. He saw the guys enter the gym, and immediately asked the guys how they got the key. They told him that I was at that house- they pointed it out- and said that I would be over shortly. The security guy confiscated the keys and told the players to beat it. They came over to my house and told me what had happened.
Now, you might be saying to yourself that was pretty dumb of me to give the gym key to the kids. But I was no rookie to the business of teaching and coaching and knew full well that there was the letter of the law and the spirit of the law in schools, just like in society. Throughout my entire career to that point, I had seen teachers, coaches, and administrators hand keys to kids on countless occasions to do things that were convenient to them. I had seen kids on athletic fields and in gyms unsupervised with equipment that they had unlocked from somewhere. Keys were given to students that were trusted by almost everyone, everyday. It probably still goes on to this day. Where I was probably dumb in all of that was not realizing that they were just waiting for me to screw up so they could bring down the hammer, and I gave them what they needed.
So, on the following Monday, the principal calls me in and says that they are going to remove me from my coaching position. Now high school coaches will tell you that coaching contracts are weak and you can be fired from them for any reason or no reason. Where the principal made his big mistake was to also take on my teaching position. Those contracts are a lot more solid, thanks to teacher unions of the past, and you have to show cause for discipline or removal- and there are progressive steps in each. The principal was just going to waive any of those steps and go right for the jugular. I went to my union rep, Juan Armijo, who thankfully was a man of real courage and unafraid of administrators, and this became my hill to die on.
The next two years of my life were spent battling a large, urban school district, which had unlimited resources. The principal and the new school AD who he brought with him from Colorado did everything they could to make my life miserable. When they tried to terminate my coaching contract, there was a wild school board meeting where the building was completely jammed with people overflowing into the street, who wanted to speak in support of our program. My attorney and the union rep said I should not attend the meeting, so I waited at home and was getting updates from my wife and my son, Jordan. At first the board said they would only allow a certain number of people to speak, which was met with refusal by the crowd- they insisted that everyone wanted to speak should be allowed to speak. The board relented and everyone who wanted to speak was given two minutes. At 1AM, the meeting was still going. Coach Youree spoke and said “you don’t fire good coaches”, which is what I want to say about the Gary Lee situation going on right now. It’s hard enough to get good coaches to stay in a struggling district like PUHSD without chasing them off. Gary has been there for twenty years plus and given them the best years of his life- and won a lot of games to boot. Mike Ellsworth also came down and spoke on my behalf- which meant he was risking his own security in the district. I have never forgotten that act of loyalty. The district decided not to fire me from coaching.
Teachers can tell you how miserable administrators can make life for you once they get started. A year of harassment began right after the board meeting that even included my family. It was intense and sometimes just like you see in the movies where people follow you and you get strange phone calls. Juan, my union guy stood strong though and fought them at every turn. He said things to the principal that still make me laugh- like opening a meeting by calling the principal a liar. One time, we went to an arbitration meeting and the first thing Juan did was put a recorder on the table. For the next two hours, no one spoke then we left. Eventually, the union suggested that I go to a full-blown law suit, which ultimately I did. After that was filed, I was leaned on by the Superintendent and one of the school board members. This was all being played out in the news media, by the way, which is where Gary’s story should be. School districts, like politicians, generally hate it when things like this are open to the court of public opinion. The Republic tied the whole thing back to the rent debacle and said the district was just trying to exact its revenge. I was sitting in my classroom one afternoon with Juan Armijo, when a school board member came in and asked me what I really wanted. Before I could answer, the member said that he would see that the district cut me a deal- fire the principal and move the school AD. Ultimately, we settled out of court, and within a year, the principal was indeed fired and the AD moved. Publicly, the district said that the principal’s job performance did not meet expectations and the AD was just a routine movement. The Republic didn’t buy that explanation and surmised that the principal’s dismissal related directly back to my case. I didn’t die on that hill, but it wasn’t because they weren’t trying to kill me.
Next…the Pride…
First thing I want to say to any young coaches out there is a piece of advice that I was given along the way in this business. There are so many battles that you must fight as a coach- with players, with fans, with parents, and with administrators- that you must choose which hill to die on. There is a transience among coaches that is so prevalent that on this website they refer to it as “the coaching carousel”, and if I am not mistaken, this year is a record number. When coaches say “I want to spend more time with my family”, that is more often than not coach speak for I can’t take this place anymore. I’m sure a lot of coaches go into a job like I did- that is, I thought this would be my job until I retired. Due to the factors listed above, however, longevity in one position is actually quite rare, and a forty plus year career in coaching is even rarer.
My hill to die on at Camelback came with the arrival of a new principal in 1996. He obviously had been warned that I had caused the district no end of embarrassment with the whole rent thing. He was also probably had been told to get me in line or get me out- either way, I had to pay. The district athletic director then went so far as to contact Coach Youree and tell him that I had better shape up- obviously wanting Coach Y to relay the message to me, which he did.
The battle started early in the Fall. I was painting part of my house on a weekend, when two of my players showed up at the house wanting to shoot in the gym. Our program had good kids- kids you could trust, or they wouldn’t make it with us. Still, I knew that I would have to go over and supervise them while they shot, and usually we would do some kind of shooting drills. So I gave them my gym key and told them I would be over as soon as I cleaned up from painting. My house is literally within sight of the school- three houses down. They went over, and as luck, or fate, or the Universe would have it, there was a district security guy who just happened to be making his rounds at Camelback. He saw the guys enter the gym, and immediately asked the guys how they got the key. They told him that I was at that house- they pointed it out- and said that I would be over shortly. The security guy confiscated the keys and told the players to beat it. They came over to my house and told me what had happened.
Now, you might be saying to yourself that was pretty dumb of me to give the gym key to the kids. But I was no rookie to the business of teaching and coaching and knew full well that there was the letter of the law and the spirit of the law in schools, just like in society. Throughout my entire career to that point, I had seen teachers, coaches, and administrators hand keys to kids on countless occasions to do things that were convenient to them. I had seen kids on athletic fields and in gyms unsupervised with equipment that they had unlocked from somewhere. Keys were given to students that were trusted by almost everyone, everyday. It probably still goes on to this day. Where I was probably dumb in all of that was not realizing that they were just waiting for me to screw up so they could bring down the hammer, and I gave them what they needed.
So, on the following Monday, the principal calls me in and says that they are going to remove me from my coaching position. Now high school coaches will tell you that coaching contracts are weak and you can be fired from them for any reason or no reason. Where the principal made his big mistake was to also take on my teaching position. Those contracts are a lot more solid, thanks to teacher unions of the past, and you have to show cause for discipline or removal- and there are progressive steps in each. The principal was just going to waive any of those steps and go right for the jugular. I went to my union rep, Juan Armijo, who thankfully was a man of real courage and unafraid of administrators, and this became my hill to die on.
The next two years of my life were spent battling a large, urban school district, which had unlimited resources. The principal and the new school AD who he brought with him from Colorado did everything they could to make my life miserable. When they tried to terminate my coaching contract, there was a wild school board meeting where the building was completely jammed with people overflowing into the street, who wanted to speak in support of our program. My attorney and the union rep said I should not attend the meeting, so I waited at home and was getting updates from my wife and my son, Jordan. At first the board said they would only allow a certain number of people to speak, which was met with refusal by the crowd- they insisted that everyone wanted to speak should be allowed to speak. The board relented and everyone who wanted to speak was given two minutes. At 1AM, the meeting was still going. Coach Youree spoke and said “you don’t fire good coaches”, which is what I want to say about the Gary Lee situation going on right now. It’s hard enough to get good coaches to stay in a struggling district like PUHSD without chasing them off. Gary has been there for twenty years plus and given them the best years of his life- and won a lot of games to boot. Mike Ellsworth also came down and spoke on my behalf- which meant he was risking his own security in the district. I have never forgotten that act of loyalty. The district decided not to fire me from coaching.
Teachers can tell you how miserable administrators can make life for you once they get started. A year of harassment began right after the board meeting that even included my family. It was intense and sometimes just like you see in the movies where people follow you and you get strange phone calls. Juan, my union guy stood strong though and fought them at every turn. He said things to the principal that still make me laugh- like opening a meeting by calling the principal a liar. One time, we went to an arbitration meeting and the first thing Juan did was put a recorder on the table. For the next two hours, no one spoke then we left. Eventually, the union suggested that I go to a full-blown law suit, which ultimately I did. After that was filed, I was leaned on by the Superintendent and one of the school board members. This was all being played out in the news media, by the way, which is where Gary’s story should be. School districts, like politicians, generally hate it when things like this are open to the court of public opinion. The Republic tied the whole thing back to the rent debacle and said the district was just trying to exact its revenge. I was sitting in my classroom one afternoon with Juan Armijo, when a school board member came in and asked me what I really wanted. Before I could answer, the member said that he would see that the district cut me a deal- fire the principal and move the school AD. Ultimately, we settled out of court, and within a year, the principal was indeed fired and the AD moved. Publicly, the district said that the principal’s job performance did not meet expectations and the AD was just a routine movement. The Republic didn’t buy that explanation and surmised that the principal’s dismissal related directly back to my case. I didn’t die on that hill, but it wasn’t because they weren’t trying to kill me.
Next…the Pride…
