Jameis Winston's mistakes provide a teaching moment for other programs
It didn’t take long for Jameis Winston’s obscene outburst in the Florida State student union on Tuesday to become a teaching moment for other programs.
Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze told The Tim Brando Show on Wednesday that he thinks coaches need to do a better job of educating players about who and what they represent as it pertains to themselves and the universities for which they play.
“I believe wholeheartedly that it is my job and our staff’s job to help these young men navigate life long after football,” Freeze said. “I suspended a kid this year for the first game because of a public scene he had in the summer in a public place. It was not the type of language or behavior that I think a young man should want to be, particularly when representing our university and our football team.
“Do I know it happens? Absolutely. It happens, but we have to educate our kids. As a matter of fact, in today’s team meeting, that’s what it’s all going to be about, reminding them of the platform you have. What kind of brand do you want for yourself? I have no idea what even happened (with Winston), I really don’t, but I know here, we do have a responsibility to educate our kids and hopefully hold them accountable to a certain standard.”
While Freeze made sure his comments were not a slight against Winston, the question came up because Freeze happened to be on the show at the same time Winston’s half-game suspension was announced. But it was clear he was aware of the incident and knew it would be a good opportunity to show his players the perils of making poor decisions.
Freeze also mentioned social media and said he checks the Twitter pages of his players on a regular basis.
“I will pull up one of our players’ (posts), I’ll pull his name down, put it on the screen, maybe his last 10 tweets,” Freeze said. “I want everybody in the room to tell me what’s important to this kid. I use the good and the bad and try to continue to harp on our guys: Use the platform God’s given you for good. It doesn’t mean you don’t have negative things in your life, but you don’t have to put it all out there. That doesn’t have to be the focus when you’re using a social media platform, because you’re making your brand.
“I have disappointments in my life, discouragements in my life, but I hopefully will choose to use the platform for the brand I really want to be known for. … We call our kids on it pretty regularly in private. I keep up with them, and our coaches do. We try to make sure it’s representing something they want to be known for.”
Winston is a Heisman Trophy winner, the face of Florida State and arguably the best player in college football. There’s probably no better person to use as a teaching moment for other players simply because of his status and because of his inability to get out of his own way.
Perhaps at some point, Winston will use one of his many off-field issues as a teaching moment for himself.
For more Ole Miss news, visit RebelGrove.com.
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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday
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