When Coaches Go Mad

It's been five months since I began covering high school sports for a living. And since my first time on the sidelines as a professional in August, I've been waiting for one specific moment that finally came at my last game. This moment is magical, inspirational, even a little frightening.

I'm talking, of course, about when the tornado of rage that is an angry head coach fills the locker room at halftime.

A halftime outburst is a tricky thing. They're used to spark a better performance down the stretch. But if used too much, they can lose their power with the flip of a switch. Therefore, the good coaches are normally reserved to save these fits for when their team is grossly under-performing.

These things are meant to strike the fear of God into each and every player and let them know what Hell awaits them at the next practice should things not change in the second half.

Having played for a coach who was an expert on this technique in my high school days, I can confirm that a good yell at the half will most certainly make you run a little harder.

I've had my guesses about which coaches I've talked to lately have broken a chair or something to that extent at halftime, but they almost always dance around that question with an answer like "Oh, uuuuh, we just told them to keep playing hard and things would turn around."

Yeah right! You lashed out more than a hundred expletives in a 10 minute period while threatening each and every player with sprints all day, every day until they collapse.

But who could blame them for not admitting that? No one wants an angry parent hovering over them.

A coach who yells isn't necessarily a good thing, but one who does it at the right times and for the right reasons is invaluable. These people can pass on valuable lessons: heart, work ethic, character. Don't want to work? They'll make you.

The first time a coach admitted blowing up at halftime to me was after a girls basketball game in which the home team, leaders of a perennially difficult conference, trailed by 11 to the sixth placed team heading into the break. It wasn't that they were down double digits... They weren't giving the effort. They waltzed on to the court like the game was already over, in a rivalry match-up no less.

So, he laid into them at halftime. And he laid into them good. He said he will only do that twice a year, so he has to save those for when they really count.

Surprise, surprise. It worked. It was like he had physically dropped a small furnace under each one of their butts and the better team played with a little heart in the second half and turned the deficit into a six point win. A coaching masterstroke.

People might get upset claiming in high school the players are just kids and shouldn't be screamed at. While I would never condone yelling at a kid for making a simple mistake or not knowing how to handle a certain situation in a game, this was nothing of the sort.

But, if like in this game, a team just doesn't care about trying, go after 'em. And go after 'em hard. What better time to teach the values of heart and effort than when a child is approaching young adulthood.

Perhaps its why the Jets are still playing football right now. They got mad at the right time. The emotionless pit that is Bill Belichick, on the other hand, well, now he should kinda have a reason to get mad at some point.