The coaches hammer is coming down
Written by Michael Howe Friday, 27 February 2009 08:00
The Bison football team is one big family. You’ve got 60 brothers: the players. You have uncles that will joke around but also will expect the best from you: the assistant coaches. Finally, you have the father: Craig Bohl.
Pops is the one you that you have to respect. He’s the one that will encourage you and be happiest when you succeed. But also, he’s the one you have to speak to when you screw up and get in trouble. For Papa Bohl to be the “father” of 60 plus “sons,” there’s bound to be some trouble along the way and discipline to be handed out.
This week, Coach Bohl has to discipline one of his players. Backup quarterback Troy Jackson was cited for possession of marijuana on Feb. 2. Jackson pleaded guilty to the charge on Feb. 20.
So what does coach Bohl do? As of the publishing of this article, Bohl had not made a decision and said he will address the problem soon. In the past, the only problems Bohl has had to do deal with are minor in possession of alcohol or assault. Bohl has set the standard, one game suspension for a minor and he kicked off the player with the assault charge.
With alcohol, at the age of 21 you become legal to drink (I know, John Madden statement of the week). With marijuana, it’s always illegal now matter how old you are, when you are invited to a party with Michael Phelps. Coach Bohl has to give this decision a lot of thought.
With NDSU being in its 6th year of Division I affiliation, it is relatively new that are athletes being caught with illegal drugs, especially in Fargo. We don’t hear much about it. But with NDSU becoming a higher profile school, there will be more students coming from somewhere else, further away from their parents, and that’s where problems can occur.
How far does coach Bohl go? No matter what, the next time a Bison football player gets caught with pot, people will look back to what he did with Jackson. Does Bohl make an example of this incident and throw Jackson off the team? I think that would be a mistake.
Jackson came to NDSU last fall from Los Angeles Valley Community College. In the seven months Jackson has been in Fargo, he has not been involved any other incidents, according to police records.
College is supposed to be a learning experience. One mistake like this should not jeopardize your future. I have not talked with Jackson, but I can imagine Jackson has had conversations with Bohl and Bohl has all the necessary information from the police.
If I were making the decision for Coach Bohl, I would say a three-game suspension would be sufficient, along with making practice more interesting for T-Jack. But let it be known, one more mistake, and he’s done playing at NDSU.
