Pinkel: ESPN impacts coaches' health.....

From the Big 12 coaches conference call in regard to the heart attack of the Michigan State coach.... Gary Pinkel of Missouri chimes in...

"This job is pressure-packed. I think it's more pressure-packed than it ever has been because of ESPN, because of the national sports scene, because of the Internet, because of all the instant communication out there and there's so many media avenues now that exist, the amount of money coaches make.

"To me, it's going to get worse, the pressure. It's not going to go the other way."

I'm one to believe the E stands for evil anyway.

 

I think he meant (and said) it was the pressure that causes coaches' health problems. ESPN is certainly part of that, but to single them out in the thread title is unfair and also disingenuous to what Pinkel said.

 

Gary Pinkel's salary is, from a variety of sources, about $2.3 million bucks a year.

High school gym teachers make about $50,000.

If Gary wants to make $50,000, I am sure there are ways he can do it.

 

The history of college football suggests that Pinkel is full of shit. Coaches have ALWAYS been under enormous pressure to win, and got fired when they didn't. There's more money in it for them today, true, but shouldn't that create LESS pressure. A five-year head gig at a BCS school equals a decade or so of relative financial security, maybe more.

 

Which has nothing to do with what he said.

He was asked a direct question and answered it honestly. I don't see a problem with anything he said at all.

With more scrutiny comes more pressure, regardless of how much money you make.

 

And because of that pressure to win (and to do that, you have to outwork the competition), coaches don't get enough sleep or take enough time off. It adds up.

 

Pinkel's salary is a direct result of ESPN and the Internet.

Coaches don't have any more pressure on them than do desk-bound executives at major corporations. OTOH, coaches really have no excuse not to be in great physical shape, given that they are suppose to be role models for student athletes.

I'm talking to you, Phat Phil!

 

I would think Derrick Washington would have been a worry more harmful to Pinkel's health.

 

It's DIVISION I Football!! Go coach intramurals brother.

Give me a break. Pressure? I'm sure there are a couple hundred thousands guys in Iraq and Afghanistan who would laugh at Pinkel. Cripes. It's only football.

 

What makes you think he's qualified to be a high school gym teacher?

 

He's no Leonard Skinner, that's for sure.

 

I'd like to find six journalists who make $50K these days.