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Bevell, Neuheisel cases tarnish coaching profession
Not all sports stories are positive.
Friday's front sports page of the McCook Daily Gazette is a perfect example.
The headline story Friday was the firing of Western Nebraska Community College head men's basketball coach Trace Bevell, who guided the McCook CC program from 1991-2000.
WNCC president John Harms said Thursday he fired Bevell for directing a scheme to add a fifth foreign scholarship athlete to the team.
The Cougars will forfeit all 29 victories and a Region IX championship because of Bevell's indiscretions.
Bevell's actions, while inexcusable, can be explained somewhat in a twisted way.
He wanted his Western Nebraska program to be the best in Region IX and one of the best NJCAA Division I programs in the country, to be one of the elites and to compete for the NJCAA national championship every March at the Hutchinson (Kan.) Sports Arena.
Most of the big-time NJCAA Division I schools are feeder programs for NCAA Division I teams.
The high-powered NJCAA Division I programs such as those in Texas, Iowa and Kansas' Region VI have achieved "NCAA Division I" status in terms of the type of basketball played and the type of athletes recruited.
And in order to keep up with the so-called Joneses, Bevell went down a road he should not have traveled.
By all means, he should be given a forum to tell his side of the story, but he declined an interview request from the Associated Press.
If not for the Bevell story, the main sports story likely could have been the firing of University of Washington football coach Rick Neuheisel.
Neuheisel was fired by Washington athletic director Barbara Hedges for betting on the last two NCAA Basketball Tournaments and then lying about it.
Neuheisel initially denied the gambling accusation in a meeting last week with NCAA investigators and then later acknowledged that he placed bets.
He also secretly interviewed for head coaching position with the San Francisco 49ers.
He then denied and lied about it and did not inform Hedges that he underwent the interview.
"Rick's actions have left me little choice and seriously undermined his ability to continue as head football coach," Hedges said.
She also cited Neuheisel's past recruiting violations while he was the football coach at the University of Colorado.
The Bevell and Neuheisel cases follow on the heels of the bad news at Iowa State University with former head men's basketball coach Larry Eustachy (partying with coeds at frat parties) and former Alabama and Washington State football coach Mike Price (letting an exotic dancer run up charges on his credit card).
Unfortunately, the actions of these few individuals have tarnished the college coaching profession.
Hopefully, coaching candidates will be screened and scrutinized with the proverbial fine-tooth comb in the future.
John J. Mesh is the sports editor of the McCook (Neb.) Daily Gazette. He has covered Region IX athletics since arriving in McCook 18 months ago.
He covered Region VI athletics in Kansas for 11 years. He has also witnessed 20-25 NJCAA Tournaments as a fan or journalist. He can be e-mailed at sports@mccookgazette.com.