English's vulgar tape leads to firing

In the middle of Ron English's fifth season as football coach at Eastern Michigan, his record was 11-46. So it seems accurate to characterize a recording of a profane tirade against his players as more of an accelerant to his firing than a catalyst.

But still, there is this recording, obtained (and censored) by the Detroit News . . .

That’s English verbally undressing his team, most likely unaware he was being recorded. There is plenty of profanity in there, with English blasting his players for, among other things, a lack of self-respect, personal responsibility and discipline.

Some highlights:

”How did so many young guys go bad, go to s---. This is s--- football."

”I respect football players. You ain’t no football players.”

”You have no respect for yourself.”

”You a little b---h.”

The Detroit News, which bleeped out words it considered offensive, reported: “It also sounds like English used a derogatory word for gay. There was much more that was said that is not suitable for publication.”

The recording quality is not high, so parts of the rant are unclear, but English begins with what sounds like a point about players taking responsibility for their own performance, moves into some observations about how bad the team is and transitions into his frustration at having to coach the same things over and over.

”That’s a lack of pride,” he says in a calm moment. “And more importantly, self-respect. … You keep blaming everybody else, and you never look at yourself.”

Sounds like pretty good advice, actually.

Athletic director Heather Lyke issued a statement suggesting English was fired for his language, which puts Eastern Michigan on the forefront of firing coaches for cursing.

“I received a tape of a situation in which Coach English had addressed the team and used wholly inappropriate language,” Lyke said in the statement Saturday. “We hold our coaches and staff to high standards of professionalism and conduct and there is no place, particularly in a student environment, where the language is appropriate.

"The statements made by Coach English are absolutely unacceptable. My decision to make a change in leadership of our football program was the culmination of a lot of factors including the comprehensive review of our program, the competitive performance and this tape.”

This calls to mind former Kansas coach Mark Mangino, who during a seven-game losing streak in 2009 was investigated by the school for verbally and physically mistreating players, resulting in Mangino’s forced resignation.

The reason for Mangino’s ouster, too, was clouded by the team’s performance on the field. The Jayhawks began that season in the Top 25, but lost their last seven games.

Then, of course, are the legendary Bob Knight rants, which in the annals of coach recordings may never be topped.

Coaches have never been known for their careful verbiage or calm demeanors, but that rarely seems to be a problem when the team has a winning record.