If you are Cohen or Moorhead how do you handle this differently...?

[BogeyGolfer]

In my opinion you have to get a head of the situation...As an admin, you had to know that when your starting Qb is knocked out of the bowl game that that is going to get a lot of attention and people asking specific questions. Regardless if players or former players like it or not. My steps would've been the following:

1. Issue a statement about the incident that resulted in the QB being injured. You go ahead and let the fan-base know that Garrett will not play in the game due to the injury.

2. You have both players issue a joint statement of apology and follow that up with statement from Moorhead about importance of discipline etc...short but to the point.

3. You have to suspend Gay and Garrett for at least one game due to the nature of the injury and attention of the fight.

As a coach you tell players to stay off of twitter and only respond with above statement that was released or do not respond at all. We all know fights will happen at practice but this one injured your QB so it has to be addressed. Why is this so hard for our administration to understand?

[MetEdDawg]

Only person who should ever speak on an incident like this is Moorhead. Period. AD shouldn't speak on it. Players shouldn't speak on it. Players involved ESPECIALLY shouldn't speak on it.

But as a coach you don't say a damn thing until you have all the facts. Until you determine how bad it is, talk to the players, talk to team. You don't issue anything until ALL of that is done.

Some of y'all want them to get out ahead of it. They don't know what IT is until they have all the facts, which takes TIME. In this instant gratification society many just wish everyone had every answer instantly. Life doesn't work that way. They might not even know what started it. They have to investigate what started it and why it escalated and get the facts before they put themselves out in front of people who could ask questions they can't answer.

Plus with Christmas and Christmas Eve which are typically non press days in college football, that added a few extra days where they didn't do anything where under normal circumstances it would have been handled.

To me the biggest issue is the social media use by the players post conference. That crap has to stop. You want to make a bad situation worse? Let emotionally invested young people get on social media and start talking about it. Recipe for disaster.

[Todd4State]

I agree pretty much. The only thing I wouldn't do is have Gay and Shrader issue statements. Joe absolutely should issue a statement.

[BogeyGolfer]

Only person who should ever speak on an incident like this is Moorhead. Period. AD shouldn't speak on it. Players shouldn't speak on it. Players involved ESPECIALLY shouldn't speak on it.

But as a coach you don't say a damn thing until you have all the facts. Until you determine how bad it is, talk to the players, talk to team. You don't issue anything until ALL of that is done.

Some of y'all want them to get out ahead of it. They don't know what IT is until they have all the facts, which takes TIME. In this instant gratification society many just wish everyone had every answer instantly. Life doesn't work that way. They might not even know what started it. They have to investigate what started it and why it escalated and get the facts before they put themselves out in front of people who could ask questions they can't answer.

Plus with Christmas and Christmas Eve which are typically non press days in college football, that added a few extra days where they didn't do anything where under normal circumstances it would have been handled.

To me the biggest issue is the social media use by the players post conference. That crap has to stop. You want to make a bad situation worse? Let emotionally invested young people get on social media and start talking about it. Recipe for disaster.

I agree, the statements should only be after facts were determined but I figured that would be kind of a no brainer...You have a good point about players issuing a statement that could also be "issued" through the head coach. Either way, I still think we could have got ahead of the rumor mill etc...

[NaborhoodDawg]

I get pissed off at our fans man. The fans that are so self-righteous and throwing the whole ?don?t criticize a kid? BS on everyone. They are right, we do not know the whole story of why the fight happened but here?s what I do know, A LB that cheated his way through Chemistry, got suspended for the season, gets ejected from the few times he is allowed to play, then breaks the QB?s face? Do any of you truly know how hard you have to hit someone to break their damn face?

GTFO with your holiness BS fans. We aren?t stupid and can see what happened. The fans bashing other fans are the same ones that would be throwing a fit if this were going to be GS missing the Egg Bowl or another conference game.

To the ?fights happen all the time? crowd: yes you are right, but they very rarely end up injuring your tm8 to the point that he can?t play in the next game.

Idc what GS or WG did, this crap shouldn?t have happened. It shouldn?t have escalated to that point and to me, that is on JoMo and the other coaches for allowing it to. This is becoming ?fake peeing in the end zone? levels of embarrassment nationally right now.

The fact that Joe knows that everyone knows what happened and still comes out and says ?upper body injury.? He can go to hell man. I?m done with that clown. Say what everyone already knows, don?t play stupid. Rant over.

[Jack Lambert]

Just move on. That is what they should do. No matter what they say or do you are going to have message board ass holes spreading shit they heard from sources who don't shit.

[HancockCountyDog]

Just move on. That is what they should do. No matter what they say or do you are going to have message board ass holes spreading shit they heard from sources who don't shit.

Totally disagree - if you address it truthfully once then you avoid having to address it a half dozen times untruthfully.

The reason there are people spreading shit is because MSU won't say what happened except that Shrader has an upper body injury and that no one is suspended.

If you don't think this could have been handled better then we simply can't see eye on eye on this.

[Todd4State]

I get pissed off at our fans man. The fans that are so self-righteous and throwing the whole ?don?t criticize a kid? BS on everyone. They are right, we do not know the whole story of why the fight happened but here?s what I do know, A LB that cheated his way through Chemistry, got suspended for the season, gets ejected from the few times he is allowed to play, then breaks the QB?s face? Do any of you truly know how hard you have to hit someone to break their damn face?

GTFO with your holiness BS fans. We aren?t stupid and can see what happened. The fans bashing other fans are the same ones that would be throwing a fit if this were going to be GS missing the Egg Bowl or another conference game.

To the ?fights happen all the time? crowd: yes you are right, but they very rarely end up injuring your tm8 to the point that he can?t play in the next game.

Idc what GS or WG did, this crap shouldn?t have happened. It shouldn?t have escalated to that point and to me, that is on JoMo and the other coaches for allowing it to. This is becoming ?fake peeing in the end zone? levels of embarrassment nationally right now.

The fact that Joe knows that everyone knows what happened and still comes out and says ?upper body injury.? He can go to hell man. I?m done with that clown. Say what everyone already knows, don?t play stupid. Rant over.

MSU has a large contingent of these types of fans. I agree. And they're the worst.

[msstatelp1]

My eyes are part of my upper body so technically it is an upper body injury. Where are your eyes?

[confucius say]

The fight doesnt bother me.
Gay on twitter bothers me. That is what shows a lack of control by joe. He cant even keep guys off twitter. No control of the program.

[MrKotter]

Just move on. That is what they should do. No matter what they say or do you are going to have message board ass holes spreading shit they heard from sources who don't shit.

^^this^^. Nobody deserves any explanation to anything. If they want to issue a statement, fine. If not, fine. I'm not sure why so many on here think they have a right or deserve to know what happened. You don't. Get the F over yourself

[maroonmania]

The fight doesnt bother me.
Gay on twitter bothers me. That is what shows a lack of control by joe. He cant even keep guys off twitter. No control of the program.

Sure seemed to bother a lot of folks in basketball. The Hawaii fight in the stands pretty much sealed Stansbury's fate and in that fight there wasn't near the bodily injury suffered with this fight. About the only difference here was this melee wasn't captured on video thank goodness.

[HancockCountyDog]

In my opinion you have to get a head of the situation...As an admin, you had to know that when your starting Qb is knocked out of the bowl game that that is going to get a lot of attention and people asking specific questions. Regardless if players or former players like it or not. My steps would've been the following:

1. Issue a statement about the incident that resulted in the QB being injured. You go ahead and let the fan-base know that Garrett will not play in the game due to the injury.

2. You have both players issue a joint statement of apology and follow that up with statement from Moorhead about importance of discipline etc...short but to the point.

3. You have to suspend Gay and Garrett for at least one game due to the nature of the injury and attention of the fight.

As a coach you tell players to stay off of twitter and only respond with above statement that was released or do not respond at all. We all know fights will happen at practice but this one injured your QB so it has to be addressed. Why is this so hard for our administration to understand?

This is way too sophisticated for some in our fan base.

We should just bury our heads in the sand and let the rumors fly and not say shit.

Of course this is how it should have been handled. Lets just hope there are no other repercussions from this incident.

[Todd4State]

My eyes are part of my upper body so technically it is an upper body injury. Where are your eyes?

Seriously? Lol?

[yjnkdawg]

The fight doesnt bother me.
Gay on twitter bothers me. That is what shows a lack of control by joe. He cant even keep guys off twitter. No control of the program.


I don't know the specifics of what happened. Just like I imagine nobody else does on here, but Willie was on twitter because of some idiotic supposedly mature grown ups, who claim to be MSU supporters, posting on twitter about him. So adults who act like idiots on twitter can say things about our players on twitter and players can't respond, and just say Yes Sir you are right? I certainly don't like what happened , but it did happen and it can't be undone, but going after any of our players on twitter is uncalled for and I doubt they would tell that to any of our players face to face. Social media can be a good thing but it can also be crap when idiots get involved.

[confucius say]

^^this^^. Nobody deserves any explanation to anything. If they want to issue a statement, fine. If not, fine. I'm not sure why so many on here think they have a right or deserve to know what happened. You don't. Get the F over yourself

Meh. The program is 100 percent dependent upon its investors. Those investors deserve to be informed about the major goings ons of their investment.

[confucius say]

I don't know the specifics of what happened. Just like I imagine nobody else does on here, but Willie was on twitter because of some idiotic supposedly mature grown ups, who claim to be MSU supporters, posting on twitter about him. So adults who act like idiots on twitter can say things about our players on twitter and players can't respond, and just say Yes Sir you are right? I certainly don't like what happened , but it did happen and it can't be undone, but going after any of our players on twitter is uncalled for and I doubt they would tell that to any of our players face to face. Social media can be a good thing but it can also be crap when idiots get involved.

I agree that those adults are out of line. Im not blaming willie for being on twitter. He is a 21 year old with horrible judgment. Im blaming joe for not having control of his players and his program.

[ShotgunDawg]

Parker Wiseman really nails it. Click on the tweet to see his entire point.

1210592058710413312

[Cowbell]

Parker Wiseman really nails it. Click on the tweet to see his entire point.

1210592058710413312

This is good stuff gun - thanks for sharing. Very accurate. We have amateurs in professional roles.

[yjnkdawg]

I agree that those adults are out of line. Im not blaming willie for being on twitter. He is a 21 year old with horrible judgment. Im blaming joe for not having control of his players and his program.


I agree, but I made a few bad decisions when I was around that age too. Being a Good Buddy type coach may possibly work OK as an OC at Penn State or a small college, but it won't work if you are an SEC coach, especially a HC.

[West Tn Dawg]

MSU has a large contingent of these types of fans. I agree. And they're the worst.

Most are the Message Board Hero's.

[yjnkdawg]

Whether some think it is required or deserved, the MSU Administration/Athletic Department is not going to issue a public announcement, unless they feel it is warranted (not what our fans think), and they will do so only when they feel it is the most appropriate time and is in the best interest of MSU, and our football program to do so. Whether that's good or bad, that's the reality of the situation.

I don't see where a statement from Garrett or Willie would be necessary or be appropriate. Oh, and keep them off twitter lol..... So they can be talked about by idiots on twitter, but they can't respond?

On the alleged suspensions we don't have any evidence to know whether any of this dictated suspensions or not. So basically you are saying to suspend them so the fan base will see some type of disciplinary action was taken?

So to sum it up, it appears everything you want is for the benefit for the fan base,and not anything mentioned about what's best for our football program.

[yjnkdawg]

Most are the Message Board Hero's.

+1

[Choctaw Dawg]

Parker Wiseman really nails it. Click on the tweet to see his entire point.

1210592058710413312

I'll add to what Wiseman is saying: Everybody that was involved in the hiring process of Cohen knew what they were getting. We were getting John Cohen, the same guy where you didn't know a damn thing about the baseball team until opening day of the season and didn't have much of an explanation when asked anything about the baseball team. Of course as a coach there is nothing wrong with that but when you're an athletic director you HAVE to be more transparent. He definitely talks more in interviews but its most of the same. I guarantee there was a lot of shit that went down on the baseball team that got swept under the rug when he was coaching, you just have to look at how some of our players acted after coaching change happened and Cannizaro took over. Cohen kept a muzzle on that, Canny didn't.

Cohen seems to be doing the same at the AD position and no one has told him he can't do it like that and you can't muzzle an entire athletic department. He'll just have to find out the hard way.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I'm in the move on from it camp. Does it suck......yes. Should players be discussing it on Twitter...….probably not, but they're 18-22 yr. old kids. They're not going to always make the best decision, I know I didn't at that age. They're jumping to the defense of a teammate they see getting raked over the coals. Look, regardless of the outcome of the bowl game and even before all this happened this was already going to be an offseason from hell. Let's just leave this in 2019. Trust me, we'll have way bigger problems to deal with in 2020 with Moorhead at the helm.

[BogeyGolfer]

Whether some think it is required or deserved, the MSU Administration/Athletic Department is not going to issue a public announcement, unless they feel it is warranted (not what our fans think), and they will do so only when they feel it is the most appropriate time and is in the best interest of MSU, and our football program to do so. Whether that's good or bad, that's the reality of the situation.

I don't see where a statement from Garrett or Willie would be necessary or be appropriate. Oh, and keep them off twitter lol..... So they can be talked about by idiots on twitter, but they can't respond?

On the alleged suspensions we don't have any evidence to know whether any of this dictated suspensions or not. So basically you are saying to suspend them so the fan base will see some type of disciplinary action was taken?

So to sum it up, it appears everything you want is for the benefit for the fan base,and not anything mentioned about what's best for our football program.

You really don't get it do you? This has turned into a national embarrassment that needed to be addressed through a public statement so it wouldn't give our football program and university a bad look. Admins have to be more in touch with the fan-base and public ( media relations department) to understand that losing a starting QB in an after practice fight is a really big deal! On another note, you are always going to have idiots on twitter but that doesn't mean the players who represent the university need to post dumb ass post that makes the situation worse. The head coach needed to address that to prevent that from occurring instead of being reactive and having to tell players to delete post after they were made...Lastly, we know there was a fight that caused one player to have a broken bone is his face, and we know both players were involved so one would assume that at least a one game suspension would be appropriate....You always want to be proactive instead of reactive in these types of situations, if you don't it turns into the shit show you saw last night that has carried over to today...

[Cowbell]

You guys suggesting everyone move on from it obviously aren't Cowboy fans. That is the very definition of Jason Garrets PCs after losses. And it's the reason they suck. Control what's in the future, learn from the past, and get better. But you Don't get better by simply experiencing failure. YOU MUST ADJUST. That's the whole problem with our current leadership. Some of us You might can accept and support but saw this train wreck coming and I'm not going to sit and watch it continue.

[Todd4State]

I'll add to what Wiseman is saying: Everybody that was involved in the hiring process of Cohen knew what they were getting. We were getting John Cohen, the same guy where you didn't know a damn thing about the baseball team until opening day of the season and didn't have much of an explanation when asked anything about the baseball team. Of course as a coach there is nothing wrong with that but when you're an athletic director you HAVE to be more transparent. He definitely talks more in interviews but its most of the same. I guarantee there was a lot of shit that went down on the baseball team that got swept under the rug when he was coaching, you just have to look at how some of our players acted after coaching change happened and Cannizaro took over. Cohen kept a muzzle on that, Canny didn't.

Cohen seems to be doing the same at the AD position and no one has told him he can't do it like that and you can't muzzle an entire athletic department. He'll just have to find out the hard way.

Excellent post. And Wiseman is correct. We don't need the gorry details. But a statement would be good.

You can't tell people like Jonathan Banks to say "hey this happens all the time in practice" when I as a fan of 30+ years can not recall one time when our QB or any other players was injured in a fight with another teammate to the point where they missed a game because of it.

[Katdoc12]

For the "move on" folks, national media just starting on this, a popular podcast "SEC Mike" has named it Punch Gate. What do you think the media focus will be heading into & during the game? That's right the fact our starting QB can't start b/c he was punched by a team mate. Now I, like others, don't really care so much, & at this point & too busy kicking rocks to care, but the fact the HC & AD didn't address this has only made it worse. This is what our season is now going to be defined by nationally. ��*♀️

[Todd4State]

For the "move on" folks, national media just starting on this, a popular podcast "SEC Mike" has named it Punch Gate. What do you think the media focus will be heading into & during the game? That's right the fact our starting QB can't start b/c he was punched by a team mate. Now I, like others, don't really care so much, & at this point & too busy kicking rocks to care, but the fact the HC & AD didn't address this has only made it worse. This is what our season is now going to be defined by nationally. ��*♀️

First Tutor Gate.

Then the lethargic season.

Finebaum acts like an ass asking Moorhead over and over if he's going to Rutgers. And Cohen does nothing.

Then we're told to kick rocks after winning the Egg Bowl.

And now punch gate.

Oh and for the cherry on top our exemplary compliance puts us on probation.

[Choctaw Dawg]

Excellent post. And Wiseman is correct. We don't need the gorry details. But a statement would be good.

You can't tell people like Jonathan Banks to say "hey this happens all the time in practice" when I as a fan of 30+ years can not recall one time when our QB or any other players was injured in a fight with another teammate to the point where they missed a game because of it.

I agree, and kinda off topic: Isn't it a breath of fresh air to actually find out something and know what our team is going to look like lineup wise and pitching staff wise by what the coach is saying months before the season starts? The info provided by Lemonis in some of his interviews with Steve and Joel are foreign compared to what we got when Cohen coached

[Todd4State]

I agree, and kinda off topic: Isn't it a breath of fresh air to actually find out something and know what our team is going to look like lineup wise and pitching staff wise by what the coach is saying months before the season starts? The info provided by Lemonis in some of his interviews with Steve and Joel are foreign compared to what we got when Cohen coached

Yes. Although I kind of enjoyed guessing what Cohen would do and how it would end up. We need to figure out our bullpen. I'm not very confident in them yet.