I once had a discussion with a soccer coach about the language that football coaches use.

His point was that football coaches can say things to players that soccer coaches, or most any other coach, could never say.

I recalled that conversation recently when I covered a football game. As I walked the sidelines that Saturday afternoon, I heard a constant barrage of expletives. One coach dropped F-bomb after F-bomb, screaming at his players. This wasn’t the head coach. The head coach is pretty reserved as football coaches go and a guy I’ve always seen as pretty classy. His assistants were anything but. In addition to Coach F-Bomb, there were two other coaches that used profanity regularly, not in reaction to a play or in the heat of a particular moment but in talking to the players.

Now I certainly understand that the football sidelines are like no other when compared to another sport. The coaches and players are jacked up to an intense level and when people are that amped up, they might not be as disciplined or aware of what they say in the intensity of the game. I kind of liken it to a newspaper deadline when the urgency puts your nerves on edge and if something goes wrong, it just might spark actions or words you don’t typically see during a normal work day.A frenzied atmosphere creates frenzied actions.

The other day I saw a soccer coach swear twice in a span of a minute during a game. His player had just drawn a yellow card and been sent to the bench. The coach was enraged with not only the call but also his player’s lack of discipline. “I told you not to fall for that (blank)” he shouted.

Again, I chalk that up to the heat of the moment kind of thing. Certainly he could have used better discipline and self-control but it happens.

I’m not trying to sound prudish and be holier-than-thou by suggesting a campaign to clean up coaches language. Football coaches talk tough. It comes with the territory sometimes. But what I saw and heard that Saturday was extreme. If I were a parent of a player, I’d be very displeased. I would hope my coaches demonstrated a little more class and coached and treated their players with a little more respect. These assistant coaches didn’t display either. I was disgusted that Saturday. I’d be even more so if I were associated with that team. These coaches are serving as mentors and teachers and should be held to a high standard rather resorting to such profane tactics.

I don’t see other coaches being allowed to talk to their kids in such a way. If a basketball coach or a soccer coach or a tennis coach, would be chastised or maybe even fired, than why would football coaches such as these be permitted to use that kind of language. It wasn’t like the school administration wasn’t aware. The athletic director was right there walking the same sidelined and hearing the same profane attempts at motivating their players.

As a school official or as a parent or even as a player, I wouldn’t tolerate that. It looks bad on the team. Cursing like that in that kind of public display doesn’t set a good example for players or spectators. It doesn’t represent the coaches, the team or its community well.

What is most bothersome to me is that this is the language the coaches used to motivate and inspire the kids. Is this the best they’ve got? Do they have such little disregard for a player that they have to talk to them like that? If a coach or anybody talked to me in that way, I would not stand for it. I would not only expect more respect but demand it. A coach should be allowed to talk tough and challenge its players, but they can certainly do so without being obscene.

I saw a post on a Facebook friend’s page this morning in reference to a former coach that passed away this week. He said the coach would often use the phrase “hubba hubba, scooby scooby”.  The players would ask the coach what that meant. He told them that he loved them all and that he wouldn’t swear at them. But that they were slacking and he wanted them to bust their ass.

If I was a player, a parent or a school, I’d want my coaches to care about the image they present. I’d want them to show they care about their kids and what they learn. I’d want them to take their role as a mentor, teacher and coach seriously and responsibly. I’d want them to challenge, push and motivate. I’d want them to inspire.  I’d want a coach that talks up to his team, not one that talks down to it.