As a true Philadelphia fan, it really has broken my heart to see what has happened to John Chaney in only one week. He has incurred all of the scrutiny and criticism. However the whole ugly episode between Chaney and St. Joe's, and more importantly, him and John Bryant, should not cost him his job.
There is no question that Chaney made a huge mistake when he sent senior forward Nehemiah Ingram into a game on Feb. 22 against St. Joe's. He sent Ingram into the game for one reason, to play physical and commit hard fouls in protest to the illegal screens he thought the Hawks were setting. Ingram's physical play took a turn for the worse when Bryant went up to dunk the ball and Ingram leveled him in the chest, forcing him to the floor, landing on his right arm.
It turns out that Bryant's arm was broken due to the hard foul. What was also broken was Chaney and Ingram's reputations. Ingram only played for four minutes and accumulated five fouls. Chaney, who has a history of having a short fuse, now has another strike against him.
This incident is only one of the many bad things that have happened to Chaney through the years. He is so passionate that his emotions tend to get the better of him. In 1992, during a time out, one of his players spoke back to him, and Chaney softly slapped him across the face. Then, two years later in a post-game press conference after a loss to UMass-Amherst, Chaney threatened to kill then-coach John Calipari.
After both of those instances Chaney was suspended. He initially suspended himself for one game after this most recent incident, but that clearly was not enough. He was then suspended for the remainder of the regular season by the university. Feeling deep remorse for what happened, Chaney realized that it would not be right for him to coach the rest of the season. He took himself out of the Atlantic 10 tournament next week, and it is unlikely that he will coach in any other postseason games for Temple.
There is no defending what Chaney did because it is a completely heinous and egregious act. However, the fact that people think he should be fired for it is somewhat extreme.
Chaney has done so much for Temple University and the city of Philadelphia that it would not be fair to push him out the door this way. He has garnered a lot of respect for his highly regimented system in which players wake up daily at 5 a.m. for practice and do things his way.
Chaney is also very loyal to Philadelphia high school basketball players, most of whom other schools have given up on because they don't feel like they can compete or succeed academically at the next level. There are currently four Philadelphia players on Temple's roster, all of whom are grateful to Chaney for giving them a shot. Regardless of a youngster's academic record, he has no problem taking a chance on them and having them earn a scholarship. Players such as Rasheed Brokenborough and Aaron McKie (who plays in the NBA for the Philadelphia 76ers), both of whom came from modest means and the Philadelphia public school system, were Proposition 48 players (players that were unable to meet the SAT requirements in high school), and both were able to earn scholarships at Temple and graduate. There are many more stories like this that have taken place solely because of Chaney.
Chaney loves basketball and is one of the greatest coaches of all time on the collegiate level, but he knows that basketball is not all of life. He is more concerned about his players' success after school than about whether they can make a three-point jump shot. He has only had two players leave early to go to the NBA in his 22 years at Temple. He is an excellent basketball coach - his resume glitters with a Hall of Fame induction in 2001 as well as 17 consecutive NCAA tournaments from 1984-2001. He has been to five Elite Eights and made 23 tournament appearances. Prior to Chaney's arrival in 1982, the Owls had never been to the NCAA tournament twice in a row.
After this awful event, Chaney has been very contrite and remorseful for his actions. He met with the Bryant family last week and offered to pay any medical bills for the family. He realized that it would not be fair to Bryant if he was coaching and Bryant was unable to play.
What Chaney actually did has also been misconstrued. Chaney did not tell Ingram to injure anyone - he just told him to be physical. It is very unfortunate that the situation got out of hand, but another question in this matter is, where were the officials? It was obvious that Ingram was on the court for no other reason than to be physical. He was not even looking for the ball on offense, and on defense he was making no plays on the ball and just going for the bodies of the St. Joe's players.
The real shame is that people are comparing Chaney to Woody Hayes, the embattled old Ohio State coach who, in his final game at the university, actually punched a player on the opposing team. It is unfortunate that a man whose body of work in basketball is so legendary has fallen so far. Although Chaney is 73 years old and theoretically near the end of his coaching career, he should get a chance to earn back some of his dignity in the coaching fraternity. Temple basketball, as well as the university itself, was faceless prior to the arrival of Chaney. He exhibits the blue-collar attitude that the city embraces, and it would be awful for him not to be on the bench next year.
- Justin Goldman '07 is a Philadelphia native, but had no chance of playing for John Chaney at Temple.
