Head coaches shouldn't be babysitters

College coaches should not be fired, nor come under scrutiny because they have players that break the law.

They shouldn't be in charge of suspending or removing players from the team that do break the law. They are not 24-hour babysitters for a bunch of college-aged men and women that are of legal age.

Michigan State football coach, Bobby Williams, was fired last week as the team failed to come close to meeting any of the high expectations for them this year. Spartan football also had two other recent incidents, which led to Williams' firing.

The two incidents were: 1) starting quarterback Jeff Smoker's substance abuse problem (he was suspended), and 2) starting tailback Dawan Moss' drunken run-in with a police officer (he was kicked off the team).

Williams should be fired because the program was going no where. They were beaten badly by archrival Michigan 49-3, and have been getting hammered in a lot of their games this season. Expectations were high for them because of the thought of dynamic duo of Smoker and receiver Charles Rogers, plus they had eight of their eleven games at home.

MSU Athletics Director, Ron Mason, said he fired Williams because of a statement Williams made after Saturday's loss to Michigan. When asked by a reporter if he thought he had control of the team, Williams replied, "I am not sure."

A coach should have control of his team's on field stuff, but the off field stuff all he can do is warn of suspensions or penalties to the players. He should not be in charge of player punishments.

I propose the NCAA should have a committee that decides what a player's punishment is for an illegal act performed by its players. Coaches and athletic directors can vote on the rules and suspensions the committee dishes out. This is in order to insure fairness.

Another scenario might be for the individual conferences to have committees to do this instead of a national committee, or the schools could make self-imposed suspensions, then see if the conferences and NCAA agrees with them. This is similar to when schools violate NCAA rules, and then self-impose cutting their own scholarships, hoping the NCAA will agree to it.

In this Michigan State case, it is unfortunate that a coach was blamed for this sort of thing, especially when he did the right thing by suspending Smoker and kicking Moss off the team.

When a player does something illegal in professional sports, the league fines the players, not the coaches or front office. The same rule should apply in college athletics.