Ernest Jones resigns

[Stinger92860]

The man is a devout christian and the University and State asked him to keep that information to himself while he was at work.

Only in Connecticut. This man would have helped us tremendously in recruiting young christian men from the South. But we don't want to offend some soccer mom in Hartford. Unbelievable.

Wonder who they will hire to replace him.

Why don't you understand why he should keep religion out of the workplace?

 

[huskysupporter]

You also missed my point. Unless you're only upset at what Jones said, not the fact what he said was how he was going to go about doing his job.

I thought people were upset that his words would follow his actions. Are you saying that you don't care how he did his job, as long as he didn't make the aspects of it that you disagree with known publicly?

"We're going to make sure they understand that should be in the center of our huddle, that that's something that is important. If you want to be successful and you want to win, get championships then you better understand that this didn't happen because of you. This happened because of our Lord and Savior. That's going to be something said by Bob Diaco. That's something that's going to be said by Ernest Jones. That's who we are."

So you either missed my point, or you're fine with Diaco saying that privately to the team, but not publicly to the press?

No, I am saying Coach Diaco never said that was going to be something he would do.

 

[BlueMAB]

No, I am saying Coach Diaco never said that was going to be something he would do.

LMAO.
Okay, so Jones was lying when he said that. Or simply didn't know what he was talking about. Right. He doesn't know Diaco well enough to talk about that stuff. He was put in charge of helping develop players off the field as a mere coincidence. Sure.

Diaco is smart enough not to make it public. But if you think Jones, who obviously has deep rooted faith and knows Diaco better than anyone on this board, doesn't grasp Diaco's faith or how he plans to run his program, then you're willfully lying to yourself, or being incredibly naive.

 

[WestHartHusk]

Is it? He was basically told that you can't discuss Jesus or being Christian in the media or in the locker room. You can see him dancing around the topic everytime he's interviewed...trying to qualify his statements and keep from making the same mistake. Jesus is always on the tip of the tongue for men like Ernest.

I know men like Ernest, Christian devotion is different in the South and Midwest. Asking a man like him to keep his faith bottled up is the ultimate slap in the face and everytime he hides his true thoughts he feels that he is disrespecting God. Want to know what his personal and family issues were? His convictions to his God. Christians in the South do not keep their religion to themselves. For men like Ernest God is a part of EVERYTHING. For him, everything he has is thanks to his God so for someone to tell him that he can't openly speak about God at work is inconceivable to him.

Culturally CT was not a fit for him. This never would have happened in the South. He needs to be in South or Midwest or at a religious private institution.

Then explain why KO is our basketball coach.

If we assume it was not personal reasons that lead him to leave then there are two options. Either he can't overcome adversity, in which case bye-bye. Or he viewed his position as evangelical in which case he would have opened our school up to liability so bye-bye.

 

[hthusky74]

I would respect him greatly if that is the case (and I thought his Jesus in the huddle comments were a huge mistake). Would show he feels so strongly about his statement that he will go to a school that would allow him to state that.

I agree. He may have decided he doesn't want to work in a hot bed of heathens. God for him. I hope he finds a job where his faith and morals are appreciated and not denigrated.

 

[minidarren]

I agree. He may have decided he doesn't want to work in a hot bed of heathens. God for him. I hope he finds a job where his faith and morals are appreciated and not denigrated.

Ah, I like what you did there. God for him.

 

[huskysupporter]

LMAO.
Okay, so Jones was lying when he said that. Or simply didn't know what he was talking about. Right. He doesn't know Diaco well enough to talk about that stuff. He was put in charge of helping develop players off the field as a mere coincidence. Sure.

Diaco is smart enough not to make it public. But if you think Jones, who obviously has deep rooted faith and knows Diaco better than anyone on this board, doesn't grasp Diaco's faith or how he plans to run his program, then you're willfully lying to yourself, or being incredibly naive.

Could it be Diaco did the rah rah religion bit at Notre Dame, a catholic institution, where making comments like Jesus in the Huddle is completely acceptable? (and I believe there is video footage of Coach Diaco talking about Jesus when accepting an award when he was at Notre Dame). I, and you, have no idea.

I certainly would hope Coach Diaco wouldn't be pushing Jesus (or Mohammed, or Buddha, or The Flying Spaghetti Monster) on players. I have zero problem if a player comes up to Coach Diaco and begins asking him about Jesus, and in response Coach D. gives him some information based on his beliefs.

 

[Excalibur]

You also missed my point. Unless you're only upset at what Jones said, not the fact what he said was how he was going to go about doing his job.

I thought people were upset that his words would follow his actions. Are you saying that you don't care how he did his job, as long as he didn't make the aspects of it that you disagree with known publicly?

"We're going to make sure they understand that should be in the center of our huddle, that that's something that is important. If you want to be successful and you want to win, get championships then you better understand that this didn't happen because of you. This happened because of our Lord and Savior. That's going to be something said by Bob Diaco. That's something that's going to be said by Ernest Jones. That's who we are."

So you either missed my point, or you're fine with Diaco saying that privately to the team, but not publicly to the press?

Herbst put words in Diaco's mouth in her response as well. Who is correct?

 

[huskysupporter]

I agree. He may have decided he doesn't want to work in a hot bed of heathens. God for him. I hope he finds a job where his faith and morals are appreciated and not denigrated.

I fail to see where his faith was denigrated? Coach Ollie is a very religious man, and he remains as a head coach.

If Coach Jones feels that Jesus just absolutely needs to be in a huddle, then he should go to a Christian school. Which I have a sneaky suspicion, he will.

 

[cohenzone]

Guys like me? Thank you for being so tolerant. Someone may have a different view point than how you interpret the situation and that makes me a "guy like you".

Lets bring Allah to the huddle and then see who is tolerant and PC.

 

[BlueMAB]

Herbst put words in Diaco's mouth in her response as well. Who is correct?

Who has known him longer, who shares the same religious beliefs, and who was hired by whom?

You guys are really being naive here.

 

[UConnDan97]

You jumped into the defensive stance not me, I presented an option to yours, plain and simple, you took it as a personal attack and jumped so work it out however you want, based on your position here I know you will.

If you call a comment saying that I was making up the narrative as "an option", then sure. Thanks for the option! Of course, another option, Jerry, might be that you could just take me at MY word that I wish the guy well....but perhaps you like to set "options" too...

 

[Dooley]

This is too bad because I like Coach Jones from what I've seen/read. Best of luck to him - I'm sure he will land at a Catholic school within the next few weeks. I'm interested to see if Diaco reshuffles the current coaching staff or will find a replacement.

 

[UConnDan97]

Wayne Lineburg has experience coaching RB's...so Diaco could find a guy to coach WR's and move Wayne to RB's coach.

How many people just had the name "Weist" flash in their heads after reading your comment? I know it won't happen, but...

 

[BlueMAB]

Could it be Diaco did the rah rah religion bit at Notre Dame, a catholic institution, where making comments like Jesus in the Huddle is completely acceptable? (and I believe there is video footage of Coach Diaco talking about Jesus when accepting an award when he was at Notre Dame). I, and you, have no idea.

I certainly would hope Coach Diaco wouldn't be pushing Jesus (or Mohammed, or Buddha, or The Flying Spaghetti Monster) on players. I have zero problem if a player comes up to Coach Diaco and begins asking him about Jesus, and in response Coach D. gives him some information based on his beliefs.

"rah rah religion bit"?

Like it's a routine and not something genuine? That's a bit disrespectful don't you think? No, of course you don't, you don't respect people of faith so it's okay to say that.

Jones told you what Diaco is going to do. You can either believe him or not, but he had no reason to lie. A man that grounded in his faith doesn't lie about that, and doesn't get confused about the intentions of those who share his beliefs and gave him a specific assignment that is in some way related to faith.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Lets bring Allah to the huddle and then see who is tolerant and PC.

You couldn't field a competitive team by openly admitted that you are promoting Islam in the huddle.

I don't think you could field a competitive team by solely recruiting aethiests and agnostics.

Couldn't do it with Buddhists, Wiccans or Jews.

The only category of religious beliefs and recruiting pool size is Christianity.

Not saying you should do it at a public university, but if you were to do it, that's the only combination that could be sustained.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

"rdebating eligion bit"?

Like it's a routine and not something genuine? That's a bit disrespectful don't you think? No, of course you don't, you don't respect people of faith so it's okay to say that.

Jones told you what Diaco is going to do. You can either believe him or not, but he had no reason to lie. A man that grounded in his faith doesn't lie about that, and doesn't get confused about the intentions of those who share his beliefs and gave him a specific assignment that is in some way related to faith.

You two are having a debate just for the sake of debating lol Classic

 

[uconnbill]

This thread should go into the cesspool. Maybe someday guys like you and a few others will learn the difference between political correctness and just plain correctness. SH was correct, not politically correct. That said, he seems like a nice guy, and if his resignation is somehow related to how strongly the family feels about religion , he is doing what he needs to do and if has nothing to do with religion, I hope it is not an insurmountable issue c

Maybe you should go back there since you post mostly over there.

This is about a coach who said something that got a lot of publicity in the state and of course none of us are privy to what was said behind closed doors by Susan Herbst. I am guessing like the rest of us he left because he decided he could not put his beliefs off for any job.
I wish him well wherever he ends up

 

[huskysupporter]

"rah rah religion bit"?

Like it's a routine and not something genuine? That's a bit disrespectful don't you think? No, of course you don't, you don't respect people of faith so it's okay to say that.

Where did I say I don't respect people of faith? I take issue with some aspects of religion, but I think that religion is a good thing, for the most part.

 

[Excalibur]

Where did I say I don't respect people of faith? I take issue with some aspects of religion, but I think that religion is a good thing, for the most part.

Let's be fair here -- your reference was pretty dismissive.

 

[huskysupporter]

Let's be fair here -- your reference was pretty dismissive.

My apologies if it cam off that way, definitely not my intention. And I sincerely apologize to anyone that may have taken offense. I strongly dislike when both people of faith and without faith are dismissive of others views.

 

[Huskygamble19]

Of course it is almost mandatory for someone to be skeptical about this because how many times have stories come out only to be refuted later i n time. It adds to the normal skepticism one perceiving. I, for now will take it at its face value, believing that it is indeed, personally related.

 

[BlueMAB]

My apologies if it cam off that way, definitely not my intention. And I sincerely apologize to anyone that may have taken offense. I strongly dislike when both people of faith and without faith are dismissive of others views.

It did come off that way, but thank you for clarifying and I apologize for jumping to conclusions.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Unfortunate for the program and for him. I personally did not agree with the sentiment of what he said, but would still welcome him as part of the program. I doubt his hand was forced by Diaco, WM, or Susan as that would've occurred weeks ago if so. My guess is he just didn't feel like this was the right fit for him and his family. Perhaps this really has nothing to do with his comments, who knows. I can say, having sat next to him at the Louisville bball game, you could see on his face he was not happy in his environment. Barely interacted with anyone, even his players sitting on the other side of him, was very sullen and quiet, completely disengaged from the game. You could read it on his face that something was amiss and he felt uncomfortable.

Hopefully, this is merely a case of someone not finding the right fit in a new position and making a life change for the best interest of him and his family, and not the case of administrators pushing him out because of some controversial comments. Nonetheless, best wishes to him and his family in taking their next step.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Not really. That is how he I see it as well.

No, they told him he cannot espouse and force feed that view on others, namely students at the state university, as that is a blatant violation of the Establishment Clause as UConn is a public government-run institution. He crossed the line when he said, "We're going to make sure [players] understand that should be in the center of our huddle, that that's something that is important." If he said something to the effect of, " is someone who is important to me in my everyday life and guides the decisions I make in my life as a father, husband, and coach," he'd have been fine and any uproar would be unwarranted. When he, as a government employee and agent of the state of Connecticut, dictated how he would be espousing a certain religious view on others at the university, he crossed the line.

Kevin Ollie is a devout Christian, has expressed how he feels with respect to his faith, and has never once come close to going over that line. Whether they allow that to occur at schools in the south by looking the other way is not relevant. In this country, that's against the law.