Ernest Jones resigns

[brasssbonanzaa]

There is a difference though. One is a UCONN alumni and Jim Calhoun's personal choose to succeed him. The other has zero connections with UCONN and had a few UCONN alumni complained to the university and the local newspapers.

100% incorrect. The difference is Kevin Ollie does not (at least publicly) profess that he's going to tell his players and staff how to practice religion and that they should all practice his belief system. Ernest Jones did exactly that. There is an enormous difference between saying you are a devout Christian who believes in following the teachings of , and professing to someone else that they too should be a devout Christian who believes in the following the teachings of .

At a public institution, that's against the laws of this country. Once again, whether or not public universities down south look the other way is not relevant. It's not censoring said person's individual beliefs or muzzling his free speech - Kevin Ollie and Ernest Jones are 100% free to believe whatever religious beliefs they choose and let those beliefs guide their individual lives as they wish. It's protecting against an agent of the people's government dictating to others what their religious beliefs should/will be. That's where Ernest Jones crossed the line, and why Kevin Ollie has not had a single issue with it.

 

[ASweet3781]

Why did this thing even get to the point where Herbst commented? How many people could have possibly complained to warrant a public statement from the President?

Whether you agree with the comments or not this is not the type of thing you want out there concerning the program. You don't want recruits and families to feel that UConn is not a welcoming place for people of faith.

I just can't fathom why anyone other than a player would feel the need to complain about this to the point where Herbst needed to issue a public statement.

 

[uconnbill]

If by "bible thumping Christians" you mean people who preach at work you are probably right. I have never worked at a place where an employee started preaching on the job, but it would probably make me feel uncomfortable if that happened. I have however had many enjoyable "is there a God" and "is there an afterlife?" discussions at the bar with co-workers after work.

From my experience religion is generally not discussed when you are on the clock, that's where Jones ran into trouble, he implied he would be preaching on the clock at a high profile, state job with a large amount of leadership responsibility. Not acceptable. Does that mean New Englander's are not tolerant of religion? Absolutely not, but in our culture you generally keep religion (and politics btw) out of the work place. I think most companies fear religion and politics on the job would distract employees from their primary function and potentially divide people in the work place and reduce morale and production. Case in point the "Cesspool", we generally all get along in the football and basketball forums, but the Cesspool is pretty much a bunch of monkey's throwing their feces around. Notice how religion and politics has divided us in this forum.

This is football where faith comes up unlike one's job or in a classroom. Watch a college game "especially a southern game" and you will see players praying together after the game. How many times did you see both teams on a knee when someone gets hurt.

 

[metsfan2323]

This is football where faith comes up unlike one's job or in a classroom. Watch a college game "especially a southern game" and you will see players praying together after the game. How many times did you see both teams on a knee when someone gets hurt.

What makes you think they are all praying to Jesus?

 

[uconnbill]

100% incorrect. The difference is Kevin Ollie does not (at least publicly) profess that he's going to tell his players and staff how to practice religion and that they should all practice his belief system. Ernest Jones did exactly that. There is an enormous difference between saying you are a devout Christian who believes in following the teachings of , and professing to someone else that they too should be a devout Christian who believes in the following the teachings of .

At a public institution, that's against the laws of this country. Once again, whether or not public universities down south look the other way is not relevant. It's not censoring said person's individual beliefs or muzzling his free speech - Kevin Ollie and Ernest Jones are 100% free to believe whatever religious beliefs they choose and let those beliefs guide their individual lives as they wish. It's protecting against an agent of the people's government dictating to others what their religious beliefs should/will be. That's where Ernest Jones crossed the line, and why Kevin Ollie has not had a single issue with it.

You have no clue what coach Ollie says behind closed doors to his players, nor do I. Coach Ollie is a Christian man whose faith is not hidden. I know you think it is, but it isn't.

Your interpretation of the separation of church and state is wrong if you read the Founding Father's teachings and writings.

 

[uconnbill]

What makes you think they are all praying to Jesus?

They're praying to someone and it is not Darwin, that's for sure. Yeah they may be praying to God as they see it, but again it is the culture down south which you nor many others understand on this board


The bottom line is that a coach left UCONN one way or the other and it doesn't look good to recruits, and that is a fact

 

[UConnDan97]

This thread ought to be fun to watch as it blows up on President's Day.

I'm so glad this didn't go down the way you predicted it to...

 

[metsfan2323]

Your interpretation of the separation of church and state is wrong if you read the Founding Father's teachings and writings.

In practice your interpretation is wrong. Are you someone who believes the constitution has been hijacked?

 

[uconnbill]

I'm so glad this didn't go down the way you predicted it to...

I agree I helped bring this down, but just frustrated to lose a coach who wanted the best or the players in and out of football. That's what bothers me the most

 

[Irishfan]

This is too bad. With his ties to the south (Alcorn State) and his strong religious beliefs, he could have opened some recruiting areas that UConn hasn't taken advantage of in the past. Good, bad, or indifferent, there are many families down south who really like a strong religious environment for their kids. Several SEC schools look like revival meetings during recruiting season.

 

[metsfan2323]

The bottom line is that a coach left UCONN one way or the other and it doesn't look good to recruits, and that is a fact

Recruiting is the bottom line? You're going through all this trouble because you are worried about recruiting? Good God.

When football recruiting becomes the bottom line its time to shut down the school.

 

[UConnDan97]

I agree I helped bring this down, but just frustrated to lose a coach who wanted the best or the players in and out of football. That's what bothers me the most

I hear ya, but it's out of our control at this point. To argue about Jesus, Allah, Herbst's response, possible reasons behind Jones' reasons, the personality of people in New England, the personality of people in the "Deep South", Evangelists vs. other Protestants, football prayer vs. basketball prayer, and whether or not Kevin Ollie is not bothered because Calhoun picked him....it's all not worth it. It's really not.

In Diaco We Trust....and I trust that he will find a replacement RB coach that will be excellent and that will hold a high standard of morality for all of the young men to follow...

 

[uconnbill]

Recruiting is the bottom line? You're going through all this trouble because you are worried about recruiting? Good God.

No that a man lost his job is my biggest problem. I was very interested in how he was going to bring players out into the community to help make them not only better players but better men. That is what all universities should be doing or try to do.

 

[uconnbill]

I hear ya, but it's out of our control at this point. To argue about Jesus, Allah, Herbst's response, possible reasons behind Jones' reasons, the personality of people in New England, the personality of people in the "Deep South", Evangelists vs. other Protestants, football prayer vs. basketball prayer, and whether or not Kevin Ollie is not bothered because Calhoun picked him....it's all not worth it. It's really not.

In Diaco We Trust....and I trust that he will find a replacement RB coach that will be excellent and that will hold a high standard of morality for all of the young men to follow...

In Diaco we trust. I agree 100%

 

[metsfan2323]

In Diaco we trust. I agree 100%

Only if he gives Casey the darn ball.

 

[huskysupporter]

No that a man lost his job is my biggest problem. I was very interested in how he was going to bring players out into the community to help make them not only better players but better men. That is what all universities should be doing or try to do.

Coach Jones was not fired, he resigned.

 

[CTFIRERETIRED]

His comments should not have led to this. He was by all accounts a good man who misspoke. Unbelievable. (I know it says it was for personal/family reasons, but...)

why do you think he misspoke? Some people believe that Christ should be the center of life. I am guessing that if he said being gay or bisexual or Islamic should be the center of the huddle, nothing would have been said.

 

[Skiblets]

This has Herbst's finger prints all over it. For all of her strengths in making tough decisions, she is also a bit of a megalomaniac. My guess is she waited for the storm that she helped to create to die down before 'accepting' his resignation

 

[Waquoit]

why do you think he misspoke? Some people believe that Christ should be the center of life. I am guessing that if he said being gay or bis e xual or Islamic should be the center of the huddle, nothing would have been said.

Do you really believe that if he said "being Islamic should be the center of the huddle, nothing would have been said"? If so, you have to ease up on the kool-aid.

 

[tjhusky]

 

[Waquoit]

Your interpretation of the separation of church and state is wrong if you read the Founding Father's teachings and writings.

Wrong again, bill. James Madison, Father of the Constitution, was a devout man. But his insistence of a strict seperation of church and state was such that he wanted the post offices open on Sunday. The fathers knew that injecting faith over reason in Government is a recipe for disaster.

 

[Confident Carl]

Yeah they were, because for him spirituality is based on his faith in Jesus, so what. If he replaced Jesus with spirituality he probably wouldn't have received so much grief for it, but I'm just speculating.

2,000 years ago government officials didn't like what Jesus was saying so they crucified him. Not much has changed.

 

[Confident Carl]

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.

If Jones said what he did at an SEC school there would have been no flack. There are plenty of non Catholic schools were he could go. He could also coach at a school like Liberty University where Turner Gill is the head coach.

 

[BlueMAB]

Wrong again, bill. James Madison, Father of the Constitution, was a devout man. But his insistence of a strict seperation of church and state was such that he wanted the post offices open on Sunday. The fathers knew that injecting faith over reason in Government is a recipe for disaster.

His insistence was so strict he didn't actually put that phrase in the constitution, nobody did. Interesting.

You are misrepresenting his opinion.

He knew that government and religion had the tendency to corrupt each other, and he believed that the government shouldn't be involved in religion as strongly as he believed no specific religious sect should dominate the government. The idea that they opposed injecting faith over reason is a false premise. In fact, their faith is what guided them to declare our independence was based on rights endowed to us by a Creator rather than granted to us by a King.

 

[Confident Carl]

Why do you think there would be less flack if he referenced general spirituality over a specific religion?

Spirituality could also include Satan Worship. Spirituality is a very generic politically correct term that is basically meaningless. It's like saying I love sports vs. I love football. Sports include badminton. Oh darn, I waited to buy my season tickets for the badminton team and now they're sold out and I have to watch the games on TV!