Click here to subscribe today or Login.
By KEVIN HOFFMAN khoffman@leader.net
Sunday, January 30, 2000 Page: 8
HAZLETON – Head football coach John Yaccino defended his controversial
coaching tactics in an exclusive interview with the Times Leader the day
before his job was opened by the Hazleton Area School Board.
The article that followed, printed on the front page Thursday, included
admissions from Yaccino that he called kids names and jokingly kicked players
in the butt. He said his practices brought discipline back to the program.
His statements touched off a firestorm of debate at the School Board
meeting that evening. Athletic committee head Gloria Pesock vowed she would
look into whether Yaccino violated a district policy prohibiting corporal
punishment.
The Times Leader offers its Hazleton Area subscribers these exclusive
excerpts from the interview with Yaccino:
“Four years ago, I received this job because I promised them that I would
bring discipline back to the program, I promised them I would bring good
education back to the program, and I promised them that the football players
would be outstanding, model students in our schools.
“I also promised them that, as far as athletics go, I would bring exciting
football back to this district.
“If there are a small percentage of people discontented, five or six
people over four years, I’m sorry, but this is what discipline and the things
I said I was going to do brings with it.
“I have never, in four years, been asked to come to the athletic committee
to discuss any accusations, innuendoes, or anything else, including this year.
I have never, ever been questioned on anything I do. I have to assume that
what I have been doing has been positive.
“If I’m being fired, then I think everybody should be fired. Because they
all do it, and if they say they don’t, they’re lying.
“Did I call a kid fat? Sure, I might of. Did I call a kid skinny? Sure, I
might of. Did I call a kid slow? Sure, I might of. Did I call a kid lazy?
Sure, I might of.
“I did not look at a kid and say you are a stupid person. I did not do
that. The team … `You guys, we got to stop making stupid mistakes. You keep
making the same mistakes over and over again.’ To me, that’s coaching.
“I saw one of our School Board members said our coaches were creating too
much discipline. Did you ever hear such a dumb thing in your life?
“When I got here, football players were in the halls of the high school,
terrorizing students, terrorizing teachers, tearing lavatories apart, smoking,
the whole bit, and they were out of control.
“When people cannot accept discipline, they look for reasons to quit, and
when they quit, they’re disgruntled.
“I never withheld a recruiting letter. Never. I’ve put so many kids into
school that I lost count.
“This is a witch hunt, because there are members on this School Board who
have friends, and want their friends back as coaches. And that’s fine. But
call me in, discuss the problems, and then we’ll go from there.
“They’re taking my reputation … and I come home and some School Board
members who don’t know anything about football are going to demean me and take
my job away? I think it’s a witch hunt and I think it’s wrong.”
Call Hoffman at 829-7139.