[Quality88]

The no-cursing rule for college basketball coaches is finally going to be enforced this season. The NCAA swears that's the case.

After tolerating foul language for years from overaggressive sideline screamers, a new point of emphasis for college referees will be cleaning up bad language via technical fouls.

No longer will coaches get warnings. Use a cuss word once, and it's a technical. Do it again, and the second technical means an ejection.

Purdue coach Matt Painter said it shouldn't be hard for coaches to adjust.

"I'm not saying I don't swear at all, but it's not like you have to do it," Painter said. "(Coaches) don't swear when they do their radio or TV show, and that's live, so if you have that ability to turn it on and off, you can do it in a game."

The crackdown on cursing is part of a broader directive to police sideline behavior in general.

"It's great. It's needed," said Notre Dame coach Mike Brey, whose tenure on the rules committee begins in May. "There's no question how we come across. We're supposed to be educators. I think we need to keep that in mind with language, body language, staying in the darn coaching box and staying off the darn floor. I think it's all good stuff. There are a lot of people within earshot of the bench."

Ridding college basketball of obscenities may be impossible, though, because it has long been part of the fabric of the sport. In his autobiography "Dare to Dream," Jim Calhoun explained why college basketball coaches swear so frequently.

The coach who led Connecticut to a stunning upset of Duke in the 1999 NCAA championship game noted that if a coach asks a player to get a rebound, the request may be followed, but if a coach tells a player to "get a bleeping rebound -- expletive for emphasis," the order is more likely to be followed.

The NCAA is providing a specific incentive for officials this season. Those who follow the directive will receive coveted postseason assignments.
The idea sounds nice philosophically, but is it practical?

"I don't know if that'll be able to be enforced," said Pacers forward Danny Granger, who played at New Mexico. "A lot of coaches have developed the habit. Some coaches don't use foul language. Some do. I think it's in all athletics."

Granger said his college coach, Ritchie McKay, prohibited swearing. But he said he couldn't recall being in a game when neither coach swore.

"I've been around some coaches where every other word is a swear word."

Pacers forward Shawne Williams, who played for John Calipari at the University of Memphis, was stunned when told a technical foul could be issued for swearing.

"Coach Cal is going to have a lot of techs hollering at Joey Dorsey," Williams said, referring to a former Memphis teammate. "He's a screamer. . . . he's going to get a lot of techs.

"I thought all coaches talk to their players like that to get them going."

Williams said he thought college players would welcome such a rule being enforced.

"It's going to play out in the players' favor, because a lot of players don't like that," he said. "I just looked at it as constructive criticism, but I know a lot of players don't like that."

This year's point of emphasis follows what the NCAA sees as success in two other sportsmanship areas. Suspensions for fighting and penalties for taunting implemented in recent years have resulted in fewer incidents of both.
"The last several years, both coaches and officials have been really lax about observing the rules about bench conduct and the coaching box," said Hank Nichols, NCAA coordinator of officials for nearly two decades. "It's been a dual responsibility both of them have shirked.

"Given the good start we've had for other things, it was thought, you know, we can't have coaches running around crazy. It's not good for the game. It's not a positive image. We need to get them on notice and officials on notice to get the game back to where it needs to be."

Nichols, who officiated 10 Final Fours, said he expected some coaches to test the limits but noted that any swearing is grounds for an immediate technical foul.

"If the referee hears it, even if it's a coach directing it toward his own players, they're within their right to call the technical, because that's unsportsmanlike behavior," Nichols said. "That's the least likely to be called, but it's the least likely to be heard by the officials."

NCAA to call fouls on coaches' foul language

[Quality88]

Any thoughts?

[LSC9901]

I am definitely up for this one. After dealing with a couple incidents in NASCAR I really think that anyone who uses vulgarity better be ready to put a nickel in the jar.

[Quality88]

I'm undecided.... many coaches have swore so many times. I could see it with coaches who create sentences with foul words, but not for a coach that may let one go every once-in-a-while. Must ponder this.

[LSC9901]

I think this will be one of those wait and see issues. Hard to believe that if a coach utters "crap" over a bad shot that they'll pop him but you never know. Wait and see.

[Lefty Noob]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

I think this will be one of those wait and see issues. Hard to believe that if a coach utters "crap" over a bad shot that they'll pop him but you never know. Wait and see.

I'm sure that won't be the case - they're probably just not allowed to use any George Carlin words, which is perfectly fine with me.

[Tuck4Bama]

I think it is a good idea simply because of the close Proximity of the fans. There is a huge diffeence in what the fans can hear in an arena as oppposed to being in the stands for a football game.

[Quality88]

I fear though there will be some refs who will cross the line though and abuse this rule as well as abuse some coaches. Like I said, it's one thing for a coach that let's one slip verses a coach who creates sentences out of foul words. I bet we will see some refs lure the more tempermental coaches into cursin and then nailin them.