{"id":600806,"date":"2026-02-13T12:21:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T12:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/600806\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T12:21:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T12:21:15","slug":"college-basketball-coaches-are-hot-as-in-mad-as-in-roasting-their-players-in-public","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/600806\/","title":{"rendered":"College basketball coaches are hot, as in mad, as in roasting their players in public"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes things just happen, similar things, in a short period of time, and there\u2019s nothing more to it than that. Reading into those events as a trend that makes a sweeping statement can be dramatic. Maybe even a little irresponsible.<\/p>\n

But hey, let\u2019s give it a whirl.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s Tennessee women\u2019s basketball coach Kim Caldwell on Sunday after her team lost 93-50 at South Carolina: \u201cI have a team that\u2019ll just quit on you, and you can\u2019t do that in big games. \u2026 They have to fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s Colorado men\u2019s basketball coach Tad Boyle after his team\u2019s 78-44 loss at Texas Tech on Wednesday: \u201cWe deserve to be on a 6 a.m. flight out of Lubbock, commercial, Southwest, whatever airline you choose. We don\u2019t deserve a charter flight back to Boulder tonight. We got one. We paid for it. But we wasted our money. We wasted our university\u2019s money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colorado head coach Tad Boyle didn’t hold back following the Buffs 78-44 loss to Texas Tech\u2026<\/p>\n

“That was just a good old-fashion ass whoopin.” pic.twitter.com\/8pqCDQAwKk<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 A David Collier (@CollieronTV) February 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Same night, same league, about 600 miles northeast, here\u2019s a sampling of Kansas State\u2019s Jerome Tang after Cincinnati came in and beat his team 91-62: \u201cThese dudes do not deserve to wear this uniform. There will be very few of them in it next year. I\u2019m embarrassed for the university, and I\u2019m embarrassed for our fans, our student section. It is just ridiculous. We\u2019ve got practice at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning, and we will get this thing right. I have no answer and no words.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jerome Tang postgame:<\/p>\n

“This was embarrassing. These dudes do not deserve to wear this uniform. There will be very few of them in it next year. It is just, ridiculous. We have practice at 6am\u2026 I’m pissed. This is\u2026 this is\u2026 yeah.”pic.twitter.com\/LSWF2lIYsF<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) February 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Emotional post-loss news conferences from embattled coaches are not new \u2014 \u201cembattled\u201d might be a bit strong for Caldwell, but it happens in a flash at that program and the fans are mad at her. Coaches calling out players also isn\u2019t new. But it feels more frequent and fiery than ever before, and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s a coincidence.<\/p>\n

(Ken Pomeroy, Bart Torvik and Evan Miyakawa love adding features to their college basketball analytics sites, so may I suggest the Head Coach Finger Pointing Presser \u2014 HCFPP. I know it\u2019s a lot of research, but can we go back 40 years with it for perspective and to find out if Jim Boeheim or Bob Knight is the all-time HCFPP champion?)<\/p>\n

Fans are harder on college athletes in the NIL\/transfer portal era. Social media predates NIL by more than a decade and remains the worst development on that front. Sports betting apps featuring individual props are right behind that.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s also a general shift in attitude from fans who know players on their favorite teams are getting paid \u2014 it\u2019s not just the players on the cheating rival getting hundred-dollar handshakes. Booing the home team<\/a> is unquestionably more common than it was 10 years ago.<\/p>\n

Media are harder on college athletes, too, though that\u2019s more subtle and also difficult to quantify. But just the fact that their compensation is a constant generator of headlines now means they are covered much differently. Much more like pros.<\/p>\n

It stands to reason, then, that coaches would be harder on their athletes, and I think the last week has helped hammer that home. Behind the scenes is one thing \u2014 UConn\u2019s Danny Hurley said in November that the way he sees it, his players make a lot of money and \u201cowe it\u201d to everyone else to go max effort at all times. This is fair.<\/p>\n

Public shamings generally aren\u2019t advised, though, unless you\u2019re a coach with no concerns about losing a recruiting battle or your job any time soon. Like, say, Boeheim and Knight in their primes.<\/p>\n

Most others, after losing a handle on emotions and calling someone out, could count on a rival coach finding a write-up of the incident in the local paper and then going to work with a copier and a fax machine until the high school coach of every prospect the offending coach was recruiting realized the crime that had been committed. What a time.<\/p>\n

Now rosters change significantly every year. Strong, multi-year relationships are fewer. And sometimes they still get disrupted by another school coming in and dropping a bag. You can see how coaches would not understand their players as well, not be able to coach them as well, get frustrated more often and be less concerned about popping off.<\/p>\n

Not that these pressers were smart. The aforementioned conditions could also make things more challenging internally after such an event.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause there aren\u2019t enough deep relationships ingrained with these teams now for you to get a pass (from your players) on that,\u201d said ESPN analyst Tom Crean, former coach at Georgia, Indiana and Marquette. \u201cNot only the next day but the next game. There are so many more people swarming players now \u2014 their timelines, their messages, their phones. Every day, players are gonna be on the fence about something inside of a program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crean hasn\u2019t coached since the 2021-22 season, so he has mostly observed this era on the media side of things. But he\u2019s had pressers he instantly regretted as a head coach, leading to sleepless nights. Going from \u201ccomplete combat mode\u201d to the public explanation of an emotional disappointment can be jarring, which is why he started organizing his thoughts before taking the microphone.<\/p>\n

That could lead to long delays before he popped into the press room. Better that than a viral moment. The most important thing for coaches in these moments, Crean said, is to have someone who can talk things through with them and even be brutally honest with them before they start fielding questions. That clears the head. And makes it less likely the coach will use the presser as a \u201ctherapy session\u201d for all the world to see.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s guessing that was absent in a few programs in the past week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese dudes gotta have some pride, man,\u201d Tang said. \u201cIt means something to wear a K-State uniform. It means something to put on this purple, man. Like everything this university is about and all it\u2019s been about, why I love this place, they don\u2019t love this place, so they don\u2019t deserve to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Take the outbursts of the past week as commentary on the state of things or as a coincidence in the slog of mid-February, but let\u2019s agree on one sweeping statement: These are jobs.<\/p>\n