At the college level, most coaches don’t dabble in politics. There are some who aren’t bashful to share their thoughts -- Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich come to mind -- but they are in the NBA.
With an influence over teenagers and politics generally being a hot button, college coaches tend to stick to sports. So when South Carolina coach Frank Martin was asked whether he would have a problem with players skipping a visit to the Trump White House if they won the national championship, he ducked -- literally -- to avoid it. Then after a 10-second pause, he gave a very thoughtful response.
Here’s a snippet of his response and why he says he’d be disappointed if his players chose to skip:
I haven’t though about it. Probably not. Probably not. I haven’t agreed with every President that’s been in the White House in my lifetime. But I love this country, and I love what this government stands for as a whole. I’m not going to judge our country based on who I like and who I don’t like.
I think we do an injustice to young people when we make them think this country is run by one person. I think it’s an injustice. Any time we take a stand against one person ... I think we do an injustice. The beautiful in our country is that we all have different voices, and we can all express our voices and our views.
I think I would be disappointed if any of our players chose not to attend. If they were adamant about it, I’m not going to force them to go. I’m not going to put their scholarship on the line and make them do something they feel that strongly about. But I would let them know as their coach, as the guy that tries to mentor them, I’d try to educate and try and prevent that from happening. At the end of the day, they are human beings. They don’t live in a country where you’re forced to do what you don’t want to do.
