COLLEGE FOOTBALL NEWS

Strong: Colleges need to prepare players better

The Sports Xchange

September 29, 2014 at 4:51 pm.

Character.

If NFL commissioner Roger Goodell learned just one thing during his meeting on Sunday with Texas coach Charlie Strong, it’s how highly Strong values character.

And college programs are not doing a good enough job of molding players’ character for them to be responsible adults, Strong said Monday.

The first-year Longhorns coach has raised eyebrows among Texas faithful and around college football after kicking nine players off the team less than nine months since taking over for Mack Brown. Some of those who have been disciplined are star players expected to contribute to the Longhorns’ success this year.

Strong has become renowned for his five core values that all players must live by: honesty, treating women with respect, no drugs, no guns and no stealing.

Goodell, who has been criticized for his handling of the Ray Rice incident and other domestic issues met with Strong to discuss a variety of issues that is troubling both the college and pro game.

“(It) was not so much about our core values, but also we just talked about the character of athletes,” Strong told the Dallas Morning News. “I said to him what is happening in the NFL is we’re sending you some players that have questionable character, and I said you’re giving them a lot of money.

“You give somebody who has bad character a lot of money, that’s a situation probably you want to avoid,” Strong said. “We have to do a better job in college of just preparing young men and doing a better job with their character.”

Strong said he emphasizes trust as well as character to his players.

“When a young man knows you care about him and he can trust you, you can get a lot of things done with him,” Strong said. “When you have 95 percent doing it right, and 5 percent who aren’t, they’re looking like what are you going to do about it?”

League officials hope by creating a better football culture at the collegiate level, future domestic violence incidents will be avoided.

Goodell met with almost a dozen former players last week and came away with an urgent recommendation that the league needs to act swiftly when dealing with those accused of domestic violence.

On Sunday, NFL executive vice president Troy Vincent also indicated that the discussion with Strong might be the first of many meetings between NFL officials and college coaches as they attempt to develop a stronger relationship with colleges and universities.

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