Temple should fire John Chaney

Last week, Temple University basketball coach John Chaney sent a player into a game against St. Joseph's University to, in his words, "send a message,” for the illegal screens that he alleged St. Joe's had been using. Neimiah Ingram, the "goon” Chaney sent in to deliver that message, wound up breaking the right arm of St. Joseph's John Bryant, ending his season and his collegiate career (he's a senior). When Temple heard the news of Bryant's arm, Chaney should have been fired.

Three apologies and a suspension through the Atlantic 10 Tournament do not fully make up for what Chaney did. To cite his credentials as a Hall of Fame coach with over 700 career wins ring hollow to me. If Temple was considering firing him for the poor season this year, that would be one thing and I would say Chaney should stay.

But there is no excuse for a college coach, a supposed molder of men, to encourage- no, insist- that his players intentionally harm an opposing player. And for what? Illegal screens? John Bryant did nothing except wear a Saint Joseph's uniform, and now his college career was cut short. There is no reason why Chaney deserves a second chance.

Not to mention that Chaney, in a conference call with reporters prior to the game, said he would "send a message” to St. Joe's, who in his estimation, got away with too much illegal play in their earlier matchup this season, which Joe's won.

Oh, yes, did I mention the university? Chaney is not coaching professionals, he is coaching students at an institution of higher learning. He is dealing with amateurs, and he should be seriously punished for encouraging an unsafe environment for his players, who all look up to him.

Not only did Chaney lead to the serious injury of Bryant, but he abused Neimiah Ingram. Ingram, a rarely used scrub averaging under one point and one rebound per game, was merely following his coach's orders when he entered the game and fouled out in four minutes.

Ingram was in there for no reason but to harm St. Joe's players. Chaney used Ingram for his own petty reasons, putting a spotlight on a kid for all the wrong reasons. Why would Ingram refuse the coach's orders, especially when Chaney's the one who decides whether or not to extend scholarships? For a player averaging three minutes per game, he likely felt he had to do everything he could to stay on the good side of Chaney.

Then, in the post game press conference, Chaney showed little remorse, saying that he "sent a goon in” to get physical. Now Ingram is forever associated with the word "goon” and the situation that his coach put him in.

A grown man who instructs his team to cause serious physical harm to opponents for no reason is not some one who deserves a head coaching job. It doesn't matter if it's a Hall of Fame coach in Philadelphia or the interim head coach at Florida Atlantic. A lot of wins don't excuse a mistake.

A premeditated mistake at that. He told everyone what he was going to do well before the game happened. The officials and Linda Bruno, the commissioner of the Atlantic 10 also deserve blame for the incident. The referees didn't bat an eye when Ingram entered the game and started fouling at will. None of his five fouls were flagrant, not even the blatant foul on Bryant as he attempted a lay up late in the game.

Then Linda Bruno said she was satisfied with Chaney's initial self-imposed cop out of a punishment, which was going to be just one game. That essentially conveyed that what Chaney did was acceptable. You can get a one-game suspension for yelling at a referee, or almost any sort of disruption. One game wouldn't even have been a slap on the wrist; it would have felt almost like a full body massage.

Now Chaney suspended himself again through the Atlantic 10 tournament. But what if the 15-11 Owls make the NIT? Will he get to coach there, or will the never-ending scale of punishment continue on there?

What Temple University should do is steal a play from Chaney's book and send him a message. A note of dismissal, to be specific. Firing Chaney would show that 722 wins can not cover up for effectively tarnishing the career of both Bryant and Ingram.

John Bryant is now forced to sit on the bench in street clothes as St. Joseph's tries to make the NCAA Tournament for the final time in his four-year stay at the school.

If Chaney is allowed to potentially mold kids in this image ever again, it will be a colossal failure on the part of the A-10, Temple University and the NCAA.

When you coach amateurs, there are things more important than the win-loss record. The fact that he is the supposed molder of men troubles me deeply. Chaney has a permanent black mark on his 30-year career from this incident, and deservedly so.

He's earned 722 wins, two Final Four berth, many A-10 titles and the undying respect of many coaches in college basketball. But this incident was so shameful and so selfish and uncalled for, that Chaney deserves only one more thing to complete his career.

A pink slip.