HS coach forgives Koenning
Clemson beat reporters were gathered in the Memorial Stadium press box Tuesday afternoon, writing about one storm as another — an apparent tornado — tore through (Greenville News photo).
Vigor (Ala) High School coach Kerry Stevenson said he was merely defending his players this morning when he told a writer from the Mobile Press-Register that Clemson defensive coordinator Vic Koenning “better not come back on campus.â€
The last 24 hours, a couple of people have wished they hadn’t said what they said.
I spoke with Stevenson this afternoon, and he said that comment was made before he heard back from Koenning on his side of the story.
For anyone who might need a refresher – on Monday night, Koenning responded to a simple question about star Crimson Tide freshman Julio Jones by saying he had visited Jones and fellow blue-chip receiver B.J. Scott at their high schools this past spring. Both left campus in Cadillac Escalades, Koenning said – essentially making an accusation Alabama had paid for its recruits.
Koenning sought out reporters later Monday night, suggesting he had been “kidding around,†but the damage had already been done.
Stevenson said he was not aware of the comment until Scott called him this morning and expressed bewilderment about it.
It bothered Stevenson, too – hence his reply to the Press-Register reporter.
Koenning’s visit to Vigor happened about the time of the school prom, Stevenson said, and Scott had rented a sport-utility vehicle – a GMC Envoy, he thought – to take to the event. Scott’s car, a 1980s Cutlass, was stolen recently, Stevenson said.
Stevenson said Koenning returned his phone call late Tuesday morning – after Stevenson spoke to the Press-Register – and Stevenson accepted Koenning’s explanation that in some publications, his comments were taken out of context.
Asked if Koenning was again welcome on campus, Stevenson replied: “I can’t count the number of times the good Lord has forgiven me. … I took it for what it is. That’s just Vic being sarcastic like Vic always is.â€
17 Comments to “HS coach forgives Koenning”
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Clemson Beat writer Paul Strelow blogs about Clemson University athletics.
We’ll see….I mean, how does coach Stevenson introduce Koenning to his players? “Hey, guys…this is Coach Koenning. You know, the one who made the dumb@@@ joke about BJ”
Give me a break…
strelow… it seems you were searchin for a story here bud. I immediately took the answer from coach K as a joke when I read it. Dunno why a big deal was made about this.
Doug — For starters, I didn’t create a story here. Koenning’s remark was already making its way around the Web when I made my post. And once it was out there, it couldn’t be ignored. Furthermore, none of the six people who were witness to Koenning making the remark considered it “a joke,” and we’ve had a great deal of exposure to how/when Koenning is being sarcastic.
He was given several chances to back out of what he was putting out there, and instead made a crack later about those kids getting upgrades in a few years. But most of us had turned off our recorders by then.
When anyone is quoted for something they didn’t want to say these days, how do they handle it? They say they were misquoted or misconstrued, and the public typically sides with them because of an overall disdain for th e media. It’s Damage Control 101.
No one but Koenning knows for sure the motive behind his remark, because it was not as if it were solicited. But the only thing that suggested it was a joke was him later saying it was.
I love how he can man up and accept responsibility for his actions while at the same time blaming everyone else for not getting ‘the joke’. Way to set an example for your players. I wouldn’t let that guy near a microphone ever again.
And Doug, what if one of our coaches said this about someone from your school? I bet it would be a story then.
Paul is a professional. I don’t know why everyone is jumping on the joke bandwagon.
Paul was there. I imagine in a face-to-face conversation he’d tell you he didn’t think Keonning was joking.
I consider myself a funny guy. I like to joke around.
I have never used “That’s serious,” as a punchline.
But everyone seems to know better than the man who was there.
Alabama fans are a bit battered and bruised about accusations – even in jest – about NCAA issues. I know the Clemson faithful can understand this.
It was a silly lapse in judgment at best. Imagine if Jim McElwain (the Alabama OC) had said that he had tried to recruit Kenneth Page and was upset that he didn’t sign with Bama as he drove off in a new Viper and later tried to write it off as a joke.
See you guys in Atlanta.
Paul, you have done a good job covering this story. I live in south Alabama, near Foley, Julio’s hometown. Clearly, Koenning will not be recruiting in Alabama anymore. Most recruits will tell him to hit the road when he shows up at their high schools — you can count on that.
This year’s Alabama team has an “edge”, unlike any team we’ve had for a few years. The Koenning incident couldn’t sharpen that edge any further. Our talent isn’t quite as good as Clemson’s, but Saban has our boys ready to play. Saturday night is going to be fun.
Paul,
Just wondered how you and others distinguish Koenning’s jokes from his serious statements. Facial expressions, smiles etc following jokes? What made you and other reporters so sure Koenning wasn’t kidding in this case since Koenning often jokes around in a sarcastic/impromptu manner as the HS coach impied?
And wouldn’t a full text reprint of the entire interview (or at least the quotes/questions immediately preceding, following and including Koenning’s Escalade/recruit comments), directly from recorders be an easy means for reporters to defend ‘taken out of context’ explanations?
Thanks!
Jordan,
I can’t speak for how others distinguish jokes from serious. But does it not say something that everyone else there believed he was being serious, too?
The full text of the interview wouldn’t show you any more or less than what the specific quote suggested, in my opinion. And that does not take into account what was said before and after tape recorders were turned off.
The only debate, in my opinion, was what to do when Koenning came back and said he was “kinda kidding around.” And from a media member’s perspective, that debate ended when the quote appeared elsewhere, because it was going to spread like wildfire then (which is not to suggest I wouldn’t have put it in print anyhow). So it was then my job to try to put it all in context by laying out the events as they occurred.
Take care. — PS
It just seems to me that a coach with his experience would know better than to make a comment that could be misconstrued. They spend so much time telling the players to not give bulletin board material to the other team, and here they have coach doing it. Whether it was a joke or not it implies wrongdoing and that only hurts the kids involved. I agree with the peson who wrote that future players may be wary about talking to him.
So who paid for that GMC Envoy? Sounds to me like Koenning made a bitter joke, but it also sounds like that boy was driving a car he couldn’t afford. My wish is if there is impropriety, that Koenning would (a) be more on point with accusations rather then embellishing them, and (b) stand by truthful accusations instead of backing away from them. Alabama has a long and sordid history of skirting the rules. If they’ve done it again, call a spade a spade. If not, then shut the mouth.
Paul,
Should’ve left the ‘others’ part out of my original question because it was your reasoning for reaching that conclusion that I was interested in actually, and after just having read your initial article on the subject, I believe you reported the ‘incident’ fairly.
Without knowing how accurately the other reporters who say they believed he wasn’t joking are able to distinguish Koenning’s jokes from non-jokes or how honest they truly are…the fact that everyone says they believed he was sincere isn’t very revealing to me personally. (Not intended as a slight to reporters as this applies to any and everyone imo).
In my experience deadpan deliveries can be impossible to decipher, especially in a believable scenario like the one VK described, and based on everything I’ve seen/read regarding Koenning’s delivery, his would fall into that category.
Enjoy your reporting.
STRELOW: I DON’T APPROVE OF KOENNING’S REMARKS, JOKE OR NO JOKE. IT APPEARS TO ME THAT YOU ARE TRYING TO RIGHT A WRONG ALSO. (FLYING OFF TO WRITE A STORY). YOU ARE OUT OF MULLIGANS WITH ME.
Mike,
Seems as though you have a reading comprehension problem. It said that he rented a GMC Envoy for the prom. Not exactly an expensive thing to do. And to ask, why do you assume thyat his family could not afford an Envoy? It is not an expensive car to rent or buy. Are you assuming that his family, because they are black, could not afford a decent automobile?
And for the record, Alabama does not have a long sordid history of skirting the rules. Once, Langham signed with an agent after the Sugar Bowl and the NCAA believed that Alabama should have known. Then the Logan Young affair which was serious. Two occasions which there are many schools that have a much longer tradition of violating rules.
Some people will say anything to try and shut alabama out completely, just because they are so jealous of Bama. They are so quick to accuse of cheating, if the truth was known thier school is the one cheating!
The guilty always accuse
Mike,
“Alabama has a long and sordid history.”
Heh. From a Clemson fan? Wow. Just wow. Can I borrow a cup of hypocrisy?
Anyway, Julio borrowed the money to rent the Envoy from Kenneth Page:
http://brahsome.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/kenpagedollars.jpg
Roll Tide!
34-10