I know, I know. A college football coach potentially homophobic? Stop the presses! But in the case of West Virginia (ooh, another shocker!) coach Rich Rodriguez, recent news gives us actual evidence.
Which pains me, because I thought he was daddy. In any event, as reported by ESPN and every other major sports outlet, the coach just instituted a curious rule. He’s officially banning his team…from dancing on TikTok?! And it’s the why that really gets to the heart of it.
“They’re going to be on it, so I’m not banning them from it,” the coach said earlier this week. “I’m just banning them from dancing on it. It’s like, look, we try to have a hard edge or whatever, and you’re in there in your tights dancing on TikTok, ain’t quite the image of our program that I want.”
And there it is. God forbid the players have a little fun. Especially if it makes them look like big ol’ mos.
Shares EPSN: “He said he has talked to his players about the tendency in society to emphasize the individual rather than the team and that banning TikTok dancing is something he can do to put the focus where he thinks it belongs.”
“I’m allowed to do that. I can have rules,” he said. “Twenty years from now, if they want to be sitting in their pajamas in the basement eating Cheetos and watching TikTok or whatever the hell, they can go at it, smoking cannabis, whatever. Knock yourself out…I hope our focus can be on winning football games. How about let’s win the football game and not worry about winning the TikTok?”
It’s an even more unpopular move considering the new college football landscape. Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) rules allow college athletes to profit (and in some cases, profit hugely) off their brand. Limiting what they do on social media could very well limit their income. So this proclamation seems like a bad idea on many fronts. And it’s odd to proudly broadcast it to the world.
So what say you? Is Rich homophobic? In the meantime, head to Falcon to see the proper way daddies should treat football players!
