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Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The Growing Debate Over Coach Kelly and the Local Media

Chip Kelly never has any problem being courteous and professional to Dan Patrick and Erin Andrews. In fact, he caters to them. He saves his curt, uncooperative answers for the beat writers and local television guys.

It's entirely possible to control access and limit disclosures of sensitive information without being rude. Chip Kelly is the face of the Oregon program, and he needs to modify his approach to press conferences. They are part of his job, and in this one area, he could learn a lot from Mike Bellotti.

Just give honest answers, Coach. Avoid condescension, and recognize the reporters have jobs too. They're asking questions the fans want to read about. Even when the answers have to be careful ones or involve medical privacy, he can convey that without attacking the questioner.

The press is not the enemy. UCLA is. And there are only two ways to avoid the media attention that comes with a number two ranking. Quit, or start losing. Not too much, however, because that brings on another kind of attention altogether.

And in the words of the immortal Forrest Gump, that's all I have to say about that.

1 comment:

  1. I dunno if I agree. He's from the east coast and has that east coast bark on him.

    ReplyDelete