Fresno State needs to be more transparent on coach who injured fans by punching window
If a Fresno State quarterback throws a bonehead interception, everybody sees. If a safety commits blatant pass interference, there’s nowhere to hide.
But if a member of the coaching staff gets so angry during a game that he punches out a press box window and sends two fans to the hospital with lacerations from the shattered glass that fell down upon them, which is exactly what took place Saturday night at Valley Children’s Stadium, he gets shuffled to the side while his identity remains hush hush. For now, at least.
That’s an interesting double standard, don’t you think? The main difference being what transpires on a football field (as opposed to stadium seating areas) isn’t subject to litigation. Which obviously has university officials so spooked they can’t see clearly enough to do the right thing.
Every Monday, at 11 a.m. inside the Josephine Theater, Bulldogs coach Jeff Tedford holds his weekly press conference. That would’ve been the time for Fresno State Athletic Director Terry Tumey to disclose the coach’s name — Tedford referred to him as “one of our (graduate assistants)” during an interview with ABC 30 — and announce he has been placed on administrative leave.
Even better, the coach should have appeared on the podium himself, flanked by Tedford and Tumey, and been compelled to make a public apology to all Bulldogs fans in attendance that night in addition to any private ones to the families directly impacted.
That’s how a person takes responsibility for their own reckless behavior. Not by having his employer shield him from public scrutiny under an institutional veil of secrecy.
It’s fine for Tumey and Tedford to apologize for something they didn’t do. It would mean a lot more, not to mention send a better message, coming from the apprentice coach (which is essentially what GAs are) whose quick temper and flying fist sent two fans to the hospital.
And judging by the chef’s knife-sized shards of thick glass that remained inside the broken window frame instead of succumbing to gravity, as seen in photographs, the university is fortunate more people weren’t injured or possibly even killed. This could’ve been a much uglier story.
Stadium glass
There will doubtlessly be questions about the press box windows at Valley Children’s Stadium and why they apparently aren’t made from shatter-resistant glass. That’s something I can’t answer. However, having sat in that press box for more than two decades, I’m fairly confident in saying none of the windows have been replaced since the last major stadium renovation in 1991.
During that time, some 175 college football games have been held in that stadium. Meaning roughly 350 sets of coaches, half employed by Fresno State and half by the visiting team, have occupied their respective boxes during games. Not once, at least until Saturday night, did something happen that caused one of them to get angry enough to punch the window in front of them so hard that it shattered.
Which tells me this is more about an individual’s temperament than any tempered glass.
Regardless, this was a highly visible betrayal of public trust that merited an out-front apology by the individual responsible. Instead, we got the careful administrative response from a university spooked by what that person might say and how it would be perceived in court.
In a situation such as this, doing the right thing starts with opening up and telling all. Instead Fresno State, probably heeding the advice of lawyers, circled the wagons. Not a good look.
This story was originally published October 17, 2022 at 3:46 PM.
