LIHU‘E — It appears that Kaua‘i High School is on the lookout for a new head football coach heading into the 2011 season. That decision has been reached by school administrators with principal Linda Smith having the final say in
LIHU‘E — It appears that Kaua‘i High School is on the lookout for a new head football coach heading into the 2011 season.
That decision has been reached by school administrators with principal Linda Smith having the final say in the matter, according to the team’s current head coach, Derek Borrero.
“I was approached (in mid-December) by (athletic director) Ross Shimabukuro to say that Linda will not be renewing my contract due to a complaint of coaches conduct, regarding one family that made a complaint,” Borrero said. “I didn’t even see the complaint yet. It was told to me it’s a three-page complaint of coaches conduct… The bottom line is cussing on the field.”
Attempts to contact Smith regarding the matter were not returned.
Borrero has been Kaua‘i’s head coach for four years and has been a coach within the program for the past 12 years.
The Red Raiders have been the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation varsity champions for the last eight seasons. Borrero took over the program from previous head coach Keli‘i Morgado, now the coach at Kapa‘a High School.
Similar circumstances led to the change in head coaches at that time, with the matter ultimately going to court.
Borrero said that though he was initially shocked by the decision, he is not looking for a fight with the school or Smith.
“I have personally accepted the fact that she made a decision, not behind me as the head coach next year,” he said. “I don’t agree, I’d like for it to go the other way, but I’m a man that was brought up that you respect authority and in the chain of authority, she’s my boss.”
That being said, Borrero said he is not ready to sit back and let someone else take over without his name staying in the conversation.
“(My assistants and I) are still open to the opportunity if we get a chance to still coach at Kaua‘i High School,” he said. “I’m not ready to give this thing up. We didn’t do anything wrong, really that everybody else doesn’t do in this nation. I would understand if… this was my time, maybe something like this would just get my butt out of there.”
The issue of swearing during practices and games is not something new to Borrero, as it has come up before, but never with a formal complaint. He said that it is an issue he is more than willing to sit down and discuss to try to put specific actions into place. As of now, he said, there are no rules or consequences.
“I sat down with (vice principal Penny Vess) and Ross and I said ‘OK, I accept. There’s some swearing that went on and I’ve got a complaint, but you know what guys? I’ve got a clean record here. I don’t have a blemish on my record, and I just think that the punishment doesn’t meet the crime. Get together with a booster guy, our athletic director, our head president, put our heads together.’”
The coach admits that there can be language issues from some of the staff, himself included.
“I’ve got coaches who don’t (swear) at all,” he said. “That’s just them. Myself, I try hard, until bah! Then I feel bad about it because two days before I was talking about God with those kids.”
Borrero said that he would be open to a policy in place that lays out guidelines for specific coaches conduct that would have real ramifications and results.
“I need something that I can come to my coaches with,” he said. “Right now, I go to my coaches ‘OK, I just had a meeting with Linda and she said to make sure nobody swears. So nobody swear.’ They’re looking at me like ‘OK, can we continue with special teams?’ But if they know, say two days you can not come to practice. If they swear Thursday, you can not be at the game Saturday, I think this would begin to work. But I do not have that opportunity.”
Borrero said he has always had a good relationship with Smith and even other than on-the-field results, everyone seemed to be pleased with the way the program has been run and operated.
“It’s like having a marriage for 12 years,” he said. “Everything’s great. We’ve had kids, I make good money, she makes good money, we drive the nice car. And then all of a sudden, she comes home and says ‘I want a divorce,’ and she’s serious. She doesn’t want to talk about it. She starts packing and she leaves. That’s what it is.”
Since finding out that his contract, which technically runs through the end of the current school year, would not be renewed by Kaua‘i High, Borrero has been in contact with Dennis Ishii, a friend in the football world. Ishii, whose mother is a Kaua‘i High School graduate, is involved in personnel evaluation for the National Football League and was recently part of a think tank to select the next head coach for the Dallas Cowboys, Borrero said.
Ishii, after being told of the situation, passed on the information to a lawyer. Borrero is hopeful that the situation will not come to that point, but Ishii feels that if push came to shove, Borrero would have a strong case.
“His lawyer said to him, ‘How do you want to attack this? This thing has so much holes in it, it’s worse than swiss cheese,’” Borrero said regarding the coach’s contract.
“Can we reconcile?” Borrero said of his relationship with the administration. “I’ll take a one-game suspension. I won’t coach at Kamehameha… What do you want? Let’s put together a policy procedure. There is nothing.”
Borrero made clear that assistant coach Mike Tresler, the team’s defensive coordinator, resigned prior to the complaint ever being filed due to time constraints that have arisen. Tresler, a senior vice-president at Grove Farm, has been one of the more fiery coaches on the sidelines.
“Nothing changed this year as far as language,” Borrero said. “Tresler is always Tresler, and me, it will come out in the heat of battle.”
He said the circumstances will often dictate the type of language that is most likely to be heard, which he feels is no different than any other football program in the country.
“I never swore at Shea (Shimabukuro) once this year,” he said. “Never need to. But if there’s a guy down here that I’ve got to say ‘You’ve got to get your f***ing head out of your a**,’ every once in a great while, I’ve got to say it.
“A high-level team can not get to a high level with ‘Can you please?’” he said.
The tough love is warranted in many situations, as Borrero said the coaching staff deals with a lot of tough kids, some of whom come to them from severe situations.
“We’re not here to raise teenagers,” he said. “We’re here to raise young men. You’re only called ‘teenagers.’ That’s not something you’ve got to be. Young men, you’ve got to be.”
However, with parameters in place, he feels the culture can be changed to meet the school’s, as well as the parents’ standards.
“You think I swear when I’m talking to my pastor?” he said, noting that if the fear is there, it can change behavior.
For now, Borrero has been sitting back and waiting for further word, hoping that after a short period he can discuss the issue again with Smith, with whom he repeated he has always had a good relationship.
“Since I’m your 12-year coach,” he said, directing a hypothetical question to Smith, “with no record, can I get a break?… When you wanted me to coach, whoo! Chocolate candies, candlelights, wide door open… Now we can not even talk. Just tell me why.”
While he is adamant about wanting to return to Kaua‘i High, the coach notes that some time away would not be the worst thing, as he has been enjoying the past few weeks with his wife and 7-year-old daughter.
“Some people don’t understand how hard it is to win one game,” he said. “Not to mention bunches. And if people don’t believe, then go ask our wives because our wives have all the scars, especially mine, to prove it. Pop Warner all the way up to the NFL.”
He also has plans to do personal training with promising high school players in order to prepare them for the next level and training them to “get this off this rock.”
But his focus still remains on the Raider program and whether or not its decision not to bring him back has really done anything positive.
“So what’s going to happen? The next coach is going to come in and nobody going to swear? I’m not this way, but if I stand there for a week, you’re telling me nobody’s going to say ‘ah, f***’? Well, what are we going to do now?”
Borrero’s main assertion is that the conclusion Smith reached seems unnecessary and hasty in his mind, as many alternatives were possible.
“I understand the rule, but it’s not cut and dry,” he said. “You can go the other way. You don’t have to do this to me and my staff. You don’t have to.”
