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 A group of young men aspiring to make their school's football roster are brought to an off-campus location for a football camp where their new head coach will subject them to ten of the hardest days of their lives. Some accounts say that over 100 players were present at the beginning, but those at the camp say the number was less. Conditions will be sweltering with temperatures reaching in excess of 100 degrees Fahrenheit. And don't expect the rain to come any time soon; it hasn't rained in years.
The only comfort afforded to them will be cold, soaking wet towels; one for the offense and one for the defense. Players will rise before the sun and won't go to sleep until well after it has set. Yes, this will be hell.
For how long will the coach who subjects his players to this environment last? A year? Half a season? A week? The coach who subjected his players to this camp lasted 38 years as a college football head coach. No, it wasn't Denzel Washington in Remember the Titans. It was Paul "Bear" Bryant.
This is the story of Bryant's first year as head coach at Texas A&M University. He was hired in 1954 and brought his players to what is now Texas Tech University Center at Junction, but was then an attachment of Texas A&M, to toughen them up and weed out the weakest players on the roster. The team finished with a 1-9 record in 1954, but the following year finished 7-2-1 and then 9-0-1 the next, good enough to win the Southwest Conference.
The number of players left standing, so to speak, when all was said and done varies, but Jim Dent, author of The Junction Boys: How Ten Days in Hell with Bear Bryant Forged a Championship Team, lists 37 players among the 'survivors' of the camp. The Junction Boys, as they are commonly referred, have also been the subject of a feature film by ESPN.
Player abuse has been a hot subject in the last couple of months thanks to more than a couple accusations and investigations. This season, three head coaches at major college football programs have been fired due to alleged player abuse.
Abuse in Kansas
 Mark Mangino was the first to be let go when on December 3 the Kansas athletic department forced his resignation. Allegations began to surface that Mangino had poked Arist Wright in the chest during a walk through before the Jayhawks' game against Colorado on October 17. Subsequent reports of Mangino's verbal abuse of players have since begun to surface. Marcus Herford, a former wide receiver at Kansas, described the abuse: "[Mangino] would take your personal business and he would attack you with it. There's nothing wrong with being a disciplinarian. But there is a way to handle your players and keep them motivated. His way was to demotivate you and make you feel as low as you can go."
Former wide receiver Raymond Brown commented on a personal experience of abuse he had with the coach. His brother had been shot in the arm in St. Louis and according to Brown Mangino used that information to demean the wide receiver. "I dropped a pass and [Mangino] was mad. And I said, 'Yes, sir. Yes, sir.' The yelling didn't bother me. But then he said, 'Shut up!' He said, 'If you don't shut up, I'm going to send you back to St. Louis so you can get shot with your homies.' I was irate. I wanted to hurt him, to be honest with you." Brown goes on to say, "I don't know if poking and grabbing is physical abuse. Sometimes Mangino maybe goes over the edge. I have seen him run up to a player and push a player. Sometimes he gets in your face and you feel like, 'OK, now you're in my bubble.'"
Mangino has had a history of controversy throughout his coaching career. While head coach of Lincoln High School in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, parents demanded his firing citing his "harsh approach to people." The school did not fire Mangino, but he decided to leave on his own. In 2002, during his son's football game, undisclosed action was taken against Mangino after he yelled at the officiating crew for missing what he perceived as a late hit on his son. More recently, five major NCAA violations were reported by the University of Kansas in 2005, which led to the school being placed on probation.
Closets in Lubbock
 Texas Tech's Mike Leach was the next to go. Adam James, a wide receiver on Leach's Red Raiders, accused the coach of ordering his confinement to an equipment room and an electrical closet in the days following his diagnosis with a concussion. Leach's saga was given added exposure because of James' father, former Southern Methodist and NFL running back and current ESPN commentator Craig James.
Leach has disputed the conditions described by James and the family's lawyer. His own lawyer, Ted Liggett, granted KCBD News Channel 11, an NBC affiliate in Lubbock, Texas, a tour of the infamous rooms to once and for all settle the dispute over the conditions James was subjected to.
James made a cell phone video of the room he claims Leach sent him to, although some reports state that James went into the room voluntarily. The details of what exactly happened are hazy at this point, with both sides disputing reports from the other side. Leach filed a lawsuit against Texas Tech last week, so don't expect the story to go away.
The Latest
 Friday morning the hammer was brought down upon another coach under investigation for player mistreatment. South Florida head coach Jim Leavitt was fired following an investigation by the school looking into claims that he slapped sophomore Joel Miller during halftime of the team's November 21 game against Louisville.
USF Vice President Michael Hoad has stated that the decision to fire Leavitt came in response to the "preponderance of evidence" in the case. The school's investigation included interviews with 21 players, 5 of whom, including Miller, are considered witnesses to the alleged incident, strength coach Ron McKeefery and two state troopers who normally escort Leavitt during games.
What's strange about the case is that Miller told reporters and interviewers that Leavitt did not strike him; this after AOL Fanhouse initially broke the story claiming that Miller accused his coach of such actions. Miller's attorney, however, claims that the retraction came in defense of his head coach and that Miller did not want to see Leavitt fired. It's all very confusing.
Striking a player is something that is not, and should never be, tolerated and thankfully it has been that way for quite some time.
Woody Hayes had been the head coach at Ohio State since 1951 when he punched Clemson defensive lineman Charlie Bauman in the throat during the 1978 Gator Bowl after becoming enraged that his team had committed a turnover. Hayes was fired the following morning. School president Harold Enarson defended the firing of the longtime head coach by saying, "there isn't a university or athletic conference in this country that would permit a coach to physically assault a college athlete."
The three recently unemployed coaches mentioned above are not alone in dealing with controversy regarding player mistreatment. Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez was accused by several anonymous players of requiring his players to work out for more hours than NCAA rules specified. In November, auditors handling the case found that Rodriguez and his coaching staff did not file monthly logs keeping track of how long players worked out and practiced during the offseason. There is yet to be a penalty in the case.
Our society has become more sensitive to mistreatment of individuals by their superiors. This has allowed players to come forth with allegations that they had been physically or verbally abused by their football coaches, when in the past such allegations may have been brushed off as 'part of the sport'. It provides an interesting sociological window into the way times and attitudes have change not only in the sport, but in all aspects of society.
Anybody who has ever played football knows that the sport requires both physical and mental toughness. In response to the firing of these three coaches, there has been a lot of debate as to where to draw the line. Most would consider striking a player or humiliating him as crossing that line. The firing of Mangino did not draw the heaps of public criticism or skepticism that the firing of Leach has drawn. It is too early to weigh the public response to Leavitt's firing, but if allegations that he struck a player is true, his firing was very much warranted. - Danny Hobrock
Danny is a sports journalist who primarily covers college football and professional baseball. He is a contributor for several sports related blogs and is the former editor of a political and current events website.
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It's a tough sport, so be prepared for it and learn how to deal with it or don't play - Try telling THAT to the parents of the Kentucky High School Football player who DIED when the "Coach" forced the whole team to exercise excessively in dangerously hot temperatures without water breaks as PUNISHMENT for a poor practice and even told the players "They would run till someone quit the team", he was acquitted of Murder and who knows, maybe he'll be paid your tax dollars to be entrusted with the care and education of someone you love, after all, school teachers and coaches in EDUCATIONAL settings are IMMUNE from criminal/legal liability when they abuse students, in stark contrast, police officers, doctors, prison guards or parents would face prison time and civil liability as consequences for the same actions.
View largely ignored shockingly graphic reports online issued by Human Rights Watch and the ACLU titled "A Violent Education" and the report issued by the National Disability Rights Newtwork titled "School is Not Supposed to Hurt" and read the horror stories of abuse students have suffered in our schools and how their families are powerless to protect them and others from this treatment.
"Spanking" is constantly being sexually glorified in our culture as acceptable and harmless fun, oops seems we forget that school employees in 20 states can LEGALLY hit students with WOODEN PADDLES with ABSOLUTELY NO PROTOCOL and are not required to have parental consent or notification in some states. In a 5 year period since 2001 over 2,500 teachers have been punished for inappropriate sexual behavior with students and female teachers are sexually preying on students (male and female) at an increasingly alarming rate.
There is a CONFLICT OF INTEREST when coaches are paid millions of dollars for the performance of student athletes and they do not have the self-control or discipline to teach students integrity and positive values based on "mutual respect", yet feel justified in abusing those entrusted to their care!
The Administrators of the Colleges who have recently fired abusive coaches deserve appreciation and support for making sound decisions demanding integrity and accountability from their staff. ALL STUDENTS DESERVE TO BE TREATED WITH HUMAN DIGNITY AND RESPECT! U.S. Government Officials MUST ABOLISH PHYSICAL/CORPORAL PUNISHMENT OF ALL CHILDREN/STUDENTS IN ALL SCHOOLS/EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS, THE COST $0.