One of the most publicized scandals in athletics in the past year was at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The team in question was the Duke Lacrosse team. Duke, a highly ranked team in the NCAA and have won several titles, had some of their student-athletes involved in an alleged rape of an exotic dancer at a party. The coach at the time, Mike Pressler, resigned and the team cancelled their season.
Coach John Donowski talks to the Duke Lacrosse Team
Now Duke has reinstated their team for the upcoming season, and have hired a new coach, who is John Danowski, recently met with ESPN contribuer Quint Kessenich to show people who he is as a person, and what his goals are for the upcoming season. Danowski sat down with Mr. Kessnenich and talked about his upbringing, his family, and what he wants to bring to Duke Lacrosse. To overcome the crisis that Duke continues to face and support his athletes, Danowski said:
“I think the biggest thing I can do is be a listener. Be there for people. Look them in the eye and care about them. Let them know how much you care.”
Danowski also points out in this interview that sometimes put lacrosse ahead of everything that they do, and it becomes the only thing in their lives. He says that “sometimes when you put yourself on a pedestal, it becomes bigger than life. Sometimes those athletes struggle with real life issues. This is a real life issue. They’ll be stronger because of this experience. The humbleness for them is that they are not sure how people are going to look at them or treat them, but there’s a strongness of character that they possess and they always have.”
In public relations, one important thing that some corporations and individuals forget about is relationships. If someone knows you and they are in a crisis– you have to help them out in some manner. If you overcome a challenge and crisis such as the Duke lacrosse players have done, then they will be tougher in dealing with crises in the future. In this situation during the crisis, Duke is making this a human factor issue. By showing Coach Danowski the real person to the public, Duke thinks that this tactic would create sympathy and understanding from the public towards the lacrosse team and the university, while creating excitement about the new season.
Duke has got to understand that by just hiring a new coach with a new philosphy, that changes are not going to happen overnight. It’s good to see who the coach is as a person and where he comes from, but people want answers still from Duke and what is going on in the investigation. Danowski has many issues to address– making sure that the environment for the players is a positive one, how his reputation is going to be affected by this scandal, and that the media will be watching him more now than ever before to see what he does to change the lacrosse team.
This will be a long and tough road for them, and the donors may not give as much support to the program before the scandal, and recruiting could suffer greatly. Duke has set up a web site to post information and updates about this case for alumni, media, parents, donors, and others to look at . Duke has to rebuild their reputation as an academic and athletic institution, and it’s going to take some time. Coach Danowski has an uphill battle ahead of him– hopefully he will make a difference at Duke.
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