Stoops faces discipline dilemma
Baker Mayfield has apologized for his arrest last weekend, now coach Bob Stoops must decide on a punishment.
Baker Mayfield apologized Tuesday for his actions over the weekend in Fayetteville, Ark., where Mayfield was arrested on misdemeanor charges of public intoxication, disorderly conduct, fleeing and resisting arrest. You can read our story here.
The long apology, delivered via twitter, seemed to be in Mayfield’s words. I assume he had some help writing the apology, but there’s nothing wrong with that. I think we’d all prefer a live apology, but I assume that’s coming, too. So Mayfield took quick and proper action to try to rectify his massive screwup.
Now comes speculation about a possible penalty from Bob Stoops, and that’s what interests me. The concept of discipline is interesting, because suspensions are usually the first thing that comes to mind. But are they best form of punishment?
If Stoops sits Mayfield for all or part of the Sept. 2 opener against TexasEl Paso, that would be a serious punishment. You only get a precious few Saturdays in which to play this game. You work literally all year – summer and winter workouts, spring and autumn practice – for the chance to play 12-14 games a year. Missing one of those games is no small thing.
But if Stoops suspends Mayfield for UTEP, he’s punishing more than Mayfield. He’s punishing Orlando Brown and Dimitri Flowers and Caleb Kelly and every other Sooner who walked the straight and narrow, and who didn’t act like a fool in the Ozarks.
A quarterback is different. A quarterback has a special status on a football team. Increased value. Lose a tight end for a game, and it hurts. Lose a quarterback for a game, and it cripples.
Playing UTEP is not about beating UTEP. It’s about preparing for Ohio State. And it’s hard to see how playing without Mayfield helps the Sooners prepare for Ohio State. If Mayfield sitting out all or part of the opener keeps the Sooners from being their best in Columbus, then all of Mayfield’s teammates have been punished for the antics of one.
I know. Some things are bigger than football. If Baker Mayfield made this bed, he has to lie in it. But do Erick Wren and Jordan Parker and Mark Andrews have to lie in it, too?
That’s the dilemma Stoops faces. He has to weigh rightful punishment with impact on the team. How does he relate to Mayfield that behavior like this is unacceptable, without damaging the hard work and effort of 100 guys who apparently did not go to Arkansas and did not get wasted and did not spill food down their shirt and who did not shout obscenities and who did not run from police?
Those kinds of decisions are what a coach has to process. And when people say that all members of a team, or a staff, or an organization, or a workforce, or a family, should be treated the same, they are not living in reality. Everyone is different. Every stage in life is different.
A quarterback is different. The quarterback at Oklahoma is lauded with much glory. Possible Heisman Trophy trips. Statewide adulation. Incredible post-college opportunities, be they coaching, television, politics, business. You name it.
But the quarterback at Oklahoma is loaded with much responsibility and much scrutiny, too. If a backup safety had done what Mayfield did, we would find it interesting for five minutes and move on. But because it’s the quarterback, it will be a story for the entire 2017 season.
Yet also because it’s the quarterback, the ramifications for the team are different. Stoops has to think of the impact on everyone.
Yes, Stoops jettisoned Rhett Bomar in August 2006. And yes, he had to think of the impact on the entire team when he ran off his starting quarterback the week practice was to begin. I think that tells us a lot about Stoops’ trust in Bomar. There wasn’t any.
I don’t sense that kind of plate-breaking with Mayfield. A young guy thinking he’s invincible and doing something stupid. And now quite contrite, if you believe his words, and there’s no reason not to believe Mayfield.
Maybe Mayfield will get suspended. But Stoops has to know that his decision can affect more than just his quarterback.