Just a few months after finding their way back to respectability
on the gridiron, the Live Oak High football program and longtime
coach Glen Webb lost their way off the field.
Just a few months after finding their way back to respectability on the gridiron, the Live Oak High football program and longtime coach Glen Webb lost their way off the field. Not even an 8-3 record, a third-place finish in the Tri-County Athletic League and a Central Coast Section playoff berth could save the program or Webb from the fallout caused by a volatile letter to the editor published in The Times earlier this year.
After reviewing the letter, which criticized Sobrato High’s actions and questioned school officials’ motives for withdrawing the football program from the TCAL at the last moment, a CCS panel decided to place Live Oak football on a year’s probation for a recruiting violation. On Friday, Webb announced his resignation after more than two decades as an assistant coach and head coach at Live Oak. He will continue as defensive coordinator under new head coach Rick Booth.
Putting Live Oak on probation for the letter was overkill. The letter should not have cost a well-respected coach his job. Webb’s letter constituted a sportsmanship violation rather than a recruiting violation.
It crossed the line by attacking Sobrato – a clear violation of the tenets of good sportsmanship. It’s a stretch to say that, by knocking Sobrato, Webb was attempting to “recruit” more players to Live Oak.
The letter did invite prospective players to Live Oak’s spring practice, something we’d publish in the sports section without hesitation – for the Acorns or the Sobrato Bulldogs. Besides, Webb indicated that he was merely responding to talk in the community that Sobrato’s football schedule would be safer for younger players than Live Oak’s, and that he was merely trying to assuage those concerns and prevent an exodus to the crosstown rival.
The penalty from CCS should have been a warning letter. A call from CCS Commissioner Nancy Lazenby Blaser to Live Oak Principal Nick Boden, followed by an official letter of reprimand, would have sufficed. Probation should have been considered only if there was a prior violation.
Finally, we believe the football program is losing a fine head coach as a result of this incident. Live Oak is fortunate that an experienced replacement in Booth was available.
Despite the outcome, here’s to hoping that all parties from both schools can move forward and keep in mind the most important issue – the welfare of the student-athlete football players.
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