Brown faces tough decision in punishing Kindle
July 21, 2009 5:07 PM
Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin
Texas coach Mack Brown's recent vacation trip to the bucolic rugged mountains of North Carolina didn't prepare him for the discipline case that awaited him upon his return to Austin.
Already, one of the biggest decisions for his team this season is staring him squarely in the eye.
Namely, Brown will have to decide what to do with defensive end/linebacker Sergio Kindle, who was in a late-night automobile accident on June 24.
Brown is facing a ticklish decision in how he treats Kindle's transgression -- if he even chooses to punish him at all.
The Texas coach told the Austin American-Statesman today that he doesn't plan any specific punishment until he talks with Kindle about the incident.
"I'm going to talk to him and we'll talk (about the situation) as a staff," Brown said. "He said he wasn't drinking,
and there was no proof that he was. He was honest with me when he had his trouble before."
Brown said he recognized the problems of sending text messages while driving. The veteran Texas coach said he's "nearly bumped into people" while text-messaging from his car. The coach said he will address the issue with his entire team after it reports on Aug. 8 for the start of two-a-days practices.
this is just pure gold^^^
But Kindle's incident is a little different then when he was arrested for driving while intoxicated in 2007, which resulted in a three-game suspension.
The accident occurred at 1:50 a.m. And I guess Kindle never heard the golden rule my father always taught me. Namely, that nothing good ever happens after midnight.
The Austin police have told the Statesman that representatives of the apartment complex have not sent a contact card indicating whether they even want to pursue charges. Kindle called the apartment complex the next morning, which will keep him from facing charges on leaving the scene of the crime, Austin police said.
"I'll go through the situation with him myself, sit down and go from there," Brown told the Statesman.
"If it's not a legal issue, I'll try to see what's fair to help him learn and help some other kids learn.
"We're not talking about a big punishment. We're talking about 'Don't do it again and learn from it.' That would be the extent of it if it got to that point."
Whether that prior record will play a part in Brown's decision is undetermined. But he needs to show the kind of reaction that will catch the attention of all of his players who will be watching to see how Kindle's case will be handled.
If Kindle goes unpunished, it could undermine discipline for what is shaping up as of Brown's best Texas teams.
One matter that is clear is how important that Kindle is for the Longhorns. It's extremely doubtful they can think about winning the South Division or contending for the national championship without his unique pass-rushing talents -- particularly against a group of opponents who throw the ball as well as those in the Big 12's South Division do.
The Longhorns' biggest defensive weakness is their defensive front. And without Kindle, that limitation becomes even more glaring.
That makes me think that we'll likely see Kindle sit out a couple of games during Texas' pillow-soft nonconference schedule.
But I expect we'll see him back in the lineup by Sept. 19, when Texas Tech arrives in Austin for the conference opener for both teams.
And there will be no doubt that he'll be in the lineup when the Longhorns face Oklahoma Oct. 17 in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas -- even if it means that Brown personally escorts Kindle home every night between now and that pivotal game if he has to.
Originally Posted by badger
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