Coaching Video Review: Radio

HKIN 280 A: Introduction to Coaching

Trinity Western University
Mr. Turner

Gustavo Lin
437255

16/02/2016

The role of a coach in sport is to help and develop athletes to reach their full
potential. They analyze their performances and find out their skills and weaknesses, in
order to work and grow. A coach can be then a teacher, mentor, advisor, and even a
friend. Coaches are not only reliable on the field or during practice. They can be an
asset also off the field to the athletes and their community. The movie Radio, starring
Cuba Goodling Jr. as Radio, a developmentally challenged man, and Ed Harris as
Coach Jones, illustrates the responsibility that coach Jones has beyond the limits of the
field, by taking care of Radio.
In the beginning of the movie, coach Jones is pictured as the coach of T.L.
Hanna high school football team with a lot of experience; a coach well respected by his
players, the assistant coach, and by all the people in the town of Anderson in South
Carolina. This is probably because of the many titles they have won. Therefore,
whatever decision he makes, people understand it and respect it. The positive aspects
are that the players will follow the instructions of the coach without hesitation, the
assistant coach also follows the same direction of the head coach, and the people in the
town will support him because of the success he brings to the team. The attitude of
everyone towards the coach helps him to have the confidence to run his team to win
games.
Despite the enormous respect that people have towards him, Jones does
demonstrate an attitude that usually would not work in a sport context. He is never
wearing sport cloth during practice. He is always in a dress shirt, pants, and with an old
fashion dress hat. This gives the audience an image that the coach is on top of the team
and that he is in a superior stage than anyone else. Therefore, this may bring some

negative aspects that a coach should not have. For instance, a coach should be ready
to perform and show how the activities in practice are run. Also, if a player is not
performing the right way, the coach should be able to show him how to perform the right
way, by exerting an example until the athlete fully understands how to perform. Besides,
football is played outdoor and it can get dirty and muddy sometimes. Players usually
perform better if after giving them guidance, they can see an example of the activity
they have to perform. Coach Jones seems to be someone that give more direction and
commands his players to do what he wants, rather than showing them how to do it. This
can also make the players think that they can be the same and just command people
what to do from above when they grow up. Therefore, wearing shirt and pants during
practice is in my opinion not a good idea.
Coach Joness attitude starts to shift after meeting Radio. Football is everything
for the coach. So much that he does not save time to spend with his family sometimes.
However, he sees that Radio was being bullied by some of his players. Consequently,
the coach gives those players a lesson. He runs the practice longer than usual. This
scene shows that coach Jones values compassion and respect beyond the game of
football. He knows that what his players did was wrong and that something had to be
done. This kind of coaching philosophy is very valuable because it demonstrates that
the coach has a responsibility towards the players beyond the team to a certain point.
He could have cared less about Radio, as long as the players performed well in practice
and during the games. Besides, Radio is not even a student at T.L. Hanna high school.
And after all, the coachs responsibility is technically to asses the football team for them
to perform at their full potential. Nevertheless, he knows that life goes beyond just

playing football. These kids could be the best football players, but if they do not know
how to behave in society, then the coach, which Jones affirms, has set a bad example.
Another lesson the coach applies is when he decides that the best player in the
basketball team is not going to play the next few games because of misbehaviour
towards Radio. Radio has a condition, and to abuse him or bully him is not something
that coach Jones would let go without any consequences.
Another positive trait that coach Jones shows is that he prefers that the players
perform as a team. In the beginning of the movie, he says: we do things as a teamwe
do up and downs as a team. In team sports, it is essential that the players are all in the
same path and do everything as a squad. Joness team take water brakes together as a
team, and go to their games on one bus as a team. Some coaches do not care about
these aspects; however, these are the attitudes that unite the players on and off the
field. Moreover, coach Jones is more attached to Radio after inviting him to help during
practice. So he asks permission from Radios mother and the principal of the school to
let Radio join the trip on the bus to the game. Radio was not at that time officially a
participant or member of the team or school; therefore, he was not allowed to join the
bus trip. However, the important facet is that Jones sees Radio as part of the team
because he helps and cheers during practice and games, that is why he believes that
he is part of the football team and deserves to be on the bus. He mentions to the
principal that this is a developmentally challenged man that has been part of the
community for years but nobody has cared, and that it would be terrible if the team did
not take him as part of the group and the community. The coach once again shows
signs of responsibility towards society, and especially towards the people around him.

Eventually, not only the players start to care about Radio, but also the people from that
town. The coach teaches not only the players, but also everyone that they have to be
united as a town and care more for the people around them.
Coach Joness principles overpass the commitment and love towards his football
team. As mentioned before, he did not have time for his family in the beginning, but that
slowly turned around after meeting Radio. He saw that there was a person with a
condition always walking around the streets, but nobody cared about him. He then was
willing to leave the position as head coach, and take care of Radio and his family. Jones
shows the goodness of a man. Despite showing a level of authority in practice, he is a
person of justice and also a coach that values team work. From a Christian point of
view, he also demonstrates the compassion that Christians should have above
everything in life, as Jesus does. No matter if it is a coach or a teacher or a student.
Jones mentions in the movie: We havent been teaching Radio, Radios the one thats
been teaching us. He says these words at the barbershop. It means that Radio has a
condition, but his heart is always at the right place.