Remember the Titans Theme: Ethical Issues and Leadership in Sports

Ethical Leadership and Respectful Transitions: Coach Boone's Approach in Remember the Titans

The film Remember the Titans was released in 2000. There are a number of ethical issues within the film, which will be highlighted and discussed here. Leadership is one of the themes depicted in the film. Leadership is generally described as the ability to guide and/or persuade people. Also, leaders are seen to be persons who have traits that make others want to follow. As we know, people may be led to do things that may not only be right but also things that may be wrong.

This then leads us to seek examples of “ethical leadership” in the film Remember the Titans. Ethical leadership involves individuals leading in such a way that respects the rights and dignity of others. There are a few examples of ethical leadership within the film.

Our first example of this is seen at the beginning of the film when Coach Boone arrives to take his post as Head Coach at the college. Coach Boone had not intended to take Coach Yoast’s job, but the decision was not in his control. Coach Boone’s approach towards the situation was commendable. He first had a one-on-one meeting with Coach Yoast. In this meeting, he apologized for the way in which he was appointed. He knew that Coach Yoast had not only held the head coach position at the college for a number of years, but he had a degree of success while in the position. Having someone come and take his job after building such a legacy would have been hurtful, to say the least. Coach Boone reassured Coach Yoast that he was well qualified for the job and offered Coach Yoast the position of defensive coordinator. This gesture was given not only as one of peace but also as a sign of respect.

Themes of Ethical Leadership and Sacrifice in Remember the Titans

Another example of ethical leadership is witnessed when Gary, the team’s captain, cuts Ray, his best friend from the team. Gary notices that his friend is not pulling his weight and warns him about it. Gary tells Ray that he needs to pull up his socks or face being cut from the team. Gary gives his friend ample opportunity to stop slacking and get back to playing good football. He first talks to him one-on-one. The fact that he does not initially call him out in front of the rest of the team shows that he has respect for his friend. Unfortunately, as time goes on, Gary is forced to take a firmer approach, and he scolds Ray in front of the team. He does this because Ray’s slacking leads to one of the team’s members being injured. Gary’s handling of the situation is second to none. We must understand that Gary’s decision was not an easy one. He not only had to consider cutting a friend from the team but also his best friend. Gary’s ultimate decision was the right one. He had to make an ethical choice as the captain and leader of the team. The fact that he made the correct decision in this situation shows that he is a true leader.

A third example of ethical leadership within the film takes place when Coach Yoast sacrifices his chance of getting admitted into the Hall of Fame by making sure a game is called fairly by the referees. At one of the games, the school’s board had instructed the referees to call the game in such a way that the school’s team would lose and Coach Boone would get fired. This would ultimately enable Coach Yoast to regain his position as Head Coach and be inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame. Coach Yoast was told this plan by one of the members of the school’s board. Coach Yoast had a tough decision to make. The loss of his position as Head Coach was a hard pill to swallow, and for him to now be given the opportunity to get it back must have been tempting. Coach Yoast must have felt like Adam in the Garden of Eden being shown the apple by the serpent. The thought must have surely crossed his mind that now was his opportunity to get back what was rightfully his own. He himself spoke of his heart filling with joy on the dream of seeing his name being up there with the other Hall of Famers. This was the day he had been waiting for so long. It meant that he would get back his job as Head Coach AND have his long wait of being inducted into the school’s hall of fame come to an end. His dream had finally come true.

Addressing Racial Prejudice and Moral Choices in Remember the Titans

As we now know, the Coach turned the situation on its head. He took into consideration certain factors. What was the morally right thing to do? Was it right to have the team lose unfairly so that he could get back his job? Was it right for Coach Boone to lose his job unfairly at the expense of Coach Yoast? Coach Yoast used his morals and made a wise decision. He sacrificed his title as Head Coach and his chance of getting inducted into the Hall of Fame for the sake of what was morally right. He did it for the team, Coach Boone, and also his daughter Sheryl. Sheryl is a football fanatic. She watched all the team’s games and even attended some of the practices. Most importantly, she adored her father, Coach Yoast. She, too, was longing for him to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Coach Yoast admirably had to break the news to his daughter that he would not be put up there with the other Greats from the school. Although he knew that the news would have hurt her deeply, having her understand that in life, one doesn’t always get what one wants or deserves showed the character of the man. He knew that if she learned to accept this type of “rejection” at this young age, it would only make her a better person in years to come. Coach Yoast’s great ethical leadership in this situation not only proved crucial to the future success of the team and Coach Boone but also proved crucial in his role of being a great father to his daughter.

Another ethical issue depicted in the film is racial prejudice. This is highlighted on many occasions within the film. Some of these are:

1. Coach Boone had a brick thrown through his window at home
2. Some of the players on the team are rejected entry into a restaurant/bar
3. The constant fighting at school between the two ethnic groups
4. The opposing coach in a match referring to Coach Boone and the black players on the team as “monkeys.”
5. Heated and violent stand-offs in the streets between the two ethnic groups in the city
6. A quote by one of the opposing team’s coaches in a press conference before a game stated, “We ain’t gone do nothin’ but knock the chocolate out of folks….”

Fostering Unity and Overcoming Prejudice: Coach Boone's Strategies for Team Bonding

It can be argued that during the last half of a century, racial prejudice has decreased in the sporting world. Not only are black players being included more and more into teams across the globe, but they are also being paid on the same scale as their white counterparts. As we witness this turning of the tide, how was this changeable to occur? We have highlighted instances within the movie in which there was racial prejudice, but did any of the characters within the movie help in trying to stop or lessen this racial prejudice from taking place?
Coach Boone was instrumental in bridging the gap between the black and white players on his team. As we discussed previously, we already know that Coach Boone is a great leader, but having to try and break down the ethnic divide between the black and white players required a different skill set. Moral reasoning and strategic reasoning were both used by Coach Boone as he broke down the racial prejudice that may have existed within the team. Moral reasoning can be described as the process by which a decision is made whilst taking into account what is right and what is wrong. The white players on the team may have felt that Coach Boone would have selected the black players to play on the team. Coach Boone may have thought that the black players were generally stronger and/or quicker than the white players. He knew that being biased in his decision-making would not have been the right thing to do, so he promised the entire team that all players who came through the camp would successfully earn a place on the team. Upon hearing this promise by the Coach, all the players decided to start putting their differences aside and play football.

The use of moral reasoning was not enough, however, for Coach Boone’s team to gel the way it needed to. In addition to moral reasoning, he had to use strategic reasoning to make his plan a success. He needed the team to work as a unit. It was imperative that the team bonded and got along well together so as to have any chance of winning the State Championships. In telling the players that getting through camp successfully earned them a spot in the team was not enough. His plan was to have them bond as BROTHERS. Coach Boone went about doing this in a number of ways. Firstly, on the bus ride to camp, he instructed that each person had to sit next to someone of the opposite ethnic group. Each row consisted of blacks sitting next to whites. This meant that if any conversations were to be had, they would have to be with someone whom you did not know before. The bonding would start even before they stepped onto the field. In addition to this, the pairs which sat on the bus together would have to room with one another for two weeks. They were further instructed to “learn something new” about the other person each day (the individual would talk about this newly found fact at dinner). Lastly, Coach Boone made a rule that if any player, black or white, fell short in practice, then the entire team would have to put in extra work. Obviously, by doing this, the players evolved into helping and encouraging one another during the practice sessions.

Team Unity Prevails: Strategic Reasoning and Leadership Impact

Strategic reasoning can be described as using the best strategy to accomplish a goal, knowing the likely behavior of the participants in the scenario. Coach Boone’s goal was to have the players function as a unit. There were two major factors which he had to consider. One was an advantage, the other a disadvantage. The disadvantage was that the players from neither ethnic group were keen to work with the players of the other ethnic group. This meant that the transition would be slow. His advantage was that he knew MOST of the players on the team, black and white, had a love for the game of football, which outweighed the discontent among the two ethnic groups. His plan worked to a tee.

As we conclude, it is important that we mention the captains of the two teams. Prior to the joining of the two schools, each school would have had a captain. Throughout the film, both Gerry and Julius are major influences in demolishing the ethnic barrier between the two teams. They both showed that they possessed personal and team morals. This was done on a number of occasions during the film. An example of this would be when the two captains would call meetings with the players so that they could air their differences and create a stronger team spirit. This was often done without the coaches present. The two captains would also find themselves breaking up fights between the two groups. The film Remember the Titans is a classic. Even though the film was released over two decades ago, it portrays ethical issues that we still see in the world of sports today.

References

1. Bass, B. M., & Riggio, R. E. (2006). Transformational leadership (2nd ed.). Psychology Press.
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5. Ellemers, N., van Knippenberg, D., & Hogg, M. A. (Eds.). (2019). Social identity and leadership: Theoretical and empirical perspectives. Psychology Press.
6. Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63(6), 384-399.
7. Greenleaf, R. K. (1970). The servant as leader. Robert K. Greenleaf Center.
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9. Blanchard, K. H., Zigarmi, D., & Zigarmi, P. (1985). Leadership and the one-minute manager. William Morrow.

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