As an avid college football fan, I’m glued to my television set on autumn Saturdays.  But as a PR practitioner and recent MBA graduate, I also enjoy exploring the ways in which business communications can alternatively defuse or escalate a public relations problem. This year’s college football season, which ended Jan. 7 with the BCS National Championship Game, left me with multiple examples of big-business lessons from which to learn.

And if there’s any doubt that college football should be treated as a business, consider this:  the SEC Conference signed a 15-year, $2.3 billion contract with ESPN last year. Average pay for a college head football coaches is up 46 percent in the last three years, to $1.4 million (How’d your salary do in the last three years?). In fact, 85 percent of university presidents say that college football coaches are making too much money, according to a report by the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.

Here are two headline-grabbing examples of corporate communications challenges in the college football world this year that, for better or worse, provided some useful instruction for those of us in the PR world.

Lesson:  Don’t Let the CEO Speak until He/She is Ready
Teacher:  Urban Meyer, Head Coach, Florida Gators
On Dec. 27, Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer shocked the college football world by announcing he was resigning from his position at the end of the season, citing health concerns.  Meyer had won two national titles in five years, and attained the highest winning percentage of all active college football coaches.  Sports journalists lined up to express their surprise, but offered support and congratulations to Meyer for making the prudent call for what was probably a very difficult decision.

The next day, Meyer had a change of heart.  He said he wasn’t ready to leave coaching and that he felt “in his gut” he’d be coaching next year.  Confusion reigned for Gator fans, players and potential recruits.

So often, organizations want to ensure they’re ahead of a company story by releasing a statement first, and 98 percent of the time this instinct is correct. But when it comes to business decisions that include a personal element, such as a CEO resignation, communicators have to be sure that the person pulling the trigger is absolutely comfortable with the choice. A very personal and difficult conversation needs to happen with the CEO.  Ask tough questions about the decision and its effects:  Have you thought about what tomorrow will be like for you?  What about six months from now? Is there at least a tentative plan in place for what happens next?

When asked why he changed his mind, one reason Meyer cited was a “spirited practice” with his team that made him realize he wanted to stay.  If a rousing practice with the team makes him turn course 180 degrees from 24 hours before, then someone at Florida failed to ask the appropriate questions of Meyer.  If they had, they might have recommended, “Coach, this is the biggest decision of your life. Why don’t you sleep on it?”

Lesson:  Accept Blame for Your Company’s Mistakes, Take Appropriate Action Internally and Rebuild Publicly
Teachers:  Oregon Coach Chip Kelly and Oregon Running Back LeGarrette Blount
In easily the college football year’s most disturbing and unsportsmanlike act, Oregon’s star running back LeGarrette Blount punched a football player in the face, knocking him to the ground, following Oregon’s opening-season loss. In the ensuing melee, Blount had to be restrained from also confronting opposing fans.  The act of violence immediately became the headline to the game story, and a phalanx of sports journalists weighed in about how severe Blount’s punishment should be, from a one-game suspension to dismissal from the team to criminal charges.

Within minutes of the incident, Oregon coach Chip Kelly announced in a live sideline interview that he would decide on the appropriate punishment, and that “(this incident) is not the University of Oregon.”  Blount also apologized for the incident after the game.

Media scrutiny descended on the Oregon program, with the video of the incident spreading rapidly on the Internet, but Kelly followed up quickly, and within 24 hours announced he was suspending Blount from playing in games for the remainder of the season.  In an effort to show that Oregon planned to continue to mentor Blount, Kelly maintained his scholarship and allowed him to continue to practice with the team.  “We’re not going to throw LeGarrette Blount out on the street,” Kelly said. Later Kelly announced that if Blount met certain academic and behavioral conditions, he’d be allowed to return.  Blount apologized by phone to the player he punched, and apologized to the university in a letter published in the school newspaper.

Two months later, after having sidelined Blount for eight games, Coach Kelly announced that Blount had met the necessary requirements and would be allowed to play for Oregon again. The decision was made in consultation with the university, the athletic department and the PAC-10 Conference.  Sports journalists largely applauded the coach’s decision, giving Kelly kudos for giving his player an appropriate punishment, and yet giving Blount a second chance and an opportunity to redefine his career as more than just one very big mistake.

When faced with a PR crisis resulting from a mistake made within the organization, such as an accident caused by employee negligence, CEOs can sometimes take on a “bunker” mentality, expecting their competitors or the media to call for an excessive response from regulators. As a result, they often treat their response to a crisis as the opening offer in a negotiation – they set a minimum baseline of action that they expect they’ll be forced to add to in the weeks and months ahead.

Instead, they should follow Coach Kelly’s lead – act swiftly and decisively.  Make it clear that the action doesn’t represent your firm, and show it by reprimanding those responsible publicly.  Know that media attention will decrease over time, but your actions could reignite negative criticism if you don’t appear to have learned any lessons from the mistake.

Reinstating Blount wasn’t just about waiting for the media attention to die down; Kelly knew the public needed to see tangible action by Blount – showing contrition for his acts, good attendance in class and at practice, undergoing personal counseling – to allow it to take place.  Once those requirements were fulfilled, the public saw the incident as an isolated one that the program had worked to put behind it.  As a result, Kelly was given high marks for making the right call, and was named Pac 10 Coach of the Year by his peers this month.

My friends who don’t follow college football probably think I’m just a couch potato from late August through early January. What they don’t realize is that I’m doing intensive research for my career in public relations. These programs have lessons to teach us beyond the x’s and o’s, on the right and wrong moves they make after the final whistle blows.

Tags: BCS National Championship Game, Chip Kelly, ESPN, Florida Gators, Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, LeGarrette Blount, PAC-10 Conference, SEC Conference, University of Oregon, Urban Meyer

Posted by Jim Luetkemeyer on 01/22/10. Categories: Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.