Coach made right choice

As is the case with most misbehaving athletes, the Tooele High baseball story is a murky one. Who did what, who knew about it, and whose fault it was are questions that will probably never fully be answered.

At a public hearing Tuesday, some Tooele County residents said coach Shanz Leonelli was culpable for not policing players who allegedly videotaped sex with a girl while attending a tournament in St. George.

Others felt he was the fall guy for the actions of teenagers, though blameless himself.

In either case, he made the right decision by resigning.

That alone shows more character than the norm these days.

Leonelli's resignation didn't acknowledge guilt. So far, there has been no public evidence to show he knew anything of the incident until after it happened. But as head coach, he was responsible for the players, so he acquiesced to the wishes of the school district and resigned. At the same time, he sent a powerful message that resigning quickly and quietly is sometimes the best thing.

Leonelli's action contrasts with the way many coaches and athletes deal with scandals nowadays. The preferred method is to deny everything and do nothing, in case you can get off the hook. Sound familiar? Gary Barnett didn't resign as football coach at Colorado, in spite of the recruiting scandal that drew weeks of national attention. The allegations included those of sexual assault by CU players or recruits.

An independent commission report said Barnett told one woman he "would back his player 100 percent" if rape charges were pursued and that he employed a "plausible deniability" approach toward allegations involving player-hosts and recruits.

Even though he was the head coach, Barnett never did take blame.

He merely hung tough, denying culpability while under suspension. It wasn't his fault; he didn't know about the parties until after the fact, etc.

Eventually he was reinstated.

Bob Knight didn't resign when he violated terms of his agreement with Indiana University and berated a student. He resisted until he was fired — and beyond. Mike Price didn't resign when involved in a strip-club scandal while working as football coach at Alabama. He, too, was fired.

Ohio State basketball coach Jim O'Brien didn't resign when it was learned he paid $6,000 to a recruit. He left only when issued a pink slip.