Joe O'Brien was living
is lifetime dream when one of his deepest, darkest secrets threw him off his
course and landed him in prison. O'Brien,
30, had played at Boise State where he accomplished an All-American title and
was currently an assistant coach at Montana State. He looked the part of a
football player and was praised at his ability at coaching. However, O'Brien
had another life that would eventually end the happy one where he coached, he
not only did meth but also was a dealer. He had kept his life second life
secret for almost ten years before being arrested. A set up by his partner
Melissa Strain. At first O'Brien tried to tell everyone that he was innocent
and that he had nothing to do with it, but little by little the truth had begun
to come out. O'Brien resigned from his coaching position at Montana State and
served prison time at eight different detention centers in five different
states. In 2006 he was released and had been clean for two years when him
and his long term girlfriend, Gracie, married.
After being released he
realized that he still had a goal and a dream to coach football and he would
pursue that dream until he had another job. He had applied to countless
coaching jobs, whether it was professional or high school he had a applied and
they had all returned his resume with a polite but firm no. Then one fateful
day he heard from Russ Bloom, a school board member at a high school in Simms,
Montana. He wanted to meet O'Brien and talk to him about coaching their
football team. He had recently volunteered at Simms High School but was asked
to leave due to parents not wanting him around their kids. But this time it was
different, Bloom wanted O'Brien as the head coach, to lead the team to victory.
There were numerous individuals that petitioned against the whole entire thing
but to Joe O'Brien's a four of the seven board members of Simms High School
accepted him as their head football coach.
What are your thoughts
about a former felon coaching high school football? Do you think this could
negatively affect the kids? Or would it show that you can change your life even
after making mistakes?
http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/9714247/breaking-good
Kix, P. (2013, September 26). Breaking Good. In Outside the Lines & ESPN Magazine. Retrieved March 23, 2015, from http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/9714247/breaking-good
Amanda Notley
I was very intrigued reading this full story through the link you provided at the bottom of the post. I am a firm believer in second chances, and Jim O’Brien is no exception to that. The fact that he had the strength to overcome this large obstacle/issue in his life and the courage to move forward with his dream after his prison sentence is remarkable. He was arrested for dealing meth in 2003, released in 2006 and finally hired to coach again in 2013. While his ethics and moral were clearly skewed over a decade ago, he seems to be a changed man, according to the article. At the time of the article, he was 10 years removed from his arrest, which in my opinion is enough time for someone to change himself or herself. It would be different if O’Brien were put in jail for child molestation or assault/abuse. Then I would be extremely apprehensive about hiring him to coach kids. I actually think this would positively affect the kids on the team and even the rest of the kids in the school. This story is a great example of perseverance on the part of O’Brien, and acceptance and understanding on the part of Russ Bloom, the school board member who was responsible for O’Brien’s hiring.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alex, in that he is far enough removed from the time of the acts committed. It would be a different story if he was hired as a head coach directly out of prison. His story can almost be used to promote better choices to teenagers and stand as an example of poor decision making and redemption. I can see how there are many schools out there who did not want to take a chance on Jim as it is a felony conviction. This story raises the obvious question, "at what point is someone free from prior convictions." I agree that dealing drugs is not necessarily a victimless crime, but at what point do we cease to judge those who have served their time from drug crimes, and are many years removed from that lifestyle?
ReplyDeleteMatthias E. Reiber