The Headlines Start Somewhere

Today’s blog is less a deep dive into this scandal — revealed by ESPN about the men’s basketball program at Cal State Bakersfield and an assistant coach allegedly trafficking women while working for the program — and more a plea to coaches who may still look at TeamsOfMen work with a side eye.

You know the line.

“Kip, this stuff you talk about… it’s not in our school, our university, our team room. We’ve got good guys.”

Yes.

You probably do have good guys.

And yet…

The belief systems that lead men to make horrible choices that harm others are still bubbling around your spaces.

Hopefully your young men — and your staff — have not acted on those outdated scripts the Manbox presents as “rules” of masculinity. But the scripts themselves are everywhere. They are cultural. They are persistent. And they are constantly being reinforced.

That’s why TeamsOfMen conversations exist.

Not because we assume the worst about the men in our rooms — but because we understand the forces that are shaping them.

By creating space for these conversations, you’re not accusing your players of future harm. You’re giving them tools to challenge ideas before those ideas turn into actions.

Because once the headline exists, the learning window has already closed.

The goal is to redirect our guys before the story becomes about our program.

The truth is the Manbox has tried to wire all of us to these ideas.

All of us.

Which means all of us — coaches included — have unlearning and critical thinking to do.

Coach Prompts

• When you say “we’ve got good guys,” what exactly do you mean?

• What conversations are happening in your program about power, sex, and respect?

• Are you addressing harmful scripts — or assuming your players are immune to them?

Player Prompts

• Where do men learn ideas about sex, power, and status?

• What messages do athletes receive about women and success?

• What responsibility do men have to challenge harmful behavior among other men?