Scandal . . .What Price Glory? . . . The Proud Brought Low . . .
Claims like this sell papers, and may have truth to them in the wake of Brad Prins (photo)---the brains behind Rockford High School's distance dynasty---resigning as coach amid charges he passed out pills.

Events were still shaking down when this issue of Michigan Runner went to print, but two things seemed evident:

a The drugs Prins dispensed were Advil, Sudafed, vitamin C, Excedrin ... all legal, over-the-counter supplements taken by millions each day to alleviate aches and colds.

a Prins defied school policy -- even a January 2000 warning from former Rockford athletic director David Price -- in so doing.

Drugs are serious. "Zero-tolerance" may strike many as over-zealotry: Doctors prescribe drugs, pills cure ills and save lives, kids can buy the stuff Prins passed out in their local drugstores.

The problem's this: A coach has no business making pills physically available. He/she might counsel, advise or suggest health-enhancing supplements. But for a grown man -- especially one of Prins's stature -- to hand teens baggies of pills and say, "Take these," is untenable. So is passing them out via other means.

Pills -- even seemingly-innocent ones -- can have side effects. That's why school nurses can't give kids aspirin any more, without parents' permission. Who is liable when that one child in 20 million has a reaction? There are reasons for rules; when a teacher breaks them, what kind of example does he set?

Prins is a great coach. His girls cross country team has won four straight Class A state championships. His male proteges have included Dathan Ritzenhein, Jason Hartmann and many others who have earned college educations through running scholarships.

Demanding? Yes. But is that an insult? As Ritzenhein wrote in defense of his former coach, Prins "is different ... He pushes the envelope." Supporters describe a caring teacher who motivates youths to seek excellence. Our own, outside observations are likewise positive: Rockford's kids are as healthy, wholesome, hard-working and sportsmanlike as any we've ever have seen.

Strong people draw strong reactions. Detractors paint Prins as overbearing, inclined to play favorites, and arrogant. Mark Harmsen quit as a middle-school cross country coach in 2000, complaining Prins prescribed too much mileage. Jim Baker resigned as head track coach after former Ram runners went public with "Pillgate" charges, claiming he could not condone Prins's methods or behavior. Ray McNally, another middle-school coach, said he'd quit too if the school board didn't take action on Prins's dismissal. How do you overlook that kind of fallout among his peers?

Were there personal issues? Only in cases where there were persons. Supporters can argue that the Grand Rapids Press appointed itself Prins's prosecutor early. They can claim that his ex-Ram accusers did not air their grudges until after pocketing running scholarships. But who was responsible for giving them ammunition? It was clear that the school board had run out of options by February 11, when Prins resigned.

Why did Prins pass out pills at all? His kids didn't need them to be great runners, and could have gotten them from their parents with little problem. Few drugs are as powerful as pride.

Prins's impending venture -- expanding the North Kent Running Club into a private entity -- seems like the logical next step for him. Prins, 61, retired in 1999 after 35 years as a Rockford math teacher, and had considered retiring as school coach even prior to the "Pillgate scandal." As a private coach, he won't have to contend with school politics or restrictions. Folks who don't like his methods will no longer have to deal with him, nor he them.

Free enterprise is not for the faint of heart. Prins must cope with the caricature that's been cast of him as a pill-pusher. It's unfair, but the genie's out of the lamp. Good luck trying to put her back.