HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
Academics, athletics collide at Northwestern High
A legendary coach, a tough principal and a tradition-loving alumni all want the best for Northwestern High. But they've clashed over how to achieve that.
BY KATHLEEN MCGRORY
KMCGRORY@MIAMIHERALD.COM
First-and-10 on the first play from scrimmage. Miami Jackson has the ball on its own 8-yard line.
A bad snap and the ball squirts loose. Northwestern linebacker Jaquan Lenard jumps on the football a yard from the goal-line.
One play later, it's touchdown Northwestern.
The marching band thunders. Thousands of blue and gold-garbed fans leap to their feet. And for one moment, anyway, everything is right in the Miami Northwestern High School universe.
Friday night's Soul Bowl game against Miami Jackson marked the end of a troubling two weeks for Northwestern.
The night before Halloween, Principal Charles Hankerson fired football coach Billy Rolle, infuriating alumni and boosters. Hankerson reinstated Rolle three days later. A week after that, Hankerson announced his own exit -- effective immediately, according to teachers.
The following morning, Hankerson said he would stay on, but only through graduation.
The upheaval shone a spotlight on the clash of two strong -- and sometimes opposing -- forces: a storied tradition of football excellence and the academic mission at the core of a school. The conflict is especially apparent in Liberty City, a neighborhood with both struggling schools and a national reputation for producing talented football players.
``In this area,'' Northwestern Athletic Director Earl Allick said, ``football is king.''
ENTER THE PRINCIPAL
A seasoned principal with a track record of turning around schools, Hankerson came to Northwestern in 2007 under challenging circumstances. Northwestern had just won a state football championship and sullied its reputation at the same time.
It started when the school's star running back, Antwain Easterling, then 18, had sex with a 14-year-old girl in a school bathroom.
School officials became aware of the incident during the football season, but didn't report it to police.
Police heard about it much later from the girl's mother. Easterling was arrested two days before the state championship game, then allowed to play in the Bulls' 34-14 victory over Lake Brantley at what was then Dolphin Stadium.
Disturbed by the appearance of a coverup, then Superintendent Rudy Crew fired the principal and the entire coaching staff.
He handpicked Hankerson to lead the school into a new era.
Aside from the football scandal, the school was being threatened with punishment by the state unless it improved its academic record.
Northwestern had earned a slate of D's and F's, and fewer than 15 percent of students were reading on grade level.
Hankerson, who declined to comment for this article, made academic improvement and discipline the school's top priorities. He pushed FCAT preparation -- for instance, banning field trips until the tests were over.
A few months after Hankerson was brought in, he named Billy Rolle head coach of the football team. The two men had known each other since middle school.
Rolle was already a legend, having guided the Bulls to a state title a decade earlier.
Back at Northwestern, Rolle inherited a defending state championship team led by senior quarterback Jacory Harris. In Rolle's first year, the Bulls repeated as state champs and were acclaimed the best team in the nation by both ESPN and USA Today.
But there was trouble under the surface.
Students complained the school had become too focused on test prep and discipline. And some alumni felt that Hankerson -- a high school and college basketball star in his youth and the father of a basketball player at Alabama -- wasn't showing enough reverence to the school's storied football program.
Among the gripes: He was too tough on the football players and curtailed pre-game traditions like pep rallies.
``We started having a lot of issues with him,'' said Jerald Cooper, a 1984 grad who created a social network for alumni called Bulls for Life. ``He wasn't supportive of our traditions. It was like we were always on two different playing fields.''
`FOOTBALL IS LIFE'
In Liberty City, boys start football at an early age. The Liberty City Warriors Junior Pee Wee team has won four national championships, including this year's Pop Warner Super Bowl in Orlando.
``Football is life for our young boys,'' said Joe Tobler, 51, a custodian at Miami Dade College. ``Everyone wants to play for the 'West and then the UM.''
At Northwestern, students revere grads who have achieved gridiron success at the next level, people like Melvin Bratton, Brett Perriman and Vernon Carey. Jacory Harris, now the quarterback for the Miami Hurricanes, is the latest.
``I remember watching him play when he was here,'' said Tony Williams, a 12th-grader. ``I didn't know him personally, but everyone knew who he was.''
High school football is often the topic of discussion at Player's Choice Barbershop on Northwest 63rd Street and Sixth Avenue. Though the barbers and most of their clients have long since graduated, they can recite every team's schedule and tell you how many touchdowns Northwestern quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has thrown this season.
``Football represents Dade County,'' says Big Cal Johnson, 36, while buzzing the back of a man's neck with an electric razor. ``It's what Miami-Dade is known for.''
On Friday nights, going to the game is a social affair. Young women wear dresses and heels. Friends and former classmates sit together to catch up and gossip.
But in Liberty City, football is about more than just sport and community. It's about hope.
Explained Tony Williams: ``I think about it sometimes. It's like, if Jacory Harris could get out of the 'hood, I could, too.''
The sentiment isn't lost on the powerful Northwestern alumni association.
The association isn't entirely devoted to sports. It awards academic scholarships annually, and recently purchased computerized whiteboards for the school.
``However, we won't apologize because we have a passion for athletics,'' president Larry Williams said.
Sports keep kids off the street and give them positive role models, he said.
``Athletics gets a lot of kids from our community into college. We'll do whatever it takes to get Little Johnny into college.''
DRAMATIC CHANGE
During Hankerson's three-year tenure, Northwestern underwent a dramatic transformation. The percentage of students reading at grade level ticked up to 21 percent. Enrollment in college-level classes tripled.
This year, school administrators are expecting to earn a C. It would be a monumental achievement for Northwestern, which has never earned above a D.
In other ways big and subtle, Hankerson changed the school culture. For example, he created a college resource center where the wall is papered over with college acceptance letters. He reprimanded kids for hanging out in the hallways during classes, giving the school a safer feel.
``He's tough, but that's his job,'' said Dezmon Harris, a junior who wants to be an attorney. ``He makes us strive for perfection.''
The football program did not seem to suffer. In a pre-season ranking by ESPN this year, Northwestern was pegged No. 8 in the country.
The Bulls got off to a 4-0 start -- though in Game 2 against Hialeah, an on-field shoving match escalated into a brawl. Three players from Northwestern were ejected, and hit with six-week suspensions (later reduced). Additionally, several Bulls players were suspended for one game for leaving the sideline -- meaning the Bulls had to fill out their roster with junior varsity players the next week.
Hankerson expressed disappointment in the behavior.
Later in the season, Northwestern suffered back-to-back losses against Miami Central and Columbus, the latter a private-school powerhouse.
Hankerson fired Rolle after a game against Miami Edison -- a game that Northwestern won.
Members of the alumni association, booster club and the Liberty City community were shocked. Many were loyal to Rolle.
``You can't just fire a coach before the playoffs,'' said longtime fan Khalil Mohammed, 31. ``We still don't know what happened.''
Neither Rolle nor Hankerson will say, though it is known that Hankerson became upset when at least one student was left behind by the team bus as it departed for the stadium.
Rolle has said the firing was a ``misunderstanding'' and happened ``in the heat of the moment.'' The two men have resolved their differences, he added.
Williams, the alumni association president, was pleased to see Rolle reinstated. He denied that the association had twisted Hankerson's arm.
``The alumni association was not involved,'' he said.
Hankerson's subsequent announcement that he was leaving unleashed an outpouring of support for the principal. Teachers signed petitions urging him to stay and students organized a walkout.
``Students are upset at the fact that the alumni are trying to get rid of Mr. Hankerson,'' explained Vanessa Joseph, a junior. ``He's a good principal. The alumni should care about education, not just football.''
Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said Hankerson's decision had not been driven by anyone in the central office. He said Hankerson had asked for a transfer well before the football flare-up.
``You can't find a better principal than Charles Hankerson,'' said Darryl Holsendolph, a Northwestern alumnus and CEO of a Miami merchandising company. ``[The alumni] don't know what they have and they don't know what they're going to lose.''
Northwestern's athletic director, Earl Allick, says he tries to strike a balance between athletics and academics.
``We don't worship athletes,'' said Allick, a former college athlete who also teaches biology. ``We try to make the kids see that athletics and academics aren't mutually exclusive. Most kids in high school aren't going to receive [athletic] scholarships. More will get into college through normal routes.''
FRIDAY NIGHTS
Still, for the students and the fans, there's nothing quite like Friday night.
When the clock clicks down to zero at Traz Powell Stadium in North Miami-Dade, the score is Northwestern 28, the Jackson Generals 19.
Seated at the 50-yard line among friends and family is Joe Swain, an alumnus who has been attending Northwestern football games since 1959.
``Northwestern football is like glue; it keeps us together,'' he says. ``We're Bulls for life.''
Miami Herald staff writer Andre C. Fernandez contributed to this report.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/11/13/v-fullstory/1924933/academics-athletics-collide-at.html#ixzz15SvWD5m8
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