This story, quite frankly, just strikes me as really bizarre. It's one of those things that we'll never know the full story, nor can we possibly come to understand it. The original report is that he actually grabbed a player by the throat, and struck him twice. That's since been disproven, but this seems to be the line of what people believe had happened. The player at least confessed to Coach Levitt grabbing his shoulder pads.
I used to play high school football, with admittedly coaches having no problem getting in your face. Some will grab at your facemask, while others may go as far as to throw you down. That's actually happened before, though the coach later apologized and said it was over the line. Nevertheless, coaches usually tend to get physical with their players. It's an extremely violent game, and the unfortunate fact is, most coaches tend to get swept in the emotion. Still, certainly abusing your players is unacceptable. Look at the case of Coach Mangino in Kansas.
Having said that, what is the line for Coaches, both on a college and professional level? I personally have nothing against a coach getting a tad physical. Not beating a kid up, but surely a tug of the facemask isn't horrendous, but some people feel otherwise. Where do you draw the line at coaches getting physical?
