I have never understood the almost visceral dislike of Steve Shields by some of the Trojan fans. Certainly he is not the best coach we ever had, but to read some of the comments I have heard, one would almost think he went about punching elementary school children on their noses or denying Americans of some basic right. Little Rock has had eleven 20-win seasons, and he coached two of them. The Trojans' 23 wins in 2009 stand tied for the fourth-most in program history. And, by far the most important point to me, Shields evidently ran a clean program, free of controversy and things that could have given a black eye to the program. His players usually represented the school well. He had a team you could urge your grandchildren to root for without fearing that you would have to retract the statement later.
Shields stayed a little past what he should have because he was protected by the AD of the hour, but that was not his fault. He is not our greatest coach, but he was a decent coach and apparently a decent guy and he at least deserves to be remembered with fondness instead of vituperation.
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