Maxx Wolfson

The coach: somebody players not only look up to, but respect.

The problem now is that the coach at Arizona will not be able to command ÷ not when he leads his players on the field in at least two more football games this season, and not next season, if UA athletic director Jim Livengood holds true to his word.

Right now, there are more than 40 players on the Wildcat football team who don't consider their coach a leader and on Tuesday night tried to do something to get him to change.

Now, those same players have to line up Saturday in Berkeley against a previously ranked team and give it their all for a coach they obviously have a problem with.

The coach: somebody players should confide in and consider a teacher.

The trouble with the whole situation is not that the Wildcats have lost six straight games on the field; few would want Mackovic fired for that, since he has only been in place as the head coach for two years. Rather, it's the way he conducts himself off the field in regard to dealing with players.

When 41 players don't feel comfortable enough to walk into his office and sit down with him, something needs to change.

"As one player said, ÎIf we were undefeated, we probably wouldn't be here,'" Mackovic said yesterday. "That may be true; it may not be true ÷ and that responsibility is mine."

The coach: somebody players should look to for leadership and discipline.

Nobody has ever blamed Mackovic for being a disciplinarian; in fact, it's one of the traits that attracted Livengood to hire him in the first place. But there's a difference between being authoritative and being disrespectful.

"I'm a hard-nosed coach and I don't apologize for that," he said. "My apologies are for the things I said and did."

Mackovic did not have to admit he was wrong, and by doing so he did something that most football coaches wouldn't. But the damage has obviously been done.

Football comes down to communication between a coach and his players. If that isn't there, football doesn't work.

People make mistakes, and Mackovic made a huge one by calling Justin Levasseur a "disgrace to his family for the way he was playing," after Saturday's loss to UCLA.

But by not doing anything about it immediately and letting emotions stir throughout the next couple days, he created a mess inside his football team that has escalated into an embarrassing situation for the program that could have detrimental effects in the future.

Now, when a 17-year-old recruit is deciding between UA and Arizona State, all Sun Devil head coach Dirk Koetter has to do is mention yesterday's press conference and, odds are, the recruit will head north to Tempe.

If Mackovic can't bring in recruits to Arizona and his current players don't want to play for him, the coach right now is somebody who players don't seem to want around anymore.