Grand Rapids , Michigan ( CNN ) -- If you have n't heard the audio clip of high school football coach Shawn Abel going off , you need to take two minutes out of your life to do so . It is classic . Dude is yelling and screaming and you can hear stuff being banged around , and I do n't believe any actor outside of maybe Samuel L. Jackson could come close to re-enacting the level of passion that is wrapped around each curse word that comes flying out of this man 's mouth . It is ^ % $ ^ & ! ! unbelievable . But based on that clip -- and the fact Abel is smart enough to teach A.P . precalculus -- if my son played football at Collierville , I would be perfectly fine with him having Abel as his coach . Unfortunately Coach Abel resigned this week because , well , this audio clip exists . Some of the players secretly recorded Abel 's pregame speech , and one of them posted it on YouTube . The actions of the players make me more upset than Abel 's rant . Coach was ticked because they were n't playing together as a team . What kind of player leaks his coach 's speech to the press ? A selfish one , thus proving his point . While I 'm sure it was uncomfortable for some of the players to sit through , I did n't hear anything that was offensive . He cursed , he yelled . Big deal . It 's football , not Sesame Street . If this is his only offense , the community should rally around the coach , encourage him to come back and tell the high school players to toughen up . They should not punish a man who has poured 25 years of his life into the community or someone who cares so much he talks about being a Collierville Dragon with pride . Obviously if he 's been a teacher at the school for this many years , he clearly understands the difference between the field and the classroom , otherwise he would have been fired for going the ^ % ^ % * off years ago . There is certainly language that I think is unacceptable under any circumstances , but I did n't hear any of that on the clip . He did n't use any slurs ; he did n't threaten a player 's safety ; he did n't call the players anything other than apathetic and selfish . In some ways , it was one of the most respectful undressings I 've ever heard . Since the story broke , there 's been a Facebook page established to show support . I 've also seen anonymous quotes from Collierville players characterizing Abel as a `` psycho '' and noting that was n't his first rant . And I 'm sure it was n't , given they had lost four of five games and need to win Friday to make the playoffs . But funny , I did n't see any quotes that denied Abel 's assessment of the team 's playing or their commitment to hard work . It was as if the players knew they were n't playing up to their potential . They just did n't like the way the coach said it . And having been around sports my entire adult life , I can tell you a lot of athletes -- on every level -- do not like it when a coach points out their faults . There is a line , but Abel did n't cross it . There are some places in life where boo boos are met with a hug . The locker room is not one of them . Near my home there is a gymnastics school , and plastered on the wall facing the highway it reads `` Every child is a champion . '' Each time I drive by , I just want to pull over , run inside and tell the kids the truth . `` Little Johnny , Little David , Mitch ... these people are lying to you -- only one of you can be a champion . They do n't hand out three gold medals ... See you later . '' We are so obsessed with shielding kids from disappointment and discomfort that they have no idea how to deal with life when they leave the nest . That 's not parenting , that 's crippling . Abel 's speech may have been shocking , but it may also have been the best thing to have happened to a kid in that locker room because it placed him in a highly stressful , highly confrontational situation , and the kid learned he can handle it . I can hear parents now saying , `` But this is just high school , '' to which I say , yes it is , and Abel was trying to teach his players something . I hope they reinstate him as coach so he can finish the lesson . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of LZ Granderson .
A high school football coach was secretly recorded chewing out his players for losing . LZ Granderson says the coach resorted to shouting and obscenities . The coach was trying to teach his team an important life lesson , Granderson says . Granderson : Adults who shelter children from reality are n't doing them any favors .