I think I understand where you are coming from. There are situations where fragility is more in play. I don't think this is the situation in this case. It's not just the words although the context some were used is disturbing IMO. She seemed fixated on her players sex lives or sex was her go to as a way to marginalize players. Of course, without seeing and hearing it maybe it wasn't as bad as it reads?
There were also some other tactics used that look like she abused her position. From the article:
- There were also allegations that she and her staff doled out excessive punishment that team members say endangered players’ physical and mental health. At UNC-Wilmington, one such punishment drill – log rolls up and down the court – caused a player to vomit repeatedly and some of the skin on her knees to rub off. At USC, one player felt so wronged by Cooper-Dyke after her punishment that the player repeatedly punched a bleacher until her hand bled while Cooper-Dyke watched.
- At USC, where Cooper-Dyke coached from 2013-17, she also harped on some players’ sex lives and named one of the team’s plays “hot sex.” She called some players “retarded” and once mocked people with special needs. She also pressured some players to practice when they were injured or returning from an injury.
- Thaddesia Southall was, like Cooper, once a prized local prospect, a forward from Long Beach Poly. But by the time Cooper-Dyke arrived at Heritage Hall, Southall was a senior academically but had missed two full seasons because of serious knee injuries – in 2012-13 she had surgery after her body rejected a ligament graft to repair her ACL. Going into the 2013-14 season, doctors had her on a methodical plan to return to action, but Cooper-Dyke insisted she return to practice in violation of the doctors’ orders, Southall says, and threw her out of some workouts and practices, telling her if she couldn’t go hard she had no use being there.
She even threw staff out of practices if they questioned her and players if they asked questions telling them to f*** off and that they were a sorry b****. Cooper has a compelling story as a player having overcome a lot of adversity. IMO, she simply wasn't a good fit to coach and was allowed to get away with it for far too long. I'm not putting this on players being too sensitive. There were too many players impacted and incidents IMO for that to be the case.