"Mr. Woodcock"

"Oates, I can hear you wheezing from here.  Take a lap.  Lose the asthma."

Mr. Woodcock, played by Billy Bob Thornton, is the classic stereotypical "mean" P.E. teacher.  In his class he plays the role of the dictator, much like a "drill sergeant" in boot camp.  He has absolutely no sympathy for weakness or disability.  He is ruthless, aggressive, impatient, and seems to get satisfaction out of belittling his students.

His students are his "troops."  They have absolutely no say in what goes on in the gymnasium.  They are all obviously terrified of Mr. Woodcock.  They line up like soldiers at the beginning of class and they follow his every command, although when he asks an open-ended question, they are all afraid to answer.  They are so used to being constantly bullied and belittled by him that nobody really reacts when he insults them or hurls basketballs at them.  Mr. Woodcock probably gets away with being so verbally, physically, and emotionally abusive towards his students because they are all too scared to tell anyone about it.

Mr. Woodcock's curriculum is based on the idea of "toughening up" his students.  He really doesn't care whether his students learn anything about basketball or fitness.  His goal is that every student leaves the gym "stronger" than they were before.  The activities and assessments that Mr. Woodcock uses (if any) are probably not very difficult- the challenge for the student is trying to survive the constant abuse.  That's what Mr. Woodcock wants his students to learn about life: that it's full of constant abuse from every angle, and only the strong survive.