Remember this Titan (8 page)

Hatred is ubiquitous and it’s not about hugs and kisses. Three troublemakers decided
they could build a reputation by taking Bertier out. One afternoon as Gerry crossed
the school parking lot he was jumped. I’m not sure what they were thinking but they
greatly underestimated their prey. Within moments Bertier had pounded them into submission.
As he was wiping their jive off his knuckles, Julius Campbell stumbled upon the scene.
Julius knew the guys were bad dudes. He was impressed. He might not like Bertier but
he had to respect his punching power.

The next day Julius arrived at practice and announced he had a story to tell. The
team assembled around him. This story was about Superman. As he said the word, he
pointed to Bertier. At least fifty-eight eyes turned in Bertier’s direction.

One act by one man had changed a perception. He might not be black but he was okay.
The team had found its leader and he was no rhinestone cowboy. The logic followed.
With Superman at the helm, the Titans had a future.

They were right. We went undefeated and won the state championship. We not only took
home the trophy, we dominated virtually every team we played. Seven of the ten regular
season games were shutouts. Our competition averaged 113 yards per game during the
season.

The Titans averaged 319. We scored 266 points to our competitor’s 31. In the playoffs
we scored 91 points to the competition’s 14. Our excellence was underscored in the
State Championship game against Andrew Lewis High School. They didn’t score and their
offense was held to minus five yards.

Were the Titans superhuman kids? Far from it. If you took a look at the rosters you
would see that we were smaller than many of the teams we played. There is nothing
novel in a smaller team dominating a bigger team. We did it in Virginia but I can
tell you, it happens everywhere.

It was a dream season. The Titans had come a long way. We set a goal and achieved
it. I decided it was time to move on. For me it didn’t matter that I wasn’t moving
up. I’d never had much of an ego. Great expectations were for Pip. When you start
life in a cotton field you don’t look beyond getting promoted to the watermelon patch.

Even though I was coaching at T. C. Williams I was still teaching at Hammond. They
had a J.V. team and that was fine. I knew the players and they were great. If I could
help them achieve something that would be enough. I’ve always believed the earlier
you impact a kid the more you can do for them. I think the guys who coach Pop Warner
understand the concept. I left.

I don’t know how Herman Boone took my resignation. On the one hand I’m sure he was
disappointed to lose an effective coach, on the other, he recognized we were very
different people. Our philosophy and style of coaching were often at odds. In the
course of getting through the season there were numerous times when conflict came
to Titanville. I’m an easy-going guy and I’ve always believed that it helps if you
ride a horse in the direction it’s going. Herman was going his way and I decided to
go mine.

I took my program home. Glenn Furman made a decision to go with me. We had been together
for years and fit like a banana and peel. The venue would be smaller but that didn’t
matter. The kids would be the same. Our personalities were a compliment. In some ways
Glenn was my alter ego. I was quiet and he was loud. I was methodical and Furman was
impulsive. I was a lava lamp and Glenn was Quasar. Between the two of us we covered
the spectrum. I provided the ambiance and Furman lit the fire. I guess it worked.
Over the next few years, coaching everything, our program went 64-1. We had a thirty-eight
game winning streak.

One day I was told Hammond would shrink again. Football would be replaced by hopscotch.
The next day my phone rang. I picked it up. It was Boone. He was mellow. I figured
he’d popped a Prozac. An invitation was extended. If you’re a coach you need a team.
I said yes and so did Glenn. We became Titans once more. The year was 1974. In 1980
I left to assist a friend in getting a program started. It worked.

Two years later Herman retired. Two years after that Glenn Furman was given the Titan
head coach job. He’d earned it. He called and asked if I would help. He knew the answer.
A role reversal was taking a place and what a compliment. There is no greater satisfaction
than knowing that someone you mentored is now better than you. When they want you
to be a part of their future it punctuates the point that he or she valued what you
gave them.

Glenn Furman inherited a losing program. He turned it around in one year. Over the
next ten seasons the “Furman Assault Force” went 96-21-2 and won eight district titles,
four regional titles and two state championships. In 1984 they were 14-0 and were
ranked third in the nation by
USA Today
. They were also picked as the Metropolitan Team of the Decade. In 1985 they were
the state runner-up. In 1987 they produced another 14-0 season and were ranked 7th
in the nation. Furman was selected as the Washington Metropolitan Coach of the Year
three times. He was a Virginia coach of the year and voted into the Fairfax County
Football Coaches Hall of Fame.

At the end, I watched with great pride. Three decades earlier I had taken a brash
twenty-year-old biology teacher with a big heart, loud mouth, and marginal judgment
and gave him a chance. Thirty years later Glenn Furman had become a star.

There is a saying, “know thyself.” When you know yourself you can be yourself. When
you don’t know who you are you might try to be someone else. In the coaching business
and life it never works. I didn’t always know who I was. I didn’t know being myself
was important. Early on in my coaching career I wanted to be like Lombardi. I wanted
to be rough and tough. I wanted to intimidate. Then I read an article about a well-known
coach. In this exposé, he was described as “punishing, intimidating, and explosive.”
You had to feel sympathy for the players. His dictatorial style got results but at
what expense? Did he win because of what he did or in spite of it? I knew the answer.
I also understood the association between how you are treated and what you become.

It’s incredible in this era of enlightenment how many people haven’t gotten the word.
There are those that still believe a bullying style of leading is conducive to producing
results. The failure of countless teams where a despot called the plays would indicate
otherwise.

After that article I recognized I could never be that kind of coach and it didn’t
matter because results could be achieved other ways. Sure Lombardi was great but so
was Susan Jones and she was quiet and soft spoken. When Susan was around you might
not notice. There was no huffing and puffing, no threats and no fists in the face.
She didn’t wear jackboots and a spiked helmet. But that didn’t mean her plan wasn’t
solid. She just found a different way to implement it. I suspect if Vince attempted
to ride his personality horse in the opposite direction I wouldn’t be mentioning him
now.

I might as well stop here and tell you I am a student of history. I read a great deal
and pay attention to what others have done in getting followers to higher levels of
accomplishment. There is nothing cryptic in a leader-follower relationship. The things
that motivated players a thousand years ago are appropriate today. Have you ever read
the techniques that got Solomon through a tough day? They weren’t much different than
what Knute Rockne used to bring it home for the Gipper. Because coaching and leading
have so many parallels, when I refer to a coach I could just as easily say leader.

There are those that have complicated the process of coaching. I’ve been to the clinics.
I’ve heard the speeches. I’ve invested in the literature. Some of it has been excellent
and much of it hasn’t. Whenever I find myself disagreeing with the input, I recognize
it is because the expert has elevated form over substance.

They seem to discount the part emotion plays in winning and losing. They’ve captured
the science of getting a strategy down but have left out the art of getting a player
up.
Formulas don’t win games but minds do. Coaches that lose have players that say, “I
can’t” and those that win have players that say, “I must.”

This doesn’t happen by accident and it may take a few years of fits and starts to
get the recipe right. I believe there are countless things that get a team into the
victory circle and the vast majority of them having nothing to do with you.

There was a time when I was a “hands on” guy. If things were going to happen I would
have to be involved. The responsibility for the team was mine so it didn’t seem unreasonable
to hold the bridle tight. I don’t remember if it was by accident or design but at
some point when I loosened up, things improved. A light ignited.

I figured out my job, as the leader, was not to dominate the situation, but rather
facilitate the process. In coaching, just as in the universe, there is a natural order
of things. Much about coaching is letting the process evolve on its own. Too many
cooks spoil the soup and too much instruction can ruin a kid. I once drew a parallel
between coaching and surveying. My job was to establish the operational boundaries.
As a player you had leeway as long as you met my performance criteria:

♦ You will show up on time.

♦ You will work hard.

♦ You will pay attention.

♦ You will be a team player.

I believe in quid pro quo so that meant there were criteria for me:

♦ I would show up on time.

♦ I would work hard.

♦ I would pay attention.

♦ I would be a team player.

That’s right. I was part of the team. I was not above the team. Doing what I expected
from others just seemed right. The perception your players have of you is critical
to the coach-player relationship and if they think you don’t live your sermon they
will not only question who you are but everything you tell them.

For me, the team represented all those elements that had an impact on success: coaches,
faculty, trainers, cheerleaders, and fans. There was the team that played, there was
the team that instructed and there was the team that supported.

As a coach, you have a large constituency and it is your responsibility to create
harmony among the different elements. One detractor can ruin your day. I’m sure that’s
why a number of coaches have described their job as akin to a conductor. They don’t
want to play the trombone; they just want to hear some perfect notes. One of the greatest
coaches of all-time, John Wooden, understood the concept. So does Bill Billichek.
If you’re wondering how Southwest Airlines became the king of the skies you should
see how Herb Kelleher works his baton.

And then there was Bob Atkins. What a coach! He saw his job as that of a servant.
Why not? He was asking his athletes to perform on his behalf. He was demanding hard
work, sacrifice, and abstinence. He wanted much from the girls he guided. For him
it seemed reasonable that he should
give something back. He’d be happy to run an errand, carry your shoes, or get you
some water. If you fell, Bob was the first one there with a Band-Aid. I never saw
a request go unfulfilled. We coached together, roomed together, and shared a friendship.
He was black and I was white. We both were colorblind. Bob is gone but the memories
are fresh. In the years that he and I worked together, I got to witness how a great
man could be humble and in his humility he inspired everyone he touched.

Facilitating the process involves embracing the attitude that you are only half as
smart as you think.

If you believe you don’t have all the answers, you’ll go looking for them and they
will show up in the most unusual places. Coaches who facilitate the process see everyone
as a resource and every situation as an opportunity to learn.

Lewis and Clark understood the concept. In the annals of American history there may
be no better example of leadership or the display of leadership principles than what
is chronicled in their expedition log.

At the request of Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were to take
a group of intrepid explorers and document everything they encountered in their journey
from St. Louis to parts unknown. In the course of their travels they would encounter
innumerable obstacles that would
challenge the essence of their ability. Incredibly, they overcame every adversity.
A year and a half after leaving St. Louis, they found themselves on the northwest
Pacific coast, with winter approaching. Short on provisions and eager to report back
to Jefferson they contemplated what to do—return to St. Louis or stay put until spring.
The decision had life-threatening consequences. Assembled by a roaring fire, the matter
was opened for discussion. Every possibility was reviewed and yet Lewis and Clark
could not make a decision. They decided to take a vote. Majority ruled. Everyone would
participate. Everyone! Even Sacagawea, the Shoshone Indian they had retained as an
interpreter.

I suspect a couple of lesser leaders would have disenfranchised her. She didn’t have
the look. Talked with an accent. Lacked credentials. Wore a deerskin dress.

Lewis and Clark thought otherwise. They understood when venturing into unknown territory
every resource is important. And as a result, their expedition is now ranked as one
of the greatest accomplishments in American history.

When you retire the “know it all” attitude, you open up a world of possibilities.
There is nothing wrong with questioning what you are doing. If it’s right you’ll validate
it and if it’s wrong you’ll discover the error in your thinking. When you seek input
and criticism you have changed nothing. You will become aware of what already exists.

One of the great leaders in American industry in the twentieth century was the CEO
of Intel, Andy Grove. He wrote a terrific book about his company thriving because
of paranoia.