They Call Me Coach PDF
Preview They Call Me Coach
/ /. Jj. ^m I i WITBMCKTOBm ' FOREWORD BY wDEmrCRUM mvemty of Louisville % Revised. andupdate Digitized by the Internet Archive 2012 in http://archive.org/details/theycallmecoachOOwood_0 Theu cam Coach John Wooden WITH JACK TOBIIV CB CONTEMPORARY BOOKS Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wooden, John R. They call me coach /John Wooden with Jack Tobin : foreword by Denny Crum. p. cm. ISBN 0-8092-4591-4 (pbkk.) 1. Wooden, John R. 2. Basketball—United States—Coaches- Biography. 3. University of California, Los Angeles—Basketball. I. Tobin, Jack. II. Title. GV884.W66A3 1988 796.32'3'0924—dc19 [B] 88-16157 CIP Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint the following copyrighted material: "How to Be a Champion" and 'The Great Gompetitor" by Grantland Rice, reprinted by permission of A. S. Barnes & Go., Inc., Granbury, New Jersey; "They Ask Me Why I Teach" by Glennice L. Harmon, NEA Journal, September 1948, reprinted by permission of NEA Journal, Washington, D.G. Unless otherwise indicated, photographs are by courtesy ASUGLA Photographic Department, staff photographers Stan Troutman and Norm Schindler. Copyright©1988 by John Wooden and Jack Tobin Published by Contemporary Books An imprint of NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company 4255 West Touhy Avenue, Lincolnwood (Chicago), Illinois 60646-1975 U.S.A. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, ortransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company. Manufactured in the United States of America International Standard Book Number: 0-8092-4591-4 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 Dedication This book is gratefully dedicated in memory ofmy wife, Nellie. Her love, faith, and loyalty through all our years together are primarily responsible for what I am. Foreword IrsBEEN 17 years since I last satbeside Coach John Wooden in Houston's Astrodome, during our 68-62 Final Four victory over Villanova in 1971. And every day since, something in my life bringsback fond memories ofmyyears with this great man. Our relationshiphada ratherstrangebeginning. I hadalways UCLA dreamed about going to while growing up in San Fer- nando. One day our president at Pierce College, John Shep- herd, invited Coach Wooden over to a game. I didn't know he wasthere; in fact, I didn'tknowanythingabout ituntil hecalled me up and asked ifI'd like to come to a UCLA game. I did go, and I never forgot that game. It was played at the Pan Pacific Auditorium on Beverly Boulevard, in Los Angeles. The next week he called and invited me to a practice. After- ward, we walked over to Kerckh—off Hall to eat at the training table. It was a memorable walk not for what he said, but be- cause he took me in through the kitchen past the long row of garbage cans. UCLA After I ate dinner with him and longtime trainer DuckyDrake,Coachaskedmepointblank,"Well,areyoucom- ing or aren't you?" That's the Coach. He enjoyed meeting and talking with prospects but never liked recruiting. "Yeah," I an- swered, "I guess I am." That was my first experience with the man I'll always call Coach. I learned a tremendous amount from him as a player, but the exposure that helped me most was the two years I worked with him,Jerry Norman,andthe UCLAfreshmanteamwhiledoing graduate work for my teaching credentials. For the first time I sawthe otherside ofJohn Wooden andhis methods, hisorgani- zation, and his practice format. — Late—r at Pierce College first as an assistant, then as head coach I began to use all that Coach taught me. I felt pretty good there, butwhenJerry Norman decidedtogo into thebro- kerage business, and Coach Wooden asked me ifI would come back and be his assistant coach, I immediately said yes, even though the move meant I had to take a $3,000 salary cut, a lot of money in those days. During those years I realized that what separated Coach Wooden fromsomanyothercoacheswashisabilityandwilling- ness to utilize everyone involved in the coaching program at UCLA. Here Iwas,ajunior-collegecoachworkingforthegreat- est coach ever, making suggestions to him at our daily practice planning sessions. We all had input; after thinking it through Coach would say, "Let's try it in practice." Ifit worked, we'd put it in the game; ifnot, we'd either work with it or eliminate it. Coach never gave the impression that he knew everything; he was always open to changing and moving forward. It was his greatest strength as a coach, and that's why he had such phenomenal success over the years with his teams and with individual players. I remember how we prepared forthose practice sessions. We used to spend more than an houreach morningjusttoplan that day'spractice. We'devaluatewhathadhappenedthedaybefore, — andthen setdownthepracticeschedule in finedetail nothing was left to chance. At no time was any member of the squad simply watching. They were doing: ifthey weren't in a three- man drill, then they'd be shooting free throws. Coach repeatedtimeandtimeagain thatifyoupreparedthor- oughly in practice, the games would take care ofthemselves. In later years, however, that rule wasn't quite as true. Opponents started doing so many different things and made so many changesthatyou hadto match upagainstthem, move formove, during the course of the game. Thechess match. I thinkthat'stheaspectofbasketball Coach enjoyed most. Watching him work a game from the bench was astudyincoachingmastery:hecouldsuccessfullyanticipatethe movement and flow before happened. it Coach and I met twice in the Final Four, the first time in the 1971-72 season. I pitted my first team at Louisville against Coach's Bruins in the semifinals at the Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles. The fact that we lost 96-77 hurt at the time. but today I have fond memories ofcoaching against the master in my first season as head coach. We metoneothertime in the Final Four, in the 1975 semifi- nals in San Diego. I remember learning a short time after we had exchanged post-game best wishes that Coach had an- nounced his retirement from a career that ended with his tenth NCAA championship, a 92-85 victory over Kentucky. It's funny how these numbers and years stay with me, (as I find they do with Coach's other disciples, former teammates, and friends), but the Coach has been a powerful influence in mycareerandin mylife. Hegeneratesgreatrespectfromevery- one who has hadthe privilege to cross his path, especially those of us who had the rare opportunity to play for him and, those of us, a mere handful, who coached beside him. He's touched the lives of those around him and inspired countlesspeopletoemulatehiswonderfulqualities: hisloveand dedication to his family, his appreciation ofall who played for him, hishonesty, hispatience, andhis modesty. Hecouldteach, impartinghisthoughtsinawaythatneveralienatedanyone,and he could understand the frustration ofa player who wanted to play better so badly he could taste it. He controlled the most stressful situations with the ease and demeanor ofa gentleman, and, most important, he knew how to listen. It still amazes me how much ofthe Coach rubs offon you. You don't really think much about it until one day you realize something you do every day is something he did. Like my rolled-up program with the current stats inside. That program was the Coach's signature card. He opened up an entire way of life to usall. We all justfell in linebehindhim, tryingtodowhat he did. Whenever I speak publicly, which is often, I credit John Wooden for the success we've had here at Louisville. Most of what I know about basketball I learned at his side. This is why I'll always call him Coach. Denny Crum, UCLA '59 Head Basketball Coach University of Louisville
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