Watching the BU presser, it never occurred to me before how strange it must be to be a professional coach after a win. You go into your locker room pumped up, screaming in celebration, foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog, jumping around, blood vessel protruding dangerously far out of your forehead. Then you exit the locker room and you sit down at the post game press conference. The adrenaline is still pumping. You straighten your tie, fix your hair, clear your throat and pretend to remember how to communicate with other non-basketball-playing humans. Speaking into the microphone, you say, "culture win", with your inside voice while just below the surface you desperately want to shout while slapping the white board behind you. Just wild.
(Good) Coaches are just amazing. They can’t be good at just one thing. They have to be good at EVERYTHING. All at once. And they aren’t given much latitude to ever slip up.
They have to know how to prepare a good game plan. They have to know how to relate to and motivate their players. They have to be a Father Figure. They have to know when and how to kick someone’s rear end when necessary. They have to know when to throw their arm around a guy and pick up his spirits when he needs that. They have to show emotion... They have to keep emotion in check... both at the same time.
They have to think past the next possession to the next game... and the next... and then, March. And next season. They have to have the love and understanding of their wife and family who sacrifices, lives, and dies with each game along with the Coach.
They have to remember that as much as you can teach and prep and train and do everything possible to get ready to compete... that you’re still dealing with young men from different backgrounds and different temperaments and different ideas of what’s best for them. That you’re dealing with human beings who have good days and bad. And who make mistakes even as they try to avoid them.
In short, a good Coach is a counselor, teacher, guide, mentor, Father-figure, ‘One-of-the-guys’, motivator, Life coach, best pal, tough taskmaster...
And thank you Fighting Illini for having all this and more in our Coach today who knows how to build a winner and how to respect the history and tradition of Illinois ball. A legacy that very few places can match.