The Heat • IS On

The coaching world con be cruel, even at laid-back Boise State

By Bob lvancllo

1 11 ve always n a profession fraught with immense stress and frayed explained that nerves, where heads roll if victories don't accumulate, it's every school really no surprise when coaches at top-tier college pro­ needs to win grams fall victim to the pressure and lose their jobs - witness the recent episodes that include Bob Knight's downfall enough. Enough is at Indiana, Dick Bennett's burnout at Wisconsin and Larry defined differently Smith's umbrage at the media at Missouri, not to mention the at every school 1 tribulations of at Arizona State, Dick Tomey at and sometimes Arizona, Mike DuBose at Alabama and Paul Hackett at enough can Southern Cal. change from year To be sure, the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately coaching to year at the world can be cruel and unforgiving to those who stumble. At same school.1 the conclusion of 's 2000 regular season, for example, 13 Division 1-A coaches were dismissed or resigned under pressure. And since the start of the current basketball season three coaches, including Bennett, have been fired or quit because of job-related stress. The New York Times

28 FOCUS/WINTER 2001 M E M 0 ... from TO: the , desk of Head Bob On behalf Football Evancho on your of all of Coach, new us at Boise Arizona for providing jobBronco at Arizona State, State State congratulations University brand of fans University, Wait football with such and This ... make during an thanks past new that your three outstanding (remember regular standards to two years. years season meet After in Boise. Arizona that record, the Sun in Tempe, uphold all, you No. for Dirk?), Devils now. so and heightened now fourth the second defeated went 6-5 After you might have bowl berth straight archrival h~re, all, you as expectations Despite in year, and did finish well get all the last and With that kind only used to to Funny, that, five years. earned your of showing 6-5 your them don't Snyder their minute.) new employer. first son you got the might not season can unravel think, how ax. (More make can change so in a During about that the grade so quickly matter played your tenure in a drastically and a of weeks the at by coach's a sea­ necessary Boise going good standing der. But skills State, you 6-5? now as to ascend certainly hig~-profile the head the dis­ senous programs man at coaching thought in one of lad­ intense all the the premier, fan to the often land, have descend and media unbearable you given upon pressure weight any Of you should that of course it you is almost the honeymoonwon't happen falter, even sure to everyone period immediately; slightly? in Sun when your there's guess there's Deviland record always 11-1-type the outside is happy is 0-0 and records year chance and optimistic. wrath you of angry in and could And I But fans year out post 12-0 rare is the and critical and or one time coach journalists avoid the or another at a top-tier altogether. Unlikely been program as it under who when you may seem the gun. hasn't State. actually now, at long for there might the halcyon come a Despite the days time evident media of Boise you circus the Bronco were leaving that ensued same coaches BSU when fact, fate awaits This isn't selves generally don't for another it became the bet you in to imply, with such job environment.here is the Valley Dirk, marginal intense have last fall, that you of the that Big West scrutiny. to concern sure Just the will flourish Sun. to Divis~on Conference As a them­ you don't same, in In ~-~football, member 6-5 apparently slip up, it would your new of the disqwetmg, and a relative of the not even be wise BSU newcomer sure ... won't for a to make ~terc?llegiate often turbulentoperates your 6-5 cut it with moment, mtensity athletics- on the periphery at BSU the ASU because world world ASU, while was in faithful. co~ches that the harsh, of big-time but Snyder's your first Sure, who you high-stakes, any way 6-5 season loned fail have joined, will be you was in his as a by are routinely a world high­ dealing look at ninth angry fans torched where Dirk, with the it, it doesn't year at Given your and fired in you ve~ few most patient seem State, talent by the media, for gettmg people folks like you it's a and what athletic pil­ Needless all back here in the scoreboardsgood bet you directors. you can in Boise world. your high-octaneaccomplished !o to say, getting get and begrudge right in the run a prestigious paid deciding into the Big West offense at Boise iS $3.5 to leave good Pac-10 this past that a pretty program million us. folks at style. It's autumn lit up But sweet deal. in warm over five After ASU will also safe will fit during and years all, look expect to assume the job an interview sunny Arizona Bruce what nothing the at Arizona two Snyder. happened less. related State, weeks your new A few things to your to your you before job: to ponder, predecessor, closer to job that mentioned you took In the four Dirk, Most home than was quite a concern Snyder's seasons as you head most poignant- overall that start coaches of the the and preceded what hurts "can issues something Pac-10's league the the take the you will games best, winning 2000 campaign, aimed at] most are heat," face. .. In and the percentages their the stories you said. ASU 1996, the Sun Devils their wives families, about "But finished first season went to were and about how [verbal nation 11-1, of three "My kids kids. tough abuse and was ranked that four-year bowl wrong. are still [the job] onship. came within as But young, is on In seconds high as span, say I know so to year '% Snyder of No.2 in the to them, the day them I awards also a national sucks.' 'Your is coming can still the . Then won 13 champi­ I'm dad sucks,' when do no school before major but J?-Ot looking or, someone January gave him a the start coach-of-the­ I know forward 'My dad will 2004. contract of the 2000 Nobody it's coming.'' to says your extension season is that day dad through happen naive enough as a parent, in Boise, to will be Dirk. think such turned But it's things Good up in Tempe. also safe don't luck. to say And good the heat luck to your family. 0 recently called the strain coaches are under public sentiments and unhappy supporters regularly. "almost unmanageable, draining even the can't be ignored, Bleymaier says the athlet­ "People think there is great pressure on most resilient man." ic department's boosters by and large allow the coaches here," says longtime Boise "We all know in this profession you live him to do his job when the time comes to sportscaster Tom Scott. "But they should on the edge," says , Boise make- or not make - a coaching change. spend some time in other places in the State's new head football coach. "However, Moreover, the Bronco AD says he has country to see what pressure is really like." that does not mean one has to be on the never been threatened with withdrawn Scott says Bronco fans aren't as extreme edge psychologically." financial backing in regard to the hiring, and unreasonable as in other places for two Certainly, the pressure to succeed at firing or retention of a coach. "What I real­ primary reasons. First, because Boise State Boise State isn't as intense as it seems to be ly appreciate is that while [some boosters] is a relatively young university and many at many larger schools with more promi­ are obviously going to have an opinion Boise residents are transplants, the school nent athletic programs. And when it comes here or there, in the end they say to me, doesn't have an extensive fan base of alum­ to the tension and scrutiny under which 'Hey, I can tell you how I feel, but it's your ni and longtime followers. Second, there their head coaches toil, nobody is compar­ decision,'" Bleymaier says. are just too many competing recreational ing Boise to Tempe, South Bend, "There is no threat of any kind whatso­ interests in the wide-open spaces of the Thscaloosa or Chapel Hill. ever. I think [such threats] would backfire West. But try telling that to Dave Leach, Lyle in a lot of cases. Our supporters here have "Take basketball for example," says Setencich, or Tom Mason. been good to work with and they've been Scott. "Very few schools in the West sell For different reasons and under different included in the [hiring] process. But they out their arenas. But in the East and circumstances, those four former Boise are advisory and they understand that role; Midwest, basketball is a way of life. I mean, State coaches - Leach in basketball in the they don't try to push me on that." what else are they going to do in those early 1980s; the other three in football Boise State's fans can be demanding, places in the middle of the winter?" (Mason on an interim basis) between 1983 but for the most part they aren't the rabid, Nevertheless, Boise State fans will cut and 1996 - all suffered the same fate and nothing-else-matters types who go off the the school's coaches only so much slack found themselves looking for a new job fol­ deep end if the home team doesn't win Gust ask Setencich and Hall) and the Boise lowing losing seasons. Leach (28-51 in three years) simply lost too much, while Mason (1-9 in 1996 while replacing the cancer-stricken ) coached under ill-fated and extenuating circumstances. Their departures were all By Justin Endow but inevitable. But in the case of Setencich (24-20 in four years) and Hall (42-28 in six In his 10 seasons, Boise High School girls' basketball coach Harry Angelos has seasons), it wasn't because they didn't win coached teams that have reveled in their highs and battled through their lows togeth­ - it was because they didn't win enough. er, much like a family. So just how many victories are enough at But during the 1999-2000 Boise State? season, Angelos built those Ultimately, the answer is determined by family-like bonds strong athletic director , who each enough to rise above pow­ year conducts an evaluation of every coach. erhouses Centennial High "We try to use as broad-based an approach and Borah High to capture as possible [in the evaluation]," explains the district title. The team Bleymaier. "[The review] covers at least 10 ultimately finished third in different areas - academics, recruiting, the state tournament. staffing, team management, budget, etc. - And the 2000-2001 and we use many factors to evaluate a pro­ squad, which includes gram; obviously winning and losing is a Raelyn Chaffee, the grand­ consideration." daughter of former Boise And the magic number of wins is? ... State president Eugene Chaffee and his wife Lois, may be even better: the team "I've always explained that every school opened the season at 13-0. needs to win 'enough,'" replies Bleymaier. On top of that, and more importantly from Angelos' perspective, the team has a "Enough is defined differently at every combined GPA of 3.95, with five players above a 4.0. The team also got involved in school, and sometimes enough can change the community by adopting three underprivileged families for the holidays. from year to year at the same school." "This group of girls isn't just a basketball team," says Angelos, a 1967 Boise High And in a few painful circumstances, graduate, a 1972 Boise State graduate and former Bronco football, basketball and Bleymaier decided the wins weren't coming baseball player. "Many of them are involved in more than one activity. We want them often enough - as was the case with the to be as well-rounded as they can be, to each develop into a whole person." four ex-Boise State coaches mentioned Angelos himself was aided in this way by coaches and teachers. As a student at above. "Those are extremely difficult and Boise High in the mid-1960s, coaches Myron Finkbeiner and Ron McNeely helped stressful situations because you're dealing direct him toward what became his lifelong pursuit. with people's lives," says Bleymaier. "I could've done a lot of things with my life," he says. "But they put me in touch "Whether it's [dismissing] a coach or with what I should do." another employee, I would trade those Making the game fun has been a successful strategy for the Boise High coaching days for anything." staff, which includes former Boise State point guard Nikki Gamez. Angelos' teams Certainly, athletic directors like have enjoyed 10 straight winning seasons. Bleymaier must weigh a variety of issues "If the kids enjoy what they're doing, they put in more effort," he says. "And I get when deciding to pull the plug on a coach to do a job I enjoy, a job that keeps me young." and his staff. Fortunately, says Bleymaier, And no matter what the win-loss columns say, Angelos can feel successful. "When he isn't unduly pressured by outside influ­ one of the kids comes back and lets me know I helped along the way, or when I hear ences. from one of them and we can share in each other's lives, that's when this job is the While he acknowledges that negative most uplifting." 0

30 FOCUS/WINTER 2001 media can be a royal pain when things aren't going well. So it only stands to rea­ son that Boise State's coaches can expect increased scrutiny as the city of Boise becomes larger and more sophisticated, as other teams enter the Treasure Valley and compete for sports fans' dollars, and as the university continues to grow both academ­ ically and athletically - exemplified by its move this summer from the Big West to the Western Athletic Conference. Given those circumstances, do Boise State's coaches feel added pressure? How do they cope when their decisions are scru­ tinized, dissected and second-guessed on a regular basis? Are the expectations they face fair and realistic? "Words like fair and realistic rarely coin­ cide with Division 1 or professional athlet­ ics," responds Hawkins, who was named head football coach in December after Dirk Koetter left for Arizona State. But that doesn't concern Hawkins, nor does it seem to bother basketball coaches Rod Jensen and Trisha Stevens. In fact, all three offer surprisingly similar responses to questions about the pressure they are under. "I'm too busy to think about any criti­ cism," says Jensen, whose defense-oriented style has occasionally come under fire dur­ ing his six seasons as the Bronco men's coach. "The pressure to succeed comes from within; the pressure doesn't come from the public." Stevens, in her fifth year as women's bas­ ketball coach, agrees. "In my mind, the largest amount of pressure is from myself," she says. "We may not get as much heat in Your car is High Tech, the paper as the football and men's basket­ ball teams, but that doesn't make it any eas­ ier if we're not performing well. From my Is Your Technician;» perspective, you shouldn't be in coaching if you don't set high goals and establish high standards within your program, and not • Computerized Diagnostic Engine Analvzer just in the win-loss column. We're talking about our athletes graduating and creating a feeling that they can accomplish any­ thing. I believe we're doing that, and with that comes pressure." "I think every person in this situation puts more pressure on himself than anyone else," says Hawkins. Jensen: "Ours is a visible product, and you know that going into it. You have to have some backbone to deflect some of the criticism. You can't please everyone, no matter what decision you make. We just try to stay focused and make our team as good as we possibly can." Says Stevens: "There is pressure from • late Model Volkswagen & Audi Service & Repair the community because they want us to have a successful program. Sure, we strive to win, but we also want to be perceived as I a program that stresses excellence in all facets of our athletes' lives." The pressure to win can be immense, says Hawkins, but like his two fellow coaches he relishes the challenge. "I have been in charge several times before, so I think I can take the heat," he 4433 Adams St. • Garden Citv • 316-4686 says. "But only time will tell." D

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