Old School Coaches- The Best of Coaching Clinics

I am hoping to do this segment- "Old School Coaches" on a regular basis. I have put together a crew of retired coaches, who were highly successful in their high school coaching career. My hope is to post one question to them every two weeks. 

Bob Anderson- Williamsfield HS

Bob is retired as boys basketball coach at Williamsfield. At a school of only 89 students, in 45 years, his teams won 732 games along with numerous tourney and conference championships. His 1997 team made it to the Elite 8. 

Mike Cooper- Ottawa HS

Mike is the retired Athletic Director at Ottawa HS. He was varsity girls basketball coach for 22 years, as well as sophomore football coach for many years. He was inducted in the the IBCA HOF.

Tim Engebretson- United HS

He was varsity head football coach for many years at United HS. He also has coached basketball at different levels. His 2005 team won the Illinois State Title, and Tim is in the Illinois Football Coaches' HOF as well as the United HOF.

Greg King- Sterling HS

In his head coaching career at Sterling, his football teams went 78-28, and had 10 straight play-off appearances and 5 conference titles. In addition to his success as a football coach, he was inducted in the Illinois Athletic Director's Association HOF. 

Mark Massey- Clinton HS

Mark was the head volleyball coach at Clinton for 38 years. His teams won 818 games, and twice took second in State. He is in the Iowa Volleyball HOF and Clinton HS HOF.

Thom Sigel- Rock Falls/Rock Island HS

Thom coached basketball for 32 years. His teams won 502 games, and he has the distinction of winning the State Title at both Rock Falls and Rock Island. Thom is in the IBCA HOF.

Mike Tracey- Alleman, UTHS, Moline HS

Mike coached football at Alleman, UT, and Moline for over 20 years. By most, he is considered the premier football coach in WB6 history. His teams won 140 games, and twice finished second in State. Mike is in the Alleman HS HOF and the Illinois Football HOF. He was also selected Illinois AD of the Year. 

Tom Wierzba- Farmington HS

Tom coached basketball for 38 years, coaching 26 years at Farmington. At Farmington, his teams won 7 sectionals and made 5 trips to State, including a third place and fourth place finish. For his career, his teams won 611 games. In addition, he coached softball at Farmington for 10 years- going 225-50. His softball teams won the State title twice and took fourth once. He has been inducted into both the IBCA and Greater Peoria Sports HOF's.

My Question

Attending clinics does not seem as popular with younger coaches today. Maybe it says something about their attitude or something about technology. We "grew up as coaches" in an era when coaching clinics were a big deal. What did you see as the value of clinics? What were the kind of things you hoped to gain at clinics? Who were some of the best speakers you heard?

Bob Anderson- Williamsfield- I loved attending clinics at any time of the year. Attending clinics were a benefit to me in many ways, but two things really jumped out at me. 

#1- I'm convinced if you want to be a good coach, you need to go to clinics. 

#2- By going to clinics, it always reminded me that there were alot of coahes who knew more about basketball than I did. 

As far as what I was looking for in a clinic, it was anything that may give me an edge to win a game. Sometimes I did nave a specific thing I was looking for, but by and large, just trying to get an edge. 

As far as speakers, I heard many coaches who were great speakers. But three people really standout to me. Hubie Brown was the best speaker I ever heard as far as game situations were concerned. We all know you can't cover all situations, but Hubie had more of them covered than anyone else. I thought Hubie had the best way to miss a free throw intentionally that I've ever seen. Coach Knight's knowledge about motion offense was second to none. He had more ways to come off a screen than you could imagine. Jay Wright was great also with his 4 out motion offense and also their ability to put pressure on the offense without giving up alot of easy shots. 

I feel if you want to be a good coach and keep up with the times, you need to go to clinics. Just look at how the NBA has changed. They are running five out and shooting the three. The Celtics won the title doing just that. 

Mike Cooper- Ottawa- I used to go to clinics to try and pick things up related to team bonding and situational type plays that can be used at the end of a game or specials from the baseline and sideline. 

I used to make it a point to meet other coaches from different parts of the state to pick their brains about basketball. They were also good contacts when I needed a scouting report. Before and after the clinics were the best times to get information. Those conversations especially when you were in a small group were very beneficial. Networking is one of the great parts of going to clinics.

Coach K was probably the best speaker I ever heard. He talked about all the little things that separated Duke from other top programs. Pat Summitt was also a very good speaker. She stressed the commitment a player needed to make to reach their potential.

I would stress that going to clinics and interacting is much better than watching clinics on YouTube!

Tim Engebretson- United- The IHSFCA put on very good clinics every year at the U of I. They would have coaches from all levels give presentations. College and professional coaches were usually entertaining and the stories were great but I usually got a lot more from the High School coaches. They were dealing with the same types of things we were dealing with and had the same type of athletes. 

I enjoyed being around fellow coaches in a less competitive atmosphere than when I would normally see them. Although we didn't change much over the years it was good to listen to new ideas and philosophy. It was not only interesting, it helped us when we had to play vs those teams. We also tried to enhance what we were doing by listening to people with similar philosophies. 

The speaker I remember the most was Don Tanney who coached at Dunlap and Lexington Illinois. He was talking about a play we liked to run. He talked about this one play for over an hour. The detail and knowledge he had was very impressive. It is always stuck with me that anyone could actually have that much information for one play. 

I have listened to many other excellent speakers but there were  three that have had a large impact on me. Dennis Larson from Knoxville/Abingdon, John Elder from Alexis, and Ben McIntosh from Warren/United. I heard all of these gentlemen speak but I was also fortunate enough to talk to them individually quite often. Every time I got to speak to them was like a football and life clinic.

Greg King- Sterling- Honestly…I was a clinic junkie.  Most of the time when you would go to a clinic, you would go to one, hoping to pick up just one thing that you could implement.  It might be another way to teach a technique, a new scheme, motivational technique, etc.  I can remember as a young coach going to a clinic, hearing someone and thinking we have to change everything…lol.  

Sometimes I would go for a particular speaker or two.  I wanted to implement something into our arsenal or see how someone else was teaching it.  I can remember one year implementing a new defense.  All I had read on it, I thought it would fit our personnel.  I had read a lot on the 3-3-5, but none around us was using it.  I think I hit about 2-3 clinics that year to see how people were running it and teaching it.  You then took this information and put it into your terms.  That information was invaluable.  I then went and sat down with another coach about 2 hours away for an entire day.  

I remember at a particular clinic when I was coaching at Rock Island.  I said there I nothing I want to hear, because we do not do any of this.  The HC, Vic Boblett, looked at me and said, well maybe one of our opponents does.  That stuck with me.  I needed to learn more about the game! 

Clinics were also about building relationships.  What a great tool for building staff camaraderie!  I go to know my staff on a better level.  In our younger days it was about saving money.  We might have 4-5 guys in 1 hotel room!  You also got to build relationships with other coaches.  Sometimes sitting around a table or a hotel room after the clinic talks were over is where  you really learn.  I was able to get to know some of the legends of the game this way! 

Two of the best were Jerry Kill and Sean Payton.  Not because I learned X’s and O’s but they talked more about relationships.  These 2 guys had been through a lot and talking about how they handled athletes and adversity.  One of Coach Payton’s best stories was when he was suspended from the NFL.  He talked about how he was coaching his son’s JFL team.  He was in the championship against a team that beat them early in the year.  So he called a couple coaching friends like Bill Belichick and Jon Gruden.  Gruden wanted him to send him film on the JFL team so he could break things down.

My big things on speakers though, was I wanted to go to the guys who actually taught the technique or scheme.  I usually did not want to go a pro coach or college HC.  The absolute best person I ever heard speak was Joe Moore.  He was a longtime OL coach at Pitt and Notre Dame.  He really made you think about what and why you were teaching certain things.  The problems he said from doing it other ways, were exactly the problems I was having.  I took his ideas, implemented them, and taught those probably the last 25+ years I was coaching.

Evan Massey- Galesburg- When I first started going to clinics, it seemed like I focused on X/O's and plays. As time went on, if I liked a play that I saw, I would try to figure out how I could implement into something we already used. I thought it was a great way to develop counters to our existing plays. At the end of my career, I wanted to hear more about drills, organization, and motivation.

Basketball is constantly changing, you need to attend clinics to understand advances in strategy, techniques, and motivation. Today basketball is more Grinnell and less Bob Knight. 

I loved going to clinics. My wife's running joke when I came home was to ask, "How many wins did you get this weekend?" Clinics weren't all about the speakers. It was getting to interact with our staff and with other coaches. Some of the interaction was sharing X/O's, and some was just having fun. I can remember staying up until 4am sharing coaching stories. Some of these coaches then became people that I could call during the season to pick the brains. Coaching is all about relationships, and clinics are an important way to network. 

The two best speakers I heard were Bob Knight and Hubie Brown. They would start on a Friday afternoon and go non-stop until Sunday afternoon. As a young coach, I learned so much about practice organization and fundamental drills from Knight. An example of his wisdom- “If you are doing a drill and have more people waiting in line than you have actually doing the drill, you have a problem.” 

Although Hubie Brown was a pro-coach, he talked philosophy and situations that related to HS coaches. On a Sunday morning in St. Louis, Hubie Brown went over a simple zone offense that became our basic zone offense for the next 30 years. 

For me and our program, Tom Davis on pressure defense and Jim Valvano/Paul Westhead with the numbered break impacted me the most.

Thom Sigel- Rock Island-   It is pretty amazing how many memories, stories, and information I have taken from the numerous clinics I have attended over the years.  It started with clinics our staff at Galesburg attended that started on Friday evenings and ran through Sunday afternoons.  So not only were the speakers and sessions beneficial, but I was also able to meet many coaches through socializing and learning from them as well.  

When I was young and starting out, I tried to take in as much information as possible.  I would scribble notes and try to keep up, and then go back over them a few days after the clinic.  I felt like I focused on the X's &  O's a lot for the first couple of clinics, but I realized when I went back over my notes, I was taking more away from the philosophical and organizational aspects from clinics. In fact, when I decided to clean and organize my office during the Covid down time, I enjoyed finding files I saved with notes from many clinics over the years. I was also reading books and watching clips from coaches and other leaders over the years, but being in person to hear coaches was much more fun to be honest.  

As I became more experienced as a head coach, I felt like our system was basically in place, but just being able to pick up ideas or new concepts from an X & O standpoint was something I could take away.  But over the years, I shifted my focus more and more toward the other aspects of coaching and leadership I could take from successful coaches.  It became more about how to make our program as a whole more successful than what we ran on the court.  Finding sets, actions, and schemes is so easy these days (and actually too easy and can cause an overload of information).  So it has to go well beyond that - teaching, implementing new ideas, how to call sets in game situations, and the many aspects of building a program.

When I think of speakers that come to mind, there are SO many.  I think of Charlie Spoonhour who I saw a couple of times.  He wove in teaching points into a very memorable story about a former player.  And he did it in such a way that most of us were rolling with laughter through much of his talk.  

I also heard Phil Martelli speak twice on his topic "Things All Coaches Do Which We Should Never Do".  While I didn't agree with all of his points, it did make me think of how the game and methods change over the years and to evaluate why we do what we do and if they are really beneficial. I felt this was one reason I looked at practice organization and tried to improve how we prepared our players.  Yes, "we talkin' about practice!"

Finally, another coach I was fortunate to hear twice was Rick Majerus.  Honestly, during those long weekends - even during the good presentations - I would often look forward to getting a break.  However, when Coach Majerus spoke, I remember thinking I could keep listening to him for another hour.  And different from the entertaining Spoonhour, it seemed that I could almost see Majerus's mind at work as he shared concept after concept.  He had a love for his craft, and he was able to simplify even the more complex aspects of coaching basketball in detailed ways.

Mike Tracey- UTHS, Alleman- My first experiences with football coaches' clinics 100 years ago were intimidating but eye opening. I learned up close and personal how clueless I really was. These clinics helped me form my philosophy for coaching and/or clinics: keep your ears and eyes open and mouth shut. I had a much better chance of learning when I knew more about what to actually ask. 

I learned what I didn't know. That was critical in establishing a simple philosophy. That philosophy was basic beliefs that would not change regardless of whatever place I was working.

Be on time

Be Honest

Be Fair 

Be Consistent  

Play Hard

Have Fun

Be Physical

I have heard many more good speakers than bad. This is a very difficult  question.

BEST SPEAKERS- 

Woody Hayes-very funny without trying to be. He was very stubborn.

Chad Hetlet-Head coach, Glenbard West, very thorough, tells you what he is going to do, then does it.

Lou Tepper-illinois-great philosophy with treatment of players, staff, fans, and parents.

CHARACTERISTICS OF BAD SPEAKERS: Not prepared, project that they are much smarter than the audience, too good to answer a question, belittle those who asked "dumb" questions

  

Clinics were always social for football. The X's and O's were always important, but they are fading with so many online teaching "clinics" which are great for schools trying to save money. The Internet is a tremendous resource for football coaching, just as I assume it is for basketball.

Tom Wierzba- Farmington- This is an interesting topic because I was a chronic clinic goer, usually two or three every year. When I was a young coach, I was trying to broaden my knowledge base but again when I was younger this was one of the few places that you were able to pick out the great minds of the game. Today because of technology, YouTube videos, etc. are much more available. But what these young coaches miss out on is the before and after sessions with a beer or a sandwich where the sharing of ideas took place, as well as the camaraderie built with other coaches. As I got older, I went to clinics to listen and try to find better ways to teach the offenses in defense of concepts that we try to incorporate in our program. Maybe find a new drill to teach or may be an easier method to organize time.

A little side light and an interesting story. I was at an IBCA clinic in the suburbs, and I was sitting in about the third row in the bleachers, and there was a young, female junior high coach, talking about rebounding and drills to help rebound. Dick Bennett the former coach at Wisconsin Green Bay, and later at University of Wisconsin, was sitting directly in front of me, jotting down notes from this young lady. This made a distinct impression on me that here is a renowned successful college coach, listening and trying to learn, not too smug to realize he could learn one little item that might help his program.

The best clinicians that I had the pleasure of listening to were Bob Knight at Indiana university, Rick Pitino, at University of Kentucky, and Don Meyer at David Lipscomb University in Nashville Tennessee. I also had the luxury of attending their one man clinics that were held in conjunction with their practice sessions. At these clinics, you saw how they taught and drilled their offenses and defenses just reading, and/or listing the Ex's & Oh's were too superficial for me, I had to see how they were actually teaching.