Heat of coaching: Football coaches reveal philosophies
Eric Clark
Sports Editor
As the pressure grows, the expectations mount, and the noose around the neck of coaches continues to tighten, the world of coaching has become a place of little refuge for those weak of heart, or at least those weakened by criticism.
So how do coaches in Marion County deal with growing expectations and the heat of coaching?
We decided to ask a few of them. Specifically, football coaches.
When talking about expectations in football, one coach in Marion County who can testify to growing anticipation is Tabor College head coach Tim McCarty, who has been a part of one of the greatest football turn-arounds in college football history.
"The biggest frustration that I deal with is instant gratification," McCarty said. "Everybody battles that, even me. Everybody wants things now. I know I do. There isn't a quick fix."
McCarty embarks on his fifth season with the Bluejays, who finished 0-10 their first season and finished 6-4 last year (the school's best overall record in more than 20 years).
"Everybody wants that success right away," McCarty said. "My hat goes off to our kids. I feel like our kids have exercised patience in our program. It's been a continual process."
The Tabor coach said, while hope grows around their season and their program, the world of growing criticism mounts also.
"We can't be all things to all people," McCarty said. "But we all have two ears."
Bud Peterson, coach at Centre High School, begins his 33rd year of coaching and his 23rd season with the Cougars.
Peterson, a state-champion head coach, said he struggles with more than just high hopes and expectations.
"Sometimes we aren't quite getting the support we always need," Peterson said. "Parents in the football program have been very supportive. But deteriorating family life and single-parent families continue to be a frustration."
Peterson said he rarely feels heat from parents or from his players.
"I think the lack of criticism from the parents is because they know I'm going to be fair and honest with their kids," Peterson said.
Hillsboro head coach Dustin McEwen also is no stranger to football success or growing expectations.
"In high school, you move into a different field," McEwen said. "At the middle school level, everyone gets to play. Some parents look at sports more as a recreational event, at a time when it's become more competitive than ever.
"Football is especially difficult. In basketball you've got three teams, where as in football you've got only two. There are a lot of kids who put in a whole lot of work and practice, who may never even see the playing field."
According to McEwen, the toughest thing about coaching is when "the parents of a player don't wish the best for other athletes on their team out of jealousy."
"As a coach you have to deal with it," McEwen added.
Nine miles east of Hillsboro, Marion High School head coach Grant Thierolf sits under a 16-year football legacy he's helped to construct.
As a coach of the Class 3A state-runner up in 1994, Thierolf is aware of the growing need for success, but in the midst of high hopes and public scrutiny, he said his team focuses on one thing — the team.
"(Our program) teaches you that you're not bigger than yourself," Thierolf said. "We value a team philosophy. We really try to take pride in the team idea. When the team plays together, we play well."
Chris Young, Peabody-Burns head coach, said one of his biggest hurdles in coaching a team that has seen its share of lop-sided losses is erasing the stigma left by those losses.
"No one really expects us to be good until this year," Young said.
Young and his Warriors finished 9-1 last year and many project PBHS to win the Heart of America League this year.
Despite growing expectations, coaches from the area all agree: one thing can weather the storm of pressure and public criticism — eliminating individualism.
"We're not big on individual performance." Thierolf said. "There are no individuals."
McEwen uses the illustration of an iceberg to eliminate individualism.
"We try and stress the iceberg idea," McEwen said. "It takes a lot of mass to support the peak of the iceberg, meaning a more talented player is often on a higher level than most of his teammates, but without his teammates, the peak wouldn't be supported."
And Peterson agrees.
"The eighth and the ninth players are just as darned important as the top players on your team," Peterson said.
McCarty said he agrees in the team concept, but stresses the importance of relationships to his coaching staff.
"Our first statement in our coaching manual is 'the most important thing in coaching is relationships,'" McCarty said. "From that statement we start our philosophy.
"We talk to our players on a regular basis. There are internal problems and there are external problems that we have to deal with on a regular basis. You have to remember, our players are 18 to 22 years old. They all have issues going on in and out of football. I'm not saying that there isn't some tough love, but we try to listen."
