This past spring, Ottawa University (KS) Men’s Basketball Coach Andy Carrier announced his retirement. During his 25-year career, Coach Carrier led the Braves to five National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division II national tournament appearances, one NAIA District 10 championship, three Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) championships and three KCAC Tournament championships (Peterson, 2015). In addition he was inducted into the Ottawa University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011 and received numerous coach of the year awards throughout his career (Sell, 2015).
Having spent three seasons with Coach Carrier as his assistant coach, I was struck by the social media posts surrounding his retirement announcement. In a moment of reflection former student-athletes took to Twitter, sharing recollections of playing for Coach Carrier. In scrolling through the tweets familiar phrases Coach Carrier often used during his interactions with student-athletes appeared.
“That and 50 cents will get you a cup of coffee.”
“Help someone get what they want and you will get what you want.”
“It’s better to beat a Blue Jay, than to be a Blue Jay.”
For some reason Coach Carrier’s words stuck and remained etched in memory of former student-athletes, only to be cajoled out by his recent retirement announcement. Whether deliberate or not, each phrase captured glimpses of the coach’s guidance to his student-athletes on basketball and life.
Intrigued by the lasting impact of a coach’s word choice and the ability of student-athletes to quickly recall key words or phrases used by their coach, I recently took to social media and started two conversations on Facebook. In both conversations invited participants were asked to recall key phrases or words used by their coach. The first online conversation included former student-athletes at Ottawa University (KS) that had played for Coach Carrier between 2002 and 2008. The responses mimicked the tweets posted on Twitter including but not limited to:
“TOUGH ON DEFENSE, Cool on offense”
“If you want something in this world you gotta earn it”
“Here we go, BOOM!”
“Feed the Big Dawgs”
Interestingly, many of the former student-athletes that responded had not competed in over a decade, yet could still recall a few key phrases voiced by their coach. While it is probable that Coach Carrier intended the effect of his words to illicit impact in the short-term, it is doubtful he expected his student-athletes to recall the same selected words years later. But regardless of the intent, his words served and continue to serve as a common link between teammates and their coach. Furthermore, the lasting impact of the coach’s words may hint at the ability of coaches to serve as catalysts for creating environments that allow teams to bond and forge lasting relationships. When successful in this endeavor, the unity shared by the student-athletes and their head coach is exclusive to that particular group of people during a specific period in time. Through this shared experience, memories are created and perhaps a recall of a particular moment in time is recovered upon hearing a phrase often used by their coach.
For 29 years, Tom Wood paced the sidelines as the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Humboldt State University (HSU) in Northern California. He retired after the 2009-10 season as the all-time winningest coach in school history, amassing a career record of 463-351 (Ukiah Daily Journal, 2015). Named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2001-02 and West Region Division II Coach of the Year in 1989-90, Coach Wood guided the Lumberjacks to 10 NCAA postseason appearances and a West Region Championship in 2003-04 (Humboldt, 2010). Inducted into the HSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011, Coach Wood had clearly cemented his legacy at HSU. A significant part of this legacy was the impact he had on his student-athletes. Well known for his random sayings and quotes, at one point in his career the student-athletes branded them, ‘Woodisms’ and even celebrated them on a t-shirt.
In my second online conversation, I asked former student-athletes, assistant coaches, and athletic department staff connected to the men’s basketball program at Humboldt State University in the early 2000’s, to share their favorite ‘Woodisms.’ Within minutes a series of phrases began to appear on the Facebook thread. Although, some of the phrases are best kept between those who participated in the conversation, all of them provided a glimpse into Coach Wood’s personality, sense of humor, and views on certain topics. Here are a few of the responses:
When commenting on the lifestyle of a college student-athlete, he would often state, “We lead the nation in sleeping and eating.”
In joking about following the rules when the culture of collegiate athletics suggests that everyone cheats, Coach Wood would comment, “We are number one in compliance.”
In managing the budget of a small college coach, Coach Wood liked to say, “I’ll bet Bobby Knight does not have to stay at a Motel 6,” or when commenting on his daily duties, “I’ll bet Bobby Knight doesn’t have to sweep the floor in his own gym.”
When a play was not executed properly or a player would make a mistake, Coach Wood frequently quipped, “You couldn’t drop kick it in the bay.” Humboldt State University is located in the town of Arcata, California. Arcata Bay, sits between the town of Arcata and Eureka on Northern California’s Pacific Coast.
When the mood needed to be lightened or a point needed to be made, Coach Wood was ready with a few choice words. For example when speaking about an injured player he’d say, “He’d miss practice if he had a pimple on his butt,” or to capture the simplicity of the game he might preach, “If we play our best basketball we’ll win this game.”
On occasion, if a player or an assistant coach forgot their place or role in the program, he would use the phrase, “Hey rook.”
Beyond the humor, some of Coach Wood’s common phrases related directly to the game of basketball and his basketball program.
“Play the Lumberjack Way”
“The harder you play, the easier it gets.”
“It’s not who starts the game that counts, it’s who finishes it.”
When student-athletes reflect on their athletic careers, they will recall the time and camaraderie shared with their teammates off the field of play. But often equally impactful is the time they spent with their coaches.
The ‘Woodisms’ that evoked controlled laughter and smirks amongst players when they occurred, became a unifying memory of playing for Coach Wood. They connected teammates with one another and their coach. To this day, the ‘Woodisms,’ still function as a unifying force among teammates, a spark igniting memories or experiences shared with Coach Wood. So much so, that during the online conversation, former student-athletes quickly got off topic and began sharing stories of their time together. One former player reflected on his favorite memory of Coach Wood, “At the end of a pregame speech coach Wood often said ‘now lets go get em’ with his running uppercut fist pump. I loved the fist pump.”
In sum, it is well documented that the experience of student-athletes is directly related to the environment created by the coach. From the perspective of the former student-athletes participating in the online conversation, both Coach Carrier and Coach Wood were successful in cultivating an atmosphere for the development of lasting relationships. Ironically, both even used the same phrase: “Things are never quite as bad as they seem and things are never quite as good as they seem.”
While both coaches actively used key phrases, this was only a small part of their legacy. Many other components played into their ability to build successful programs. It’s likely that the use of choice words or catchy phrases is not required for finding the same success Coach Carrier and Coach Wood experienced. It simply fit their personalities. By staying true to themselves, both experienced longevity in coaching and left a legacy for others to follow. Perhaps most importantly, they provided lasting and mostly positive memories for all the student-athletes who participated in their programs.
In closing, I spoke with Coach Carrier a few weeks after his retirement and during our conversation, notably in a reflective state, he mentioned his legacy after 25 years serving as head coach. Although not directly, he humbly hinted that his legacy was tied to making a difference in the lives of the student-athletes he coached. By giving his student-athletes a positive environment to grow and develop, Coach Carrier lived the phrase he so often shared with his student-athletes, “Help someone get what they want and you will get what you want.”
A special thank you to all the former student-athletes, coaches, and athletic department staff at Humboldt State University and Ottawa University for their contributions to this article.
References:
Humboldt (2010). Tearing up the floorboards: Head basketball coach Tom Wood retiring after 29 years. Humboldt, Spring 2010. Retrieved from: http://magazine.humboldt.edu/spring10/tearing-up-the-floorboards/
Peterson, R. (2015, March 4). Ottawa coach Andy Carrier retiring after 25-year career with Braves. The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved from: http://cjonline.com/sports/2015-03-04/ottawa-coach-andy-carrier-retiring-after-25-year-career-braves
Sell, S. (2015, March 4). Longtime OU coach, Swede grad Carrier retires. Mid Kansas Online. Retrieved from: http://midkansasonline.com/sports/?id=8358
Ukiah Daily Journal (2010, October 14). HSU to honor 2010 hall of fame inductees Friday. Ukiah Daily Journal. Retrieved from http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/general-news/20101014/hsu-to-honor-2010-hall-of-fame-inductees-friday
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