Pat Casey won three NCAA titles and advanced to the College World Series six times in his final 14 seasons as Oregon State (where I live) baseball coach. The Beavers are the only cold-weather program to win a national title in the past 55+ seasons. This was his approach:
"I feel you are doing an injustice if you coach a sport where they determine a winner and a loser ... and you aren't willing to compete to be the team that wins. Some people show up to play the game, other people show up to win the game.
"I don't need someone to tell me, 'hey you've got great kids' and 'hey you guys really took care of the hotel' and 'hey you were very courteous on the plane,' but you lost all three games. I think you can be very courteous on the plane and take care of the hotel and be very nice and kick someone's ass.
"(It) would not be very truthful to make them work as hard as you make them work and tell them that winning and losing doesn't matter."
THAT'S what we need in a basketball coach, and in a university president, and in an athletic director. .
"I feel you are doing an injustice if you coach a sport where they determine a winner and a loser ... and you aren't willing to compete to be the team that wins. Some people show up to play the game, other people show up to win the game.
"I don't need someone to tell me, 'hey you've got great kids' and 'hey you guys really took care of the hotel' and 'hey you were very courteous on the plane,' but you lost all three games. I think you can be very courteous on the plane and take care of the hotel and be very nice and kick someone's ass.
"(It) would not be very truthful to make them work as hard as you make them work and tell them that winning and losing doesn't matter."
THAT'S what we need in a basketball coach, and in a university president, and in an athletic director. .