There were six teacher-coaches who made a lasting impression on me during my undergraduate years at Indiana University (IU), Bloomington (graduated 1979). I took the classes each of them taught, and watched and learned from them as coaches. The only way to describe these people is the best of the best.
Here are their short biographies and six health and wellness program tips inspired by them, along with a short story about each person:
1. James “Doc” Counselman: Swimming, won six straight NCAA Division I championships. Olympic coach 1964 (Tokyo) and 1976 (Montreal), coach of Mark Spitz both at IU and at the Olympic Games (seven gold medals). Doc was the first to use underwater video to improve a swimmer’s technique. Doc swam the English Channel at age 58. He coached at IU from 1957 to 1990.
Tip − Visualize. I often feel like a blanket tip, like “be more aerodynamic in the water,” pulls together all the right techniques without the swimmer having to think about every adjustment. Give people a vision, and it’s easier for them to embed all the skills needed to achieve that vision.
Synopsis: About dealing with the parents of athletes, Doc once said, “The best coaching job in America would be in an orphanage.” There was also a time when Coach Knight (basketball) asked Doc to help an IU basketball player improve his vertical jump. Knight told Doc that the guy’s vertical jump was about an inch high. Doc said that when he finished helping the basketball player, Knight complained that the guy’s vertical jump was only 3 inches high. But Doc pointed out that it was a 300% improvement!
2. Sam Bell: track and field, 1976 Olympic assistant coach (Tokyo). He coached 90 Hoosier All-Americans, including seven who became Olympians. Trainer at IU from 1970 to 1998.
Tip − Prepare and work together. Keep up with your strength training, always use dynamic stretching before intense exertion, cool down gradually, change your pace, and keep up with each other. It’s okay to have high expectations for improvement at all levels. Make it easy for people to participate, keep it interesting, and get everyone moving together.
Backstory: Jim Spivey was a sub-four-minute running back at IU under Coach Bell. From ground level, a sub-four-minute run looks like the average person’s top running speed, but it’s sustained for the entire mile. I remember thinking that the athletes looked like human muscle cars.
3. Jerry Yeagley – Football, won six NCAA Division I titles from 1973 (when football became a college sport) to 2003. All-time winningest coach in college football with 544 victories.
Tip − Attack and defend as a team. Don’t focus so much on calories, health risks, biometrics and caloric intake. Instead, think about broader strategies. Play to your strengths and use your playing field (community) to the best of your ability. Think about the best way to get everyone to play a role in building a healthy culture.
Synopsis: Coach Yeagley may be one of the best coaches in any sport. We share a dressing room with his team. But my recollection of him is that you’d think he’s the towel man if you didn’t know him. He led by example, and the players revered him. The last thing the IU footballers were going to do was disappoint their coach.
4. Bob Knight: Basketball, won three NCAA Division I titles. Olympic Coach 1984 (Los Angeles). He won 902 NCAA games, third-most all-time in college basketball. Trainer at IU from 1971 to 2000.
Tip − Be realistic. Stop being Mr. or Mrs. Sunshine. She wakes up and starts preparing you for all sorts of things to go wrong. And don’t come here to complain about “lack of commitment”. Get your @#%* and commit. Be prepared to overcome every obstacle to success you can imagine. Use a dynamic and disciplined strategy that can keep everyone in the game, regardless of any conceivable setbacks. Prepare to improvise.
History: Coach Knight used to criticize questions from the press. You may have also heard this because he often said this to reporters: “That’s the stupidest question I’ve ever heard, the next question!” Coach Knight had colorful language, but most of the time he was clear in his communication.
5. Doug (Blu) Blubaugh: Wrestling, Doug was (himself) NCAA Division I champion (1957), 1960 Olympic champion (Rome) and named the world’s most valuable wrestler that year. He was the toughest person I’ve ever met (I wrestled for him in IU and then was his assistant trainer from 1980 to 1982). He was considered one of the best wrestling clinicians in the sport. He coached at IU from 1972 to 1984.
Tip: stay close. A fighter who gains inside control and pressure doesn’t have to move much to penetrate. Control his foundations, stay on the attack, and then use his resources efficiently. Often it is the smallest things that can make the difference between scoring and not scoring. If you stay close to the action, you’ll appear quick and agile, but you’ll only be around at the right time.
Synopsis: Coach Blubaugh was a farmer from Oklahoma. At a time when he was in his physical prime, he went out into the field to retrieve a horse. The horse would run about 50 yards and not let Blu get a hold of it. So Blu decided that he would run after that horse until the horse gave up. That run went on for the next 13 hours. After that, the horse never ran away from him again. Anyone who has met Blu knows that this is a true story.
6. Lee Corso: Soccer, you may know him as the popular host of ESPN’s College GameDay show. He’s the guy who puts on the head of the school mascot based on who he thinks will win the football game. He led IU to a Holiday Bowl victory (1979). He may be one of the funniest men I’ve ever met. He coached at IU from 1973 to 1982.
Tip − Respect the media. The media is the most powerful organization in the world. Learn to tell a story, use humor to engage, maximize social media, and understand that communication is your most important asset.
Synopsis: Laughter is what follows Coach Corso. It’s fun to be around him. Everyone is happy to be in his company. Not only is he funny, but he’s also smart. We all learned so much from him, and not for a minute did it feel like work.
Trainers want people to reach the highest levels of human physical ability. They criticize weaknesses, encourage strengths, always look for improvements, and expect a lot from their athletes. It is natural that we take lessons from the best trainers for our daily lives. Hopefully, you’ll find a nugget of gold in the six tips that inspired me for your show.
