Why Not, Coach?

CHAPTER 1 High School History

As I sat in my gently worn brown leather recliner in the corner of my living room, an interview with former basketball coach legend John Wooden played on my recorder. I quickly adjusted the volume and listened attentively. He related a memorable experience as a high school basketball coach in Indiana. A certain player whom Wooden felt didn’t have it in him to earn adequate playing time convinced the coach to let him play against a competitive team equipped with star players. As a result, the boy became just that—a star player. The coach apologized for not giving all of his players ample opportunities to reveal their potential—a problem a lot of coaches still struggle with today.

Looking back on your highly successful coaching career, what would you have done differently if given the chance?

I felt bad for players who were not as athletically inclined as some of the others and, as a result, didn’t get much playing time. Despite this fact, they were grateful to be on the team and help their teammates get ready for games during practice.

This was a good relationship Coach Wooden had with all of his players. Each individual player had a very good understanding of his role on the team because the coach worked with them individually besides as a team.

What Coach Wooden said was surprisingly similar to what one of my own high school football coaches once said to me about being a big help to the team.

Growing up between the ages of six and sixteen lends itself to experiences both good and bad. For me, these were my years as a good athlete playing baseball, basketball, and football concurrently—for which I was rewarded accordingly. I played competitive sports on organized town and school teams. Football was the sport I enjoyed the most. However, in my sophomore year—following a successful freshman year playing in Catholic high school, with the opportunity to practice with the varsity during the summer—football lost its luster. I transferred to public high school to eliminate an unnecessary commute and was deeply hurt by the fact that I didn’t receive any playing time.

My football coach at the Catholic high school had been planning to bring me up to the varsity as a sophomore. He tried talking me into staying at his school, telling me that he thought I was making a mistake by transferring.

You might get lost in a public school, he warned me. "It’s much bigger than this school. You don’t know any of the students or faculty