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The best coach in America
The best coach in America
By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
September 3, 2005
Yahoo! Sports celebrates the return of America's true passion with "Football Nation," a weeklong series featuring this year's most intriguing figures from the preps to the pros.
BOISE, Idaho Is it possible that the best college football coach in America, the one who Saturday at Georgia goes for his 45th win in his last 50 games, rides his mountain bike to work?
"It's a five-minute ride from my house," said Dan Hawkins, whose bike was, indeed, parked right here inside his Boise State office a couple of weeks ago. "It takes longer to drive."
Is it possible that the best college football coach in America, the one who doesn't just recruit better players, but actually makes recruits better, the one with three former walk-ons in the NFL, doesn't believe in screaming at his players?
"I think if you have that sort of environment, kids are afraid to fail, they are afraid to make a mistake, they play not to lose," said Hawkins, coach of the wildest, woolliest, fake-puntingest offense in the country. "We don't want our guys to play that way."
Is it possible that the best college football coach in America, the one who has transformed a program that a decade ago was I-AA into a top-20 Division I-A program, is more likely to quote philosophers than Rockne?
"I go back to my man Maslow," said Hawkins of psychologist Abraham Maslow, by way of explaining his remarkable ability of taking unheralded recruits to an 11-0 regular season.
"It is believing that every guy is capable of doing something. Now, I've got to figure out how to get him in the right spot and provide an environment that we trust in him and let him grow."
Is it possible that the best college football coach in America not to be confused with the ones with six-figure stadium capacities and seven-figure contracts, or the most famous, or the ones with the best players, but the one who is the best coach could continue that discussion on Maslow for a good six minutes? And include tangents ranging from salient psychological needs, Nelson Mandela and how to improve the rides at Disneyland?
Is it possible?
Put it this way. You ever heard of Boise State before Dan Hawkins started riding his mountain bike to work?
It is hard to argue with Pete Carroll as best coach right now. And Bob Stoops and Larry Coker have had nice runs. And Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno deserve credit for longevity. Urban Meyer is charging strong and Steve Spurrier is back and, well, there are plenty of others.
But if Dan Hawkins (44-7 in just four seasons) isn't the best college football coach in America, he can't be too far down the list. At the very least he is the most uniquely interesting.
Boise State hasn't become more than just its blue Smurf turf because of one or two good players, or a run of luck, like many flash-in-the-pan "mid-majors."
Instead it has grasped success and kept squeezing tighter because it has a coach who doesn't think like most coaches, whose favorite place is outside the box, who believes in the democracy of the team and who considers instilling self-worth in players (which manifests itself in daring play calling) a lot more valuable that denigrating the hell out of them.
In an era of screaming task masters, Hawkins prefers to forge respectful relationships with his players.
"I am not saying we can't coach our guys hard, because we do at times," Hawkins said. "But [we don't] just dog-cuss them or beat them down.
"I just totally believe in certain things that maximize a person's performance level. I think it is real easy to get frustrated and to scream and yell and take it out on guys, but 99 percent of the time they are not trying to make a mistake.
"Sometimes you try something new and funky and it doesn't work. But if you are chastised and degraded when it doesn't work, pretty soon you just play it safe and say, I am going to just try not to lose.' "
Boise plays to win every down of every game. "We expect perfection," Hawkins said.
But, he said, his players' self-confidence produces "a freedom from the psychological chains and you say, Hey, let's go.'"
The result is a most thrilling style wild plays, fourth-down gambles, fake kicks, all-out blitzes and just about anything else Hawkins, his staff or even his players can dream up.
It isn't just a gimmick offense. It isn't just a way to overcome better talent. It is a way of approaching life; it is all part of what the former science teacher is trying to teach.
"In order to be successful you have to take risks," Hawkins said. "That is part of life. You have to be to get out of your comfort zone, pack up your family for a new job. [But] I think so many times we are just so afraid to fail in life.
"OK, [but] how about the virtue that I had enough guts to risk? Hey, that's virtue and is more important than [failing]."
So winning isn't everything? Winning isn't the only thing?
Yet all they do is win.
Hawkins, 44, is the son of a logger from northwest California. He went to UC Davis, then a Division II school. His first head coaching job was at Willamette, a small liberal arts school in Oregon.
He has no pedigree. No famous mentors. He has no experience at the big-time level, unless you consider stops at Sonoma State and the College of the Siskiyous the big time.
And that may explain why he doesn't think like most big-time coaches. Hawkins is the Division I-A experiment of the UC Davis way; the Aggies once won at least a share of 20 consecutive conference titles.
It is a belief that talent can always be maximized, no excuses. Consider last year, when Boise lost the core of its team from back-to-back one-loss seasons and everyone outside the program considered it a rebuilding year.
Boise went 11-0 in the regular season, whipped Oregon State and reached the top 10 in the polls before losing 44-40 to Louisville in a thrilling Liberty Bowl.
That's coaching.
Even if TN could not get Hawkins for OC, they might be able to get his OC...just some things to think about.
The best coach in America
By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
September 3, 2005
Yahoo! Sports celebrates the return of America's true passion with "Football Nation," a weeklong series featuring this year's most intriguing figures from the preps to the pros.
BOISE, Idaho Is it possible that the best college football coach in America, the one who Saturday at Georgia goes for his 45th win in his last 50 games, rides his mountain bike to work?
"It's a five-minute ride from my house," said Dan Hawkins, whose bike was, indeed, parked right here inside his Boise State office a couple of weeks ago. "It takes longer to drive."
Is it possible that the best college football coach in America, the one who doesn't just recruit better players, but actually makes recruits better, the one with three former walk-ons in the NFL, doesn't believe in screaming at his players?
"I think if you have that sort of environment, kids are afraid to fail, they are afraid to make a mistake, they play not to lose," said Hawkins, coach of the wildest, woolliest, fake-puntingest offense in the country. "We don't want our guys to play that way."
Is it possible that the best college football coach in America, the one who has transformed a program that a decade ago was I-AA into a top-20 Division I-A program, is more likely to quote philosophers than Rockne?
"I go back to my man Maslow," said Hawkins of psychologist Abraham Maslow, by way of explaining his remarkable ability of taking unheralded recruits to an 11-0 regular season.
"It is believing that every guy is capable of doing something. Now, I've got to figure out how to get him in the right spot and provide an environment that we trust in him and let him grow."
Is it possible that the best college football coach in America not to be confused with the ones with six-figure stadium capacities and seven-figure contracts, or the most famous, or the ones with the best players, but the one who is the best coach could continue that discussion on Maslow for a good six minutes? And include tangents ranging from salient psychological needs, Nelson Mandela and how to improve the rides at Disneyland?
Is it possible?
Put it this way. You ever heard of Boise State before Dan Hawkins started riding his mountain bike to work?
It is hard to argue with Pete Carroll as best coach right now. And Bob Stoops and Larry Coker have had nice runs. And Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno deserve credit for longevity. Urban Meyer is charging strong and Steve Spurrier is back and, well, there are plenty of others.
But if Dan Hawkins (44-7 in just four seasons) isn't the best college football coach in America, he can't be too far down the list. At the very least he is the most uniquely interesting.
Boise State hasn't become more than just its blue Smurf turf because of one or two good players, or a run of luck, like many flash-in-the-pan "mid-majors."
Instead it has grasped success and kept squeezing tighter because it has a coach who doesn't think like most coaches, whose favorite place is outside the box, who believes in the democracy of the team and who considers instilling self-worth in players (which manifests itself in daring play calling) a lot more valuable that denigrating the hell out of them.
In an era of screaming task masters, Hawkins prefers to forge respectful relationships with his players.
"I am not saying we can't coach our guys hard, because we do at times," Hawkins said. "But [we don't] just dog-cuss them or beat them down.
"I just totally believe in certain things that maximize a person's performance level. I think it is real easy to get frustrated and to scream and yell and take it out on guys, but 99 percent of the time they are not trying to make a mistake.
"Sometimes you try something new and funky and it doesn't work. But if you are chastised and degraded when it doesn't work, pretty soon you just play it safe and say, I am going to just try not to lose.' "
Boise plays to win every down of every game. "We expect perfection," Hawkins said.
But, he said, his players' self-confidence produces "a freedom from the psychological chains and you say, Hey, let's go.'"
The result is a most thrilling style wild plays, fourth-down gambles, fake kicks, all-out blitzes and just about anything else Hawkins, his staff or even his players can dream up.
It isn't just a gimmick offense. It isn't just a way to overcome better talent. It is a way of approaching life; it is all part of what the former science teacher is trying to teach.
"In order to be successful you have to take risks," Hawkins said. "That is part of life. You have to be to get out of your comfort zone, pack up your family for a new job. [But] I think so many times we are just so afraid to fail in life.
"OK, [but] how about the virtue that I had enough guts to risk? Hey, that's virtue and is more important than [failing]."
So winning isn't everything? Winning isn't the only thing?
Yet all they do is win.
Hawkins, 44, is the son of a logger from northwest California. He went to UC Davis, then a Division II school. His first head coaching job was at Willamette, a small liberal arts school in Oregon.
He has no pedigree. No famous mentors. He has no experience at the big-time level, unless you consider stops at Sonoma State and the College of the Siskiyous the big time.
And that may explain why he doesn't think like most big-time coaches. Hawkins is the Division I-A experiment of the UC Davis way; the Aggies once won at least a share of 20 consecutive conference titles.
It is a belief that talent can always be maximized, no excuses. Consider last year, when Boise lost the core of its team from back-to-back one-loss seasons and everyone outside the program considered it a rebuilding year.
Boise went 11-0 in the regular season, whipped Oregon State and reached the top 10 in the polls before losing 44-40 to Louisville in a thrilling Liberty Bowl.
That's coaching.
Even if TN could not get Hawkins for OC, they might be able to get his OC...just some things to think about.
