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Coach Wooden

is really all that should ever need to be said.

Do you think it is because of 10 NCAA Championships in 12 years? Not even close! John Wooden is as complete a role model as has ever existed. He is the standard by which EVERY coach measures himself and, again, it is NOT the championships! The wins did serve a very grand purpose. Without this success the world may not have had the opportunity to know this great man.

Coach was the best who has ever lived because of the way he measured himself:

"Success is the peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you are capable"

A coach in any sport could make Wooden's "Pyramid of Success" an integral part of his coaching philosophy and would become a vastly improved coach without reading one book about strategy or drills or how to handle referees. (You're not sure what this pyramid thing is? Google John Wooden. You will get 2.5 million hits and almost every one of them will tell you about Coach Wooden's "Pyramid")

One of the things that Coach was known for is his incredibly unflappable demeanor on the bench. About the only way he let stress show was in the condition of that little rolled up program he held in his hand at every game. I once the chance to visit with an NCAA basketball referee who had done 100's of UCLA games. I asked the referee if Coach had ever lost his cool or tried to influence the way he called the game. He paused, got a thin little smile on his face and said,

"Coach never lost his temper or ever tried to intimidate us, but refereeing a UCLA game was one of the most stressful things I did as a referee. It wasn't something you wanted to avoid. On the contrary, because of Wooden's reputation for excellence it was one of those great challenges that you want as a referee. He didn't have to do some of the things most coaches do, because just being in his presence made you want to do the best you could."

I was having a hard time believing this. No one could be that self-controlled, so I asked him to clarify whether Coach Wooden had ever protested or lost his cool.

"Never did!", was the reply, "But no referee is perfect and when you made a mistake that was of any consequence, the next time you passed the UCLA bench, even if the crowd was roaring, you could here that soft, sweet, but very firm voice saying Oh my goodness', and you worked really hard to not have to hear that!"

Bill Walton played for Wooden in those turbulent early 1970's, when new levels of protesting and individualism were becoming an established part of our culture. At the beginning of one season, Walton came to have a heart to heart talk with the coach. He explained that he respected Coach but that as an individual he felt it was very important to express himself. He told Wooden that he was going to grow his hair long this year, in spite of the team rules, and he asked Coach to respect his decision.

Coach looked that 6'11'' young man, who was the heart and soul of a couple of National championships, right in the eye, and said,

"Bill, I do respect you. A man does have to stand up for what he believes. I am proud to see that you have decided to do that. Will you make sure to keep in touch with us and let us now how you are doing? I expect that your teammates and I are going to miss you very much."

If you measure greatness by integrity (which is defined as the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished) there has never been a greater NCAA basketball coach. More importantly, it is true that without a shadow of a doubt that there have not been very many of the greatest people in this old world who do not stand in the shadow of

The Coach!

Learn more about this author, RW MacAlisdair.
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