Warrior Coaches & Imperial Fans

By Charlie Barnes

Many years ago, there was a meeting between a famous football coach and a major donor who led the school's boosters. The conversation was amiable; the two were friends and each man had great respect for the other.

It took place during a lull in the program's fortunes. At issue was a new approach the boosters wished the coach to adopt with regard to recruiting. A third party presenter laid out the proposal. The coach was obviously put off by what he saw as encroachment by alumni and boosters into his territory. For his part, the booster represented those who felt the program was needlessly falling behind.

He asked the alumni leader what he thought of the proposal, and the man responded, "Coach, I believe we have to have it."

The coach leaned back in his chair and said, "With respect, you are at the top of your profession and I am at the top of mine. You know your business, but you don't know a thing about technical football or about running a program. You are not qualified to tell me my business."

The alumni leader said, "Yes, Coach, you're right. I can't pretend to have even a small amount of your knowledge or experience…But I can read a scoreboard."

And there it is.

Devoted fans want their program to be stable and prosperous, and professional coaches work hard to achieve the same goal. Coaches acceptthat they are responsible for the outcome. They also know that wherever their professional journey may lead, the fan base is going to be eternal and unchanging. Happily, sometimes the right journeyman and the right fans embrace each other and magic happens.

In the world of Division I football, coaching is a closed fraternity. Professional courtesy is founded on their collective experience with fans and universities, and the knowledge that if they get fired, they expect to look within their own coaching brotherhood for their next job.

Every weekend during football season, half of all the teams playing win their games. Half of all the teams lose. Those wins and losses are assessed against the record of the head coaches.

In the world of high-energy, high-stakes collegiate competition at the top of the scale, failure is a devastating marker to pin on a Coach. Loser is a label assigned perhaps too often and too quickly by fans and administrators. But the major programs all have extensive investments at risk. With so much money on the table from bowls, titles, television contracts, alumni donations and university prestige there is little sympathy for any head coach who cannot fulfill the urgent expectations of fandom.

On one of those long, midnight-to-2 a.m. drives on a starless night through central Florida in the heyday of the Bobby Bowden Tour, I asked him, "Why do so many assistant coaches fail after finally getting their chance to run a high profile program?"

Bowden was gracious as always, allowing that each case was different.

"It is very difficult for any man who lacks experience to find himself in that arena as a first-time head coach," Bowden said. "You have to remember; I had already been a head coach at three other schools before coming to FSU."

Bowden said he had already made all his mistakes out of sight, first at South Georgia Junior College and then at Samford. "Even at West Virginia, back then we weren't really in the national spotlight like they are now."

The stakes are so much higher today, and the 24/7 sports news chatter makes the landscape especially unforgiving.

"I suppose the first mistake most rookie head coaches make is they hire the wrong assistants", Bowden said. "They hire their friends or people to whom they feel obligated, and by the time they figure it out it's too late."

Bowden mentioned some other rookie mistakes, like not knowing how to deal with the media or not being able to delegate effectively or lead a staff. "Some of it is just the ability to realize you've seen this before, and have the confidence to solve the problems as they come up."

The title of this essay is whimsical. Many fans like to imagine their head coach as a warrior leading the university's troops into battle for the honor of the institution. The lexicon of football is rich with military images of offense and defense, the fight for territory, airborne attack, ground troops, etc.

We Americans have always been a boisterous, aggressive and ambitious people. Society has been more or less tolerant the obvious connection between organized games of sport and the conduct of warfare. Ritualized warfare, though games, is an offspring of our genetic makeup.

Head football coaches aren't really warriors, but the good ones understand the burden and responsibilities of command and the pressures of a fast-paced, violent game.

All the good, experienced coaches have their tricks. Bill Peterson (1960-1970) assembled staffs of ambitious young professionals who were encouraged to use their time at Florida State to promote their reputations. Each was expected to make his mark and then move on. At FSU, Peterson hired and mentored a galaxy of future coaching stars such as Bowden, Joe Gibbs, Bill Parcells, Dan Henning, Earle Bruce, Gene McDowell, Vince Gibson, Don James and more.

Bill Peterson enjoyed a deserved reputation as one of America's most innovative coaches. He may have been the first coach to install a pro-set offense in college football. Peterson's charming malapropisms were revealed after his death to have been a good deal more deliberate than accidental. He knew that his quirky comments would play well in the sports media.

Bowden was one of those Peterson disciples who made his mark and moved on quickly, coaching at Florida State only three seasons before becoming offensive coordinator at West Virginia. Bowden developed his own style. Unlike Peterson, Bowden preferred to build his Dynasty with a long-term, stable team of assistant coaches with remarkably little staff turnover.

Unfortunately for our Seminoles, nice guy Larry Jones (1971-1973) arrived here with no head coaching experience. The result was NCAA probation and a 0-11 season.

An experienced coach's tricks and personal styleoften lead to great success - but not always. Darrell Mudra (1974-1975) coached FSU from the press box and was fired after only four wins in two seasons. And yet, Mudra's unique coaching from the pressbox style brought him fabulous success as head coach of six other universities. His record includes winning conference championships at five different schools, and national championships at two different schools. If you delete the 18 miserable losses over two years at Florida State, Mudra's lifetime head coaching mark (200-63-4) boasts an astonishing 76 percent winning percentage.

All of this discussion brings us roundabout to our newest head coach, Willie Taggart. Many fans like what they're hearing so far. Not just a few things or most things. Everything.

Upon arrival in Tallahassee, Taggart was faced with salvaging a recruiting class that had been dumped overboard in midseason. This he did brilliantly. In the same moment, he had to reassure an unhappy fan base and create a new staff built around the culture and championship ambitions of Florida State.

Taggart's confident, movie star smile was seen everywhere. He said the right things, and he touched the right people. Mickey Andrews was seen at practice. Taggart "sought Coach Bowden's counsel" and invited him to return to the locker room for the first time and address the team. The "Spirit Spear" made a guest appearance at the spring game.

Fans complained that Taggart was slow to fill his roster of assistant coaches. But Bowden said the most common rookie mistake was hiring the wrong men. Experience taught Taggart to be deliberative; he refused to rush the process of assembling the right coaching staff to fit his vision.

As Tallahassee's unusually cold winter gave way to balmy spring, everyone seemed to welcome the breath of a new wind. It was as if the worn tapestry of our program's personality was being lovingly restored.

The great coaches know what the fans want to hear, know how to speak to their yearnings, how to ask them to love him because he loves them. They sense the power of Henry V's speech to his army at Agincourt ("We few, we happy few, we band of brothers").

Much of leadership is theater. Guided by experience, all the great coaches, the great warriors, the great torchbearers all know how to play their roles.

I believe Jimbo Fisher is an outstanding coach and we may see him again across the other side of the field someday. He was a first-time, first-year head coach at FSU. He will likely benefit much from the experience, especially as it ended. They say the lessons most remembered are the painful ones.

You can bet the farm that Willie Taggart made rookie mistakes and learned hard lessons in his first head coaching job at Western Kentucky. How does that television commercial for the insurance company go? "We know a thing or two, because we've seen a thing or two." Exactly.

Fans are like the scientists who cannot see dark matter, but they know that dark matter exists because they can observe its effect on objects under its influence. Fans may not understand technical football or know the intricacies of managing a championship program, but fans do pay attention.

The fans might witness troubling effects that indicate dark matters inside the locker room. At midseason two years ago, many found it unsettling to learn that Seminole players were asked to sign promissory notes pledging to try and play harder during games.

Can you even imagine such a thing happening under Mickey Andrews?

We're fortunate that Willie Taggart brings with him the experience of having already been head coach at three other Division 1 universities. That may portend great prospects for the future. But also consider that Darrell Mudra had been head coach at four different universities before he came to FSU, and had already won conference titles at three of those plus a national championship. Nor should we forget to credit first-time Head Coach Jimbo Fisher for winning a national championship here.

How will the "lethal simplicity" of coach Taggart's fast-paced spread offense compare to Jimbo Fisher's highly complex pro-style offense? No one knows, and we may not know for a while.

Every warrior coach brings his own method and unique style to the game. Head coach Willie Taggart is the most popular man in Tallahassee right now. He is saying all the right things; doing all the smart things.

Coach Taggart knows what every experienced coach knows: the fans want their warrior heroes to be victorious.

And even though a depth of understanding of the coaching profession or a full appreciation for the genius of leadership may elude them, you may be sure that every fan can read a scoreboard.