All that a coach can ask for is for his guys to get better each time out, and to continue to try to get better. As I said before I probably shouldn't draw conclusions from a one time comment in a newspaper. I don’t know nearly enough about Coach Stovall to judge whether he is a good coach or not. I also don't think you can judge a college coach by his HS coaching accolades or his own wrestling accolades…Bishop Carrol was pretty good from what I remember a decade ago. 12th in the country out of 26 teams is a "not to shabby" start for a second year program.
With that being said...Let's keep this in the context of Coach John Doe...In my opinion a great college coach is a lot of things… not just having your guys willing to go to battle for you. Some of the major things a great college coach brings are motivation, knowledge, intensity and genuinely caring about his guys on and off the mat. If a coach does that his guys will always go to battle for him. Recruiting is a major force as well…a coach with a program on probation will naturally have more trouble doing this. I think the biggest factor of all is motivation though. Wrestlers with great technique and intensity often get beat by the motivated guy (although intensity and technique sure help). I believe the biggest factor in motivation is setting the bar high and a coach getting his guys to believe they can reach that bar…undermine that and you undermine the rest of your efforts.
Last edited by ike; 12/08/06 05:30 PM.
