The Michigan Daily - SportsTuesday - September 2, 2003 - 15A For a championship plan, Blue should look to Bucks J. BRADY McC The Sports Tuesda This is tough for met day morning, for th like 17 years, I wok warm puddle of urine. Nightmares like the on cause any respectable Mi lose control of his bladder I dreamed that THE Oh versity had taken over the turned on CNN only to se the first president of the U to be inaugurated wearing sweater-vest and a scarlet1 the rabid crowd in a rousi of "Carmen Ohio." The U. S. Senate and H resentatives were throwin Lights. The Senate handle The House, "I-O!" CLICK. I turned the TV can't be right. I decided to; East Ann house and make were still OK in Ann Arbo it. Riots on East Ann! Grad students tipping over cars! Jimmy Johns being looted! It started to sink in. Ann Arbor had been taken over by Buck Nuts, and there was nothing any Michigan man could do to stop it. So what triggered all built an insurmountable lead against a top-25 team, they didn't turn the ball over once and had just one penalty, a false start. That's perfect, not because it's pretty, but because it is mistake-free. Ohio State had just 347 yards of total offense without Clarett, but it took advantage of every red zone opportuni- )LLOUGH ty it had, going 3-for-3 where it counts y Column against a hapless Husky defense. Michigan put up 613 yards of total to admit. Sun- offense, having its way with Central e first time in Michigan, but went 2-for-4 scoring ke up in a touchdowns in the red zone in the first half, which kept Central in the game e I had would until the middle of the third quarter. chigan man to The bottom line is that whether any- r. one at Schembechler Hall will admit it io State Uni- or not, Ohio State has set the bar for World. I this season of Michigan football. And in e Jim Tressel, order to function in this Buckeye world Jnited States we're living in, the Wolverines need to a gray model their philosophy after Tress and tie, leading the Bucks: Strive for perfection, or ng rendition don't strive at all. Michigan coach Lloyd Carr spoke at louse of Rep- this week's media luncheon about how g down Natty it's unrealistic for his players to be per- ed the "O-H!" fect. I understand that. But I think the illusion, realistic or not, is necessary for Joff. That players to actually play a perfect game. go outside my Saturday afternoon, Michigan made sure things too many mistakes for a team that r. Then I saw believes it can win a championship. The Wolverines dropped The bottom line is that touchdown passes in the whether anyone at red zone. They gave up 218 yards rushing to the Schembechler Hall would Chippewas. There was admit it or not, Ohio State Michigan's token per- has set the bar for this .sonal foul penalty, this one by defensive tackle season of Michigan Norman Heuer, which football, moved the Chips closer to scoring position. The hed Ohio kicking game once again looked out of hington Satur- sync, as Adam Finley made just 1-of-3 ow the answer. field goal attempts. at good. Soil- Not to focus on the negatives or any- thing, but this team has the potential to have taken be great. We all know that. Unfortunate- y morning, but ly, the same can be said for each team f reality I I've watched the past three years. They he Buckeyes all showed flashes of greatness, but ke impotent were never consistently great. Considering the reaction I had to , but I honest- watching the Buckeyes play the first n't going to time in 2003,I can't imagine how the ip caliber Wolverines handled it. Their reaction without Mau- will be key. Did they turn the TV off and Bucks jumped say "Washington sucks anyway," or did n without their they watch intently and think hard about mething: why those Buckeyes are so damn good. way. Until Michigan figures it out and , resel may plays with the discipline of its greatest Buck Nuts nemesis, we'll still just be Wolverines e's returned living in a Buckeye world. He demands And that's something this Michigan le time hi o 'n an's bladdeIan't take. BURNETT Continued from Page 113 TMID: So there were no problems? CB: It was time. I've always just left it at that. TMD: How excited were you at the opportunity to come to Michigan? CB: It was a dream come true. It's a wonderful blend of the things I believe are important and what Michigan is all about. The tradition, the dignity, the academic excellence - and now hav- ing the institution to back it up. TMD: You passed up a job with Minnesota. What happened? CB: They didn't have an athletic director. The person hiring me was on their way out. Minnesota at the time had had separate programs. They were combining their athletic department, but hadn't hired the athletic director yet. And then the NCAA sanctions that their women's program had imposed upon them hadn't been made public yet - there was a possibility they would not have post-season play after their first year (this did not occur). Everything was in limbo, and I just didn't feel it was where I wanted to be. TMD: Were you ever worried at any- time that you wouldn't find a job? CB: I am a very faithful person, and I just felt like it would work out someway - it might not have been the way I wanted it to, but it was going to work out - and it did. TMD: Sue Guevara recruited some new players last year. Are they still coming? CB: There are two that are incoming freshmen. I inherited the same team, and yes they are all here. TMD: Do they have any qualms about coming to Michigan with a differ- ent coach? CB: Whenever a team loses a coach- ing staff, even just one member ... it's kind of like losing a part of your family because you know exactly what the coaches expect of you because you spend so much time together. These players have had a loss. The people that they know and trust and are a part of- their staff is gone. I've always been very protective of the players as far as us try- ing to fulfill that trust factor but never trying to replace the people that they already knew. TMD: How do you think you're The Burnett File Hometown: Centralia, Mo. Coaching Experience: - Southwest Missouri State head coach (15 seasons), 1987-2002 - Southwest Missouri State assis- tant coach (three seasons), 1984- 87 - Illinois assistant coach (three seasons), 1982-84 - Illinois graduate assistant coach (one.season) 1981-82 Playing experience: Kansas, 1977-80 Accomplishments: -.701 winning percentage - Guided Southwest Missouri State to the Final Four in 1992 and 2001 - Was first female to receive full scholarship from Kansas going to get a big fan base going here? CB: We definitely worked very hard to get that fan base (at Southwest Mis- souri State), and it was a very strategic, step-by-step (process). It was kind of like corporate America, where you have a five year plan and here are the steps you want to take with that plan. Number one, you've got to win - that's my responsibility and our staff's responsibility. And I think, too, our style of play is going to be one that people are really going to appreciate. The thing that I loved about our old fan base was that even if we lost, it was like our fans lost with us. They felt like we worked so hard and they wanted us to win. It wasn't a critical fan base where as soon as you lose, it's like they turn tail and go the other way. It's like they share it with us. One of the biggest things I like to do is have our players have an identity with the community where they know the quality of people we're bringing into the program, where they will know Jen (Smith), they will know Stephanie Gandy as people. I want every seventy-year-old to feel like that's their granddaughter, every little boy and girl to feel like that's some- body they know. TMD: How is the team chemistry right now and what will you do to strengthen it? CB: The press conference was April 21 and Michigan was just getting out of class. As soon as class is over, coaches can no longer work with their players because the NCAA legislates that we cannot. Of course we've been together a lot in terms of camp. They are doing summer workouts that we have imple- mented with our strength and condi- tioning coach. So it's been difficult for us on a daily basis for them to really know what they're in for. One of the things that our staff's strength is, is con- ditioning. We will be in the best shape of anyone in the country. We want to work that hard. That's how we are going to be successful. It's been a little bit difficult to devel- op that chemistry that you're talking about, but this group of players has been up here all the time. They want to know what the workouts are, they want to get started on them. TMD: It's been said before that you are a very demanding coach. Some- times this has been cited as a weak- ness. How would you respond to that perception? CB: Well, I'll take you on a campus visit. Kids come on campus, and we will tell them what we will expect from them in conditioning. We'll tell them how hard they're going to work in the weight room, we'll tell them we expect them to sprint and run distance and how that corresponds with on the court. Hopefully, they've.been to a practice where they will see (the inten- a sity). If that doesn't intrigue them, we say, 'This probably isn't a good place for you.' The kids and the players that really want to reach their potential - and I always talk about it in four ways - as an athlete and basketball player, aca- demically, socially for them to become the most well-rounded citizen and spiri- tually. If they and their parents want them to reach their potential in those four areas, then this is the place to go. Is that demanding? I guess if you're a lazy person it's demanding. All the kids that have ever played for me are those that want that and have loved that. It is going to be challenging. But how do you get from the bottom of the Big Ten to the top? You work harder than anyone else. TMD: Do you feel like you have any weaknesses as a coach? CB: Absolutely. One of my weak- nesses is I do not coach zone very well. We're going full-court press and pres- surized man-to-man. I don't like zones, and I don't like to use them. Up front, sometimes I probably should have (used them). I could always become a better communicator. I have learned from a very young age that you can learn from any kind of environment. And that goes for me with any area of life. I think it's more important to be a great person - warm and loving - than to be a successful basketball coach. But then if you can combine them, that's awesome. TMD: Who would you compare your coaching style to? CB: That's a hard one. I've had many mentors, but I don't know that there's one that's totally similar. One of my first mentors was Charlie Spoonhauer who was the men's coach at Southwest Missouri State when I was a young coach, then went to St. Louis and is now new at UNLV Roy Williams, for- merly University of Kansas. I'm a Kansas graduate. Not that I know coach RYAN WEINER/Daily The Michigan women's basketball team will be under new direction this season. Williams intimately, but he has shared a lot with me in terms of basketball. Dean Smith of North Carolina. I'd like to say that our work ethic and our half-court defense would be like Tennessee's Pat Summitt. Work ethic and commitment to the game. TMD: In light of what happened last season (Guevara's controversial resigna- tion), have you discussed that with the players? CB: I am so appreciative of me being here, and I'm extremely respectful of those that have come before. When you're a woman in athletics, there have been some major trailblazers that really had to open doors for women in sports. So anybody that's ever coached here, and the players that were here before, I have great respect for. I'm closing the door on what happened. I am blessed to be here. And I told the players from the beginning that I will respect their coaches that were here before. They can feel free to say their names and respect the coaches that were here before because I am very open to that. I am very open to the past coaching staff. They are a part of Michigan histo- ry, and I treasure that. I've left all that behind in a very positive, respectful way. Now it's my challenge. TMD: Have you had to deal with criticism because of last season? CB: None. From the very first press conference our staff has established that we are just moving forward. We're not going backwards to figure out anything. Now it's just a matter of us figuring out how to be successful and running the pro- gram the way we want to. Everybody has been awesome. It seems to me like the University of Michigan, the community, regional, even nationally - high school coaches, players - everybody is ready for Michigan to explode. And hopefully we are the ones in the right time frame of history. It's like everyone wants it to be sq successful - let's just go do it. this madness? If you watcl State's 28-9 win over Wast day night on ABC, you kn The Buckeyes were just th ing your pants good. My subconscious mayl things a bit too far Sunda it was a result of the jolt o received from watching tI make the Huskies look lii poodles. I don't know about you ly thought Ohio State was be a national championsh team this year - with or, rice Clarett. But after thel ahead 21-0 on Washingto star tailback, I realized so These guys aren't going a Presdent I mean coach not be a genius like many would like to think But h Ohio State to elite status. I perfe .nAd ost of th team responds by giving h The Buckeyes finished penalties and two turnove night. But in the first half iim just that. with four rs Saturday , when they J Brady McCollough can be reached at bradymcc@umich.edu. In class and at the bookstore Faculty authors enlighten and inspire inside the classroom and beyond. Discover a wide selection of their published works at the bookstore.