Reminisces – Rob Andrew, ‘69

I remember halftime of one game whenn we weren’t playing well. Coach was trying to impress upon us the importance of getting ourselves mentally prepared. Apparently, we weren’t paying attention.

He didn’t yell or jump up and down but he smacked his fist into the palm of his hand and his watch-band snapped. He had all of our attention! As you know, he wanted us to play hard, respect our opponents, and be gentlemen.

In the state championship game, I didn’t have a good first half (3 fouls in 3 minutes). At halftime, we went through things and then he looked at me and gently started chewing my butt.

I kept nodding my head, yes, and he kept chewing. Finally, I responded with a rather loud “OK” or something to that effect and Coach said that was what he wanted to hear. He got his point across without yelling or cussing; he knew how to push the right buttons and still be a gentleman.

He was a great leader and inspired us all to do our best.