Simply Put- "A Chat with the Ole Ball Coach

May 29, 2008
By: Clint Cox

When I write about coaching styles as I did last week I usually get numerous comments from our readers. I ran into one of my former coaches last week who told me he had enjoyed my column about aggressive coaches. But, after a slight chuckle, he wanted to know if I would put him in that category. I quickly assured him that I would not. When I left I thought about my 8th grade year when I played football for him at the middle school. Was he tough? Boy, was he. Was he demanding? Yes. Was he competitive? Absolutely. Was he a disciplinarian? In the truest since, yes. Would he chew you out if you did something wrong? Yes. Were we any good? We went undefeated. Would I categorize him as an "aggressive coach"? No way.
You see some folks might take a tough and demanding coach as being aggressive. I don’t see it that way. This former coach did it the right way. He sat us down at the beginning of the season and laid down the rules. He also laid out the consequences for violating those rules. His rules applied to both the classroom and the football field.
He told us practices would be tough. He didn’t lie to us. My recollection of those practices were that there were more rocks on the field than grass. It was always hot, we drilled, we hit and we ran a lot. The games were a cakewalk compared to practices. But we were prepared and we were in shape.
He didn’t lie about the team rules or the consequences either. If you caused problems in a classroom, you faced the music with him. I remember when some non-football players and I got caught skipping a class. The non-football players got off with a lecture from the assistant principal. That afternoon though I had to go see the ole ball coach. He had warned us about the "board of education". He didn’t lie about that either. He applied the "board of education" to me harder than anyone before or since and I didn’t skip anymore classes.
But for all his toughness, I never once remember him humiliating any of his players. He didn’t feel the need to bully players around. He didn’t feel the need to sling or jerk players around. I never heard him utter any profanity. When he raised his voice, and he did, it was in a manner to challenge us to do better, not to belittle us. He wanted us to practice hard, play hard and be the best we could be in the class room and on the field.
So, Simply Put, Coach Phillip Clikas did it the right way. And I along with many other young boys, were better football players and are better men for it. So from all of them and myself, thanks Coach Clikas.

From the front porch: Coach said the key is not having the ‘will to win’, everyone has that. The key is having the ‘will to prepare.’