Interview with Coach

What was the hiring process like and what was the funtion of the hiring commitee?

  • The hiring commitee was made up of 5-6 people 
  • It was chaired by Scott Champan 
  • Only other member I can remember is Charlie Brock 
  • The commitee was not as important because the president made the final decison 
  • However they did conduct many interviews.
  • the interview process was unique because it was a two day ordeal where I met with many people and talked to them about my philosophies and my views on the program.
  • The final meeting was with President Ron Calgaard who was a big supporter of athletics, and kind of got them pretty serious when he brought in both Coach McGinley and myself.
  • He took two programs on campus that had only part time coaches and gave them full time staff members.

What were your thoughts on the program before you took the job?

  • I was concerned by the lack of full time assistant coaches in an atmosphere where most teams had 4-5 full time assistants
  • The school had great academics, which was a good and a bad thing for recruiting.  
  • At the time Trinity was also the most expensive private school in texas, further limiting who I could go out and get.
  • The did have the bank roll to make the program great, but also had to get people committed on upper campus.
  • It was clear that change in culture was necessary, the lockers were made of cheap wood and chicken wire, and we didnt have a full time equipment manager.
  • Coming from two programs that won national championships and had HOF coaches I knew that if we were going to win the stuff like that had to change, we couldnt be reusing jock straps from year to year.

What was your biggest goal during your time at Trinity?

  • My immediate goal was to deliever a winning season that the program hadn't had in 17 seasons.
  • Had to be and entire culture change and a concerted effort to make football more important on campus.
  • The team I took over only had 40 guys, with lots of guys going two ways.
  • I only had 6 offensive lineman to work with.
  • Many of those original guys dropped out of the team after I came in because they were not as committed to playing.
  • Success was slow, to the point where I did not buy a house for the first few years because I didn't know if they would keep me.
  • It obviously started working by year five with our first playoff appearence.
Interview with Coach