http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/10/16/1381300/the-man-with-the-plan.html
Boise State coach Chris Petersen is the man with the plan
Everyone wants to know the secret to BSU football coach Chris Petersen’s success.
BY KATY MOELLER - kmoeller@idahostatesman.com
Copyright: © 2010 Idaho Statesman
Published: 10/16/10
Read more: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/10/16/1381300/the-man-with-the-plan.html#ixzz12WHCe1PE
Everyone wants to know the secret to BSU football coach Chris Petersen’s success.
BY KATY MOELLER - kmoeller@idahostatesman.com
Copyright: © 2010 Idaho Statesman
Published: 10/16/10
Read more: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/10/16/1381300/the-man-with-the-plan.html#ixzz12WHCe1PE
Boise State University football coach Chris Petersen tries hard to eliminate distractions during the season.
Simplify. Focus. Be here now.
Petersen preaches this to his players, and he lives it. Focusing on the fundamentals is a big part of how Petersen has racked up 54 wins (and four losses) just midway through his fifth year as head coach. The team’s 19-game winning streak is the longest active run in the country.
”Coach Pete’s record almost looks like a misprint,“ former BSU football coach Skip Hall joked this week.
The two-time winner of the Paul ”Bear“ Bryant Coach of the Year Award didn’t have time this week for navel-gazing about what makes him a successful leader. He fields media questions in weekly press conferences but declined a separate interview for this story.
But there’s never been a time when more people were asking: What is the secret to Petersen’s success?
Some of those who know Petersen best — former players — say it’s Petersen’s grasp of the big picture, as well as his OCD-like attention to details.
”We prepared so meticulously that we never, ever felt overwhelmed by another opponent,“ said former Bronco safety Marty Tadman, who snagged two interceptions from Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and was named defensive player of the game.
But there’s so much more.
Tadman and others said Petersen has created a program that promotes players’ growth on and off the field, develops young men into leaders and prepares them for life.
Petersen is, by all accounts, a relentless learner who teaches his players tried-and-true methods for setting and reaching goals (John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success) and is always looking for new ways to do things (he’s a member of ”The Gang,“ a small group of professionals from local business and government who get together to talk innovation).
”The thing I loved about Coach Pete was his Sunday meetings and everyday meetings, he’d talk about life in general and life lessons,“ said Vinny Perretta, the running back/wide receiver who threw a touchdown in overtime during the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. ”He’d take a story and relate it to your life. He was a mentor, not just for football but for life in general.“
”He makes sure everybody stays humble, grateful and hardworking,“ Perretta said.
VALUES RELATIONSHIPS, INPUT FROM PLAYERS
His football IQ has been much discussed during the Broncos’ ascension over the past few years, but Petersen’s emotional intelligence — his ability to relate to and connect with others — also seems to be off the charts.
This coach is as good at listening as talking. Maybe better.
”He didn’t want to be looked at as somebody you can’t talk to — if we had a problem, he wanted us to come to him,“ said Richie Brockel, a tight end from Phoenix whose role as a team captain in 2009 didn’t hinder him from earning a master’s degree in accounting.
Petersen, who turned 46 this week, actively seeks feedback, and that contributes to players’ buy-in to the overall program.
”I’ve never been around a place that took so much input from players like it was at Boise,“ said Bush Hamdan, a former Bronco quarterback who is now an intern with the University of Maryland football program.
Players have helped define some of Boise State’s defining moments. ”Statue Left,“ which famously won the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, featured a tricky hand-off designed by reserve quarterback Nick Lomax and a hurry-up pace suggested by Hamdan and fellow backup QB Taylor Tharp.
When the Broncos were back in the Fiesta Bowl two years later, safety Jason Robinson offered a midgame adjustment to a fake punt play called Riddler that led to a first down. The ensuing touchdown beat TCU.
”He treats people the right way and empowers everybody in the program so they feel like their role is as important as anybody’s,“ said former Boise State defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox, now on the coaching staff at Tennessee.
Petersen’s door is always open to his players, past and present. Perretta dropped in to see Petersen the day after Boise State’s big win over Oregon State.
”I just walked in and said ‘What’s up?’ We talked about work, football, life,“ said Perretta, 25, who did a short stint on the Minnesota Vikings’ practice squad before returning to Boise to work for an orthopedic sales company.
Tharp was recruited to BSU in 2003, when Petersen was offensive coordinator under coach Dan Hawkins. He graduated three years ago and played for the Boise Burn arenafootball2 team before it folded. He says he still sees Petersen often, sometimes stopping by practices.
”He seems the same to me,“ Tharp said. ”He’s probably smarter as a coach, which I didn’t think was possible a few years ago.“
B.J. Rhode, a former quarterback who who has been coaching junior varsity football at Eagle High since he graduated in 2002, said he drops by to ”chit-chat“ with his old coach.
”We end up talking about how the kids are doing — his kids and my kids,“ said Rhode, a 31-year-old father of three children, ages 6, 4 and 4 months.
CULTIVATING LEADERS
Former players say Petersen built his program on the foundation laid by the coaches who came before him, particularly Hawkins.
”They have different personalities, but very similar foundation,“ Brockel said. ”Both are really big on the academics and going to class, and the type of football that needs to be played, and the energy you need at practice.“
For years, Boise State has built successful teams with recruits often passed over by major programs.
”They are talented kids, but more importantly, they are the right kind of people,“ Wilcox said. ”He’s never lost sight of the fact that the intangibles count in recruiting.“
Brockel said Petersen took the emphasis on academics up a notch. He said coaches did regular checks on players’ class attendance.
”They’d show up at your class and wait there for you. If you show up, they check you off, if you don’t you’re in trouble,“ Brockel said.
He said the first offense would land you in a Friday or Saturday night ”commitment time,“ or study session, while additional offenses could lead to losing free game tickets or suspension from games.
A list in the locker room was posted so that players would know whether someone wasn’t pulling their weight in the classroom.
”It’s a good system. It holds you accountable to your teammates,“ said Brockel, adding that players would make wake-up calls to help teammates from missing class.
”He’s put more in the players’ hands,“ Brockel said. ”You’re accountable to your teammates.“
Brockel said Petersen also met every month or so with a ”leadership crew“ of about 15 to 16 players.
”He’d give us lessons on leadership and what it means to be a leader,“ Brockel said.
Players were encouraged to examine the leaders they’ve come across in their own lives and their characteristics.
”I learned a lot from that. It was good stuff,“ Brockel said.
Brockel is currently back home in Phoenix, rehabbing a shoulder blade he fractured while playing in the San Diego Chargers’ first preseason game. He plans to return to playing pro football when he is healed; his agent is looking for a team.
CLARITY OF PURPOSE
Tadman said one of Petersen’s strengths as a head coach is his ability to clearly and succinctly communicate what the team needs to do in practice — and why.
”Even if you didn’t want to do it, you understood why,“ Tadman said. ”Everything had a point and a purpose. There was no wasted fluff. He was treating us like men: Here’s what we’ve got to do to win. This is the system we’re going to do to get there.“
And a big part of that system includes goal-setting.
Using the Pyramid of Success created by Wooden, the famed UCLA basketball coach, Petersen had the players set all sorts of short- and long-term goals, but the biggest emphasis was on the daily goals.
”We were focused on doing what we needed to do from the foundation up,“ Tadman said. ”If we do the daily things right, the monthly things will follow, and the season will fall in place.“
Tadman said he has applied those lessons off the field.
”I have very structured goals in life now, and it all came from Coach Pete,“ said Tadman, who came to Boise State in 2004, still in the process of turning his life around and trading drugs and alcohol for Christianity. ”I know the very tip of what I want to accomplish in my life (the top of the pyramid).“
He’s now a 25-year-old financial adviser in Orange County, Calif., married, and the father of two daughters. He hopes to be semi-retired by 30, so he can spend more time with his wife and daughters.
PRACTICE HAS BEEN PERFECTED AT BSU
Perretta says Petersen is usually pretty low-key on game days.
”You win the game during the course of the week in your preparation. Coach Pete is very big on preparation,“ he said.
One component of that is running practices where players have ”championship focus,“ good attitude and enthusiasm, Brockel said.
”Having good energy and being positive — those things transition into hard work and having fun,“ Brockel said. ”That’s when you’re willing to work the hardest. That’s led to so much of our success.“
Hall said Petersen subscribes to the philosophy behind EDD, which stands for ”Every Damn Day“ (Nike uses that slogan on T-shirts).
”Every day, they’re focused on their process,“ Hall said. ”It’s not once in a blue moon.“
Perretta said Petersen runs each play against ”every possible coverage“ that might be thrown at the Broncos. And he is famous for studying game film, breaking them down play-by-play.
”He’s really big on learning from the process and analyzing things in the past and trying to improve on them,“ Brockel said.
COACH DISCOVERS THE CREATIVITY IN HIS CRAFT
About four years ago, Petersen was recruited by BSU business professor Nancy Napier to participate in a small group of local leaders she identified as being high-performing in their fields.
Other members are from the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Trey McIntyre Project, White Cloud Analytics, Healthwise, Microsoft Boise (formerly ProClarity), Drake Cooper and the Ada County Sheriff’s Office.
Napier originally used the word ”creative“ to describe the group, but Petersen balked. He preferred the word ”innovative.“
”He said, ‘There’s nothing new in football, and I’m not creative,’“ said Napier, executive director of the Centre for Creativity and Innovation at BSU.
But he came around. After the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, Petersen became more aware that ”creativity is doing things differently,“ Napier said.
One concept that Petersen discussed with fellow Gang members — which he dubbed ”whole-part-whole“ — has been taken up by some of the group leaders, Napier said.
The idea behind ”whole-part-whole“ is Petersen’s belief that it’s important for new players to be educated first on the mission of the team/organization, then on the specifics of their individual jobs, and then, finally, again to be shown how they fit into the bigger picture of the organization.
The concept can also be applied to a player’s role in a single football play.
Ada County Sheriff Gary Raney said Petersen has made him think about his office and how to help employees better understand the importance of their roles and how they fit into the broader organization.
Raney said Gang members, including Petersen, have talked a lot about the importance of building the culture of an organization.
”He talks about the time he spends selecting an assistant coach, and how they will fit into the culture of the coaching crew,“ Raney said. ”Organizational culture is so critical.“
Raney says Petersen looks for people who are positive and who will fit in, interact with and support fellow coaches and the players.
Napier, a researcher and author, said Petersen’s program has much in common with these other successful local organizations, including the staff’s deep level of expertise, their disciplined processes and an emphasis on problem-solving.
And, finally, the importance of focus — Petersen’s ”Be here now“ mantra.
PETERSEN’S PLAN
Hall, who was a football coach for 30 years, including six years as head coach of Boise State, now speaks on leadership all over the country.
Hall and Petersen gave a presentation on leadership to the Boise Chamber of Commerce last year.
”I’ve been around a lot of great leaders,“ Hall said, explaining that the best ones are meticulous, organized, focused on details, disciplined and have everything covered — and covered well.
”They have a plan for everything,“ he said. ”Coach Pete falls into that category.“
Read more: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/10/16/1381300/the-man-with-the-plan.html#ixzz12WH7mLry
Simplify. Focus. Be here now.
Petersen preaches this to his players, and he lives it. Focusing on the fundamentals is a big part of how Petersen has racked up 54 wins (and four losses) just midway through his fifth year as head coach. The team’s 19-game winning streak is the longest active run in the country.
”Coach Pete’s record almost looks like a misprint,“ former BSU football coach Skip Hall joked this week.
The two-time winner of the Paul ”Bear“ Bryant Coach of the Year Award didn’t have time this week for navel-gazing about what makes him a successful leader. He fields media questions in weekly press conferences but declined a separate interview for this story.
But there’s never been a time when more people were asking: What is the secret to Petersen’s success?
Some of those who know Petersen best — former players — say it’s Petersen’s grasp of the big picture, as well as his OCD-like attention to details.
”We prepared so meticulously that we never, ever felt overwhelmed by another opponent,“ said former Bronco safety Marty Tadman, who snagged two interceptions from Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and was named defensive player of the game.
But there’s so much more.
Tadman and others said Petersen has created a program that promotes players’ growth on and off the field, develops young men into leaders and prepares them for life.
Petersen is, by all accounts, a relentless learner who teaches his players tried-and-true methods for setting and reaching goals (John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success) and is always looking for new ways to do things (he’s a member of ”The Gang,“ a small group of professionals from local business and government who get together to talk innovation).
”The thing I loved about Coach Pete was his Sunday meetings and everyday meetings, he’d talk about life in general and life lessons,“ said Vinny Perretta, the running back/wide receiver who threw a touchdown in overtime during the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. ”He’d take a story and relate it to your life. He was a mentor, not just for football but for life in general.“
”He makes sure everybody stays humble, grateful and hardworking,“ Perretta said.
VALUES RELATIONSHIPS, INPUT FROM PLAYERS
His football IQ has been much discussed during the Broncos’ ascension over the past few years, but Petersen’s emotional intelligence — his ability to relate to and connect with others — also seems to be off the charts.
This coach is as good at listening as talking. Maybe better.
”He didn’t want to be looked at as somebody you can’t talk to — if we had a problem, he wanted us to come to him,“ said Richie Brockel, a tight end from Phoenix whose role as a team captain in 2009 didn’t hinder him from earning a master’s degree in accounting.
Petersen, who turned 46 this week, actively seeks feedback, and that contributes to players’ buy-in to the overall program.
”I’ve never been around a place that took so much input from players like it was at Boise,“ said Bush Hamdan, a former Bronco quarterback who is now an intern with the University of Maryland football program.
Players have helped define some of Boise State’s defining moments. ”Statue Left,“ which famously won the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, featured a tricky hand-off designed by reserve quarterback Nick Lomax and a hurry-up pace suggested by Hamdan and fellow backup QB Taylor Tharp.
When the Broncos were back in the Fiesta Bowl two years later, safety Jason Robinson offered a midgame adjustment to a fake punt play called Riddler that led to a first down. The ensuing touchdown beat TCU.
”He treats people the right way and empowers everybody in the program so they feel like their role is as important as anybody’s,“ said former Boise State defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox, now on the coaching staff at Tennessee.
Petersen’s door is always open to his players, past and present. Perretta dropped in to see Petersen the day after Boise State’s big win over Oregon State.
”I just walked in and said ‘What’s up?’ We talked about work, football, life,“ said Perretta, 25, who did a short stint on the Minnesota Vikings’ practice squad before returning to Boise to work for an orthopedic sales company.
Tharp was recruited to BSU in 2003, when Petersen was offensive coordinator under coach Dan Hawkins. He graduated three years ago and played for the Boise Burn arenafootball2 team before it folded. He says he still sees Petersen often, sometimes stopping by practices.
”He seems the same to me,“ Tharp said. ”He’s probably smarter as a coach, which I didn’t think was possible a few years ago.“
B.J. Rhode, a former quarterback who who has been coaching junior varsity football at Eagle High since he graduated in 2002, said he drops by to ”chit-chat“ with his old coach.
”We end up talking about how the kids are doing — his kids and my kids,“ said Rhode, a 31-year-old father of three children, ages 6, 4 and 4 months.
CULTIVATING LEADERS
Former players say Petersen built his program on the foundation laid by the coaches who came before him, particularly Hawkins.
”They have different personalities, but very similar foundation,“ Brockel said. ”Both are really big on the academics and going to class, and the type of football that needs to be played, and the energy you need at practice.“
For years, Boise State has built successful teams with recruits often passed over by major programs.
”They are talented kids, but more importantly, they are the right kind of people,“ Wilcox said. ”He’s never lost sight of the fact that the intangibles count in recruiting.“
Brockel said Petersen took the emphasis on academics up a notch. He said coaches did regular checks on players’ class attendance.
”They’d show up at your class and wait there for you. If you show up, they check you off, if you don’t you’re in trouble,“ Brockel said.
He said the first offense would land you in a Friday or Saturday night ”commitment time,“ or study session, while additional offenses could lead to losing free game tickets or suspension from games.
A list in the locker room was posted so that players would know whether someone wasn’t pulling their weight in the classroom.
”It’s a good system. It holds you accountable to your teammates,“ said Brockel, adding that players would make wake-up calls to help teammates from missing class.
”He’s put more in the players’ hands,“ Brockel said. ”You’re accountable to your teammates.“
Brockel said Petersen also met every month or so with a ”leadership crew“ of about 15 to 16 players.
”He’d give us lessons on leadership and what it means to be a leader,“ Brockel said.
Players were encouraged to examine the leaders they’ve come across in their own lives and their characteristics.
”I learned a lot from that. It was good stuff,“ Brockel said.
Brockel is currently back home in Phoenix, rehabbing a shoulder blade he fractured while playing in the San Diego Chargers’ first preseason game. He plans to return to playing pro football when he is healed; his agent is looking for a team.
CLARITY OF PURPOSE
Tadman said one of Petersen’s strengths as a head coach is his ability to clearly and succinctly communicate what the team needs to do in practice — and why.
”Even if you didn’t want to do it, you understood why,“ Tadman said. ”Everything had a point and a purpose. There was no wasted fluff. He was treating us like men: Here’s what we’ve got to do to win. This is the system we’re going to do to get there.“
And a big part of that system includes goal-setting.
Using the Pyramid of Success created by Wooden, the famed UCLA basketball coach, Petersen had the players set all sorts of short- and long-term goals, but the biggest emphasis was on the daily goals.
”We were focused on doing what we needed to do from the foundation up,“ Tadman said. ”If we do the daily things right, the monthly things will follow, and the season will fall in place.“
Tadman said he has applied those lessons off the field.
”I have very structured goals in life now, and it all came from Coach Pete,“ said Tadman, who came to Boise State in 2004, still in the process of turning his life around and trading drugs and alcohol for Christianity. ”I know the very tip of what I want to accomplish in my life (the top of the pyramid).“
He’s now a 25-year-old financial adviser in Orange County, Calif., married, and the father of two daughters. He hopes to be semi-retired by 30, so he can spend more time with his wife and daughters.
PRACTICE HAS BEEN PERFECTED AT BSU
Perretta says Petersen is usually pretty low-key on game days.
”You win the game during the course of the week in your preparation. Coach Pete is very big on preparation,“ he said.
One component of that is running practices where players have ”championship focus,“ good attitude and enthusiasm, Brockel said.
”Having good energy and being positive — those things transition into hard work and having fun,“ Brockel said. ”That’s when you’re willing to work the hardest. That’s led to so much of our success.“
Hall said Petersen subscribes to the philosophy behind EDD, which stands for ”Every Damn Day“ (Nike uses that slogan on T-shirts).
”Every day, they’re focused on their process,“ Hall said. ”It’s not once in a blue moon.“
Perretta said Petersen runs each play against ”every possible coverage“ that might be thrown at the Broncos. And he is famous for studying game film, breaking them down play-by-play.
”He’s really big on learning from the process and analyzing things in the past and trying to improve on them,“ Brockel said.
COACH DISCOVERS THE CREATIVITY IN HIS CRAFT
About four years ago, Petersen was recruited by BSU business professor Nancy Napier to participate in a small group of local leaders she identified as being high-performing in their fields.
Other members are from the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Trey McIntyre Project, White Cloud Analytics, Healthwise, Microsoft Boise (formerly ProClarity), Drake Cooper and the Ada County Sheriff’s Office.
Napier originally used the word ”creative“ to describe the group, but Petersen balked. He preferred the word ”innovative.“
”He said, ‘There’s nothing new in football, and I’m not creative,’“ said Napier, executive director of the Centre for Creativity and Innovation at BSU.
But he came around. After the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, Petersen became more aware that ”creativity is doing things differently,“ Napier said.
One concept that Petersen discussed with fellow Gang members — which he dubbed ”whole-part-whole“ — has been taken up by some of the group leaders, Napier said.
The idea behind ”whole-part-whole“ is Petersen’s belief that it’s important for new players to be educated first on the mission of the team/organization, then on the specifics of their individual jobs, and then, finally, again to be shown how they fit into the bigger picture of the organization.
The concept can also be applied to a player’s role in a single football play.
Ada County Sheriff Gary Raney said Petersen has made him think about his office and how to help employees better understand the importance of their roles and how they fit into the broader organization.
Raney said Gang members, including Petersen, have talked a lot about the importance of building the culture of an organization.
”He talks about the time he spends selecting an assistant coach, and how they will fit into the culture of the coaching crew,“ Raney said. ”Organizational culture is so critical.“
Raney says Petersen looks for people who are positive and who will fit in, interact with and support fellow coaches and the players.
Napier, a researcher and author, said Petersen’s program has much in common with these other successful local organizations, including the staff’s deep level of expertise, their disciplined processes and an emphasis on problem-solving.
And, finally, the importance of focus — Petersen’s ”Be here now“ mantra.
PETERSEN’S PLAN
Hall, who was a football coach for 30 years, including six years as head coach of Boise State, now speaks on leadership all over the country.
Hall and Petersen gave a presentation on leadership to the Boise Chamber of Commerce last year.
”I’ve been around a lot of great leaders,“ Hall said, explaining that the best ones are meticulous, organized, focused on details, disciplined and have everything covered — and covered well.
”They have a plan for everything,“ he said. ”Coach Pete falls into that category.“
Read more: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/10/16/1381300/the-man-with-the-plan.html#ixzz12WH7mLry
