IN HIS OWN WORDS
ON WORKING AT NIKE ...
“Nike’s had such long-term sustainability because they’ve never wavered from their core values: innovation, recognizing there is no finish line, listen to the voice of the athlete, always challenge the status quo. Those axioms have been what we build strategies around. The people who haven’t been able to make it at Nike
are the ones who challenged the culture.”
COACHING’S GREATEST LESSON ...
“If you don’t let your ego get in the way, you can learn more from your players
than they learn from you.”
BEST WORKPLACE ADVICE ...
“Don’t go to your boss with problems. That’s easy. Go to your boss with solutions.”
ON PLAYING AGAINST JOHN WOODEN’S UCLA TEAMS ...
“The road trips usually had us playing USC on Friday and UCLA on Saturday, or vice versa. UCLA was so dominant, all the (Pac-8) coaches would spend time preparing to beat USC, because you had no chance of beating UCLA at home.”
HOW COACHING HAS CHANGED ...
“Vastly different than when I came in. You were truly a coach in those days. Today, you have to wear many hats: You’re a coach, mentor and role model. … In the old days, all you had to do was be really good at Xs and Os, and discipline. I remember numerous times (former Villanova coach) Alex Severance saying, ‘My way or the highway.’ Today, you can never do that. You used to say, ‘I coach all my players the same.’ Today, one-size-fits-all doesn’t work.”
BEST OPPOSING COACH OTHER THAN WOODEN ...
“Even though he didn’t win a lot of championships, I felt Ralph Miller (a Naismith Hall of Famer with a .623 winning percentage over 38 years at Wichita, Iowa and Oregon State) was every bit as good a coach as John Wooden. Ralph was an incredible coach.”
FAVORITE COURTS ...
“When I was playing for Villanova, there were three places you had to play if you were going to be considered for All-American: The Palestra in Philadelphia, Madison Square Garden in New York and the old Chicago Stadium.”
