This article is from Texas Sports, I really liked it and the message conveyed here,sounds like a COACH.
http://www.texassports.com/news/2014/1/31/FB_0131142923.aspx
Here is a Q&A with Wickline:
What excites you about working with Charlie Strong again?
This will be the fourth time Charlie and I will have a chance to work together and I think there's that's probably the key factor that excited me about coming to Texas. I'm really excited about the chance to work with him as a head coach. First of all, it had to be a very special opportunity for me to leave such a great job with Mike Gundy and Oklahoma State. It was just a really special place with a lot of great memories. The number one factor in making the move was our relationship with Charlie Strong. We've been together so many times over the years and he's just such a special individual. When I heard Texas was hiring him I said what a great hire. He's a guy that is made up of the right stuff and stands for the right thing. It will make the transition here pretty easy for me because we're very common in terms of our beliefs and how we do things. We have all the same principals in terms of how you teach and coach young man. Competing and winning is very, very important to us but graduating and doing things right are more important. We want to develop our young men as players and people, on and off the field. So I think first and foremost because he's such a special friend I just wanted the opportunity to work with Charlie again and to help him get things going at Texas.
You and Charlie Strong started out as graduate assistants together at Florida. What do you remember about that experience?
I was an offensive GA and we worked for Charley Pell. We had a lot of great coaches so we were very fortunate. Charlie worked with the defensive guys and it was tough. There were a lot of hours and heavy demand. The first thing I recognized was work ethic was never an issue with Charlie. There was no entitlement there. He was always a guy that was looking for an opportunity to grow and to help people. Charlie was such a hard worker, unbelievably organized and his attention to detail was ridiculous, even as a GA. But more importantly, the biggest thing I recognized about Coach Strong was he was an honest, forthcoming, straight shooting, fun guy to be around because you always knew where you stood with him.
Who would you consider the biggest influence on you as a coach?
When I talk about people that influenced me I'd have to say my Dad is first. He's a guy that coached high school football forever. I learned a lot from him from a football standpoint. But it was his theory and philosophy on how you handle yourself and how you go about your job that molded me. He was the biggest inspiration in my life.
What is your coaching philosophy?
Most importantly, you need to do what your players do best. You need to find out what your QBs strengths are, what your personnel does best and then find a system that takes advantage of that. It's critical to study the defenses you face week-to-week and determine what allows you to be successful matching your best personnel up against there's, finding their weakness and where your strengths are. From an offensive line standpoint it's pretty simple, you recruit as many big, athletic, mobile, smart and tough guys as you can. You find the ones that have the intangibles that take winning and being successful in the sport of football real serious. And, the more of those guys that you get in your program, that take it personnel on every snap, the better you'll be. The more you get it as a collective group, as a staff, as a unit, as a family the better you'll be. If you get that going, the wins will take care of themselves. It's a continuous recruiting and developing of kids. We've been able to do that at the places I've been and we've been very successful.
Sounds like you really get to know your players?
I'm a big believer in what a guy is made up of on the inside. Does he really care about getting his job done on every play. Does he have that attitude, that passion, that fire you need to be successful. Maybe he doesn't have the size, strength or something when he starts but it's our job to push them and develop them so that before its all said and done they have the heart and the mind, the presence that I'm going to get there. You build it, build it and build it and you get help push them to being their best."
How would you describe your coaching style?
I'd say the way we'll work together is a high demand deal. We're going to be accountable to each other. Expectations will be set and we'll all be on the same page. What we want from the team, both from Coach Strong and among the offense staff, we'll be clear. We'll all have a clear understanding of the effort, the amount of attention, studying and work that is necessary. How they need play for the team to be successful is going to be understood. I would say if anything, we want tough, hard-nosed guys. We want them to be physical. We want them to enjoy being competing. They need to enjoy the occasion, look forward to stepping on the field. Not just for games, because that's really the after affect. I'm talking about all week. Preparing downstairs or anywhere you train, you want guys that look forward to that. That's what we're be going for.
Why did you choose to come to Texas?
Texas is a very unique place and I think everyone understands that from a professional standpoint it is one of the premier jobs in our business. Who they are, what they stand for, the tradition, the success, it's just a great place. Anybody that has the opportunity to work here, play here, coach here, has to consider themselves very fortunate. It's just an unbelievable opportunity. With Coach Strong and our relationship, the coaches he's brought in here, the goals and vision he has to build on what Coach (Mack) Brown accomplished and all the great teams and history here, it's just something really wanted to be a part of it.
http://www.texassports.com/news/2014/1/31/FB_0131142923.aspx
Here is a Q&A with Wickline:
What excites you about working with Charlie Strong again?
This will be the fourth time Charlie and I will have a chance to work together and I think there's that's probably the key factor that excited me about coming to Texas. I'm really excited about the chance to work with him as a head coach. First of all, it had to be a very special opportunity for me to leave such a great job with Mike Gundy and Oklahoma State. It was just a really special place with a lot of great memories. The number one factor in making the move was our relationship with Charlie Strong. We've been together so many times over the years and he's just such a special individual. When I heard Texas was hiring him I said what a great hire. He's a guy that is made up of the right stuff and stands for the right thing. It will make the transition here pretty easy for me because we're very common in terms of our beliefs and how we do things. We have all the same principals in terms of how you teach and coach young man. Competing and winning is very, very important to us but graduating and doing things right are more important. We want to develop our young men as players and people, on and off the field. So I think first and foremost because he's such a special friend I just wanted the opportunity to work with Charlie again and to help him get things going at Texas.
You and Charlie Strong started out as graduate assistants together at Florida. What do you remember about that experience?
I was an offensive GA and we worked for Charley Pell. We had a lot of great coaches so we were very fortunate. Charlie worked with the defensive guys and it was tough. There were a lot of hours and heavy demand. The first thing I recognized was work ethic was never an issue with Charlie. There was no entitlement there. He was always a guy that was looking for an opportunity to grow and to help people. Charlie was such a hard worker, unbelievably organized and his attention to detail was ridiculous, even as a GA. But more importantly, the biggest thing I recognized about Coach Strong was he was an honest, forthcoming, straight shooting, fun guy to be around because you always knew where you stood with him.
Who would you consider the biggest influence on you as a coach?
When I talk about people that influenced me I'd have to say my Dad is first. He's a guy that coached high school football forever. I learned a lot from him from a football standpoint. But it was his theory and philosophy on how you handle yourself and how you go about your job that molded me. He was the biggest inspiration in my life.
What is your coaching philosophy?
Most importantly, you need to do what your players do best. You need to find out what your QBs strengths are, what your personnel does best and then find a system that takes advantage of that. It's critical to study the defenses you face week-to-week and determine what allows you to be successful matching your best personnel up against there's, finding their weakness and where your strengths are. From an offensive line standpoint it's pretty simple, you recruit as many big, athletic, mobile, smart and tough guys as you can. You find the ones that have the intangibles that take winning and being successful in the sport of football real serious. And, the more of those guys that you get in your program, that take it personnel on every snap, the better you'll be. The more you get it as a collective group, as a staff, as a unit, as a family the better you'll be. If you get that going, the wins will take care of themselves. It's a continuous recruiting and developing of kids. We've been able to do that at the places I've been and we've been very successful.
Sounds like you really get to know your players?
I'm a big believer in what a guy is made up of on the inside. Does he really care about getting his job done on every play. Does he have that attitude, that passion, that fire you need to be successful. Maybe he doesn't have the size, strength or something when he starts but it's our job to push them and develop them so that before its all said and done they have the heart and the mind, the presence that I'm going to get there. You build it, build it and build it and you get help push them to being their best."
How would you describe your coaching style?
I'd say the way we'll work together is a high demand deal. We're going to be accountable to each other. Expectations will be set and we'll all be on the same page. What we want from the team, both from Coach Strong and among the offense staff, we'll be clear. We'll all have a clear understanding of the effort, the amount of attention, studying and work that is necessary. How they need play for the team to be successful is going to be understood. I would say if anything, we want tough, hard-nosed guys. We want them to be physical. We want them to enjoy being competing. They need to enjoy the occasion, look forward to stepping on the field. Not just for games, because that's really the after affect. I'm talking about all week. Preparing downstairs or anywhere you train, you want guys that look forward to that. That's what we're be going for.
Why did you choose to come to Texas?
Texas is a very unique place and I think everyone understands that from a professional standpoint it is one of the premier jobs in our business. Who they are, what they stand for, the tradition, the success, it's just a great place. Anybody that has the opportunity to work here, play here, coach here, has to consider themselves very fortunate. It's just an unbelievable opportunity. With Coach Strong and our relationship, the coaches he's brought in here, the goals and vision he has to build on what Coach (Mack) Brown accomplished and all the great teams and history here, it's just something really wanted to be a part of it.
