Prime-Time Pressure Cooker Stresses Are Taking Their Toll On College Basketball Coaches

They stalk the sidelines, driven by the constant and ever-increasing pressure of their occupation.

They are sport’s version of the frenzied Wall Street floor operative, windmilling their arms as they bark orders above a chaotic din.

“You’re always feeling that you’re not doing enough,” said Kansas men’s basketball coach Roy Williams, whose bench persona radiates an intensity nearly capable of popping blood vessels.

“`I’ve got to do more. I’ve got to do more. I’ve got to do MORE!’ It’s almost a sickness.”

Coaching Division I basketball in the mid-1990s is hazardous duty. Stress is a mounting concern.

“It can bother you if you don’t remember why you got into it,” Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said. “The adulation of the fans, the autographs, the television - that stuff, you can take it, put it in a sack and throw it in an ocean for all I care.

“I really enjoy 3 o’clock to 5 o’clock, getting in that gym with my players and coaching basketball,” Sampson said.

Actual coaching is a diminishing part of the job these days. The outside commitments are overwhelming. The alumni and other boosters demand huge chunks of promotional time.

Growing media scrutiny fuels interest in many schools’ programs, but a coach has to allocate time for news conferences and other less-formal interaction with reporters.

Recruiting is year-round. The better programs roam nationwide for two or three players a year.

Plus, there is the off-court responsibility for the dozen or so players already in the program. Any slip in academic progress or citizenship brings charges that a coach isn’t in control.

“It’s like being a shepherd,” said Norm Stewart, in his 34th year as a coach and his 28th at Missouri. “You just can’t watch the flock part of the time and do a good job. Coaching is full time.”

Thus, so is the pressure.

Since successful people in many fields are often the most-driven individuals, why should college basketball coaches be different?

They aren’t. What separates those who coach Division I basketball is that few professions offer such a public display of those under stress.

“You’re always worried about tomorrow,” said Iowa State coach Tim Floyd, who paces relentlessly during games. “Regardless of what you did the game before or the year before. Regardless of what they think about you today, it could change tomorrow.”

If that’s insecurity talking, it’s with some cause. The Big Eight has three new coaches this year. In each case, the previous coach departed under rising pressure.

Colorado coach Joe Harrington is fighting increasing speculation that he won’t be back next year. The issue might hinge on whether the Buffaloes (2-7 Big Eight, 11-9 overall) avoid a fourth straight last-place finish.

Not coincidentally, the conference’s four other schools were NCAA Tournament participants in each of the last three years.

The situation isn’t unique to the Big Eight or even to the upper levels of Division I basketball.

Two years ago, Missouri-Kansas City coach Lee Hunt almost worked himself into a heart attack from the accumulated weight of trying to build a program from scratch.

“Anybody who coaches basketball has a lot of stress, because nobody wants to win more than a head coach,” Hunt said. “You put tremendous pressure on yourself. You always go back after every game and relive every play.”

Earlier this year, doctors sidelined Nevada-Las Vegas coach Tim Grgurich for exhaustion. He has yet to return. Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski is gone for the year after trying to rush his rehabilitation from back surgery.

Last season, Northwestern coach Ricky Byrdsong suffered a breakdown that prompted him to wander into the stands during a game.

The pressure exists in he NBA, too. Golden State coach Don Nelson suffered viral pneumonia in December and resigned Monday.

He followed Dan Issel, who quit earlier this season as the Denver Nuggets’ coach because he thought the job was turning him into someone he didn’t like.

But the pro game is different. NBA coaches often lament the inability to motivate highly paid players as the primary reason for giving up the job, a problem college coaches don’t face.

Still, money plays a key role in the escalating pressure for college coaches. Division I basketball is big business.

“It’s much more difficult to coach today than it used to be,” said Oklahoma State’s Eddie Sutton, a 25-year veteran. “There’s more pressure today on everybody to win.”

Success doesn’t relieve the pressure. It only increases expectations.

“I probably feel more pressure here to win than any other place,” said Sutton, in his fifth year at Oklahoma State after previous stops at Creighton, Arkansas and Kentucky.

“When we came in here, we wanted to revive the tradition at Oklahoma State. We’ve been able to do that. Once you’ve done that, everyone expects you to continue to be successful.”

Coaches fall into two categories: those building a winner and those maintaining one. Those in the former group aren’t given long to move to the latter group. Schools have little choice. Athletic departments need the money a successful program can generate.

Losing coaches don’t last because losing programs aren’t tolerated. Coaches aren’t kidding when they say they take losses harder than the most ardent fan.

“We lose a game on Saturday,” Harrington said, “and on Sunday, I’m a hermit. I don’t come out of my condominium.

“I don’t go out or read the papers during the season. If I watch anything, it’s not a sports show. It’s a movie or something.”

Women’s coaches feel stress, too - the price for their sport’s increasing popularity.

“You always had your self-induced pressure,” said No. 3 Colorado women’s coach Ceal Barry.

“But this is my 16th year of coaching. And with the increased fan support and the increased expectations, the pressure comes with it.”

Kansas women’s coach Marian Washington said to her, the most frustrating aspects of the job are those she can’t control.

“What’s stressful is that you can’t ventilate what you feel,” she said, holding her tongue on the officiating after a recent loss.

At other times, the problem is simple but equally uncontrollable. As Williams said, “Sometimes, those guys in the short pants just have to play better.”

Everyone agrees the answer to stress is finding an outlet to relieve it.Hunt walks on a treadmill and pedals his stationary bike 4 to 6 miles a day, a routine lasting up to 45 minutes.

“You get so wrapped up in it, it becomes the focal point of everything in your life,” he said. “I learned after surgery that life doesn’t all boil down to a basketball game. Your health is most important.”

Williams is one who escapes through running.

“About nine years ago, I started just for my physical health,” he said. “I thought it was good for me. Then I came to Kansas (in 1988) and continued to do it. I found in the last four or five years that it’s far superior in its mental benefits than its physical aspects.”

Barry’s main outlet is reading a book.

“Nothing deep,” she said. “Total

entertainment. If I wake up, I read… . The first thing when a game’s over on the road and we get to the airport, I take my book out.”

Floyd unwinds by getting in his car.

“I’ll take a drive for an hour in any direction,” he said, “turn the radio off and just think. Not just about that game, but about what’s going on for the rest of the season.

“The thing about the profession is that regardless of what you’ve done, you’ve still got to go do it again tomorrow,” Floyd said.

And do it better.