Bennett can relate to stress of coaching

PULLMAN – Pacific-10 Conference coaches have reacted with empathy and concern after Oregon State University head coach Jay John had to be taken to the hospital on a stretcher during his team’s 40-point loss at the University of Washington on Saturday.

John suffered from chest pains and shortness of breath during the game, and was kept at the UW Medical Center overnight. He is away from the team this week and will not coach on Thursday under doctor’s orders. OSU assistant coach Kevin Mouton, who is taking over while John is at home, said the head coach is working on making some lifestyle changes after the high-blood pressure episode.

For Washington State University head coach Dick Bennett, the sight of a colleague having health trouble was especially nerve-wracking. Bennett has always been a high-strung coach, and retired from Wisconsin in the middle of the 2000-01 season largely because of the heavy toll the job took on him.

“Each game adds a layer of stress and if you don’t get rid of it you have problems,” Bennett said Tuesday. “I felt sick. The way it came across scared me more than anything.”

Now in his second season at WSU, Bennett has focused on trying to keep himself in better physical condition to help offset the anguish he encounters in the rigors and pressures of his job as a Division I basketball coach.

“It’s a stressful position. … Our blood pressures go way up, that’s been measured,” he said. “No matter what job there’s the possibility of these things happening. Just driving down the road there’s that possibility. So you can’t worry about those things. It does serve perhaps as a reminder, though, that we have to stay as fit as we can.”

Bennett said that he feels better now than he did at the end of his Wisconsin coaching stint. The coach sometimes goes directly from practice to a workout, and those close to him, like his son, associate head coach Tony Bennett, have noticed a difference.

“I don’t know if he’s trying to eat better, but I see him exercise a little more,” the younger Bennett said. “He puts his headphones on and listens to his Foreigner. That’s always good, whether you’re young or old.

“Everybody handles stress differently but you’re kidding yourself if you say there’s no pressure or stress when you’re in it.”

While head coaches like Bennett have used John’s case this week to evaluate their own practices and habits, their primary focus is still wishing their colleague a speedy recovery.

Bennett called OSU on Monday and spoke with an assistant coach, and other Pac-10 coaches indicated that they had done the same.

“I’m certain that Jay is getting the attention he needs and will come back hopefully better and stronger from this,” Bennett said. “Because he’s one of the good guys and we need more guys like that.”