Thursday December 20, 2007

The Lessons-Part II

The Lessons-Part II
Here is part II of the assistants blog:

Burton Burns-When the last coaching change came about Tommy Bowden kept only two assistants, Rick Stockstill and Reggie Herring. I could tell right away that Burton Burns was special and was extremely fortunate to get a chance to get to know him.

Burton is fantastic coach and an even better person. After a short time here he and his family quickly adapted to the community and his and his wife Connie were soon like family. In his first year here he and Connie had a Final Four party at their house where he introduced many locals to the Cajun cuisine he grew up with. They had a giant projection screen in the backyard the size of a movie theater but it was the food that had me hooked.

Soon after, the friendship and trust factor increased over the next year. I enjoyed each conversation with Burton and I began to understand why schools like LSU made numerous attempts to get him on its staff.

On several of those occasions I would ask Burton about players or game plans. I began to notice that he would never say anything negative about any player despite any chance to do so. Even if the player had really messed up on the field or off of the field. The same could be said when I questioned a game plan. Even when the offense would struggle he never would have anything negative to say about any coach or any plan.

Once I went through about a week’s worth of conversation with Burton about his childhood with an attempt to obtain more information about what it was like to grow up as an Afro-American in the segregated South. Burton would tell me stories of be excluded from certain restaurants or sections of movie theaters but he never sounded bitter. He actually played in the first integrated high school football game in Louisiana but he said it was not that big of a deal to him. He played at Nebraska for Tom Osborne and would make light of the fact that it was rare to see black students at the school in the mid-seventies.

I never understood why he was so positive about everything and everybody. That changed one day about three or four years ago when I met his father. Burton’s dad was a pillar in the community in New Orleans and a role model to many. Mr. Burns coached many years at a inter-city high school in New Orleans and is still thought of as a leader in the city. Mr. Burns is a charming man with presence.

I asked Burton about his dad and he shared a story that still sticks with me today. Burton said he would ask his father why he spent so much time with kids and even the bad kids in the community. He asked his dad why he works so hard with all kids even though some thought he was wasting his time with some juvenile delinquents. Burton said his dad told him, “There is some good in everyone and your time is better spent looking for that good instead of criticizing the bad.”

WOW! What a lesson. I have a hard time with it still but what a great outlook on life and in people. Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if we all were more like Burton. I know I fall very short of those standards but still it is a great goal.

Lawson Holland-Life is great when you can play football at Clemson, marry a beautiful cheerleader, then return to coach at the great school. That is just part of Lawson Holland’s story.

I did not know Lawson until about three years ago because he was off winning conference titles and national championships. He left Clemson in 1985 and I did not get here until 1986. After successful coaching stints at North Carolina, Wake Forest and Oklahoma State, Lawson joined Steve Spurrier’s staff at Florida.

Lawson was an assistant on Clemson’s 1981 national championship team and won his second national title with the Gators in 1996.

He went with Spurrier to the NFL and spent the two years with the Redskins. Lawson always knew he wanted to end up back at Clemson. He speaks fondly of his days as a player and his memories as a coach during some very special years including the 1981 season.

When he decided he had had enough coaching, Lawson knew he wanted to return to Clemson and he had a great opportunity to get involved with one of the upstate’s most successful business minds, Leighton Cubbage. Lawson and Leighton were college teammates at Clemson and their friendship lasted through the years.

I did not meet Lawson until about three years ago when we were introduced at Mac’s Drive In. I had heard great things about him and his wife and kids and it took only a few minutes to see why so many spoke so highly of him. I am not sure I have met anyone as positive and optimistic as Lawson.

After every conversation with Lawson I am reminded that attitude is the key. Half full is a much better approach than half empty. I sense a positive approach and an optimistic view is a much easier way of life. The idea that life is 10 percent of what happens to you and 90 percent of how you handle it could never sound better to anyone like Lawson. When Lawson was a coach, no prospect was impossible to sign and no game was unwinnable.

The last two days it has been a pleasure to stories and lessons I have learned from people like Billy Ware, Rick Stockstill, Burton Burns and Lawson Holland. The lessons I took from each were a little unique from each other but their personalities are similar and so are their lives. All four are or were very successful coaches. All have great wives and are terrific husbands who helped raise great kids. Stocks kids are still in middle school and grammar school but they are off to terrific starts. Coach Ware’s kids are great people who are very successful. I joke with Burton and Connie about their kids having more degrees than a thermometer. The Burns’ kids are very successful in the business world. Lawson and Cathy Holland just had their son graduate from the Naval Academy and their daughter is about to graduate from Clemson.

All were great recruiters. Lawson and Coach Ware are very successful business men and Stock and Burton are two of the most highly successful coaches currently in the South.

Thanks for letting me share these memories the last two days. I had a blast recalling some great times with some great people. Tomorrow we will have our e-mail bag but I will take off Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Thanks.

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