Monday, March 28, 2011

BO USES ROOM ASSIGNMENTS TO BUILD HIS TEAM

In his book, "Bo's Lasting Lessons," Bo Schembechler discussed who and why it roomed players on the road and in the dorms.  Great coaches look for many angles to build their team -- here is one way that Bo did it at Michigan:

At the end of the day, all we have is each other, so you need to get to know your teammates. That’s why we decide who rooms with whom, in the dorms and on the road.

This was by design. I didn’t see any point having two seniors room together on the road, because they already knew each other. No, you split them up and put each of them with a freshman who could benefit from a little guidance.

Same thing with the dorm assignments. Two guys from the same neighborhood? That’s too easy. So you pair up the kid from downtown Detroit with the kid from rural Ohio. They get to know each other. Four years later, you’ve got one helluva senior class, and they get a friend for life.