A Legacy Unrivaled. Boz Bostrom

ever to succeed, of feeling convinced that I could do it. John recognized, praised, and uplifted his football players and in so doing proclaimed us to be worthy. He ignited both our physical and emotional strengths, those which he could see while we could not. How wonderful the whole world would be if all people would affirm the good things they see in others, whenever and wherever they see it. John did, and we should as well.”

      Tom Gillham was the quarterback for the 1965 team, which outscored its opponents 265–27 en route to winning John’s second national championship. Tom remembers one time when he criticized a receiver who dropped one of his passes. “He’s not the type of guy you get down on,” John told him. “It will shatter his confidence.” Tom continued, “John never criticized me during films. It was only off to the side when we would have those discussions. He told me he would never publicly criticize the team’s leader. And he always told us to do our own assignment and have confidence that the guy next to us would do theirs.”

      Cary Musech graduated in 1980 and has since founded a successful venture capital firm. “John was a master at inspiring his players. I was the center on our offensive line. We were a small line, but he told us to believe we were great and to envision doing great things. He made us feel like we were better prepared than our opponents, and thus we expected to win. I remember one game in particular. The opponent had a small, quick nose guard that other teams had troubling handling. During pregame stretches, when John would walk around shaking everyone’s hand, he told me, ‘They have a good nose guard, and this is a big game. If you contain him, you could make All-Conference.’ In hindsight, his strategy was to inspire me to play at the highest level. I thought I played pretty well that day, and we had a big win.”

      I asked him if he made All-Conference.

      “No,” Cary replied. “And while John referenced the award to motivate me, he didn’t stress individual accomplishments, so I never thought more of it.”

      Key to Winning #2: John repeatedly told his team that because they were well prepared, they should play with confidence. He frequently praised specific actions or attributes of his players to help them become more confident.