← Becoming UnDone
Becoming UnDone
117 | Part 6: Coach Dino Babers Talks Roaches, Man Hugs, and the Art of Building a Team with Love
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- [00:04]
Toby Brooks
This is becoming undone.
- [00:14]
Dino Babers
A free T shirt probably saved my life, and at the very least, it most likely saved my marriage. In 1998, I got to experience the greatest season in University of Arizona Wildcat football history pretty much firsthand. But it almost didn't happen if not for a single free T shirt. Let me explain. Have you ever been all in, like, so far. In so engaged in something you're trying to do that you couldn't get out if you tried? I knew there was a term for it. And digging back through the dusty old memory banks, the term is point of no return. It was a term I first discovered way back in 1990 while I was watching Back to the Future, Part 3. Great, Doc. These things still work.
- [01:04]
Doc Brown
All right, Marty. Once more, let's go over the entire plan and layout. I apologize for the crudity of this model.
- [01:11]
Toby Brooks
Bounce.
- [01:12]
Coach Dick Tomey
Yeah.
- [01:12]
Toby Brooks
No, Doc, it's not to scale.
- [01:14]
Dino Babers
It's okay, Doc.
- [01:15]
Toby Brooks
All right.
- [01:16]
Doc Brown
Tomorrow night, Sunday, we'll load to the DeLorean, onto the tracks here on the spur right by the old abandoned silver mine. The switch track is where the spur runs off the main line three miles out to Clayton Shonash Ravine. The train leaves the station at 8 Monday morning. We'll stop it here, uncouple the cars from the tender, throw the switch track, and then we'll hijack borrow the locomotive and use it to push the time machine. According to my calculations, we'll reach 88 miles per hour just before we hit the edge of the ravine, at which point we'll be instantaneously Transported back to 1985 and coast safely across the completed bridge.
- [01:54]
Toby Brooks
What does this mean? Point of no return.
- [01:56]
Doc Brown
That's our fail safe point. Up until there, we still have enough time to stop the locomotive before it plunges into the ravine. But once we pass this windmill, it's the future or bust.
- [02:06]
Dino Babers
As Doc Brown teaches us, if you're working on a project or aiming for a goal or otherwise just living your life at half speed, oftentimes you can decide to change path without too much pain, without too much heartbreak. But when you're full speed ahead, you might be facing some serious consequences if you wait too long. The old interwebs says that a point of no return is, quote, a stage in a process or a journey where it becomes impossible or highly undesirable to reverse course or change direction, often implying a commitment to a specific path. End quote. For my wife, Christy, and me in 1998, somewhere between Galatia, Illinois and the Christopher City Apartments in Tucson, Arizona, we unknowingly drove right by a point of no return without even realizing it. Heck, thinking back, we might have even stopped for gas at it. Who knows? We'd been married for right out a year. Christy had finished her student teaching and I'd finished my clinical hours and passed the certification exam to become an athletic trainer. We'd graduated from undergrad and I'd been offered and accepted a spot at the University of Arizona. We lived frugally for a year to say the least, and we were headed to Tucson with the hopes of finally getting paid enough to pay the bills and maybe go out to eat once in a while. We laughed because that first year of marriage we literally only ate out once. On my birthday no less. Sadly, for whatever reason, I don't recall us eating out at a restaurant on her birthday though. Anyhow, we rented a small U Haul kind of truck herd, something like that, and loaded our hand me down furniture and whatever else we had and headed west. The university doesn't pay moving expenses for GA's, so we put the truck rental on the lone miserable little credit card we had, maxing it out in the process, and we used what little cash we had left to pay for gas and the food to get there. I don't even remember how we paid for that first month's rent. I knew if we could just get there, the job awaited and I'd get paid soon enough, probably in a couple weeks and everything will be fine. Wrong. Problem was, at U of A, at least at the time, we only got paid once a month, and you didn't get paid at all until you'd been there at least a month. I recall we moved in on like the 6th or 7th June. So July, right? We'd have to survive for three weeks somehow with no money. Wrong again. Since I hadn't been there a full month, I wouldn't get paid for that month. And then the university required a full month to process new hires. So my first check would not come in July, it wouldn't even come in August, it would be September 1st. So just to recap, in case you were wondering, we moved like 1500 miles west using all the money we had maxing out our credit card, and even though I was working as much as 50 or 60 hours a week right away, we didn't get paid for nearly three months. Meanwhile, Christy was looking for work and finally found a job at the Muscular Dentistry association headquarters in Tucson. But still it was over. Three months without a check. No money for rent, no money for groceries, no money for Gas. I tried calling Discover to get them to bump our credit line. No luck. What were we going to do? In that moment of desperation, we thought briefly about loading up and just going home. Things were that bad. I seriously considered it. Until I realized the truth. We couldn't. We didn't even have the money to move back. I was as humbled as I'd ever been up at that point in my life. I remember sitting alone in our lavish cinder block walled one bedroom apartment, thinking about how I'd drag this all the way out here and now I couldn't even afford to move us back home if I wanted to. We had passed the point of no return. I was desperate. I didn't know what to do or where to turn. In my anguish I did what I often do when I don't know what to do. I cleaned. I was straightening out my desk when I stumbled across a St. Louis Cardinals MBNA credit card that had my name on it. I'd never used it. It hadn't even been activated. I had to think back as to how I'd even gotten it in the first place. The summer before I'd gotten married, my high school buddies and I all took an overnight trip to St. Louis to hang out together, do some back to school shopping and catch a Cardinals baseball game. In those days, credit card companies were like vultures on college kids. They'd regularly set up at concerts, sporting events, various places on college campuses, usually employing cute co EDS to staff their booths, promising free T shirts in exchange for a credit card application. We were at the Cardinals game and my friends and I saw the booth and we agreed to take them up on their offer. We all signed up for mbna, Cardinals Visa cards, we got our free shirts and I promptly forgot about it. Sometime later, apparently, that Cardinals card was mailed to my parents house where I was still living at the time. And sometime after that, that non activated, still gummy, stuck to the paper and sealed in the envelope card found its way into my desk drawer. Somehow that desk drawer remained undisturbed for nearly a full year, surviving a move first to Ann, Illinois and then to Tucson, Arizona until I found it. In our time of most desperate need, I found it. Or maybe it found me. Thinking back on it now, I'm surprised it was still even valid. I called the number on the back to try to activate it, half expecting it to have been canceled already. But to my surprise, I was able to activate it. Suddenly a whopping $1,250 credit limit was ours for the glorious taking. We would survive. We could stay, even though we'd driven right through that point of no return without even realizing it. The Lord came through in the form of a forgotten St. Louis Cardinals visa card I'd simply gotten because I wanted a free T shirt and we'd live to tell the story later. And I'm glad we did. That 1998 season in Tucson was magical. Multiple players with NFL talent, deep experience and committed coaching staff, several of whom would go on to great personal success themselves with Coach tell Me at the helm, but a collection of people with an unwavering commitment to be their own best. It all came together for what remains to this day the single greatest season in Wildcat football history. The offensive coordinator and running backs coach for that team was Dino Babers, whose connection to Coach tell Me runs deep. Coach Babers name still commands respect across the college football world. Head coach, mentor, motivator. But before all that, he was a teenager in Hawaii with a Navy dad, a dream of playing ball, and a life changing encounter with a fiery, passionate coach named Dick Tell me if you've stuck around this long, I guess it's worth mentioning that I'm Toby Brooks. In addition to being a professor, speaker, podcaster back in the late 90s and early 2000s, I spent three years at the University of Arizona as a graduate assistant athletic trainer. And I didn't know it at the time, but I was part of the staff for Coach Dick Thomas final season with the Wildcats in 2000. In a world consumed with numbers, Coach Dick Tomy stats simply cannot and do not tell the whole story. But if you talk to the people who played for him, coached alongside him, or worked with him for a time, they'll tell you no one shaped them quite like Coach Dick Tomey. Sadly, we lost Coach Tomi to a brief but valiant battle with cancer in 2019. But I've been thinking about that and him a lot lately. So I've grown up. As a professional, I found myself aspiring to lead well and looking deep into the leaders of my own past that I'd like to emulate. And if you're like me, Coach Tomi is at the top of that list. Famously, Coach was frequently quoted as saying, football isn't complicated. People are. I think the same could be said for just about any line of work. It's not the job that's complex, but leading the people sure is, and I've not seen many do it better than Coach. In a profession dominated by wins and losses, Dick Tell Me created a legacy that endures decades after he coached his last game. It's that legacy that I've been thinking about ever since. How'd he do it? How do he inspire so many to follow him, to believe in him, and to carry his lessons forward, not just into their careers, but into their lives? These are questions I just can't shake. So I decided to do something about it. I decided to dive deep into the stories of one of the most transformational leaders I ever got the honor and pleasure to serve with you joining me for the journey. We've already been able to hear from some of the people who knew him best. His players, his staff, his family. In these and future episodes, we'll explore the moments that defined him, the values he instilled in others, and the lasting impact he left on the game. We've walked with him through those early years in Indiana, his first head coaching job at Hawaii, his time at Arizona, and his return to the sidelines at San Jose State. Even the years in retirement when he kept on serving and loving and mentoring. Not just the sport of football, mind you, but the people of it. And in this process, with you by my side, I think we will both not only get a refreshing chance to remember a legend, but we'll also learn what it takes to lead and to love and to serve our people better too. From player to GA to offensive coordinator under Coach Tomi to Arizona in this episode, Coach Baber shares some unforgettable stories, some funny, some emotional, all deeply revealing about what made Coach Tomi different. You'll hear about roaches in living rooms, trick plays and man hugs. But more than that, you'll hear what it means to lead with love, to fight for culture and to stay consistent in a world that's anything but. This is becoming undone. This is Dino Babers and this is Part six of the Life Lessons and Legacy of Dick Tomey, a Toby Brooks passion project.
- [12:55]
Coach Dick Tomey
Joining me today, I'm thrilled folks. Dino Babers Coach Babers attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa and began his coaching career with Dick Thomy in Hawaii as a GA in 1984. Since then, numerous stops. His resume reads like a who's who of college football. 95 through 2000. He coached on the offensive side of the ball and was the OC at Arizona for coach Dick Thomey 98 through 2000. He's also been a head coach at Eastern Illinois, where he was a two time OVC Coach of the Year. Syracuse, where he was named AP ACC Coach of the year in 2018. Coach, thanks for joining me. That's a mouthful to introduce you, but you're worth it. I appreciate you being here.
- [13:37]
Toby Brooks
My pleasure. Toby. Thanks for the invite.
- [13:39]
Coach Dick Tomey
Well, you were with coach Tomi in the early days and the reason I wanted to get you on early is I'm kind of laying this out chronologically and yeah, you had a. That, that stop. That 98 team in Tucson is kind of the one everyone looks to. It was your splash as a, as an OC and it, I think it really opened a lot of doors for a lot of coaches on that staff. But you go way back before that on the island, so wanted to, to kind of get your insights as to who Dick Tomy was back with the Rainbow Warrior. So first question is your first impression of Coach Tomi. Do you remember the first time you met him and what was your first impression of the man?
- [14:20]
Toby Brooks
Well, this is a classic. First time I met him was actually in his home visit. He visited me and I was at 17, my dad, that my dad passed away and in 1994, he was 57 years of age, but he was a military Navy guy. And at the time it was. I had, I had some choices, but one of my choices was the Naval Academy. I had an appointment to the Naval Academy. My dad was Navy.
- [14:48]
Dino Babers
So he.
- [14:48]
Toby Brooks
Coach told me, came in on the home visit and he's talking to us and my dad sitting there and you know, my dad said something about Mabel Academy compared to Hawaii or something. My dad was like 6, 2, 2, 35. He played ball. He's. He's a strapping dude. And coach told me, stood up and all, and not in a mean way, but just in, hey, we've got a lot of things to offer too. And he kind of got, you know, not disrespectful, but stood his ground against my dad. And I was like, wow, you know, the guys, I kind of like that. Yeah. You know, the way he does it. Yeah. And then when, when I, when all that was over and then I took a visit out there and I decided that I wanted to go to the University of Hawaii. I mean, broke my dad heart, but I didn't go to the Naval Academy. But in the long run, it all worked out the best.
- [15:45]
Coach Dick Tomey
Yeah, Coach definitely had. He didn't back down. That's for sure. He had. Hard of a lion. Every great coach has a lesson or a phrase. There's lots of Dick Tomy isms. You've got some great ones too, that I still use to this day.
- [16:01]
Toby Brooks
Let me hear one of them.
- [16:03]
Coach Dick Tomey
Yours. I say this to my kids. I've said it to my students, they don't call it walking late.
- [16:11]
Toby Brooks
Why.
- [16:14]
Coach Dick Tomey
I, I can, I can picture Trump candidate in kind of a trainer trot. And you said, you know, we were supposed to go to team period. And you said, we don't call it walking late. Certainly some coach tomyism have come up in the interviews that I've had so far. What comes to mind for you when I say what. You know, those memorable coach tell me.
- [16:36]
Toby Brooks
Isms, you know, I, I, it's a hard one. And, and it's, it's the one that really drove me, you know, as an assistant and into my coordinator job days until I got an opportunity to be a head coach. But he used to say, you're, you're either coaching it or you're allowing. And you know, heads I win, tails you lose. I didn't, I didn't like that. But when you apply to that, there's, you just can't give yourself an excuse. Yeah. And you got to find a way to make it happen. And one of the things I pride myself on, and I think coach is the exact same way, is that coaching is teaching and teaching is coaching. And I said to me, the only difference is the pays a little bit. But besides that, besides that, it's that, you know, as a teacher, and I hope teachers don't get mad at me, you know, you're allowed to give an a B, a C, a D. And yeah, as a coach, you can do that, but there's going to be times where you may have an A player and he gets hurt. And now if you weren't coaching a guy behind him, that C or D person is in the game and represents you and everything you are doing on the football field. And it's direct representation of yourself in your unit. Everybody, like they're going to beat the guy.
- [17:53]
Dino Babers
Yeah.
- [17:54]
Toby Brooks
And that's, that's the thing that motivated you the most out of that stick. Yeah.
- [17:58]
Coach Dick Tomey
That's some powerful wisdom. Certainly coach had a humor streak in him as well. He was known to be fiery and, and he would, he would get in your face if he had to. He's known for his passion and his presence. Do you have any classic only Dick Tomi could do this kind of stories that, that make you laugh.
- [18:18]
Toby Brooks
Oh, okay. I'm, oh, my God. People get so mad at me. But to me, I'm going to tell you the story about the roach. Okay. We were doing a home visit with somebody that you might know. This, this young guy, he was really light. We didn't know. We thought he was really good. But a lot of people thought he was too small to play. Some guy by the name of Dennis Mort. We're sitting in his house with his mother, his mother's beautiful person and we're in their home and we're. And we're in the living room and Coach told me there wasn't enough chairs for everybody. So that's classy. Now he's going to sit down Indian style on the floor. Well, I mean I can sit on the floor but I can't sit Indian style. I can't be cool. I'm too tight in the hips to that. So I'm sitting in a chair and Dennis and his mom was sitting on the sofa and they, and they've got got coffee table in between them and we're on one side, they're on the other side. And out of the corner of my eye and kids, this is just me. I'm sitting here going, I see well and I'm going okay, big deal. It's not like I haven't seen one before. Just stay in the kitchen, dude. Okay, let's not become a part of this part. Starts working its way down from the kitchen right into the living room which is connection. And I'm trying to like I'm watching the ropes and I'm trying to stay on where Coach is talking about and me and Mrs. Northcutt meets eyes and I can see that Mrs. Northcote notices the roach too. And now she's extremely embarrassed. And let me say this, people a lot of times people think oh you got a roaches, you got a nasty house, you don't take care of your house. A lot of times the roaches can be coming from the people next door. You could have a hello house. It has nothing to do in that situation. But the roach is coming. I don't know what Coach told me he's going to do. I've never seen Coach told me handle a roach. I don't know if coach told me he's ever seen a roach, you know what I mean? So the thing is just, I mean it's parading, it's like, it's like an HBCU guy out front. This roach is parading like the proudest roach coming down the middle of the living room and Coach is talking with his hands and here comes this roach straight out of him and then out of the sky Coach sees the roach and he just goes quicks the ropes all into the kitchen knock, never break strides with and finishes the conversation. Okay, now I'm telling you this, that Com. So the conversation ends. We leave. Okay, I leave something in the house. I knock on the door And I tell Mrs. North can I left something in her house? She brings it to the front door. She says, coach, let me tell you something. I'm so embarrassed about what happened. I said, Mrs. North, that happens all the time. It's never had it happen. I said, this is. Happens all the time. Don't you worry about. He says, the way Coach Tony handled it. Yeah, but classic. Coach told me, just classic.
- [21:20]
Coach Dick Tomey
Yeah, just salt of the earth and, and just a man's man. And I've heard several stories about how, you know, Johnny Majors comes into, into a guy's living room. Jesse Sapolo had mentioned like all these coaches coming in suit and tie and they sit in my dad's recliner, Coach Tomi's in shorts and you know, looking like a PE coach but sitting in the floor, respecting the culture. And that connected and that resonated with parents in a way that maybe a suit and tie couldn't or didn't or wouldn't.
- [21:50]
Toby Brooks
Absolutely.
- [21:51]
Coach Dick Tomey
I'm curious. So you've experienced coach as a student athlete. You started your career as a ga. Your first oc, I believe, was at Arizona under coach. So, so you've served him in many different roles. Talk me through that process and, and you know, if, if you didn't like the guy, you wouldn't have kept coming.
- [22:12]
Toby Brooks
Around, you know, playing for him. He was, we used to, used to call him that. He used to call him a blue eyed devil as a player, but he was, he was, he was fiery. He was, I want to. The next thing I would say, a team guy. But God, it was his way now. It was, it was. He, I mean, and he cooled. By the time he got to Arizona, he had cooled down. I fresh, I mean we had him fresh his first head coaching job and I knew he could put the fear of you, blah, blah, blah, in you. If there was. There was no doubt and it black, white, Polly, it did not matter. I mean he's, he's getting up on a soapbox, the look you in the eye. But God dang it, I mean, sometimes you have to get up in a bigger chair than that to look up some guys in the eye. He was fiery, but he was honest and he was, he was somebody you could talk to. I remember being, I was team captain my senior year and I went and had a conversation with him about the team, about individuals on the team and he probably didn't like what I said, but he sat there and Listened to me. And after I left, and I'm not going to talk about the topic, you know, he made some. He made some changes, and I think those. Those changes paid off. I don't know if he made them because of me. He could have been already ready to make those changes, knowing Coach Don't. But he was open to change. He was open to do things a different way. I thought I saw. On your thing. Well, I don't talk about that one. I thought just. Did you ever talk about camp Coach Chiefs, where they had the swimming? So my first. My first year, the first year I went down there, Coach was talking about how they're going to get the champions, and then the. And then the coaches are going to swim against the guys. And I said. And he says, dino, you're going to be on the team. I said, coach, I can't be on the team. He said, why not? Coach, I can't swim. Sure you can't. I said, coach, I said, I can't swim. He says, you're on the team. Coach, I cannot swim. You'll get it done. You're a competitor. You're on the team. Needless to say, I mean, I dove real far. I got. Got almost to the middle of that, and that's about where I stayed.
- [24:41]
Coach Dick Tomey
I'm picturing you after that conversation, like, working after hours in the pool, like, you. You can't let the guy down.
- [24:48]
Toby Brooks
And. And did. Now, I will say this. Okay, we lost that. He said, dino, you're not on the team.
- [24:57]
Dino Babers
That's awesome.
- [24:59]
Coach Dick Tomey
Well, one thing that's come up repeatedly, I mean, he's. He's just this, you know, little white guy.
- [25:05]
Narrator
He.
- [25:05]
Coach Dick Tomey
He says he wasn't even an athlete. He. He had. He played college baseball, but to hear him tell it, he wasn't athletic and grew up in the Midwest, starts his coaching career in Ohio. That's not really a. A formula for someone who brings different cultures together. He goes to Hawaii and develops this recruiting pipeline for Polynesian players. And. And he's got players of all different backgrounds and ethnicities coming together for common cause. And I'm curious, your perception on that as a student athlete and then how. I mean, in the 70s, no less. And that's remarkable. So talk me through what he did to build that culture and unify.
- [25:48]
Toby Brooks
It was ohana. I mean, it was family. It really was. He brought black guys, white guys, poly guys. It didn't matter. You were going to come in there and you were going to learn about other people's culture. We had. I remember we had a deal where you tell your story and we would sit down, he said. And that started in Hawaii as a player where we sat down our entire football team and everybody had to get against the wall and they had to tell your story. And you're talking about 100 people. We're talking about coaches, including coaches. And coach told me would start and there was like coaches in between. But I mean, I don't know how long that took. It was like, think about this. It's kind of emotional too. But to hear so many people's stories about fighting and family and death and where their minds were and why they had to succeed and how come they couldn't fail and everybody being able. There was something, Toby, that you would say in your story that was going to relate to me and how I grew up. And there's something I was in my story that you could relate to. And in a way it entwined everybody together into something that was, that was, that was tough, something that was deep.
- [27:19]
Dino Babers
This, to me, is the essence of people first. Leadership story, connection, commonalities. In an outcomes obsessed world, the thought of a new coach coming in and taking the time to gather everyone on his team together and one by one, person by person, taking the time to let every single individual share their story. On the surface, it seems horribly inefficient, like there has to be something more important to do than sit around just talking and listening. But here's the truth. Great teams don't sprout from people who aren't connected. A connection never sprouts from nowhere. It takes time, it takes effort. And while on the surface it might seem like an inefficient way to spend a day, or even days, the payoff is later on. When you're shoulder to shoulder with someone in the heat of battle, you're more likely to dig deeper, give everything you have in their defense because you know what they've been through and likewise, they know you too. This isn't just good coaching practice. It's effective teaching practice and it's effective leadership practice as well. Today we hear leadership gurus talk about the importance of workplace and team culture. About how focusing on a team's composition first can lead to enhanced performance and outcomes later. A 2010 meta analysis published by Rovio and colleagues in Athletic Insight Journal looked at nearly 30 peer reviewed studies on the importance of purposeful team building. And their findings were predictable. Team building has a positive effect on group functioning, especially increasing group cohesion. You don't say. While modern coaches may read stuff like this and work backwards. From a desire to win to a close knit team to the use of story. I think it's clear that Coach tell me, had it the other way around. He started with stories because he knew you can't truly love someone you don't really know. And if you love them, you're connected to them. And when you're connected to them, you understand the idea of weakness greater than me. And if you understand that, then you're way more likely to get the absolute best out of every member of that team. Before it was cool, before it was contemporary, before it was culture, before it was considered evidence based practice. Coach, tell me your stories. And in Christian circles we'd say testimonies regardless. If I know you and where you hurt, what you've been through and what motivates you, then there's a vulnerability revealed. And in that vulnerability comes the opportunity for me to serve you in a way that I couldn't do otherwise. And it all starts with teammates in a circle sharing and listening and linking together.
- [30:08]
Toby Brooks
He mixed. No, he did the stuff of mixing this guy with that guy. My first roommate. My first roommate. My first roommate stayed one week and left and went back to San Diego, went to a junior college, end up being recruited and playing for Georgia. But my second roommate was a 6 foot 7, blonde, blue eyed Canadian, tied in and talked like he was from Australia. Hey. And his name happened to be Jim Mills. And the guy ended up being, I want to say rookie of the year in the National Football League for the Indianapolis coach. He was a 6, 7 tight end that grew into a tackle and played in the National Football League. And he was from British Columbia. But you, you're, you're mixing all these people. We didn't have to live with them, but for camp, that's how it started. Kind of like the clip and doing that mixture of just learning all this different stuff. Like when we broke off into our little cliques, you know, during the season or whoever your roommates was, you were able to go into different pots because you'd heard so many stories in it. You know, I, I said this at coach's funeral, but I want to say it again is that Coach told me, taught me how to love men. I mean when you, when you went through there, you had a true love for guys you're playing, right? And those are the guys that are going to be in your weddings and those are the guys that are going to be at your funerals. Yeah. And there's no way to get around.
- [31:37]
Coach Dick Tomey
I might get emotional saying this. But in the research, I've come across two different clips. There's one of him speaking to Coach Brendan's team at the time at San Jose State. And there's another one of him, I believe he's talking to the Pima Athletics hall of Fame induction, something like that. But he's talking about man hugs. And you get in there and you know, and he slaps you on the back of the neck.
- [32:02]
Dino Babers
Legend coach told me.
- [32:03]
Coach Dick Tomey
Here we go.
- [32:05]
Narrator
Now, when I say a big hug, guys stand up.
- [32:08]
Dino Babers
Okay?
- [32:09]
Narrator
I'm talking about a big hug. I'm talking about this, I'm talking about that, and then I'm talking about. And you have to be excited about the fact that there is great competition because it's going to make you better.
- [32:22]
Chris McAllister
The team.
- [32:23]
Narrator
The team, the team, the team. That really isn't what it was. It was a bunch of incredible people. And as we gave each other, as Nancy, my wife, Nancy, who's just the most important person in my life, as we were giving people each other what Nancy calls these man hugs, these real hugs, not these counterfeit hugs that people give each other these days where they. They hardly touch each other. I mean, we're talking two hands gobble each other up.
- [32:55]
Coach Dick Tomey
And I got one of those after that 2000 season. That was rough. It's the GA. Like, I'm not, I'm not part of his report structure. You know, I'm working with Matt and, and, and it's just from. From the top to the bottom, it doesn't matter if you're the OC or the freshman equipment ball boy. Like, he's going to love you as hard as he knows how to love you. And you can't help but root for the guy and you can't help but get. Give your best. And that's something that I've taken. And I didn't really realize it in that moment, but as you get away from it and you realize, hey, wait a minute, other people don't do that. Like, this is unique. What I had was, was special. And, And I have to think that you being in those multiple roles, you experienced that firsthand. Did it change as you ascended in his hierarchy of coaching?
- [33:50]
Toby Brooks
You would, you would think. No, not at all. I mean, same animal, same animal as a player when I G8 for him, you know, classic. I had went to Canada to work out for tryout for the BC Lions, cfl, and technically, when I came back, all the GA jobs were gone. He had said he'd give me a GA job, but he kept me In a GA position. But. But I was basically making manager money. So I was. I was a manager. So I had to set up the field as a manager and then work the practice as a ga. And a lot of people didn't know that, but he. He's one of those guys where he. Him being loyal to his players, loyal to his coaches almost to a fault, but not breaking that bond. If you're in inside that circle and you truly are family, you're not an individual, you're a team player, all about the team, then he's going to take care of him. And I am. I'm going to share this with you. Is that when I left Hawaii to go to Arizona State. This is Buzzy Preston, longtime coach at Georgia Tech and a Hawaii guy, but played in Hawaii. He told me this. He says. He said, dino, do you really want a coach for coach? I said, yeah, I would love coach for coach. If you want a coach for coach. Told me the best way for you to do it is to leave. I said, what? I don't believe I stay in coach. He says the best way to. If you want to work for him is leave him and do a great job and he'll bring you back. Yeah. And that's why I left Hawaii and went to Arizona State to work. And just like he said, was it 1995, 1996? Yeah.
- [35:33]
Coach Dick Tomey
So powerful. I don't have to tell you, coaching is a fickle business. And you could be at the top of the heap one year and on the hot seat the next. 98, 12 and one holiday bowl historic on so many levels. And by 2000, it all crumbles. And that 2000 season was hard for everybody. I'm curious, though, in your experiences since, what did you learn from Coach Tomi watching that 2000 season in Tucson and how did it serve you moving forward?
- [36:11]
Toby Brooks
It taught me a lot of things. I watched the interaction between him and the administration, and of course, I'm not watching it from head coach's standpoint. I'm not privy to conversations and things like that. But I'm a good real. I'm a good recruiter. I have a lot of common sense that I could. I feel like I do. I can read body language extremely well, and the body language was intensifying, so to speak. And just to watch how he did not let that affect. How he did not let that affect the team, even though I think there was pressure on himself, he was not going to allow that he to drip to the coaching staff or to his players. He wasn't going to ruin his players season over something that's his issue. Yeah. With the administration. And just the way he handled it professionally left a huge impact on me on what happened after that. And the way I went through my coaching stories sort of skating Mike and you can't learn it any better. You couldn't have a better teacher than our coach told me in the way he handled it back.
- [37:24]
Coach Dick Tomey
Yeah, well, without a doubt you've carved out a successful path. Is there anything from coach Tomy's playbook and we can think of that literally or figuratively that you still use to this day?
- [37:36]
Toby Brooks
You know, coach told me was really big on this. Coach told me loved trick. Absolutely. He loved them. And his. He's gonna always have one in, always have two in and no you're gonna call. Well, it's the thing I learned from him most was to have a trick play in the game and to hold on to it and let the other team run their trick play first. Drove him absolutely crazy. So if you had a trick play, you had to run it before the other offensive coordinator called his trick play or no matter what happened, you know you're going to get. You're going to. You're going to get your tail ready. Yeah. I got another story for you. So this piece is. This is. Oh this is the two. The 98 season two. Now this is. This is kind of sensitive to you too, but this is classic coach. So we played UCLA that year at home. High scoring game. I think the offense turned it over with your. With your two picks in the red zone and we lost a close game to ucla. Right. And after the game he had rushed I think Trung. I can't remember the numbers exactly. I think Trunk had rushed for like 95 yards and coach met with all the coordinators and he came over and met with me and I mean he ripped me just written the enumer. I said coach, that's not, that's not fair. I said I think we had close 500 yards in offense. I think they like school. You know I really do. I think we did. I might be wrong. Look the numbers that was through for amazing numbers. Two turnovers too. He just ripped my tip that we didn't begin on the ball. This is a Dick Tomi lesson. So I mean people couldn't understand it. Sunday I'm upset. Monday I'm upset. Tuesday I'm not cussing or not. I don't mess up. I mean I'm just internally upset. I want anybody to read you may not even so we're going to play Oregon State next game. And I just can't get the taste out. I mean, he laid into me so hard. I. I just can't taste. And we go to Oregon State and I just. I got mad. I got mad. And I think we threw the ball seven times. I think we went. I think. I'm. I'm. I'm trying to remember this. I think we went like 4 for 7 or 5 for 7 throwing the ball. And I think we had two tailbacks. I know they both went over a hundred, but I want to say that, like, we had two goals. I didn't know those two. But after this, so we win the game, and it's all that kind of stuff. And he's looking at me, and I'm looking at him because I'm still mad about the other comments. And he just kind of. Good day. Thanks. One of those things. Look, the story is the wide receivers. So I'm coming in and they're all outside. The Oregon State locker rooms weren't too great at Oregon State back then. You got Dennis North. Now, see, the thing is, Jeremy McDaniels, I think he went over a hundred yards and catches in that game. Even though he liked. Might have had like four catches. He went over a hundred yards. Yeah. Dennis North, D. Brandon, Manny, Mal. I've got. Oh, my God, I forgot my guy that catches everything for a second.
- [41:08]
Coach Dick Tomey
Brad, Brennan, Melosi, Leonard.
- [41:12]
Toby Brooks
And they're. And they're just, you know, they're not saying anything to me because I. I love those guys. They love me. So they're all outside. They're not in the locker room. So I'm locking and I go, whiteouts over here. They're all on the curb. I think I'm all in front of them. You know, this stuff we just threw for 400 against the breeze. And I'm just. Gotta apologize to you guys. I'm not gonna lie to you. I just got mad. I just got mad. Sorry. You know, it won't be like that the next game, but that's just how it was this game. And Dennis Norcutt looks up at me and he goes, that's all right, coach. That's all right. We all get mad. That's all right. We got it. We got it. And he goes, coach, just don't get mad again. Yeah, yeah.
- [42:12]
Coach Dick Tomey
And those seven balls are thrown by two different quarterbacks at that. So.
- [42:19]
Toby Brooks
That'S exactly right. Oh, my goodness.
- [42:22]
Coach Dick Tomey
Well, that's awesome. Well, beyond the X's and O's, how would you Say Coach Tomi shaped the man you became off the field.
- [42:30]
Toby Brooks
You know it's. I've got, I feel like I've had three dads biological dad. My, my high school coach John Shacklet put a huge. Really shaped me because my dad was away. Couldn't do all the things that her dad could do with me. He used to always step in. He's still alive. I spoke to him this week. Amazing guy. But coach told me he's like, like a second third father and not so much that he, you know he grabs and hugs everybody but it's more watching his actions and watching him as from a 17 year old till, oh my God, I don't know a 30 something year old. Before, before I left him he was just so consistently good, you know and he just these big lines be consistently good, not occasionally great somebody you can wind your clock by day in and day out, you know, I can be there for you. Those are the type of guys I want around me. And that's what he was. You knew what you were going to get for the most part unless you, unless his eyes deep blue on me, then you didn't know what you were going to get. But that consistency allows you to grow and that's the thing that I learned the most from this. Be consistent. Whatever you are, be true to yourself, be true to your personality and your guys can grow around and then listen to. I mean sometimes young people have a great idea. They really do. Just you got to listen to them and let them tell their story and let them get it off their chest and then tell them what's best for the team. It may not be what's best for them and then, and what's best for the team may be for them not to be with us. Yeah, I have those stories with guys. I'm not going to kill your career but this is not the place for you based off of things that you like. Right.
- [44:17]
Dino Babers
Powerful, powerful.
- [44:18]
Coach Dick Tomey
Appreciate you sharing that. If you could go back in time and spend one moment with coach Tomi on or off the field that you experienced, what would it be and why?
- [44:30]
Toby Brooks
God, you're gonna hurt. When I came, I had an opportunity to come visit coach when he was, when he had his cancer and I really believe that I was like one of the last people to actually get a conversation real him and I was in his house in Tucson. Ms. Nancy was there as well. And I asked him a question. I'm not going to tell you question. I'm not going to tell you the question. But it was a deeply Personal question. And this is, this is him going in and out. I'll say reality, but I asked him a question about top level football that I, I wanted to hear what his answer was and closed his eyes and I thought I was losing him, not losing him into death, but just he's going to go off of one of those tangents and he wasn't with us, with me, but he closed his eyes for a long period of time and I'm like, does he sleep? And then he opened his eyes and well, I guess you're not going to get the moral of the story unless I tell you the question I asked. I asked coach this. I was, yeah, Coach Sarah, Coach. I said, coach, is it possible for you to win a national championship? That's the question. And he paused to close his eyes, long period of time. Then he opened his eyes and said, I don't know, I don't know. And it was so powerful because I knew he wasn't lying to me, he wasn't lying to me and he knew that I really needed to know the answer. And I want to say not long, I mean one or two weeks after that he passed. But for him to give me that at the end is something that I've always remembered, as crazy as that sounds. When I heard that name, image and likeness was started and I thought well this will be great. Now everybody gets to pay players and, and we all have a chance to win. But now it's, it seems like even more, yeah, that's good, the players are getting paid. But now you got to find you have other issues now that everybody's getting paid on how to keep teams together and to be able to have long periods of run left full or more concerned about people playing next to, well, playing next to, playing pool. Yeah, they deserve to get it. That's not what I'm talking about, the team aspect, I appreciate you sharing that.
- [47:15]
Coach Dick Tomey
And that actually leads right into my next to last question. The game has changed in so many ways compared to even when coach told me was at San Jose, which doesn't seem like that long ago, but in terms of the cataclysmic shifts we've seen in college sports, it's a different game today. If coach told me were coaching in today's era of nil and transfer portals and analytics, how do you think he would have adapted?
- [47:41]
Toby Brooks
Wow, I don't know about that. He's so team oriented. He is so team oriented and I, I guess he would be that guy where everybody would make the same amount of money and if he didn't make the same. If you didn't want to make the same amount of money, then you didn't want to be a part of his team and go have fun doing whatever. Hell, you have a football team that loves each other, that's going to stay together. We're going to go out here and compete as one. Yeah. And I think that would be the major thing. I don't think that it's not a situation where certain guys can't get more money or you know, your quarterback tailback shut down corner. Which coach Stoney had so many NFL corners under coach. I mean we had draft picks on offense, we had draft picks on defense and there's no doubt that everybody could say, well if you're going to pay somebody, pay that guy because he's. But to have the team still have the team working. Okay, Team Momo. Remember when we had the lead by the lake, we went to Washington without Chris McAllister which is OMG and we got the ball, I don't know, about 98 yards from the goal line. And we had to have two quarterbacks. One play quarterback and then one fourth down or third down and I don't know what. Smith completes a pass to Ortiz. Jenkins running a comeback and then athlete throws the BB to the other side of the field. He runs off the field and O.J. goes back to quarterback to finish the drive from the lead by the lake and that's in a two minute foreign.
- [49:16]
Chris McAllister
Let's see how many Jenkins find number eight, find north belt, would you? Because he's going to be open. Let's see how many huskies come jogging the cat from Arizona. Just the four. Jenkins steps up. He goes. He does. He. That was one of the most phenomenal plays you'll see in college football. I give him a 10 across the board. Steve. He does a complete flip into the end zone and if he doesn't land on his feet, Arizona is turned back. I tell you what, Ortiz is Jenkins. I have never seen something like that. But you see the remarkable athleticism of Ortiz, Jenkins, what a play.
- [50:12]
Toby Brooks
But that have a win like that and then to come back and when the doors opened on the jet in Tucson that night, Chris McAllister was on the tournament. To this day, to this day, to this day, I'm like Chris McAllister. It's how did you get on the tarmac? You know how illegal that is? Get on the tarmac? He's getting there and the team's going crazy. Won this game with goosebumps. I'm Quoting the truth. But that's. That's. Coach Tony could take a kid from anywhere and instill that type of ohana, that la familia, that family. And, And I mean. Oh, he makes men love each other and he makes us cry together. We're all crying. Yeah, he's crying. We're crying.
- [51:11]
Coach Dick Tomey
Yeah. That's a good one. I hadn't heard that story. I gotta compose myself. I had goosebumps hearing you tell that story. That. I mean, Chris McAllister all world. I mean, he's, you know, in, in this era today, that guy's a prima donna. And, and he doesn't answer to anybody. But maybe his agent, you know.
- [51:30]
Toby Brooks
That's exactly right. And. And he was good enough that his agent was answering to him. Yeah.
- [51:39]
Coach Dick Tomey
So good.
- [51:40]
Toby Brooks
Loved it.
- [51:41]
Coach Dick Tomey
Well, I certainly appreciate your time. I got one last one here. Word association. If you had to sum up Coach, tell me in just one word, what would it be and why?
- [51:54]
Toby Brooks
I would. I would say dam. I just. He, He. He had the ability to walk into anybody. See, this is cool because I got to see he recruited just like you said. The Jesse Sapolo stories, the Kessie Aqualava, the Nico Nogas, you know, Chris McAllister, Lance Briggs. Lance Briggs was in my house sitting right now, right where I'm sitting. And all they were. All he was doing is talking about Dick Tone, talking about went to the Bears, played with ERL Lacquer. I mean, Lance Briggs, NFL Pearl, all that stuff. And all we were sitting there talking about was Dick Tony. He lasting impression changing. You think the singing group boys, the men, they. He should have took that time poised and men. And we're still fertilizing his thoughts, his loves, his mannerisms, long after he's down. Yeah.
- [52:55]
Coach Dick Tomey
So good. Well, I have one story and I hope you don't report. Well, this is a me and you story. I love to work with the Arby's and the wide receiver. When I went to the Raiders, they stuck me with the O line. So when you're slopping water to O line, like that's a lot of work. But for, for. For the pretty boys, it's pretty easy work. And you get to see them throw balls and, and run and jump and do fun things. So I'm standing by your position group. I think you were the RBS at the time. And it was unseasonably cold in Tucson and I didn't have a hat. And the student standing beside me, her hands were really cold.
- [53:31]
Dino Babers
So she took.
- [53:32]
Coach Dick Tomey
Taking some pre wrap and Wrapped her hands in pre wrap just to keep warm. And my ears were free, freezing. And I'm like, I'm gonna get frostbite out here. And this is Tucson, right? This is spring ball, I think so. Idiot me. She hands me the pre wrap and I start wrapping it around my head and I'm not paying attention and you're talking to your, to your RBs and she kind of nudged me and I look over it and you had stopped kind of mid sentence.
- [54:03]
Toby Brooks
I better not have my arms folded because that's a penalty.
- [54:09]
Coach Dick Tomey
And I tell my students that. I'm like, okay, when you're out there, you're on.
- [54:13]
Toby Brooks
You're.
- [54:14]
Coach Dick Tomey
If your coach stops mid sentence because you're doing something stupid, that is a horrible mistake. Fair enough. So my apologies. This is what, 20, 30 years later. I'm sorry for interrupting the middle of your speech. And I will also say this, my other Dino Babers memory. I don't know where coach went, but he was out for one day. We were in Arizona Stadium. It was a fairly light, you know, shells kind of thud.
- [54:45]
Dino Babers
Practice.
- [54:46]
Coach Dick Tomey
And you had kind of taken over and you were wrapping up that end of practice, you know, coach, the typical end of practice, take a knee, show me your eyes. And I remember hearing you give that speech addressing the team and I'm like, that guy is an awesome head coach. And, and you were just filling in, you know, just, just doing what you needed to do to fill in for your mentor and. And I was just so happy to see where your career took you because I could tell that just the inspiration just poured out of you in much the same way that we see Coach Tomi do the same. So I just wanted to tip my cap to you. Sincerely appreciate. It's been a real honor and a joy to watch what you've gone on to do.
- [55:37]
Toby Brooks
Toby, I appreciate you're working at. You're working at a very special place now. I used to be there and I love that place. I'm still a little teed off that I had. I never got a chance to play a game in that new stadium across the river that I watched being built. So doggone long love. But maybe if I get a little free time off here, around here, I'll get a chance to come out there and watch you guys play a game. That would be awesome.
- [55:59]
Coach Dick Tomey
That'd be awesome. Brisket on me and anything else you want.
- [56:03]
Toby Brooks
Sounds good. I'm Dino Babers and I am undone.
- [56:17]
Dino Babers
What does it mean to leave a legacy? Coach Dick told me it meant more than wins or titles. It meant making men love one another. It meant creating ohana out of chaos. It meant caring more about the person than the position. In this episode, Coach Dino Babers reminded us that Coach Tomi's real genius wasn't just in game plans or recruiting pipelines. It was in his unwavering consistency, that fierce loyalty, and his gift for building bridges between people who might not have otherwise been connected. When Baber sat with him in those final days and asked one last question, Coach tell Me, true to form, didn't pretend to have all the answers, but he showed up honestly, with heart, just like he always had. Thankful to Coach Babers for dropping in and I hope you enjoyed our conversation. For more info on today's episode, be sure to check it out on the web. Simply go to undonepodcast.come CP117 to see the notes, links and images related to today's guest coach Dino Babers. Coming up next week, you will not want to miss my conversation with Walk on turned NFL coach Dave Phipp, who now serves as special teams coach for the Detroit Lions, where he shares what it was like to play and serve under Coach Tomi. After that, we'll check in with Coach's son Rich Tomey, who continues to serve coaches today in his work with the Positive Coaching Alliance. There's lots more after that as well. If you've listened this long, friend, I have a favor to ask. Please would you be so kind as to send a text or a DM or even a phone call to a friend or a former teammate or a former staff member who worked with Coach Tomi and tell them about this show. We're now six episodes deep with more to come and I would love nothing more than for thousands of people whose lives were touched by Coach Tomi to take this journey right along with the rest of us. In the meantime, stick with me. I promise we are seriously still just getting started. This and more on Becoming Undone the Life Lessons and legacy of Dick Tony A Toby Brooks Passion Project Becoming Undone is a Night Tribe creative production written and produced by me, Toby Brooks. Tell a friend about the show. Follow along on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn at Becoming Undone podcast and follow me at tobyjbrooks on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Check out my link tree at linktr.ee tobyjbrooks. Listen, subscribe and leave me a review at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, it's better to be consistently good than occasionally great, and you're either coaching it or you're letting it happen. Till next time. Keep getting better.
- [58:53]
Toby Brooks
Better It.