← Becoming UnDone® with Dr. Toby Brooks
Becoming UnDone® with Dr. Toby Brooks
123 | Part 11: Discovering Leadership Lessons from Coach Dick Tomey's Legacy with 1998 Arizona Football Co-Captain Barrett Baker
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- [00:04]
Toby Brooks
This is becoming undone.
- [00:15]
Barrett Baker
For me, music has always been more than background noise. It's been a link, a connection, a signal of where I was, who I was becoming, what kind of story was unfolding unlike anything else in the human experience. I think music has a way of connecting people. I spent one semester my junior year in college at Anderson University in Indiana, where everybody in the dorms got grouped on their floors by the musical preference that we put on our housing applications. As a result, I lived in the basement of Smith hall in what was affectionately referred to as Illtown with all the other dudes who put rap and hip hop. I think my roommate and I were about the only two white dudes on the floor. I loved it. I'm forever thankful for that experience. To this day.
- [01:01]
Toby Brooks
To this day, to this day.
- [01:04]
Barrett Baker
Anytime one of these bangers comes on.
- [01:25]
Toby Brooks
You all appreciate.
- [01:31]
Barrett Baker
Dear Mama.
- [01:46]
Toby Brooks
See I'm riding.
- [01:50]
Barrett Baker
I'm instantly transported back to that dank, cramped, awful, yet somehow simultaneously awesome and transformative place where I was smack dab in the middle of growing up. Like a good mixtape, life doesn't always stay on the same track forever. After that semester, I had to transfer to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, closer to home, closer to what I thought might be a future in athletic training. And that's where I spent my first season working college football. I was eager, green, ready to learn, and just like Illtown, it had been a crash course in culture. That three and eight season with the Salukis became a master class in something else entirely. Disappointment. Persistence. I keep showing up even when things start falling apart. I was excited to be spending my days helping to tend to all the medical needs of my Southern Illinois Salukis. I'd grown up in Southern Illinois, but I'd never actually been to a game there. I didn't know the difference between Division 1 and Division 1 AA at the time, but when I finally ended up in Carbondale for my last two years of undergrad, I was excited to learn that season. It was a bitter disappointment for all involved. I can laugh now, but it wasn't funny at the time. It started with a couple of firsts for me at the age of 20. Got to take my first ever plane ride for our season opener at Nicholls State, had to borrow a suit in order to comply with our team's travel dress code, and I never worn a real necktie except for the clip on bow tie types that I'd worn at proms and my wedding. The game started in an absolute downpour about five minutes before kickoff and our team never really left the locker room. We got trounced 33 to nothing in front of what the Internet tells me is 3348 drenched nickel state fans. The field was a sloppy mess. Sidelines were like slip and slides. Our defensive coordinator landed face first in the mud on the sideline when one of our DBs slid for about 20 yards trying to make a tackle and he clipped his coach to the ground on a flyby or maybe a slide by. We returned home the next week and got right, beating Murray State to pull the one and one felt better, but we then lose our next three games by a combined seven points in one heartbreaker after another, including a loss at number 23 Northern Iowa by one point when we failed to convert on a two point conversion that would have won the game on the last play of the game. The stadium playlist for now a parking lot McAndrew Stadium, home of the Salukis, was not nearly as cool as Illtown had been. Take for instance that makes you happy. It can't be that bad.
- [05:11]
Toby Brooks
Should have been dead on a Sunday morning Banging my hair no time for morning ain't got no time.
- [05:27]
Barrett Baker
Although I think you could argue in 2025 that an intro album Creed cut makes it pretty cool. Never mind that the stadium lights didn't work anymore. We had to practice at the area high school if we were going to practice after dark. And the old school Astroturf was so bad that it actually had to be watered to keep the sand that had worn through from flying everywhere. And these songs, they were blaring from the one remaining horn speaker on the whole premises. This still worked. It was bad. Fittingly, we finished the year a dismal 3 and 8, going 1 and 5 in the Gateway Football Conference that included a 3152 beat down by the Willie Taggart led Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Hopefully I'll have more on Willie in a future episode, but he'd go on to be a Power 5 head coach himself, with a direct connection to Dick Tomey. It was Saluki head coach Jan Corless's first year with the program. His tenure would be a short one. He'd be fired in 2000, going just 14 and 30 over those four seasons. But here's the thing. I wouldn't trade that year for anything. Because in all that losing in the drenched sidelines, the broken speakers, the low light highlight reels, I think I learned what not to take for granted. And I started paying attention not just to wins and losses, but to the leaders, the ones who kept showing up, who kept grinding, who kept believing, even when it was hard. Especially when it was hard. And that's what made the fall of 1998 so different. Because that's when I showed up in Tucson. Different team, different town, different soundtrack. Be the type of people make the club get cold.
- [07:18]
Toby Brooks
Knowing as a shorty, I was always told that if I ain't gonna be part of the greatest, I gotta be the greatest myself. Come on, come on, yeah. Come on, yeah. Maybe What? What a surprise. Give yourself. You won't take this from me, baby. You will not take this from me, baby, baby, no. Somebody that you don't wanna try.
- [07:49]
Barrett Baker
From the moment I stepped onto that field in Arizona, something felt electric. There was a quiet confidence in the air, music in the weight room, the swagger in the locker room. This wasn't just a team trying to survive. This was a team that believed. And a coach who made you believe, too. Coach Dick tell me had built something rare. A program that felt more like a family than a football team. And inside that family was a player who understood what it meant to be overlooked and what it took to lead. Bear Baker didn't come to Arizona with headlines or hype. He came as a walk on. But by 1998, he wasn't just on the team. He was helping to lead it. He was one of the guys who set the tone with his play, with his toughness, with his voice in the locker room. So today I get to do something special. I get to sit down with the guy who lived that season from the inside. A guy who knew what it meant to fight for a spot and then fight for everyone else once he earned it. We talk about that holiday bowl season, about leadership, about swagger, and about the coach who brought it all together. Because when the soundtrack hits just right and that culture is real and the belief is contagious, that's when the magic happens. If you stuck with me this long, I guess it's worth mentioning I'm Toby Brooks. These days, I wear a few different hats. Professor speaker, podcaster. Back in the late 90s and early 2000s, I was just a grad assistant athletic trainer at the University of Arizona. Little did I know I'd be part of Coach Dick Tomey's final season with the Wildcats in 2000. The numbers might give you a glimpse into coach's career, but I don't think they ever really captured what made him special. See, if you asked the people who played for him, who coached beside him, who worked under him like I did, they'd tell you he shaped them in ways that can't be measured on a stat sheet. Coach always used to say, football isn't complicated. People are. And he's right. Matter of fact, I'd argue that that's true of just about any line of work job. Pretty straightforward. But it's guiding those people that can test you daily. If you ask me, nobody did that better than Coach Dick Tomi. Sadly, we lost Coach Tomi to cancer in 2019, but lately I found myself thinking about him more and more. The past several weeks, I've done episode after episode with coaches, with former players, with people from all types who were influenced, inspired and led by as I've grown in my career, I keep wondering, how can I lead people the way he did? How can I serve people the way that he did? How can I love people the way that he did? What was his secret? How did he get people to buy in, to follow him, to carry his lessons forward in their own lives long after they'd hung up the pads or closed their office door for the last time? Because in the profession of college football, where wins and losses tend to scream the loudest, Coach Tomi stood out for something that reached far beyond the game and is far more enduring. Relationships. It's these questions that won't leave me alone. So I decided to do something about it. I started tracking down his players, his staff, his family, the folks who knew him best and together over these past several weeks, we've been unpacking the moments said to find him, the values he passed along and the lasting mark he made, not just on the game, but on every person he led. We've traced his path through those early years in Indiana, his breakthrough at Hawaii, his run at Arizona. Soon enough we'll get to his return to the sidelines of San Jose State, and even his so called retirement years where he basically never stopped mentoring, coaching and loving people. It's been an incredible journey of rediscovering a legend while learning how to become better leaders in our own right. You're tuned in to Becoming Undone. And this. Well, this is installment number 11 in the life Lessons and Legacy of Coach Dick Tomey, a Toby Brooks passion project. And this is Barrett Baker, Foreign welcome back. Becoming Undone is a podcast for those who dare bravely risk mightily and grow relentlessly. Join me, Toby Brooks, as I invite a new guest each week where we examine how high achievers can transform from falling apart to falling into place. And if you've been following along for the past several weeks, we've been Doing a deep dive on the life, the lessons and the legacy of the late coach Dick Tomy. Joining me tonight from Arizona is a familiar name to Arizona faithful from that 1998 team that was more successful than any in school history. Barrett Baker. Bear, thanks for joining me tonight.
- [12:55]
Toby Brooks
I always appreciate the opportunity to, to spread the positive impact that coach told me had on so many people and appreciate you having a huge part in that.
- [13:06]
Barrett Baker
Well, thanks so much. I really got the idea for this episode. You and I were talking a little bit before we started rolling here. That iconic photo of the Holiday bowl with the, the trophy being hoisted. And little did we know that. I mean, that season was magical in so many ways. And in the, in the moment, it was a bit of a disappointment to you guys because it wasn't the Rose bowl, right? There had been a hurricane that resulted in the UCLA Miami game getting rescheduled. And so it's kind of surreal to think that 12 and 1 could feel like a disappointment. But there's you, there's Kelvin ifon, there's Chris McAllister, and there's Coach Tomi in the photo. And I can't think of three individuals whose story up to that point could have been more different. But in that moment, brothers. So take us back to when you first walked on at Arizona. What do you remember about your early interactions with Coach Tomi?
- [14:04]
Toby Brooks
I think when you're a walk on, it's a different path and you don't have those relationships with the coaching staff that have taken place over three or four years and you're kind of saying, hey, I want to be part of what you are. And there is, it doesn't happen overnight. And I think that there's so many programs across the country where a walk on is an afterthought. But it was different at Arizona. And I think that's the beauty of coach told me is that there's so many guys that came before me and so many guys that came after me that had an opportunity. And when opportunity knocks, you have to answer the door. But he gave you the opportunity to get to the door. And that's that most important part. And I just remember, you know, you never know how that timing is going to work out. But I took a chance and I walked on in the spring of 97. And at that point in time, you know, repetitions are hard to come by. And, and you are truly, and I say this in all seriousness, you just hope that they know your name at that point. And. But I remember walking into his office after the Spring and he interviewed and sat down with every single player on that team. And I'm sure my meeting was very different than other players and just depending on what we brought to the program and it should be, of course Keith Smith should have far more impact at that point in time. But it was still that first moment where I thought my gosh, he's making time for me and you know, he knows my name. And that's empowering to a kid that's 19 or 20 years old when you've been watching somebody on TV lead a program. And I mean I went to high school in Tucson so I was very familiar with obviously the program and the successes that they had had watched the Fiesta bowl when they trounced Rohan Marley and the Hurricanes. And so it was empowering. And then you know, just that pathway of how things shake out that all of a sudden, you know, getting quite a few reps on special teams at like Camp Cochise and, and having a small impact and then again that small impact every time you did something, it wasn't the, the first time that he understood that. And I think his memory and his ability to realize that there's 105 different kids on the team and they each can contribute something different.
- [16:26]
Barrett Baker
What Barrett shares here is something Arizona under coach Tomey was known for. Not just finding diamonds in the rough on the recruiting trail, but developing a long history of walk ons who would go on to play key roles and in many cases earn scholarships. There's a leadership lesson here. I've worked in organizations where you've got the equivalent of four and five star recruits. People with all the right degrees, the recognition, the buzz. Sometimes that recognition has made them, how do I say this.
- [17:00]
Toby Brooks
Too sure of themselves they are. Even the older, more experienced one.
- [17:07]
Barrett Baker
Maybe it was coach Tomy's humble beginnings or his blue collar grit, or maybe it was just his deep relationships first approach. He wasn't impressed by pedigrees. He famously told underperforming players, your actions are speaking so loudly that I can't hear what you are saying. And the flip side of that, for a walk on like Barrett, even without a flashy recruiting video or a mile long list of scholarship offers from all over the country, he was just one block punt or fundamentally sound open field tackle away from going from anonymity to being the guy who gets called on again and again. Coach tell me. And that Arizona staff had a knack for getting the most out of everyone. But it seemed like especially for those with something to prove because they built A culture where outcomes were rewarded regardless of where you started. And listen, if your job is promoting someone to a leadership role based purely on reputation or because they've got an in with a boss friend, that's a recipe for dysfunction. I've been there. I've seen some pretty awful people get fat pay raises when the only thing they seem to be good at was pounding their chest and promoting themselves. When people with a chip on their shoulder and a hunger to get better are given opportunities and then rewarded based on what they do with them, y', all, that's how a winning culture is built.
- [18:32]
Toby Brooks
I'll just tell you one super quick story if I can, to encompass that. We had got. Just gotten back from Camp Cochise and I'd blocked some punts down there and that was the first time, this was in 1997, to kind of get noticed. And, and you know, really, they, they at least knew my name and what I could do in some capacity. And we came back from Camp Cochise and had a team meeting on Sunday morning and at McHale Center. And I woke up at, let's just say, 6:21 and the meeting was at 6:30. And so I pretty much had my life flash before me and there was no way I was going to get there at night, you know, in nine minutes. So I'll fast forward this. Keith Smith, Mike Lucky, myself and one other, maybe Hadley Kilgore. We walked in late to that meeting and that was the worst sickened feeling I've ever had in my life. And I walked in for about 10 seconds until I got kicked out in front of the whole entire team. And that actually happened on a Saturday. And, and we got to meet with him the next morning at, at 6:00 in the morning at the practice fields as a, a punishment which was, you know, very well deserved. And, and we proceeded to then roll and push ups and roll and sit ups and roll and up downs and, and pay off our, our bad deeds. But I pretty much thought my career was over before it started at that point in time. And two hours later at a practice, I blocked another punt and he said, who did that? And they said Baker did. And he said put him on the travel squad. And that was literally before the Oregon game in 1997. And so I went from like the outhouse to the penthouse at 10 seconds. And that was the beauty of him, though. No, no grudges, held, no punishment, as in, like, when your punishment was done and you paid the price, then there was forgiveness and opportunity and that was the beauty of him. And he did that for 100, 100 kids, many times over. Every season was different.
- [20:29]
Barrett Baker
Yeah. So powerful. I know you don't end up a Division 1 football player on the most successful team in school history without having some ability. And for people not familiar, you don't just walk on and they give you a spot. You have to earn that spot. What do you think Coach Tomy saw in you that maybe other recruiters or other programs might have overlooked?
- [20:55]
Toby Brooks
A miracle. I mean, a kid. A kid that was passionate and, you know, I tell my son this. I tell my kids this. Now my two daughters. You have to believe in the mirror, because that person is going to question you more than any other person in your life. And I think that, you know, he did a great job of giving kids belief in themselves. And when you can believe in yourself, you can do a lot in life.
- [21:23]
Barrett Baker
Powerful wisdom getting dropped right here. Barrett says you have to believe in the mirror because that person is going to question you more than anyone else in your life. And he lived it. When he walked into a meeting late and got kicked out, got punished, he thought his time at Arizona might be done. But two things happened. First, he didn't give up. When others might have hung their head or mailed it in, Barrett executed. He showed up. He did the work. He made a big play. He earned his way back. Second, and this is the part, to me, that speaks volumes, Coach Tomi didn't brush the mistake under the rug. He didn't look the other way. He disciplined Barrett and some other teammates because they knew better. But after that, price was paid, he restored them, reconciled them, drew them back in. That's the mark of leadership. A tyrant punishes without concern, and a pushover lets offenses slide. Either way, the culture suffers. Coach Tomi famously said, you're either coaching it or you're allowing it to happen. And in Barrett's case, that coaching didn't drive a wedge. It deepened the bond between a coach and his player, between a leader and someone who was becoming one.
- [22:41]
Toby Brooks
And so, you know, again, I got hurt in high school. As a senior, I went to junior college. People weren't knocking down my door, but I did have an internal passion to be good at something, and I worked very hard to do that. And I think that he always did appreciate, you know, my Adrian Koch was a guy that we walked on together, and Adrian had a great story and. And ended up, you know, having a great career as an Arizona Wildcat. And it was the same sort of story. Dirks. We did have passion. We did have a burning, you know, inside flame to. To. It didn't matter that we were walk on is what can we do? And I think that's the other really important thing about coach told me is that if your scholarship breakdown is 85 guys, there's 105 guys on the team. And that breakdown would be very, very different. It was b. If it was based off results at Arizona, but it doesn't work that way. Right. It's based off what they forecast you to be when they recruit you. So he rewarded the top 85, if you will, by giving and awarding scholarships. I think, you know, we earned a scholarship. He didn't give it to us. We earned it. But they still had to make a decision as a coaching staff to give that to somebody on the team instead of carrying it forward the next year to some other, you know, hot shot recruit in high school. That could or could not be something.
- [24:01]
Barrett Baker
Yeah. One thing that jumped out to me, I interviewed Mike Flores, who was a player and a coach with him back in his UCLA days, and he mentioned how the DBs took on coach Tomi's personality and that grit, that toughness. Never an assumption of anything. I mean, he really earned everything he ever got. He was a baseball player in terms of his sport. What do you think was unique about the culture that coach Tomi built, especially for walk ons and underdogs? And he really just had a knack for identifying kind of diamonds in the rough or. Or players maybe that other programs might have given up on. It was just really unique. And what do you think it was about his personality that made him so good at that?
- [24:47]
Toby Brooks
You know, guys named Joe. Right. That's what it was. It just. You could talk about it, but I think feeling it and seeing it and listening to him in team meetings and understanding that, you know, he had all these. And I brought my. My player handbook, my 1998 player handbook was. He did a great job with things like that of encompassing the fact that you know what you do. Speak so loudly I can't hear what you're saying. Yeah, A fancy way of saying your actions speak louder than your words. You know, burn the boats. The team. The team. The team. And. And he truly felt that. And he understood that you have to have Chris McAllister on that team to be a successful team. You also have to have, you know, Louis Campos and guys that. That the average fan might not know. But I can tell you that a hell of a scout team player. And if you got 20 scout team players or 22 scout team players that are pushing the starters. The team is better. So he always understood that. The team, the team, the team. And that was everything that he talked about was the team. And there's not many that do that. And I think that is important because when you're a walk on, it's tough when you're a red shirt freshman and you have been, you know, the, the VIP of your high school and everyone worships you. And I say that tongue in cheek, but, you know, you got all these schools, hey, come here, we need you. We need you. When you're a red shirt freshman, you don't even feel like you're part of the team. Right. If you're not on the travel squad, then they went and played a football game and you read about it in the papers. And so I think being able to encompass, you know, black, white, Polynesian, Mexican, every single race, and none of that mattered. Didn't matter if you were rich or if you were poor. Right. He took 105 guys and it was always right here. It was always the team. And that was one thing I think he took pride in. And I think that he knew that the greatest success comes from unity. And that was always his job, was, how do you take 105 different things and not only be here, but. But be here.
- [26:58]
Barrett Baker
Yeah.
- [26:58]
Toby Brooks
And have that, that, you know, bond that it doesn't break. It never breaks.
- [27:04]
Barrett Baker
Sure. And it actually went beyond the 105. I mean, there's coaching staffs and wives and kids and support staff. I mean, the scope that he led with is overwhelming to me. And this isn't a pre cell phone era. It wasn't like he was texting people, he was sitting them down in his office. And I've often wondered, how did he have enough time? Because I've heard stories of him doing that for his team, but also reaching out to guys that coached for him 10 years prior looking for jobs for them. There's kind of an interesting leadership dynamic that has emerged in these conversations. Yes, the team, the team, the team and unity and oneness. But there's also leadership on a one on one level that has been unsurpassed in my career. How did he challenge or inspire you personally? Not just as a player, but as a man.
- [27:58]
Toby Brooks
I, he did little things that weren't little things. They're big things. He would get the, the, the girlfriends and wives of the players and bring them over and they would talk to Nancy and, and, and empower and, and he would teach us how to treat women. Wow. Right. Because that way when you're a man and you're graduated from college and someday that you'll be a husband and a father, that you do that. Right. And, and I think that is really powerful because I have three kids now and I have a wife that I met@u ofa and we've been married for almost 25 years. And well, you know, you're going to treat women a certain way and you're going to do right by them. And I think with me personally, again, opportunity, rewarding opportunity. I mean, I, I, again, another note, if I may.
- [28:51]
Barrett Baker
Yeah, please.
- [28:52]
Toby Brooks
This is powerful and, and this was, this was a touch that he does. It's a handwritten note. Dear Barrett, what a year for you. I really admire the way you have made a place for you, for yourself on this team. Saturday Cal in parentheses can be your best ever. I'm confident it will be best wishes and bear down. Okay. Who writes handwritten notes? And I mean, it gives me the chills right now because it's like if, if, can I do that? If somebody does something great at, you know, for my occupation, I work for Tucson Fire Department. So if, and, and we, we change things a little bit to where maybe it's a text instead of a letter, which it shouldn't be, but does that give someone a great ceiling? And so I think those are what he did.
- [29:43]
Barrett Baker
Yeah. If you're watching this on YouTube, you'll see me kind of lose it here. Barrett holds up the original letter on Arizona football letterhead, coach Tomi's own handwriting. And it's a head coach doing what so few ever take the time to do, Encouraging one of his 105 players, not a star quarterback, not a standout linebacker, a walk on special teams guy who had earned his spot the hard way. And that's the thing. Most coaches, they might make that distinction, but Dick, tell me didn't. He poured into everyone. He did it regularly. He did it formally in writing, and he did it authentically speaking, from the heart, encouraging things into existence that maybe those players hadn't even seen in themselves yet. In the days and weeks since this episode was recorded, I've taken to making a list of the people I want to thank, encourage or inspire in writing. And I've started knowing that Barrett's still holding that letter some 30 years later was an inspiration to me. It's the kind of leadership we've drifted away from, the kind we desperately need to recover. I'll be honest, hearing Barrett read that letter, that wasn't just a Powerful reminder of who coach was. It was a mirror. It hit me right between the eyes because I needed to hear it too. For the people I lead, for the people I love, and maybe for the leader in me trying to believe that that letter could have been meant for somebody like me too.
- [31:14]
Toby Brooks
And especially again, when you're a walk on, you're just hoping for a shot and to go from a walk on to being awarded a scholarship. And then one other thing that, that he wasn't a control freak and he wasn't power hungry. Our, our team captains were voted on by the team and there's something empowering about that because coaches know a lot about skill set and they know what they think that they know about leaders of the team. But the, the players know who the leaders are and you know, Kelvin Eon's the best leader I've ever seen in my life. You just, you'd follow him anywhere and you'd play a football game on a blacktop if you needed to because he could give you this feeling of euphoria and the speech and, and to this day, to this day, I don't think I've ever come across somebody like that. And Chris McAllister, the leadership that he would show in doing things right and just being the best at something, there's leadership in that. And I think that he let the team find out, you know, how to not force it, but to push the right buttons and bring things together for the team again.
- [32:23]
Barrett Baker
Yeah. So good. Again we're talking with Barrett Baker, former walk on turn team Captain for the 1998 Arizona Wildcats football team, best in school history. Is there a moment or a story you've shared? Some great ones. Maybe a locker room speech or practice moment, Something off the field that really just resonates as that's the essence of coach Dick Tomey.
- [32:48]
Toby Brooks
I think almost after and I. That's a weird way of answering this. But you know, many years later we had our, our 20 year anniversary of that and we were all at a gathering afterwards and so now you've got grown men that, let's see that we're in our late 30s at that point or maybe early 40s and everyone's talking and having a great time. And when he tried to take control of that room, you could hear a pin drop, you know, and it was like that still. Coach told me 20 years later that he could still command that room and he could get 300 pound behemoths that bench press 500 pounds and they shut up in a second and it was out of admiration. And it was out of the fact that he. He molded you, you know, to really no hats, as you remember. Right. And that's a dumb story, but when we played Nebraska in the Holiday bowl and we went to the kickoff luncheon on the USS Midway, no hats, and we saw Nebraska there and they didn't have any team discipline, and, and we knew, you know, not today. That was what the end stood for on that helmet. Not today. One game. If we played them 10 times, they might win nine. But not this game.
- [34:15]
Barrett Baker
Not tonight.
- [34:18]
Toby Brooks
And that he instilled that. So I, I just. I love that about him. He. He held the line and he did it with compassion and toughness, and I think those are the types of things that I really. It wasn't necessarily one particular moment during, but again, just the. The tough love, the forgiveness, and the opportunity. He really knew how to encompass all of it.
- [34:40]
Barrett Baker
Yeah, a thousand percent now. Jealous. I didn't get to go to San Diego for the Holiday Bowl. Aaron was there. I was with gymnastics at the time. But that photo is iconic and. And I'm obviously coming at this with quite a lot of bias, but it was the. It was the pinnacle of Arizona football. So for you, for Chris McAllister, for Kelvin Ifon, and for Coach Tom, what do you remember specifically about that victory and that moment is anything in particular about the chaos surrounding that moment of hoisting that trophy? And someone clicks the picture and you're in it, you're immortalized in the high point of Arizona football.
- [35:23]
Toby Brooks
Yeah, it's sobering and it's, It's. It's very emotional, very powerful because, you know, we had a darn good team. And that's an understatement. We played five minutes of bad football against ucla. That was it. And, and then as you spoke about earlier with Edan James just going off in that Darn, you know, 13th game against Miami and that. That's a great example, though, that, you know, we'd be in the national championship, and instead you don't even get to the Rose bowl, and now you're playing and. But Nebraska was the defending national champion, and that was. The whole thing is they are what we want to be, and that was the motivation for that. They are what we want to be. We want to be that nationally recognized team. So then to go out and actually do it. And there was some adversity in that game, obviously, but, you know, you have Brad, double B, Brad Brennan, you know, catching this beautifully thrown ball just right in the seam, and then a huge Interception in the game. And we knew it. You know, we. We were the best team, and we felt like we were the best team in the country. But you almost wish you could pause it, because to you. To your point, what you said about almost the chaos, and now you're there loving your brothers. You're loving all of the people that had a part with your coaches and your support staff and all those folks, and then you get pulled up on stage, and I got to tell you, I don't remember a heck of a lot about it, besides the fact I do remember the trophy was very heavy, and I was quite surprised by that. And so I look back at that picture, and I can tell you this, that I almost feel guilt because I was a piece of it and I was a very, very small piece, and. And. And Kelvin and Chris and Coach, you know, those were the guys that. That truly were the glue. And you could barely see Kelvin's face in one of those pictures. And then Chris is kind of. So I thought, how the heck did I get into that picture where I was almost holding the brunt of it? But I. I love the fact that at the end of the day, that there was four people on stage that bleed red and blue through and through, that gave everything to the program that we could. And that. Yeah, you know, I love the fact that my son can see that and. And, you know, realize that you can do a lot in life when. When you're given an opportunity and you just got to take it.
- [37:36]
Barrett Baker
Absolutely.
- [37:37]
Toby Brooks
And then. Not to finish on a sad note, but I do remember sitting in the locker room after that, almost being in tears, but it wasn't. It was tears of sadness, because I knew that. That probably the two greatest years of my life had just concluded. And then when you don't get to put on that uniform again, it is very bittersweet.
- [38:04]
Barrett Baker
This emotion right here. This. This is exactly what started me on this whole podcasting journey, however long ago, because I've spent years wondering how do high achievers looked at the end of something so central to their identity, stare down the fact that something they've held so close for so long is now over, and then somehow build something even better. Not by forgetting, not by running away, but by gathering up the lessons, the memories, even painfully, the shattered pieces of who they were and who they thought they'd be, and forging something. For Barrett, it was painful to face the end of his playing days, but he didn't stay there. He didn't weep in that locker room for the rest of his Life. He carried those hard earned lessons with him and the world class examples of leadership that he lived under. And he turned them into something even more powerful. His vision for leading his family and his calling to serve with the Tucson fire department. And the quiet daily leadership of a man who once wore the pads and now wears the badge.
- [39:15]
Toby Brooks
There's something about being on a football team and for some kids it ends in Pop Warner and for some it ends in high school. For some it's college and for some it's pro. But I knew in my heart of hearts that that was such a great time in my life. I met my wife, you know, I had a hundred guys that are to my brothers to this day, to this day. And I was on the best damn team that we ever had. And that was magical for me. So there was, it was a gamut of emotions really. And, But I can look back now and just say thank you. Thank you for having that opportunity. It was fantastic.
- [39:49]
Barrett Baker
That's tremendous. So many people use that term glue guys or I've, I've definitely heard your name mentioned repeatedly in a list of quote unquote, Tomi guys. What's that mean to you to be a Tomy guy?
- [40:05]
Toby Brooks
Just a, a badge of honor. And I feel lucky that I was coached by him. I feel lucky that I was coached by Dwayne Aquina. You know, same sort of thing there. The fact that as a kid you grow up and I watched college football, I bled college football. That was truly my dream was to be a college football player. And there was a lot of obstacles to get there. But I would just say that the, the impact again, the opportunity to do it for him. And I have a shirt, you know, it's got the Hawaiian logo and the Arizona logo and, and Aloha Love. And then underneath it's coach Tomi. And I wear it as often as I can because I want people to know what kind of person he was and the impact that he had on so many kids. And I love now the fact that here we are men and we can still share what type of impact coaches have, you know, and, and I hope that there's so many other coaches that have that feeling about their particular coach. But I, I, I really do. I feel like we're just blessed to have been a guy that I can, you know, I've got a handwritten note. I'll. I don't think he would know the impact that something like that had, but I know he's still watching us from above. And I would just say thank you. You know, you made a huge impact on us and me.
- [41:26]
Barrett Baker
Yeah, you kind of alluded to it. Your dad, today you're a firefighter. What did coach Tomi teach you that you still carry on and tell us a little bit about what you're doing these days and how his legacy continues to ring on in your life.
- [41:42]
Toby Brooks
You know, coach was always just treat people right, you know, and he was so big on love. You know, you got to love each other, you got to love your teammates, you got to love your family. And, and, and then what you put in, you get out of things, not only in word, but indeed. Right. He did reward you if you worked hard and he did, you know, pay off what you put into things. So I think that was a huge foundation. And I, I said it earlier, but if he believed in me, then I can believe in me. And, and I think again, it's just opportunity. When opportunity is there, that's when you kick the door down. And he always said, burn the boats. You know, we're not going back. And I think that that's kind of been something that has fueled me, that you do the best that you can do. You give it 100% and you hope that, that, that is rewarded. I've been just extremely lucky that I've been with the Tucson fire department for July 3rd will be my 25 year anniversary. And I've been a firefighter, an engineer, a captain. I got to be our spokesperson. I've been a battalion chief. There's my son, he's leaving. Love you, buddy. Graduation night's going to support some friends, so that's good for him. And, you know, I just. Literally two weeks ago or three weeks ago, I got an opportunity and. And our new fire chief gave me an opportunity and gave me a promotion. And I'm an assistant chief now, so it's just, it's the same thing. I think that's still the same thing. Treat people the way you want to be treated and reward people for their efforts. And if you can make someone feel important and you can empower someone, then you'll get their best. And I think that's hopefully what we do as an organization as well. You know, we're here to serve others. You're here as a firefighter to help other people on their worst day. And if we, in our organization, we've got 645 commission folks and a total of a little over 700 when it comes to the support staff, that makes it all possible. Whether you're a team manager or whether you're a star player. Right. It is the team. And for tfd, it is the team from the highest chief all the way down to, you know, the most junior administrative assistant. Everyone has a role. And I tried to just make sure that we harness that team aspect in my work today as well.
- [44:03]
Barrett Baker
Yeah, that's tremendous. That's how culture gets built. That's how it gets maintained. That's how it gets protected. And fantastic to see those lessons continue to pay forward for you. Again, talking to Barrett Baker. Walk on. Turn team captain on the 1998 Holiday bowl team, most successful team in Arizona history. Last one, Barrett. If you could say one thing, Coach, tell me today, right now, what would it be?
- [44:27]
Toby Brooks
Just thank you for the impact that you had, you know, not only personally, but, but Arizona football and, and when you take a hundred guys plus the support staff to your point, 150 people each year, and you're able to coalesce them into something that is special, then you take that hundred. And now it's been multiplied and it's multiplied, you know, with husbands and, and, and children and, and wives and, and just, it's. It's that nexus, you know, it just all over the place. And it starts with one person. And so every coach that coached underneath him, every coach's wife, every player that worked under him, now, years later, every player's wife, every player and their kids, they all know who Coach told me was. And I, I would just say again, I'm. I'm thankful for the opportunity to make me who I am today.
- [45:26]
Barrett Baker
Yeah.
- [45:27]
Toby Brooks
And then that's our job is to pay that forward.
- [45:30]
Barrett Baker
Tremendous.
- [45:31]
Toby Brooks
This is Barrett Baker, and I am undone.
- [45:34]
Barrett Baker
Some stories don't need a lot of polishing. They shine because they're real. Barrett Baker didn't have the stars or the scholarship or the spotlight when he first showed up at Arizona. But what he did have, heart, grit, belief in something bigger than himself, it made him unforgettable, not just to his teammates, but to the man who saw greatness in places others often miss. Coach Tick Tomy. As we've heard again and again throughout this series, Coach Tomy wasn't just building football teams, he was shaping men. Men like Barrett who took the lessons off the field and carried them into their homes, their jobs, and their lives. I'm thankful for the opportunity to talk with Barrett today, and I hope you enjoyed our chat. Next time on Becoming Undone, we got to hear from another captain from that legendary 1998 squad, running back and heart and soul of that Wildcat team, Kelvin Efon. As Barrett alluded to in this episode, few people on the planet can get you hyped and motivated like Kelvin. He didn't disappoint, so you will not want to miss it. If you're listening and you've been moved by Coach Tommy's story, or if you've got a story of your own to share, I'd love to hear from you. Whether you're a former player, coach, coach, student, or just someone whose life has been shaped by leaders who saw more in you than you maybe saw in yourself, the show's for you. Let's tell those stories. And if you're leading a team, running a business or building culture and you want to bring this kind of resilient people first leadership into your own space, I'd love to help. I offer keynotes, workshops and executive coaching built on the same lessons Coach Tommy lived out. Love your people, lead with integrity, and leave a legacy that lasts. We're nearing the end of this series, but definitely not the show. The impact that's still unfolding this is Becoming Undone. The Life Lessons and Legacy of Dick Tomey, the Toby Brooks Passion Project Becoming Undone is a nitrohype creative production written and produced by me, Toby Brooks. Follow along on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn at becoming undonepod and follow me at tobyjbrooks. Get my link tree at linktr EE tobyjbrooks to learn more, book a conversation or bring these stories to your own stage. Till next time, be purposeful, be relentless. Love somebody enough to tell them the truth. And above all else, keep on becoming Undone. Sa.