Gardo's Fine: Badgers' interim coach won't get hung up on name game
December 23, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Mike Lucas
Those who know Greg Gard best don't expect him to change despite his change in title
What's in a name? Or a title, for that matter? The guy who has gone by "Gardo" around the Kohl Center for much of the last 15 years isn't about to get hung up on what people call him, even if there's a new nameplate hanging outside his office — the Badgers' interim head coach is too focused on improving the squad he's been charged with leading. As much as some things will change in the transition from the legendary Bo Ryan, those who know him best believe Greg Gard certainly will not. | From Varsity Magazine
 | ||
|
BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
Mike Krzyzewski, Pat Riley, Rick Pitino, Bob Knight, John Calipari, Nick Saban and Tom Coughlin are in Greg Gard's office. All at once. They are among the authors on his bookshelf.
"I like to look at other people's ideas," said Wisconsin's interim head basketball coach. "Coaching and leadership have been the two things that have piqued my interest."
Gard is a fan of Jon Gordon's books, such as The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work and Team with Positive Energy and The Positive Dog: A Story About the Power of Positivity.
He's currently reading You Win in the Locker Room First: The 7 C's to Build a Winning Team in Business, Sports and Life, co-authored by Gordon and former Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith.
Gard pulled the book out of his briefcase. One of those C's is Communication, and Gard turned to the chapter where he had marked some thoughts with a yellow highlighter.
"Communication is the foundation of every great relationship. Communication builds trust. Trust generates commitment. Commitment fosters teamwork. And teamwork delivers results.
"Without great communication, you have the trust to build a strong relationship. And without strong relationships, you can't have a strong team.
"Most teams break down because of poor communication."
Gard put the book down and admitted that he used to struggle as a communicator.
"It hasn't always been my strong suit," he said. "I think I've grown in that over the last 25 years; every little bit of experience and knowledge has helped me understand how vital that is.
"What's important is to figure out how to push everybody's buttons and what motivates and drives people — how you can get everyone to come together for the common cause.
"When you have really good relationships with people, when they know you care about them, you can really push them and get them out of their comfort zone, and that's how you grow as a team."
That's his plan with this 7-5 Wisconsin team that will return to action Wednesday against Green Bay without Bo Ryan, who has retired and turned over the reins to his loyal assistant for 23 years.
"On the floor," Gard said, "we have a lot of things that we need to improve upon. Some of it is due to youthfulness and the new leadership in the locker room.
"We're still playing musical chairs as far as, 'Where's your seat on the bus?' We've got to get people in the right seat and continue to move forward."
Although he's in the driver's seat for the first time, Gard has a strong sense of his role.
"There's no magic wand or silver bullet to this. It's about staying true to who you are and what you believe in. Be sound in your plan. Be firm in your principles. Be flexible in your approach.
"Do what you know and know what you do, and you're going to be fine."
"There's no magic wand or silver bullet to this," Gard said. "It's about staying true to who you are and what you believe in. Be sound in your plan. Be firm in your principles. Be flexible in your approach."
The 45-year-old Gard learned that through trial and error; not from the books in his office.
"I'm really more of a book collector — I've got a lot of unread books," confided Gard. "If I tried to take something from all of these books, I'd be a mess.
"So I'll look through them and if I see something, I'll go 'Yeah that makes sense. I like that.' And I'll use a highlighter to pull out key points every now and then."
Gard's philosophy has more personal roots.
"I've always relied on gut instincts," he said, "and the way I feel."
On one of his bookshelves is a jar of reduced fat peanut butter.
"That's for late days in the office," he explained.
There had been a loaf of bread on the shelf with the peanut butter. But it had turned to mold.
"A lot of days," Gard said of the long hours, "you forget to eat."
There will be a lot of those days ahead.
"Right now, I've got a lot of things flying at me — and that's good, that's a positive," Gard said excitedly. "Talk about juices flowing, it has been awesome."
• • • •
One of the first things Gard did after taking over as Wisconsin's interim head coach was call a meeting of his Kohl Center office staff; the unsung members of the organization.
That includes Kat Vosters, director of basketball operations; her assistant, Marc VandeWettering; video coordinator A.J. Handel; program assistant Peg Cullen and booster club contact Laura Strang.
"I wanted to make sure they understood how important they were to this program and I thanked them for all that they had done," Gard said. "I'm a product of a whole bunch of people — players, coaching staff and office staff — people that are all working together for the greater good.
"I wanted to get that across to them how appreciative I was, how I didn't take them for granted and how important they are moving forward. We're all in this together and they'll play a vital role."
That's obviously true of his two assistants, Gary Close and Lamont Paris. Gard is considering adding a third coach to the staff. But, for now, he will rely heavily on Close and Paris.
"I wouldn't be here," he told them, "without you guys standing shoulder-to-shoulder with me."
This is Close's 13th season on the UW staff and Paris' sixth.
"I'm going to demand," Gard said, "and require a lot out of them."
Both are ready for the increased workload. Both have a whatever-it-takes attitude.
"One of the advantages we've had is that we've been together for a fairly long time," Close said. "That doesn't happen a lot at this level. Usually guys are moving on."
Added Paris, "There are places where maybe the guys (the assistants) don't have a great relationship or don't want to be team player."
That's not the case with this trio. In fact, Gard thought enough of a newspaper story — documenting how well the assistants meshed together — to have it framed for his office.
"We're all excited about the situation and recognize what that means to us as far as distributing some other responsibilities that have to be done in order to be successful," Paris said. "You can ask people here to do those things and no one cares. They'll just do it.
"A big part of that is that we know each other, we like each other and we trust each other."
Paris and Close have the utmost confidence in Gard's ability to make the transition to lead voice.
"The foundation of what we've always done," Close said, "I don't think is going to change. There will just be a different voice."
"The foundation of what we've always done," Close said, "I don't think is going to change. There will just be a different voice. He's paid his dues; he's prepared himself well and he'll do a great job."
It goes back to the core values and the 7 C's that Gordon and Smith wrote about in their book: Culture, Contagious, Consistent, Communication, Connection, Caring and Commitment.
"Any time you're making a transition in such a short amount of time, you have to communicate," Paris said. "Guys have to communicate how they feel, especially our elder statesmen."
That would be juniors Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig, the only returning starters.
"They have to communicate what they're thinking and what the pulse of the team is," Paris went on. "And we need to communicate to them any sort of changes we're thinking about making.
"We also need to communicate what a guy's role is and our vision for him compared to what it might have been before. And we have to communicate what our expectations are."
Close has a road map from his earlier days as a high school head coach.
"Now, it's your decision," said Close, who ran his own program at Regina High in Iowa City. "You can take all the input you want, but Greg is going to have to make the final call. That's a lot different.
"But I think it's the fun part. As an assistant coach, you're always thinking, 'What would I have done there (in that situation)?' Now, you get a chance to do that and I think that's exciting.
"Coaching is coaching," Close stressed. "It doesn't matter what level you're at. I have coached my son Sam's youth team. Greg has coached his son Isaac's team.
"You coach the same way in a (Big Ten) game as you would in one of these. Obviously, you might say different things and keep your language a little cleaner. But you develop a style."
Gard's resume is not totally devoid of head coach experience. As a UW-Platteville student, he coached the junior varsity at Southwestern High School in Hazel Green.
"I also had JV girls' softball," he was quick to add.
Coaching his son's youth team was a blast, too.
"You're trying to get them to be the best team that they can be within the structure and how you want to play," said Gard, who acknowledged with a grin, "I held fifth and sixth graders accountable. They love playing and it was a great experience that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.
"I've been fortunate to have such a great family behind me."
• • • •
Last week, the "family" was in front of him.
That would be his UW family. While standing in front of the players, Gard talked to them from the perspective of their individual rungs on the ladder.
"I happen to be at the top of the ladder and I have to take another step up," he said. "Everybody below me, whether you're a freshman or fifth-year senior Jordan Smith, have to take a step up.
"And if there's someone above you on the ladder, give them a boost, give them a push. And if there's someone below you, grab them and pull them up one more step.
"Push them. That can be literally — how we push each other on the floor. Or that can be figuratively in terms of motivation and things that happen in the locker room."
Gard warned them that it's easy to fall off the ladder.
"I'm trying to get them to understand that we're all in this together. Our apple cart just got turned upside down (with Ryan's abrupt retirement). But we're all here for you.
"My door will always be open. My phone is always on, 24/7. They can get me any time and they're always welcome to come in and talk. I need to have that type of communication."
Since last week Gard has heard from many former UW players — spanning multiple eras.
"I've gotten calls, e-mails and texts from players all the way back as far as you can remember," he said. "They were from different generations and eras that had no connection with me whatsoever.
"That's the heartbeat of this program, the players. Those are the guys who put the blood, sweat and tears on the floor when this program wasn't where maybe it is (today)."
Also weighing in with their support have been players with direct ties to Gard.
"He was the point man, the lead guy in recruiting me," said Joe Krabbenhoft, who appeared in 136 games and made 70 starts at Wisconsin. As a senior in 2009, he was a team captain.
"He didn't just recruit me. He recruited my mom, my dad, even my brother and sisters. To this day, it wasn't just about me, it was the family relationship.
"And he started building those relationships right away when I was a sophomore in high school (at Roosevelt in Sioux Falls, South Dakota). He was just so sincere. You knew it was coming from his heart.
After a short-lived professional career overseas, Krabbenhoft served one season as Wisconsin's video coordinator before taking an assistant's job at South Dakota State in 2013.
"Having been around different coaches and different ways of doing things," he said, "I haven't yet been around a guy who can prepare a team (for an opponent) as well as Coach Gard can."
Krabbenhoft doesn't anticipate any changes in Gard now that he has the interim title.
"He won't divert from who he is," he said. "He won't try to be somebody he's not. It works; he has proven it works. He doesn't need to change."
Gard also prepared Krabbenhoft for the vagaries of the coaching profession.
"For a long time, I thought coaching was what I wanted to do," Krabbenhoft said. "But, then, you hear stories about how much time you are away from your family and how tough it can be on them.
"But then I looked at Coach Gard and saw how he's able to balance his family with coaching and do a good job at both. I learned a lot from him in the sense about what's important.
"There's no doubt in my mind I wouldn't be where I'm at if it wasn't for Coach Gard — both teaching me and from just watching him operate every day as a coach."
Sharif Chambliss can relate to Krabbenhoft's coaching narrative.
After three years at Penn State, he transferred to Wisconsin, endured an ACL injury and helped lead the Badgers to the 2005 Elite Eight before embarking on a career as a coach.
Chambliss, like Krabbenhoft, was a UW video coordinator. He also had an apprenticeship as an assistant at UW-Platteville, whose head coach is Jeff Gard — Greg's younger brother.
"Greg Gard has had a huge impact on not just my coaching career but my life as a mentor," said Chambliss, a fourth-year assistant at Milwaukee. "I'm the other brother in the Gard family."
It's not as funny as you think. The Gards are welcoming that way. Outsiders quickly become insiders. Chambliss used to go turkey and pheasant hunting with Greg and his late father, Glen Gard.
"If I've had any questions as far as my career path," said Chambliss, a Racine native, "or any questions about recruiting, Greg helped me with all of that. He has always been a good listener."
That's something the Brothers Gard share, he noted, along with their attention to detail.
"They probably got that from their mom and dad," Chambliss said. "Greg is always going to dig deeper for information. That's why he's so detailed presenting scouting reports or a profile on a recruit."
Former UW guard Ben Brust came under Gard's guidance as a true freshman in 2010-11.
"I got to see the scout team side my first year," said Brust, who appeared in only 15 games and played a total of 45 minutes that season. "I got to work with Coach Gard and see what he was all about.
"He may not have been a head coach for the past 22 years but in doing those scouting reports and putting the scout team together, you can tell that he took it personal.
"It's kind of the game inside the game at practice. It didn't matter what style they were playing (as an opponent), he'd really coach us and show us what we needed to do to attack."
That was Brust's springboard into the rotation. He started his final 73 games and led the team in scoring during the 2012-11 season. He was the second-leading scorer on the 2014 Final Four team.
"He talked about being that steady boat," Brust said. "The one that is going straight, not rocking or going up and down or sideways. He's that steady figure. I saw it for the four years that I was around him."
"Coach Ryan is a proven winner," Brust said. "Being around Coach Ryan as long as Coach Gard has been, being around winning that much, you learn what it takes to be a winner.
"He has all the tools. He has the knowledge and he has moxie. He has gone through so much as a person (with the death of his father); the ups and downs, it has prepped him for this transition."
Brust listed Gard's strength, "Staying in the moment. Focusing on what's important. Focusing on the task at hand and not getting overwhelmed. I think he's pretty comfortable with where he's at."
And now he's looking forward to seeing what Gard can do with this team, especially after watching Gard's press conference last week.
"He talked about being that steady boat," he said. "The one that is going straight, not rocking or going up and down or sideways. He's that steady figure.
"I saw it for the four years that I was around him. He's not just spieling stuff out at the press conference. He's living it and believing in it. It was really cool seeing that smile on his face.
"This is something wanted; he wanted to be a head coach and he's had some opportunities to maybe go different routes."
Brust, for now, has hung up the sneakers. He's entering the business world with an open mind. But he's planning on coming to Madison for the Jan. 9 Maryland game at the Kohl Center.
"Maybe I'll head up early," he said, "so I can help out the scout team."
• • • •
Nebraska's zany head coach, Tim Miles, texted Gard last week. To paraphrase, he defined the 14-team Big Ten as "12 Hall of Fame coaches along with Gardo and Miles."
In so many words, he closed it, 'Welcome to the league, buddy."
It drew the expected response.
"I laughed out loud," Gard said with a big smile. "It was typical Tim."
Friends and foes alike know him as Gardo.
Is he still OK with UW players referencing him that way?
"I'm not going to get wound up on whether they call me Greg, Coach Gard, or Gardo," he said. "That's not going to be the defining moment."
Gard was quizzed on a radio show on whether he would go with a tie or not (he will); kneel, pace or sit on the sideline (he'll do all of the above); and the over-under on when he draws his first technical foul.
"The referee," Gard said, "is going to have to have a real bad day to T-up a fun-loving guy like me."
The smile reappeared as he set the record straight.
"I will consume myself with the game," he promised, "and what our players are doing."
Yes, there is much to learn about Gard, the interim head coach. And there's nothing at all.
"I'm personally happy," Brust said, "that Coach Gard has got a chance here to kind of show the world what he's got."
He's not alone.
