From the Waterloo-Cedar Falls (Iowa) Courier
Brands learning to do more with less
By KEVIN EVANS, Executive Sports Editor
CEDAR FALLS – Terry Brands is learning how the other half, or 90 percent, of college wrestling programs live.
After wrestling at Iowa and then spending 12 years as an assistant coach in one of the most elite, best-funded programs in the nation, he’s now on the outside looking in.
He gave up on his dream of being Iowa’s head coach, at least for now, to coach Virginia Tech, one of the also-rans in the sport he loves so much.
He insists he was not so much interested in being Iowa’s head coach as in winning.
“I am about winning and winning right, “he said Saturday before his team took part in a double-dual in Northern Iowa’s West Gym.
“I am not just about being a head coach. That was misinterpreted. I am about winning.”
So instead of staying any longer with Jim Zalesky at Iowa, he jumped feet first into a program at Virginia Tech that is one of those struggling to stay alive.
In a way, he’s following in the footsteps of his twin brother, Terry, who left Iowa a couple of years earlier and is now the head coach at Tennessee-Chattanooga, another program trying to become big-time with a small-time budget.
Tom hasn’t found things to be much different than he expected – except for one thing.
“The frustrating thing where I am at is resources, “he said. “But I knew that going in. It is a challenge, a challenge that a lot of programs, a lot of coaches, have to deal with in this sport.
“It is a welcome challenge.”
Those aren’t just words coming from Brands.
He has always been about challenges, since the days when his parents instilled a work ethic in him that he carries to this day.
It is going to take a lot more than money to get things the way Tom Brands wants them. Changing the mentality of the program is the biggest challenge.
“It is not easy to get a group of guys that are thinking mediocre and try to raise that level to championship status, “he said.
Again, that was not unexpected because Tom had watched how Terry handled a job much like his.
“I watched him struggle, struggle big time, but I also saw him make a difference in people’s lives, to raise the mentality, not only from a wrestling point of view, but to a doing things right in their life point of view.”
That is the role Brands sees himself playing as a coach.
“I like what we are doing, making a difference in people’s lives, “he said. “I think wrestling is a tool to the bigger picture.
“You can talk about all the cliches and things coaches talk about … being able to instill some mental toughness into the culture that probably isn’t thriving on mental toughness these days, getting back to the roots of what this country was really founded on … that is what it is about.”
Along the way, Brands has had a couple of unusual experiences.
A few weeks ago, he took his Virginia Tech team to Chattanooga to compete against his brother, then Friday night he took his team to Iowa City to face the Hawkeyes.
Just another day at the office?
Right.
“It wasn’t really any different, except my wife did not like it at all, and I don’t think my mother liked it either, “he said of the match with Terry.
“It was not like a civil war, but once the match started it was no holds barred. He ambushed us down there, that’s how I feel. I learned a lot about getting ready.”
That’s what a 32-13 loss will do, especially if it is to your twin brother and the first loss of your coaching career.
“I feel like maybe he was meaner about it than I was, “said Tom. “Looking back, it wasn’t a homecoming reunion for the Brands family. It was big-time college programs that don’t have any tradition, that are struggling, that are low-budget, low-rent trying to make a difference in kids’ lives and trying to make it important for the institutions that are each fighting for status.
“I am still learning.”
Like Saturday.
One of his wrestlers, 141-pounder Donny Ooten, didn’t make weight.
“That is solely my responsibility, “he said. “You expect guys to do the right thing. You check on them to make sure they are doing them right.
“The guy steps on the scale (before weigh-ins) and he’s a half-pound under. He goes and gets something to drink and steps back on the scale and he’s a tenth over. That’s discipline, something we talk about every day.”
It’s not that something like that hasn’t and won’t happen again at places like Iowa, but not very often.
What Brands is dealing with for the first time in his life is a room full of wrestlers who might just as soon be someplace else.
That’s part of the reason he’s bringing them to places like Iowa and UNI, to show them what it takes.
“Iowa, that is what it is all about. If they don’t understand that now, they are hard-headed, “he said.
“Right now, we’ve got guys talking about going to Florida, to California or to Europe for the summer. They can’t wait to get out of here, to get on with their lives.
“We want our guys to understand this is not at a hobby level. It is very important.
“It could change their lives if they learn to compete at that high level. It can change their lives for the better.”
His team found out first-hand Friday night in a 38-0 loss at Iowa just how tough things can be.
But Tom insists there was nothing special about returning to Carver-Hawkeye for him.
“The only difference is you have forged a lot of relationships over the years and not seeing people in six months, it was real good to come home and see them, “he said.
“But once you step on the mat, we want our guys to do well just like they want their guys to do well.”
Just normal stuff, right?
“I did find myself yelling for (Ty) Eustice in the 149-pound match. I was yelling his name, “he said with a sheepish grin.
“Wes Hand (assistant coach) kind of hit me on the shoulder and said, ‘What are you doing?’
“I was rooting for our guy, just putting the wrong name on him.”
Kevin Evans is the Courier’s executive sports editor. He can be contacted at (319) 291-1469 or [email protected]
Wrestling Gear
