These are notes from a presentation Boylen gave earlier this summerthat were forwarded to me by email. I hope both Rose and Boylen stay around for a long time. They both seem to be great guys with the talent and plan to produce great temas in the long term.
There are some random thought after the pillars as well.
Boylen discussed the 7 pillars of his program. He stated that the word “pillar” is used over 100 times in the bible. (I am not sure why he felt the need to say this other than he wanted to strengthen the foundation of his message in the gospel.)
He went over each pillar and what it meant to him and to the program:
Passion – Boylen wants the Utah across the player’s chest to mean something. When he first arrived here he had a “non-passionate” group so he took the names off the Jerseys. Recently he just announce the names came back on the jerseys because he believes his team has earned it. He also believed that when he arrived he had a bunch of individuals who were playing for themselves 1st and the University 2nd. He stated that they must play for the team/university 1st . He also stated that as easy as it was to put the names on the jersey’s it was also easy enough to take them right back off again.
Relationships – Jim wants to be there for his guys and develop a relationship with each one of them. He wants them to tell the truth to him and be real with him. Part of this process is that he has to “de-program” his guys when they arrive. All their bad habits need to be gone. Tough conversations, humbling experiences. He said, however that in order to discipline a child you need to gain their respect and you do that by spending time with them. Jim is not a coach who keeps himself separate from the team. He is committed. He knows what it feels like to have a Dad who was never there growing up. (all of this reminds of what Maji used to do with players as he would degrade and deplete them into submission. However , I think he struggled with the spending time portion of the process and that is what ultimately hurt him during the rebuilding process of his players.) Jim stated that there are over 9 players on the team who come from single parent homes. He needs to be that father figure for them when they step on campus. They are a family.
Accountability – He said now a days there is a lack of respect for chain of command. There is no subservience. If an underclassman does something wrong, boylen gets on the seniors to find out why the underclassman did whatever it was wrong. He holds everyone accountable. When he arrived here the team GPA was a 1.9 and it has improved to a 3.1. The team body fat was over 17% now it is under 10%. Jim along with that pointed to the fact that he wants to build leaders. Leadership verus Likership. Leaders aren’t afraid to do or say the unpopular thing. They aren’t afraid to be unliked.
Gratitude – This isn’t a pity party. His mom always said, don’t compare your situation to those around you. Comparison will kill you. Work hard on what you can control. Set goals and work your butt off to achieve those goals. The rest will take care of itself. That’s why you always hear me say how I am grateful for my guys.
Toughness - I get emails from people all the time who ask me what I mean by toughness. He said it isn’t about punching people or anything like that. It is about learning to get up and go to work to support your family and put in a full day’s work. It is about grit and determination. Jim said it is his job to take his players to the edge, to take them where they can’t take themselves by pushing them.. Adversity shapes you. He said now a days if a guy doesn’t like his boss he goes and gets another job.
Teamwork- communication, trust. No relationship happens without trust. Both years he has asked seniors to come of the bench. On one occasion the parents of the senior called me and asked me what I was doing to their son. Both times the results were the kids turned into all-conference performers. (I think we all know that it was shawn green’s parents who complained. Once again the prima donna)
Tradition - we all know the story about how boylen goes to chipotle once a week with his staff and then they walk across the street to paradise for a cookie. He then asked the crowd it they had any family traditions. A couple people spoke up and then he said, now don’t those traditions bring you together as a family? Don’t you talk about those traditions and how you will do it each and every year? Those things bring you together as a family. Jim then said, I serve Ice cream at every team meal. I like my ice cream hard so I am the one that serves ice cream to my guys. Now, it has become a tradition. Now when my staff and I go to chipotle as soon as we are out the door every single one of my coaches is asking me… coach are we going to go over to paradise to get a cookie now? Like little kids. Boylen said that when he was growing up after every high school game he and his friends would go to Yesterdog. It was a tradition.
Jim tells the story about how he makes his guys when they arrive on campus write down goals. And pretty much every guy writes the same three goals. Win, Graduate, Go Pro. He says once they write this down, he has em. He has them cornered. Now it is his job to help them achieve these goals.
Some guy who had a blue shirt on asked how he gets his players to buy into his system. Jim said: “the first thing I tell my guys is don’t wear a blue shirt when you are going to a talk given by the head coach at the university of Utah.”
I asked him about the true point guard system. He asked me if I was one of the ones that had been emailing him this question. He says he doesn’t run one he runs multiple ball handlers, system because he believes it is harder for opposing teams to defend if you have multiple good ball handlers on the court and one time.
There are some random thought after the pillars as well.
Boylen discussed the 7 pillars of his program. He stated that the word “pillar” is used over 100 times in the bible. (I am not sure why he felt the need to say this other than he wanted to strengthen the foundation of his message in the gospel.)
He went over each pillar and what it meant to him and to the program:
Passion – Boylen wants the Utah across the player’s chest to mean something. When he first arrived here he had a “non-passionate” group so he took the names off the Jerseys. Recently he just announce the names came back on the jerseys because he believes his team has earned it. He also believed that when he arrived he had a bunch of individuals who were playing for themselves 1st and the University 2nd. He stated that they must play for the team/university 1st . He also stated that as easy as it was to put the names on the jersey’s it was also easy enough to take them right back off again.
Relationships – Jim wants to be there for his guys and develop a relationship with each one of them. He wants them to tell the truth to him and be real with him. Part of this process is that he has to “de-program” his guys when they arrive. All their bad habits need to be gone. Tough conversations, humbling experiences. He said, however that in order to discipline a child you need to gain their respect and you do that by spending time with them. Jim is not a coach who keeps himself separate from the team. He is committed. He knows what it feels like to have a Dad who was never there growing up. (all of this reminds of what Maji used to do with players as he would degrade and deplete them into submission. However , I think he struggled with the spending time portion of the process and that is what ultimately hurt him during the rebuilding process of his players.) Jim stated that there are over 9 players on the team who come from single parent homes. He needs to be that father figure for them when they step on campus. They are a family.
Accountability – He said now a days there is a lack of respect for chain of command. There is no subservience. If an underclassman does something wrong, boylen gets on the seniors to find out why the underclassman did whatever it was wrong. He holds everyone accountable. When he arrived here the team GPA was a 1.9 and it has improved to a 3.1. The team body fat was over 17% now it is under 10%. Jim along with that pointed to the fact that he wants to build leaders. Leadership verus Likership. Leaders aren’t afraid to do or say the unpopular thing. They aren’t afraid to be unliked.
Gratitude – This isn’t a pity party. His mom always said, don’t compare your situation to those around you. Comparison will kill you. Work hard on what you can control. Set goals and work your butt off to achieve those goals. The rest will take care of itself. That’s why you always hear me say how I am grateful for my guys.
Toughness - I get emails from people all the time who ask me what I mean by toughness. He said it isn’t about punching people or anything like that. It is about learning to get up and go to work to support your family and put in a full day’s work. It is about grit and determination. Jim said it is his job to take his players to the edge, to take them where they can’t take themselves by pushing them.. Adversity shapes you. He said now a days if a guy doesn’t like his boss he goes and gets another job.
Teamwork- communication, trust. No relationship happens without trust. Both years he has asked seniors to come of the bench. On one occasion the parents of the senior called me and asked me what I was doing to their son. Both times the results were the kids turned into all-conference performers. (I think we all know that it was shawn green’s parents who complained. Once again the prima donna)
Tradition - we all know the story about how boylen goes to chipotle once a week with his staff and then they walk across the street to paradise for a cookie. He then asked the crowd it they had any family traditions. A couple people spoke up and then he said, now don’t those traditions bring you together as a family? Don’t you talk about those traditions and how you will do it each and every year? Those things bring you together as a family. Jim then said, I serve Ice cream at every team meal. I like my ice cream hard so I am the one that serves ice cream to my guys. Now, it has become a tradition. Now when my staff and I go to chipotle as soon as we are out the door every single one of my coaches is asking me… coach are we going to go over to paradise to get a cookie now? Like little kids. Boylen said that when he was growing up after every high school game he and his friends would go to Yesterdog. It was a tradition.
Jim tells the story about how he makes his guys when they arrive on campus write down goals. And pretty much every guy writes the same three goals. Win, Graduate, Go Pro. He says once they write this down, he has em. He has them cornered. Now it is his job to help them achieve these goals.
Some guy who had a blue shirt on asked how he gets his players to buy into his system. Jim said: “the first thing I tell my guys is don’t wear a blue shirt when you are going to a talk given by the head coach at the university of Utah.”
I asked him about the true point guard system. He asked me if I was one of the ones that had been emailing him this question. He says he doesn’t run one he runs multiple ball handlers, system because he believes it is harder for opposing teams to defend if you have multiple good ball handlers on the court and one time.
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