How to Win Games And Influence People
Larranaga's Multifaceted Motivational Methods Have Made Believers of the Patriots
George Mason Coach Jim Larranaga has used a variety of motivational methods -- some of them by the book, some of them unorthodox -- to fire up his team.
(Lucy Nicholson - Reuters)
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Saturday, April 1, 2006
INDIANAPOLIS, March 31 -- Jim Larranaga's desk is carpeted with standard-issue office litter. There are family photographs. There are several copies of Sports Illustrated. There are neat stacks of paper. And there are the sort of reading options you might find in the remainders bin at a Waldenbooks.
"Success Is a Choice: Ten Steps to Overachieving in Business and Life."
"Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln: 21 Powerful Secrets of History's Greatest Speakers."
"Quotes & Quips: Insights on Living the 7 Habits" sits nearby.
George Mason's extraordinary postseason run will continue Saturday evening with a game against Florida in the national semifinals. The Gators are led by Billy Donovan, the coach with the slicked-back hair and the tailored suits.
The Patriots counter with Larranaga, a man who quotes mind-body theorist Deepak Chopra, listens to motivational books on tape, plays shortstop during post-practice baseball games and once had his players release butterflies to signify their divergent paths in life. Slick, he is not. But by turning himself into some amalgam of Phil Jackson and Dr. Phil, Bear Bryant and Fozzie Bear, Larranaga has convinced his largely anonymous players that they can be as Highly Effective as any basketball team in the country.
"Jimmy really understands that every word he says in practice is going to have some impact on a player's mind, the way they're thinking, the way they're feeling," said sports psychologist Bob Rotella, one of Larranaga's close friends and confidants. "And his job is to keep their heads in the right place."
Larranaga might tell his wife that "birds don't think about flying; they just fly." In the locker room, he'll quote Confucius, Aristotle, William Jennings Bryan, Ralph Waldo Emerson and John Wooden. (When asked by Larranaga to identify Wooden, guard-forward Folarin Campbell once explained that he was the legendary coach from DeMatha High.)
Before practice, Larranaga will offer a "Thought of the Day" to his players, which they promptly forget.
"Something about having the extra mile and not worrying about the traffic ahead," Campbell said of Friday's message.
"I got this, I got this," forward Chris Fleming said, before drawing a blank.
"The extra mile, there is very little traffic, something like that," forward Will Thomas said. "I have no idea what he's talking about."
