Doc Sadler Press Conference Quotes

Steve Pederson
Press Conference Introduction
"Thank you all for being here this afternoon for a very exciting announcement for the University of Nebraska and for our basketball program. As you know, we began a search a week ago for a new basketball coach. We talked to people across the country in every area of basketball imaginable. We talked to former players, media members, coaches, administrators. We talked to people closely associated with basketball. And the more we talked to these people, the more a consistent theme emerged and that was that Coach Doc Sadler was the right person to lead the Nebraska basketball program."

"Coach Sadler has a tremendous record as a coach, as a recruiter and as a person and I can tell you that we are so excited to announce that the new head basketball coach at the University of Nebraska is Coach Doc Sadler."

Head Coach Doc Sadler
Opening Comments
"Thank you so much Steve, Marc (Boehm), Chancellor (Harvey Perlman). What can I say? This is just probably the most exciting day of my life. I can get passionate now. I was raised in a coaching family. My dad was a football coach, and I told Steve and Marc, he wishes I was coaching football here instead of basketball. But he would be very proud."

"Coaching is something that I’ve always wanted to do from the time I was little. I come from an education family. My dad coached for over 30 years. My sister is a teacher, my brother is a teacher and my mother is a nurse. We come from a great teaching family. I’ve got a wonderful family here with me today, my wife Tonya and my sons Matthew and Landon. Anybody that coaches any kind of athletics will tell you that that is the backbone of our family right there and I can’t even tell you how much I appreciate them."

"Doc Sadler is pretty simple. I’ve had a chance to work for some wonderful people that taught me a lot about basketball and a lot about life and the thing that I came away with is that everything is pretty simple. It’s pretty simple, don’t make it too difficult. I learned that from a lot of people and I listened and that’s the way I try to be as a person. I keep everything in my life simple. I want to have fun. And I met with our players that are here today and I told them that we’re going to have a lot of fun playing this game. The only thing that I want, because I think the fans of Nebraska deserve this, is that every day when we leave the court that you have played harder than the other team. And if we can say that, that’s all I’m going to ask. I don’t know how many games we’re going to win. But I do know this: we’ve got some talented players. I’ve gotten a chance to watch some tape and if we can get that one thing that one simple thing, accomplished then we’re going to have a great time here."

"I’ve been here before when it wasn’t fun. I came here before in the early 1980’s with a team from Arkansas and we got ran out of this place. And one of the reasons we got ran out of it was because this place was packed. And that’s what we’re going to get this thing back to. This is a very difficult place to come in and play. And not because of me, and this is the one thing I want to get across today. I am so fortunate, but I can’t do this by myself. I need these guys and everybody in the state of Nebraska to do it. Because I grew up in Arkansas and I know what it means to wear Nebraska on the front of your jersey. I know what you want. I know that what you expect is not something you shouldn’t get and that’s that our guys are going to come out here and bust it every single day."

"I told our guys that I’ve got two rules. My first rule is this: if there is a loose ball on that floor and one of your teammates doesn’t get on the floor and get that loose ball, if you want to play then get up and get in there. Go straight to the scorer’s table. I won’t say a word. You better see guys fighting to get in there. My second rule is that if you get a chance to take a charge, you better take a charge. I told my guys, that’s on you. We’ve got free substitution. If one of your teammates isn’t playing as hard as you think they should be playing, get in there for him. Your teammates are going to hold you accountable. It’s going to be really fun. They’re not going to like me sometimes, but when we leave this floor, we’re going to love each other."

"The first thing I want to do here is get some door stops to open up those office doors. I hate an office door that’s closed. I want every office door open and when they walk by and they don’t stop by, I’m going to be mad. I told them, when they get done studying at night and they drive by here at night about 10 or 11 o’clock and they see my car out there and they don’t stop by, I’m going to be mad. I want to do one thing for them and that is give them every ounce of energy I have to make sure that when they leave here their coach did not cheat them out of a one day."

"How many of you remember the greatest years of your life? It was probably when you were in college. These kids are in college. They should have fun. I’m not going to cheat them out of a one day; out of one single day. That’s my only goal. And when I walk into a family, that’s what I’m going to tell them. I’m not going to tell them about playing time. I’m not going to tell them about anything else, but that I won’t cheat their son out of one single day out of the greatest time of their life. I wouldn’t want anyone to cheat my sons out of the greatest days of their lives."

"Someone asked me why I would come to Nebraska. It’s pretty simple. I’ve got a chance to coach at a place that has had 233 academic All-Americans. I’ve got a chance to coach at a place that has won 22 national championships. Now you don’t win national championships because of great coaches. I truly believe this. Because you’ve had 233 academic All-Americans, you’ve got some high-character people. And you’ve always got an athletic department and a university that cares about kids. You do not have that kind of success just because of wanting it. You’ve got a lot of people working for that to happen. Because you’ve got everybody working together, you’ve won 22 national championships. What more could a coach want than that? I can’t think of anything else."

"I know it’s not real complicated. I didn’t give you a formula. But the last thing I would say to you is that I love suggestions. The only thing that I ask of you is give them to me before the game and not after because they won’t do us any good after the game."

On how he got the name Doc
"I had a hat when I was really young that was signed by Doc from Gunsmoke and I wore it all the time and that’s how I got that name."

On the challenge of coming to Nebraska
"It’s going to be fun. That’s the reason these guys are sitting over here. They want to play at the highest level of basketball. They want to be challenged. So it’s going to be fun. I’ve got some great friends coaching in this league. There are some great arenas. But when it comes down to it, it’s all about these guys here and its going to be fun stepping out with them."

On the speed of the hiring process
"It wasn’t fast enough. I was always told if you can ever get the opportunity to coach at the University of Nebraska, you better take it. I had a great job. I don’t know how many people realize that. UTEP is a great basketball job. Great fans, great tradition, everything. But this is Nebraska, man. This is Nebraska. So when the job opened until today, it seemed like three months. It couldn’t come fast enough."

On the style of play fans can expect
"You ever watch tennis? We’re going to play baseline to baseline. I don’t know how much the sideline seats sell for, but you better get baseline seats. Because if not, you’re going to go home and the chiropractor is going to make a living."

"We’re going to get it up and down. I’ll tell you guys again, I’m real simple. I’m going to ask so much of these guys on one end of the floor. They have no idea how much I’m going to ask of them. None. If we’ve got to draw up a bunch of plays, then we’re in trouble because we’re going to go as fast as we can and if we get a good shot, then we’re going to shoot it quick. If we don’t, we’re going to wait until we do get a good shot. So it’s going to be baseline to baseline, 94 feet."

On Aleks Maric
"I am so fortunate to be able to see the guys that are here face to face and that’s important to me. I’ve had a couple of players, Jim (Ledsome) and Jamel (White) on the phone earlier. Not just Aleks (Maric), but all of the guys, I want to see face to face. They deserve it. I have not talked to Aleks. I have not talked to him. But I will talk to him as soon as I can, but not just Aleks. I want to talk to all of them. They are all important to me. But I told Charles (Richardson Jr.) and all of them, I’m just the coach. It’s their team. And the thing that really encouraged me is that they’ve tried to not just reach Aleks, but all of their teammates. So that was really encouraging to me that these guys are reaching out also."

On communicating with recruits from UTEP
"I have not talked to any of them. And that’s unfortunate. I’d love to talk to them. That’s a crazy rule with the NCAA, but I’m not allowed to and I’m not going to jeopardize this program. I hate it. It’s not fair, but that’s the way it is."

On recruiting areas
"I am going to recruit wherever I have to go. I’ve had players from Brazil, Puerto Rico, New York, California, Florida. Wherever I need to go, I’m going to go. I think it’s changed. It used to be that you could just recruit one part of the country, but you can’t do that anymore. And the good news is because of Nebraska’s name it’s going to make it easier to get into people’s houses in different areas. I do think Texas is an area though, because of the number of teams in the league that are in Texas, it’s an area where we’ll concentrate."

On his relationship with Coach Billy Gillespie
"Billy and I are best friends. We’re in a debate right now about who’s team is going to play harder. Man, I can’t even imagine what that game is going to be like. But it’s here, I like that. We were talking last night about it. When we play, I’m going to try to beat his brains in. And he’s going to try to do the same to me. And if we win I’ll shake his hand and if we don’t, I won’t. That’s the way that goes. It’s a one-way relationship."

On Nebraska being a football school
"That’s great. Where else can you get three hours on Saturday of national television probably seven or eight times a year? It’s great that football is good here. I’m a football guy. I love it. And we’re going to take advantage of it. I’m getting sweaty palms just thinking about Sept. 2. I can’t wait to have some recruits here and walk out there in front of 80,000 people. That’s going to be an unbelievable experience. It’s going to be fun."

On his coaching influences
"Eddie Sutton. That’s where I started. And probably if you really want to get down to it, probably Mr. Ivers. Now, that’s just on one end of the floor. I’m probably just a little bit looser offensively than anybody that I’ve ever coached for. But a coach told me this once and I’ve remembered it: If you’re going to ask them to play the way you want to play and as hard as you want to play on one end of the floor then let them do something on the other end that they want to do. We’re going to guard. I don’t think you can win in the Big 12 without guarding. And these guys will know if I think they can shoot, but more importantly they’ll know if their teammates think they can shoot. And if they come down on a break and they’re a shooter and they’re 19-feet open, a three-pointer, we’re going to have problems. We’re going to have serious problems, because they’re hurting our team. They’re not going to be afraid to shoot and miss. My job is to let them know during practice that’s their shot. If you’re open, you shoot. The only shot I think is a bad shot is early in the shot clock if you shoot a bad shot just to get fouled. I have a problem with that because I don’t think you’re open. If they’re close enough to foul you, you’re not open."

On the status of his players and potential players coming to Nebraska
"Right now these guys are the most important thing to me. I’m going to take a few days to visit with them, but more importantly, get in touch with the guys that are not here. If they want me to come and visit them, I’m going to go see those guys. We’ll get caught up. The guys that are here are who I am worried about. That is my No. 1 priority. Not somebody that’s not here. And by not here, I mean a senior in high school or a junior college player. These guys deserve all my time right now."

On his plans for hiring a staff
"I don’t know. I’m not worried about a staff right now. I’ve known some of the coaches that are here. I’m going to worry about my players. Your players. The state’s players. These are the guys that belong to all of us. They deserve all of our attention - all of our attention. And when I hire a staff, I’ll hire a staff. You notice I don’t wear a watch. I don’t believe in watches. I just don’t believe in them. 24 hours a day. We’ll get something done."

On the reaction around El Paso with the movie "Glory Road"
"I’m glad you asked about Glory Road, and not about me leaving. It’s a great movie. El Paso is a great, great basketball school. Very proud. And that movie, it probably wouldn’t happen today to be a part of history, I don’t think people really, really understand what went on there. Coach (Don) Haskins has one room in his house, and he says that 40,000 letters that are still there, bags of hate mails that he got. It’s in a bedroom. The door’s shut. I don’t think people really understand what that game really did. To be just a small part of something to happen has really been one of the great experiences of my life."

On if Coach Haskins talks about it a lot
"Not really. He says it was the hardest team he ever coached. You have to understand that two players in pre-game were asleep in the locker room. They didn’t care it was the national championship game. He said it was a difficult team to coach. That’s all he would say. They were just so talented."

On if a goal if to make the NCAA Tournament on a consistent basis
"That’s the only goal - to be successful. As I said, our team, we’re going to think about one thing though. I don’t care about winning games. It’s that we’ve got to play harder than the other team. I don’t think these guys can go into a game worried about three or four things. And I told them earlier that I can’t remember very many plays. All I want them to concentrate on is playing hard. If that happens, these guys are talented enough that they’re going to win games. But the state of Nebraska deserves us to be in the NCAA Tournament. And we want it to happen - not next year, not two years from now. We want it to happen now. Charles (Richardson) is graduating. He’s not going to be here next year. You think he cares about next year? He wants to play in that thing this year. That’s what we’re going to try to do. We need your help. We need the whole state’s help. We need the whole state’s help."

On if he bought his red tie today
"No I didn’t. I bought it before I came though. You like it?"

Closing Comment
"The only thing I would like to say to you is again that I’m very fortunate to be here. But I want you to understand you thing. This is your basketball team. It’s not Doc Sadler’s basketball team. This is the state of Nebraska’s basketball team and again I’m serious, if you can help us with a suggestion or whatever, my door is open all the time. It’s your basketball team. I understand that and I’ll do everything I can to help you guys be proud of what we’re going to do. I’m ready to roll. Volleyball season is coming up. Football season is coming up. What else? Soccer. Go Big Red! Thank you all."