SMU's Gansz finding a special voice
Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:23 amhttp://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/colleges/topstories/stories/102308dnsposmulede.3dbfc66.html
By BOBBI ROQUEMORE / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]
The voice of Frank Gansz resonates from a public address system at SMU's Pettus Practice Field, echoing into the minds of football players practicing at the crack of dawn.
Gansz, the Mustangs' special teams coach, makes his instructions sound like football poetry. He weaves General Patton into a punt block drill or Winston Churchill into a coverage drill.
To Gansz, history's great thinkers, gladiators and football players are all one in the same. They're capable of great things when they prepare for battle and set their minds to victory.
For 37 years, Gansz has been a coach at the pro and college level and is regarded in football circles as the greatest special teams coach ever. Instead of viewing special teams as an afterthought, Gansz sees the area as a playmaking opportunity for all to benefit.
Big plays for the unit have been plentiful as SMU has scored off a special teams turnover in five of the eight games this season.
"The offense and defense are out there for series. Special teams only gets one play," Gansz said. "Which one of those plays is going to make a difference in the game? That's what I've tried to do."
Gansz knows his teaching methods are unique, but he believes they help develop the pillars of successful football programs, not just special teams.
"They might say, 'Man this guy is whack,' but what are the fundamentals that help us come together as a team?" said the 69-year-old Gansz. "No. 1 is trust, where we can count on each other and rely on each other to come through at the critical moments when man measures man."
Yet Gansz's impact goes far beyond X's and O's. He motivates players to be better athletes and better people through his historical references and ability to turn a phrase. An example: "confirmed validity," which in Gansz-speak means showing that a teaching point actually works.
Former Detroit Lions linebacker and current ESPN analyst Chris Spielman still refers to Gansz, when he uses "sudden change" on air, which means be ready to go and not miss a beat when faced with adversity.
"When I talk to some old teammates, we always bring up Coach Gansz sayings because they're lasting," Spielman said. "They're not just coach-speak. For that I will always be grateful."
Gansz had retired in 2001, but Mustangs coach June Jones, who had worked with him with the Detroit Lions, lured him to the Hilltop with the hope that he'd deliver the same impact to the Mustangs as he did NFL teams.
"In life you meet certain people that influence you more than others, and Frank Gansz has touched thousands of lives," Jones said.
And the Mustangs say they are soaking up Gansz's knowledge.
"Players in the NFL would just die to be coached by him, and we as college athletes have an opportunity to be coached by him," junior receiver Emmanuel Sanders said.
Sanders and senior kicker and punter Thomas Morstead cited the Gansz phrase "We left yesterday" as their favorite. It refers to being a step ahead.
Gansz said the best thing that has happened to him was appointment to Navy, where he played center on the 1958 Cotton Bowl championship team. As SMU prepares for its visit to Navy on Saturday, it's a chance for Gansz to return to the place that inspired him to inspire others
By BOBBI ROQUEMORE / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]
The voice of Frank Gansz resonates from a public address system at SMU's Pettus Practice Field, echoing into the minds of football players practicing at the crack of dawn.
Gansz, the Mustangs' special teams coach, makes his instructions sound like football poetry. He weaves General Patton into a punt block drill or Winston Churchill into a coverage drill.
To Gansz, history's great thinkers, gladiators and football players are all one in the same. They're capable of great things when they prepare for battle and set their minds to victory.
For 37 years, Gansz has been a coach at the pro and college level and is regarded in football circles as the greatest special teams coach ever. Instead of viewing special teams as an afterthought, Gansz sees the area as a playmaking opportunity for all to benefit.
Big plays for the unit have been plentiful as SMU has scored off a special teams turnover in five of the eight games this season.
"The offense and defense are out there for series. Special teams only gets one play," Gansz said. "Which one of those plays is going to make a difference in the game? That's what I've tried to do."
Gansz knows his teaching methods are unique, but he believes they help develop the pillars of successful football programs, not just special teams.
"They might say, 'Man this guy is whack,' but what are the fundamentals that help us come together as a team?" said the 69-year-old Gansz. "No. 1 is trust, where we can count on each other and rely on each other to come through at the critical moments when man measures man."
Yet Gansz's impact goes far beyond X's and O's. He motivates players to be better athletes and better people through his historical references and ability to turn a phrase. An example: "confirmed validity," which in Gansz-speak means showing that a teaching point actually works.
Former Detroit Lions linebacker and current ESPN analyst Chris Spielman still refers to Gansz, when he uses "sudden change" on air, which means be ready to go and not miss a beat when faced with adversity.
"When I talk to some old teammates, we always bring up Coach Gansz sayings because they're lasting," Spielman said. "They're not just coach-speak. For that I will always be grateful."
Gansz had retired in 2001, but Mustangs coach June Jones, who had worked with him with the Detroit Lions, lured him to the Hilltop with the hope that he'd deliver the same impact to the Mustangs as he did NFL teams.
"In life you meet certain people that influence you more than others, and Frank Gansz has touched thousands of lives," Jones said.
And the Mustangs say they are soaking up Gansz's knowledge.
"Players in the NFL would just die to be coached by him, and we as college athletes have an opportunity to be coached by him," junior receiver Emmanuel Sanders said.
Sanders and senior kicker and punter Thomas Morstead cited the Gansz phrase "We left yesterday" as their favorite. It refers to being a step ahead.
Gansz said the best thing that has happened to him was appointment to Navy, where he played center on the 1958 Cotton Bowl championship team. As SMU prepares for its visit to Navy on Saturday, it's a chance for Gansz to return to the place that inspired him to inspire others
