Team Concept is Key to Success

VYPE: First of all, congratulations on
your induction into the PIAA Hall of Fame.
What type of feeling did you get after being
awarded such an honor?

Yocum: It's a great feeling and
a great honor. It's very humbling to
be placed in a group of guys
who have been so successful in coaching.
You know you don't get an award
like this without having some other things
happen for you. I'm very fortunate to
have been at a school that really supports
their athletic program. Secondly, some of
my coaching staff has been with me for
19 years. When a staff has been working
together for a long time, there is a
continuity that really makes a coach's job
easier. We've also had some nice
athletes along the way who have bought
into our program and what we do. Plus,
every now and then we get a little lucky
and win some games we shouldn't have.

VYPE: What challenges have you faced
over the years while coaching at Muhlenberg?

Yocum: One challenge that you
have to understand is that every year
a different group of kids come in.
It's not like a pro team where a lot of
the same players return year after year.
Yes, we have seniors who have been with
us for two years, but every year a new
group of sophomores come in. There is
that challenge of getting them
to adapt to the program. I have been
coaching for 19 years. Kids today
are still pretty much the same as they
were 19 years ago; but in some
respects they're different. Kids have
more choices; there's more to do
besides play football. You have to
adjust the way you coach a little bit. Also,
our league has changed. There are some
great coaches out there doing great things
with their teams. It makes you step it up
to maintain the level of play. Those are
my biggest challenges.

VYPE: What are the most important
philosophies you try to get across to
your players?

Yocum: Whenever you talk to any
player involved in a team sport,
you have to get across the team concept -
we are only going to be successful if
everyone is helping each other. We have
been a program over the years that has
never featured any one particular player.
We have always stressed that you must
do what you can to make yourself better.
In the long run, it will help the team get better.
So I think the biggest concept is that you
don't get anywhere without help from the
guy to the left of you and the guy to the right of you

VYPE: On the football side, how is the
offense coming along now that you're taking more
chances throwing the ball?

Yocum: If you look at our program over
the past 19 years, yes, we are predominately
a Pro I Offense team. However,
I think we have done a very good job
of taking the kind of talent we have and
adjusting the offense to them, rather than
forcing our talent to adjust to the offense
we run. Besides running the Pro I Offense,
we've run the wishbone and the
spread. Now we've gone to the
shotgun offense. I think you need to look
at your personnel to see what actually
fits them best. That way you can get
the most out of their talents.

VYPE: How do you and your coaching
staff get the most out of all of your
players?

Yocum: I think there's a couple things
our staff does really well. First of all,
there's a lot of respect between the
players and the coaches and the coaches
and the players. We treat our guys like
we would want to be treated. We have
fun with our kids, but we also demand a
lot from them. I believe our staff
does a good job of working with young
people; I think our kids realize that.
Second of all, we don't give our
kids too much to think about. If you
came to one of our practices, you'd see we do
a lot of repetition work. We go over and
over and over the things they're going to
do on the field. When they're in a game
situation, they've already seen some of these
things in practice. We try to keep things
as simple as we can to eliminate the feeling
of being unsure on the field. We feel that
if a kid is confident, he is going to play well.
That, plus the fact we have
been a two platoon team, so a lot of our kids
have been focusing on either offense or
defense. When you practice the same position day
in and day out, you can't help but get better.

VYPE: Are there any goals or different
coaching opportunities you would like to
experience before you hang up your whistle?

Yocum: Absolutely not. I am very, very
happy and content. This has been
a great situation. I have been teaching for
34 years now, and this is my 19th year as head
coach at Muhlenberg. I want to finish
out my career here. -