Elliott: Remembering Coquitam’s Bill Green _ Updated

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

Gene Dziadura was there for RHP Fergie Jenkins when he needed him.

After playing three seasons in the Chicago Cubs system, Dziadura (Chatham, Ont.) became a part-time scout for the Philadelphia Phillies. He took a job at Chatham Collegiate and taught Jenkins history three or four times a week.

And in the off season he taught Canada’s first Hall of Famer throwing bullpen sessions inside the school gym.

Canada’s second Hall of Famer, Larry Walker (Maple Ridge, BC), had a man as inspirational in his life: Bill Green of the Coquitlam Reds, who passed last week. As well, he was a scout for the MLB Scouting Bureau when it began in 1991, after he was hired by Canadian head Scouting Bureau boss Tom Valcke.

“I had only a handful of coaches growing up, and in that handful was Bill Green,” Walker said. “It’s sad to hear the news of his passing. My thoughts and prayers go to his family and friends.

“He was/is an icon in the sport.”

In an 2013 interview with the Vancouver Province, Walker said of his time playing for Green and the Reds: “I think it got me prepared for what I was getting into. It’s quite a few years ago now, but I believe we were playing like 65 games was a big deal back then. It got me prepared for doing a cannonball into the world of pro ball.”

Recent Reds players include 3B Shawn Bowman (drafted by the New York Mets in 2002), INF Matt Rogelstad (signed by the Seattle Mariners in 2003), OF Rene Tosoni (a Minnesota Twins draft in 2005) and RHP Curtis Taylor (an Arizona Diamondbacks draft in 2016).

Green was one of many iconic figures coaching in the BC Premier League, like Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer John Haar, Dennis Springenatic, Doug Mathieson, Dave Empey, Dave Wallace, Clyde Inouye and Don Archer.

I always respected Ray Carter (Tawassen, BC) because A) he was a great president of Baseball Canada and B) he never claimed to have coached Walker. So, I would introduce him as the only man from BC who did not claim to have coached Larry Walker. And Carter would laugh his contagious laugh. A lot of people took credit for coaching Walker.

With the BC Selects, Green coached Justin Morneau (New Westminister, BC), LHP Jeff Francis (North Delta, BC), Rich Harden (Victoria, BC), Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC) Nick Pivetta (Victoria, BC), Jason Bay (Trail, BC), Ryan Dempster (Gibson, BC) and Rowan Wick (North Vancouver, BC).

I only met Green once at a coaching convention in New Westminster, BC in 2007. Green was lamenting the fact a team would not touch his former player Mike Gosse (Pitt Meadows, BC), a 5-foot-7, 165-pound infielder, who had knocked down the fences with the University of Oklahoma Sooners.

The next year he was voted Canadian Baseball Network all-Canadian college player of the year hitting .368 for the Sooners. He had 23 doubles, two triples, eight homers, 52 RBIs with a .986 OPS in 63 games. Gosse went in the 23rd round of the 2008 draft by the Detroit Tigers playing three seasons with the class-A Oneonta Tigers, class-A West Michigan Whitecaps, class-A Lakeland Flying Tigers and triple-A Toledo Mud Hens.

The Coquitlam coach did not boast about coaching Walker.

Green passed away after a battle with inoperable cancer. He joined the Coquitlam Reds as assistant coach in 1984 and took over as coach and general manager in 1985, a roll that he continued to hold until his retirement in 2015.

The Reds joined the BC Premier Baseball League in 1999 and Green was a member of the executive of the league for a number of years. In addition, Green was head coach of BC’s Canada Cup Select team for many years.

Green worked for the transit division of BC Hydro (now BC Transit) and was tasked with producing drivers schedules for the lower mainland, which came in handy as he served as the person who produced the league schedules – a tireless task trying to match team availability dates with locations.

He was voted Baseball Canada’s coach of the year in 1988.

Some ex-players, players, teammates and scouts give their thoughts on the late legendary coach:

Douglas R. R. Anderson (Kitsilano, BC) _ We were there in June 2013 when Coquitlam GM Bill Green was honoured on two fronts at Mundy Park. The first game of the Reds doubleheader against Abbotsford was a milestone for Green as it was the 2,000th game in the 28-year Bill Green era of Reds baseball, dating back to April of 1985. On Green’s watch the Reds compiled a record of 1213-774-13 (.610).

“Even more significant than the milestone, Green will be inducted into the Coquitlam Sports Hall of Fame on June 20th. A most deserved honour for a man who has dedicated his life to Reds baseball.

“Bill was a remarkable mentor. My son hit .143 with a different team the year before we joined the Coquitlam Reds and with Bill’s mentoring, my son led the team hitting .326 the next year. I will love Bill forever for that!”

Don Archer (Oliver, BC), Los Angeles Angels amateur scout _ “I got him into coaching and the rest is history, it would take pages to really say all that Bill has meant to baseball in BC and Canada.”

Gary Blouin (Surrey, BC) assistant coach, Reds _ “Bill Green was a mentor. He was as laid-back a coach as a competitor could be, yet never doubt the fire in his belly, it was a lot like his bright red sports car. He was generous to a fault, allowed me to honeymoon in one of his Waikiki homes.

“I remember winning many medals for Team BC with Billy Green in our 15 years coaching together. He will always be remembered with a sly wit and his quiet, can-do attitude.”

3B Shawn Bowman (Port Moody, BC) 12th round pick of the New York Mets in 2002, playing 10 seasons in the minors in the Blue Jays, Braves, Marlins and Mets organizations _ “I can still remember my first day of fall ball in 1999 with the Reds. A group of players were making the jump from little league to “real baseball” (full diamond). Supposedly there was this legendary coach, Bill Green…

“Bill had immense admiration for the game, he cared so deeply about the game itself and how the game was played. Bill was always the first at the park and the last to leave. It always felt like Mundy Park was the only place he had to be and he was the gatekeeper. He poured his life into that program and this could be felt in his post game speeches. If there is one thing Bill was passionate about it was how the game was played, he put the sanctity of the game before anything else.

“Bill always let us know if we didn’t hustle or we played the game the wrong way. This lesson was learned with many laps around the park after games, giving us plenty of time to reflect in the moment. This is where I learned to play ball, this is where I learned about the game. This is where I learned the unwritten rules of baseball and how to uphold them. At Mundy 4, Bill Green taught me my foundation of baseball, a foundation I have leaned on throughout my life.

“Over my time with the Reds there was a common theme for discussions with Bill - he loved talking about the history of the program and payers that had come through in the past. I’ll be honest, at times I thought he was just angry at us because we weren’t as good as the previous group but over time I found out he used our group to teach new players the same lesson. After constant reflection I realize the lesson he was teaching us; he was teaching us about the Reds history, and about respect, and to be appreciative of all of the sacrifices people had been through before us just so we could have the privilege to put on the uniform.

“The All Blacks from New Zealand are notorious for their culture and they have a list of principles that govern them. No. 14 is called “Be a Good Ancestor”. Within the description of this it says “leave the jersey in a better place.” This is what Bill was teaching us. He fought tooth and nail to have the incoming generation understand the history of the program, the players that had fought before us. He wanted us to make sure we respected and recognized the people that had built the program up until the moment we joined. He was teaching building a legacy … and he succeeded.

“I will be forever grateful to Bill and the service he gave me and so many others. He allowed me to be a confused young man trying to figure out life while still pursuing my dreams to play the game I loved. I am indebted to Bill, and he will always hold a special place in my heart.”

Bill Green, No. 24 on his retirement day at Munday Park in 2013.

Scout Walt Burrows (Brentwood Bay, BC), Minnesota Twins scout, Green’s former boss with the MLB Scouting Bureau: “Bill was very highly respected by all. He coached every big leaguer from BC in 25 year time period. He was driving force of the Coquitlam Reds that produced Larry Walker, Rene Tosoni and others.”

“Bill didn’t really talk much around me. Actions much loader than words and he definitely was a man of action.”

Don Cowan, who played three years in the Twins system and scouted for the Blue Jays for 25 years _ I first met Bill while playing senior ball in BC. He was coming out of Connie Mack and was two years younger than most of us. He could run, throw and field but swung and missed a lot. He was painfully shy and we used to tease him about being too noisy. He however had a lot of determination and worked really hard at his game and improved and became a very respectful senior player. I also remember his mom and sister being there to cheer him on. I think having to work hard to improve helped make Bill the coach he was.

While over seeing our BC Selects and Canada games teams in BC I always wanted Bill on the coaching staff. Why? Because he evaluated players honestly. Not favoring his own team players or promising them spots on provincial or national teams to get them to play for him. He did not recruit as a number of other coaches we had to deal with over the years did and he would lose a good player every now and then but never complained. He had an outstanding record in inter-provincial competitions but was never one to brag or mention his successes. He did like to talk about the Reds and all the great players he had over the years but never wanted to take any credit. He just provided an opportunity and if they worked hard they got to the next level.

Bill also had another side to his personality and interests that very few knew about. He was really quite funny and had a great sense of humour. He also liked big band music and Frank Sinatra. I will never forget a night in Quebec after a game when Bill was entertaining Ari Mellios (Langley Blaze coach) and I with his Kazoo and impressions of Louis Armstrong and Sinatra.

Bill took everything in stride and didn’t have many ups and downs. He was very matter of fact about everything and accepting. Ten days before he passed we had an hour conversation and although you could tell he was very sick you didn’t feel he was leaving so soon. We had a great chat. Nothing different from other talks. Bill was as humble as ever. Never taking credit for the Reds organization or all the players he helped over the years. He was a true gentleman. He helped so many players over the years.”

Coach Corey Eckstein (Abbotsford, BC/Ancaster, Ont.) Fraser Valley Academy/Abbotsford Cardinals/Ontario Blue Jays, scout Kansas City Royals _ “I have admired Billy G from afar for a very long time. I had the utmost respect for him as a player when I was in the PBL and as a young coach when I first entered the league. He wasn’t a man of many words ... but when he spoke, you listened.

“I had always joked that I wanted to be the ‘Billy G’ of Abbotsford as I grew old. That is a testament to his hard work and dedication to his players over the years. He has left a profound impression on a lot of players and coaches in BC. Rest easy Billy ...”

Greg Hamilton (Ottawa, Ont.), coach and director National Teams Baseball Canada _ “Bill was immensely respected by all in the Baseball Canada family for his tireless efforts in the development of the game and commitment to our country’s youth.”

Paul Hargreaves, GM Whalley Chiefs: “I’d like to tell you a story about Billy, as head coach and GM of the Reds along with Dennis and Ted Springenatic, as head coaches of the Chiefs.

“The Reds and the Chiefs were cross river rivals from the late 1980s and still are to this day. We would battle one another at Mundy Park or at Whalley, throw everything we had at one another, have bench clearing brawls if need be, but at the end of the game we’d shake hands and the losing coaching staff would have to buy beer and pizza at Me-n-Eds. And I think over the 20 plus years playing against Billy probably 80 times or so, we were about even!

“Great guy and we at Whalley will miss him!”

John Haar (North Burnaby, BC), who managed Canada to the first gold medal in the program’s history at the World Juniors in 1991, North Shore Twins, coach of Baseball Academy at a high achool in North Delta _ “Bill and I go a long ways back in the game of baseball ... as teen-agers, we played against each other when Connie Mack was one of the most popular youth programs in Western Canada and the USA. That is 60 years ago. More to come.

“We spent decades Coaching young players and competing hard against one another, Bill and I got to know each other very well. I have been able to witness the many faces of Bill and I wish to give you some into his personality. He was not always a slow walking, slow, quiet talking man that he appeared to be most of the time.

“Bill had a great knowledge of the game and all the special skills it took to be a player. He was a good player himself -- he could run and he could HIT! Hence. his fondness for guys who could swing the bat -- he was looking for hitters and he spent a great deal of time working with his players on this aspect of the game.

“We have all have heard that pitching and defense wins championships. That is probably true, however, Bill and I preferred to enjoy the hitting game much more. When the Premier put to a vote switching from metal to wood bats, Bill Green was the only coach to reject the proposal. At that time on his Coquitlam Reds Club, Bill had some real mashers -- Rene Tosoni, Shawn Bowman, Mike Elkildsen and others. Bill knew that opposing clubs had “warning track power” only, whereas his guys could clear the fences with the wooden bats. He was determined to maintain that advantage and was not happy when the vote were given. Disappointment for Bill.

“I took over the North Shore Twins program in 2003. From the outset there was a great rivalry between the Reds and the Twins. We always seemed to be battling for first place. We had some terrific games, played some entertaining ball. Bill was a real competitor and, as quiet as he was, that trait was picked up by his players who showed a very high level of respect for him.

“In 2007, the Canada Cup was played in Quebec City. The Twins had won the PBL championship and playoffs and I was to be the head coach of Team BC. To his surprise, I asked Bill to be one of my assistants -- it was important to put aside the fierce on field rivalry that we had and join together to give our young team the best chance for success at the nationals. Bill accepted the invite and, as it turned out, he was a critical part of our group. Our staff was Leo Gauthier and Ray Chadwick, Bill and me. An impressive staff.

“Before we get out of the Montreal airport and onto the bus for Quebec City, we lose Ray Chadwick who receives an order from Baseball BC to return home immediately to attend a disciplinary hearing scheduled for the next day in the Baseball BC Office. Unbelievable stuff, it has Bill, Leo and me shaking our heads. Bill is not pleased with our BC Organization.

“We did have a very good team, however our start in that competition was a disaster. We opened Thursday with a night game against Saskatchewan which we lost 4-1. Our next game was 11 AM on Friday against Ontario. Unbeknownst to us, at the same time as our game against Saskatchewan, there was a meeting of tournament officials in the game schedule were made. We arrived back at the dormitory after 11 PM, decided we would have a 7:30 AM wake-up call for players to report for breakfast with the bus set to depart at 9 AM.

“I was the first to walk into the cafeteria at about 7:15 AM. A member of the Ontario group came over to me and asked what I was doing in the cafeteria when we had an 8 AM Game against Ontario? Good question for which I had no answer. I got Bill and Leo to gather the players. We grabbed oranges and bananas from the cafeteria, jumped on the bus and headed for the park. When we arrived, a tournament official informed us that we had a 15 minute grace period - it was already 8:10 AM, I begged the committee to give us 10 more minutes to get a pitcher and catcher ready. The committee talked for a few minutes, then informed me that it was now 8:20 and were beyond the 15 minute grace period and the games was being forfeited.

“As a staff, we are stunned and embarrassed. We pulled our gang together, apologized for the errors that had been made and made it very clear that we had a difficult challenge ahead of us. The ever quiet Bill Green delivered one of the more inspirational talks to our players that I have heard and, coming from Bill Green who almost always has very little to say, it seemed to reach the minds and hearts of our players and coaches.

“We were scheduled to play Quebec later that day and Danny Britton=Foster was given the ball and getting us into the win column. When I went to the plate to meet with the umpires, opposing coaches and submit the line-up cards, the Quebec coach said ‘John I didn’t think you were going to show for this Game.’ As furious as I was, I refused to respond. I listened to the umpires, handed in my line-up cards, took my copy of the Quebec line-up, turned and walked away. I did not say a single word. When I got back to the dugout, Bill knew I was hot and asked me what their coach had said. When I told him, Bill called everyone together down the line and delivered his second speech to the team. Bill made it loud and clear that “Our Canada Cup started with that game and we were not going accept anything less than Gold. We needed to show the opposing teams and fans that we were the best team.“

“While we would liked to have seen more hitting from our line-up (Bill was a little frustrated with that part of our game) however, he was happy and impressed with the pitching as Britton-Foster as we beat Quebec 1-0 and stayed alive in our Pool. Better things were to come.

“Despite losing a second time to Saskatchewan, we made it into the playoffs with wins over New Brunswick (8-2) and Quebec (9-2), in the cross over games we again faced Saskatchewan, winning 2-0. Someone is looking after us and Bill green is really inspiring the boys. Sunday’s final game put us against Quebec one more time. We do not need any additional motivation. Our guys are ready to go and Bill is leading the way with his spirit and words of wisdom.

“Stosh Wawrzasek was ready to deal and his stuff is electric. We lead 6-0 in the sixth when the rain started. If we do not have much of a delay, I do believe Stosh was going to throw a no hitter against Quebec. Unfortunately the delay is too long and we have to get a couple of other pitchers ready. Leo Gauthier had a Lefty and a righty in the bullpen, however, the game was suspended and we had to use the Monday rain day to finish. I believe that Quebec did manage to get a hit in the two innings we played on Monday.

“At the end of the day, it was a treat being able to hug Bill and Leo, then walk across the diamond and shake the hands of the losing team. I would think that Bill was as happy as anyone in our dugout and very proud to accept his gold. Well deserved. The beers that night were especially good.

“A couple of years later Bill displayed a couple of the emotions he had with respect to the game. The Reds, Twins and I think, Nanaimo Pirates were in a tight race for the league championship and playoff seeding. On the final weekend, the Reds were in first, the Twins were second (a game back) and Nanaimo was third. The Reds and Twins had four games remaining, Nanaimo three..

“The schedule favoured the Reds as they were scheduled to play two of the bottom feeders, the Twins faced two of the better clubs and Nanaimo two games against lower, one against middle of the pack opponents. The Saturday double headers went as expected -- all three teams swept. On Sunday, however, the results were shocking. The Reds dropped a DH against the last place team, Nanaimo won it single game and the Twins took both games in their DH.

“The end result put the Twins in first, , Nanaimo in second and the Reds in third which meant they would travel to Nanaimo for the playoffs. When the dust had settled Sunday, I phoned Bill and asked him what happened as this was a shocker result. You could hear and feel the pain in Bill’s voice as he tried to explain how poorly his guys played on the final day of the regular season. The disappointment was clearly evident. But, he finished off saying: “Well, John, I guess our guys thought that it would be more fun to take another 7 AM ferry to Vancouver Island than to win the league and get home field advantage throughout the playoffs. That is my only explanation’ One has to chuckle a little bit even if just to oneself.”

“Bob, I visited Bill twice while he was in the hospital. We talked a lot about ball but there were other things ‘John, this is unbelievable. I have never been in a hospital in my life. I thought I was in pretty good shape. I was out walking 3-4 miles a day. Felt fine. Then one day my legs just gave out from under me. And here I am in the hospital.’

“We talked at length about the coaching. Bill said ‘What has happened to the coaching fraternity where you put something back into the game you love so much and got so much from. Now what are coaches making? About $30,000-40,000? Some more. Look what parents are prepared to pay for their kids to play in programs that are supposed to be so good. There was a time when baseball was a sport that was affordable for every family and available to every child ... Not any more/’

“The second time I visited, he was not good. The head nurse informed me that he was scheduled for the next bed in the Hospice Unit which did come available that very day, but, due to an emergency situation they had to cancel Bill’s move. I told Bill I would be back in a few days as I had to go to the Okanagan. I promised to bring him back Okanagan Sun Rype Fruit Juice that I though he would really enjoy. I told him that he had touched so many young people at a critical time in their lives and that he should be proud of that.

“He was a very good coach and players fortunate to have his knowledge and wisdom of the game should be very thankful. He gave most of his lifetime to the game in BC, Canada and beyond. I would think that the most disappointing moment in Bill Green’s baseball Life would have been the day he was dismissed from the Coquitlam program. That organization has not been the same since he departed.

“Surely there was a special place where Bill could still hang his hat and Reds Jacket, hit a few fungos and talk the game with young people who are thirsty for his knowledge and expertise.

“Bill was a real movie buff and spent much of his free time in theatres. If you wanted to get a honest report on a movie, Bill was the man to ask. Bill was also a big time stats guy. Leo Gauthier told me that if you are room with Bill, be prepared for plenty of night talk, minimal sleep time and early rising.

“Unfortunately, Bill passed away the day before I returned home in time to give him his Okanagan Juice.”

Terry McKaig, director of baseball, University of British Columbia _ “The thing I respected most about Bill Green was the players he pushed on to college and to the pro level -- they always played the game the right way. I never really coached with or against Bill but I know he taught the game the right way because of the experience I had at UBC and watching provincial teams that had Bill’s players playing for us. They had their priorities in order. Coachable, intense, and focused on the field and good guys off the field. Someone in the Coquitlam Reds organization was responsible for so many of their players turning out like that ... his name was Bill Green.

“We are going to miss him here in BC. Always was a quiet, smart and thoughtful voice of reason. He cared about the coaching profession and was always providing input to PBL teams and coaches not losing focus of the No. 1 priority ... developing good players.

RHP Brent Mutis (New Westminster, BC), who played for the Reds and then went on to play for the Douglas College Royals and the UBC Thunderbirds _ “Bill was a hugely influential person in my career. His knowledge was light years ahead of the kind of instruction I’d received up to that point. It was like he shared a new language that gave you access to places in the game that before you couldn’t have hoped to get to. Put simply, I would not have made it to college ball if not for Bill Green and the same can be said for many others.

“Another part of his legacy is that he was part of the board of directors that created the four-team BC College League in 1999. Three of those teams - Douglas College, University College of the Cariboo (now Thompson Rivers University) and Malaspina College (now Vancouver Island University) still have programs. This has given 1,000s of Canadians the chance to play college baseball at home.

“Bill was not what you’d call a chatty guy and this made any of his remarks and reactions, often to something he didn’t like on the field, pretty memorable. When he was out of earshot, lots of guys would try to imitate his voice and this was generally good for a laugh. Even though he didn’t say a whole lot, it was clear he cared because of the sheer number of hours he put into the Reds. He would drive, or take the bus, from Vancouver to Coquitlam six or seven days a week for practices and games. And this was not for any kind of salary. I think it cost a few hundred dollars per player to play for the Reds in those days.”

Claude Pelletier (Ste-Lazare, Que.) New York Mets scout _ “I met Bill many times at Bureau workouts and while he was coaching the BC selects. I didn’t know him that well. We all remember his slow walk from the third base box to the dugout or his walk from the dugout to the mound. Sitting in the stands with the other. All the scouts had a good laugh. He was a nice, quiet guy and a good coach.”

Charlie Strandlund (Victoria, BC), who played at Daytona State College, College of Idaho and College of Southern Idaho as well as the Victoria Seals in the independent Golden League and coach of the Victoria Eagles _ “I played for coach Green on the BC Selects when we won silver at Canada Cup. Stern but fair coach Green was a strong mentor and someone who told it to you straight. He always told us as he saw it with honesty and never shied away from providing advice. A big influence in my development after only playing for him for a short time.

“He will be missed.”

OF Rene Tosoni (Port Coquitlam, BC), with the Reds from 2002-05, 36th round choice in 2005 draft from Chipola College by the Twins, playing parts of seven seasons in the Twins system, plus a year with the Twins and two with Sugarland in the Atlantic League and one with Sioux City in the American Association _ “Billy taught me how to play the game the right way. I knew how the game worked three outs and things like that. But Billy taught me to think ahead, to take that extra base and have a good work ethic. Billy taught me that.

“He was hard nosed. The first year I played for him I was afraid of him. He didn’t like guys who didn’t hustle. He taught me a lot about the game. He wasn’t always concerned about winning. He wanted us to play hard clean baseball. My brother Dana played for him too.”

Update from recent update email to the Coquitlam parental group: “To all of you who did not get a chance to meet Bill Green: He was a baseball man. He demanded so much from his players. In Bill’s world there was no excuse for lack of preparation. Bill couldn’t grasp players that didn’t hustle. He would be considered an ‘old school coach.’ But he coached for over 30 years, he coached Reds, he coached BC Selects and he was very, very good at it.

“He scouted for the MLB Scouting Bureau - he has advanced 100s of players to college careers and has seen his players selected in the major league draft. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame. He loved sports. He could talk baseball for hours.

“Bill loved players that played hard and were tough. He was proud of players that succeeded. My God, he loved players that could hit. Bill loved players that worked hard and players that put in extra work. Bill loved jazz music, especially the standards. He liked good scotch. He loved Hawaii. Bill was honest - he did not shoot the bull to anyone, if you didn’t like the answer, you shouldn’t have asked the question. Bill loved baseball.”

Wes Taylor, GM Coquitlam Reds 18U, 16U, 14U, whose son Curtis Taylor was drafted in the fourth round in 2016 by the Arizona Diamondbacks and is now in the Blue Jays system _ “I was Bill’s successor as head of the Reds program. My son - Curtis Taylor, came through the Reds program as a RHP, also played three years at UBC and was influenced by Bill.

“When I spoke to Curtis about Bill after I visited him in the hospital - Curtis reflected on Bill and said Bill was tough to play for but you always knew where you stood with him and Curtis respected that. The biggest takeaway though, was that Curtis did not realize it until he played at UBC and even when he turned pro that Bill’s expectation for excellence would eventually be discovered in the hard work necessary to achieve these baseball goals.

“Bill always spoke with admiration about the players that came before each current crop of Reds. In Curtis’ case it was the Bowman, Goss, Tosoni Schaeffer era and inadvertently he was telling players that these are the types of players you want to become and you can’t get there unless you dedicate yourself and work with discipline.

“Bill always wanted his players to play the game the right way and was proud when they did.”