Here's an excellent read on Men's golf assistant coach, Mike McGraw.
.....
Mike McGraw was unemployed, officially, for less than a week.
Dumped by Oklahoma State after two subpar seasons, one of college golfās winningest coaches, one of its most respected voices, hit the waiver wire last June. Within a day, he was listening to a pitch from his longtime friend, Alabama coach Jay Seawell.
Like so many of his own recruits, McGraw verbally committed almost instantly.
The team to beat at next weekās NCAA Championship is the same one that hoisted the hardware last year: No. 1 Alabama. Itās an embarrassment of riches, really.
They have the swagger of being the defending NCAA champions.
They have the steadiness of a rock-solid senior core.
They have an infusion of energy from adding the best freshman in the country.
And now, just to rub it in, they have an assistant coach with two national titles on his rĆ©sumĆ© (2000 as assistant, ā06 as head coach). Oh, and heās also captured six Big 12 titles (three as a head coach) at Prairie Dunes, next weekās big-boy NCAA venue, a course McGraw figures he has seen about 60 times. Good luck to the rest of the 30-team field.
But the Mike McGraw who now dresses in crimson is nothing like the all-business, orange-clad leader who for eight seasons stalked the fairways in Stillwater. That man is gone, for good.
THIS NEVER WAS about job titles, status or egos. You donāt bring in a man with more experience, more national titles, more tournament wins and more clout if youāre worried about that nonsense. Jay Seawell? He wants to win, and win big, so acquiring McGrawās services was a no-brainer.
Yes, Alabama needed an experienced coach for the older players, the guys who have sacrificed so much for the program. But Seawell also knew that McGraw could help groom the younger players, to build them into week-in, week-out contributors, to ensure the future is as bright as the present.
Since the beginning of this partnership, Seawell has never referred to McGraw as his āassistantā coach. He knows better. Thatās Mike McGraw, one of our coaches, heāll say. Basically, now, theyāre co-head coaches. Egos? Please.
āIt goes to show you that Coach Seawell will do whatever it takes to win,ā Alabama junior Tom Lovelady said.
Seawell called McGraw 24 hours after he was fired. He was worried that his friend of 15-plus years might consider his offer demeaning.
āIād love for you to come work with us and be a part of what weāre doing,ā Seawell said.
āI canāt think of anything Iād rather do,ā McGraw replied. āRoll Tide."
Seawell had one stipulation, though. He wanted ā no, needed ā McGraw to return to his roots, to be the patient seventh-grade social studies teacher, the enthusiastic high school golf coach, the passionate junior golf director he was years ago.
āThatās the guy I want,ā Seawell told him.
And that part of McGraw had been lost, chipped away after years of intense recruiting and mounting expectations. By last summer, he was a shell of the man he once was, of who he wanted to be.
A lot more here from GolfChannel.com
.....
Mike McGraw was unemployed, officially, for less than a week.
Dumped by Oklahoma State after two subpar seasons, one of college golfās winningest coaches, one of its most respected voices, hit the waiver wire last June. Within a day, he was listening to a pitch from his longtime friend, Alabama coach Jay Seawell.
Like so many of his own recruits, McGraw verbally committed almost instantly.
The team to beat at next weekās NCAA Championship is the same one that hoisted the hardware last year: No. 1 Alabama. Itās an embarrassment of riches, really.
They have the swagger of being the defending NCAA champions.
They have the steadiness of a rock-solid senior core.
They have an infusion of energy from adding the best freshman in the country.
And now, just to rub it in, they have an assistant coach with two national titles on his rĆ©sumĆ© (2000 as assistant, ā06 as head coach). Oh, and heās also captured six Big 12 titles (three as a head coach) at Prairie Dunes, next weekās big-boy NCAA venue, a course McGraw figures he has seen about 60 times. Good luck to the rest of the 30-team field.
But the Mike McGraw who now dresses in crimson is nothing like the all-business, orange-clad leader who for eight seasons stalked the fairways in Stillwater. That man is gone, for good.
THIS NEVER WAS about job titles, status or egos. You donāt bring in a man with more experience, more national titles, more tournament wins and more clout if youāre worried about that nonsense. Jay Seawell? He wants to win, and win big, so acquiring McGrawās services was a no-brainer.
Yes, Alabama needed an experienced coach for the older players, the guys who have sacrificed so much for the program. But Seawell also knew that McGraw could help groom the younger players, to build them into week-in, week-out contributors, to ensure the future is as bright as the present.
Since the beginning of this partnership, Seawell has never referred to McGraw as his āassistantā coach. He knows better. Thatās Mike McGraw, one of our coaches, heāll say. Basically, now, theyāre co-head coaches. Egos? Please.
āIt goes to show you that Coach Seawell will do whatever it takes to win,ā Alabama junior Tom Lovelady said.
Seawell called McGraw 24 hours after he was fired. He was worried that his friend of 15-plus years might consider his offer demeaning.
āIād love for you to come work with us and be a part of what weāre doing,ā Seawell said.
āI canāt think of anything Iād rather do,ā McGraw replied. āRoll Tide."
Seawell had one stipulation, though. He wanted ā no, needed ā McGraw to return to his roots, to be the patient seventh-grade social studies teacher, the enthusiastic high school golf coach, the passionate junior golf director he was years ago.
āThatās the guy I want,ā Seawell told him.
And that part of McGraw had been lost, chipped away after years of intense recruiting and mounting expectations. By last summer, he was a shell of the man he once was, of who he wanted to be.
A lot more here from GolfChannel.com
