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INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEApril 25, 2017Ed SchillingBruiser FlintBloomington, Indiana ED SCHILLING: Well, it's been terrific. This is home for me. As much as I enjoyed 70 and sunny, every day in L.A. at UCLA, there's nothing like being home. When I go out and I'm recruiting the guys here in Indiana, it's like I know every high school, every high school coach and getting to know all the players. But it's home. Not only for me but for my wife and it's just terrific. Q. How easy of a decision was it? ED SCHILLING: Well, it was pretty easy in the fact that I wanted to see family. But I really enjoyed working with Steve Alford, working with our players at UCLA. That's the relationship's there, is what made it a little bit difficult. But obviously getting a chance to come home, especially with Archie Miller, he's the finest young coach in the game today. So to be able to lock arms with him made it an easier decision. Q. The ability to successfully recruit, you have a lot of connections, but what in your mind is the key with in-state players? ED SCHILLING: One, I think it starts with relationships. I'm sure everybody that speaks about recruiting, it starts there. And one thing that makes Indiana a bit easier to do that with is the high school coaches still have influence, and you have high school coaches that had for the most part, across the State of Indiana, care about their players as people. And you don't have so many other people associated with the players, you might have in L.A., for example. So I think being able to have relationships with not only the player and the family, but the high school coach is vital here in this state. That's what makes this a great state to recruit from my perspective. So I think recruiting the State of Indiana is going to be important. We just at UCLA just got through recruiting Chris Wilkes, and you're working with Doug Mitchell, you're working with the family. Maybe the AAU program a little, but it it's a good recruit, it's a good way to recruit and that makes the State of Indiana a little bit different and hopefully it's going to prove fruitful for us because obviously the lifeblood of Indiana basketball since I've been around has been built with a foundation of Indiana high school basketball players that come to Indiana, come to Bloomington. Q. You've been around the state a little bit since being on the job. What's the reaction you're getting from high school coaches and AAU staff? ED SCHILLING: I've been real flattered, just most everybody I've seen is welcome home. So that's been nice, and I don't know if early in my career all these high school coaches were beating me when I was at Logansport and Western Boone and all of them and early at Park Tudor, so I don't know if they are welcome home because of that. No, it's been great. I think the reaction from everybody that I've run across is so favorable relative to Coach Miller, because they see him as, hey, this is kind of a guy that's cut of the Indiana school basketball cloth. In other words, a guy that loves basketball wants to get in there and sweat in the gym. Everybody that I've run into has been super favorable about Coach Miller and I've just been so flattered that, hey, welcome home, coach. Q. Regarding those relationships, you've been on both sides but as a college coach and a high school coach, what's the key to creating authentic relationships on both sides? ED SCHILLING: I think ultimately it's going to boil down to how well do you take care of the players. Obviously you've got to coach them well. They want to see that they do improve. I think that's one of the things, is he going to get better, is he going to have a good experience, is he going to be treated well. That's what I look for when I was a high school coach was, hey, if he going to be treated well; is he going to have an opportunity here. I think ultimately, the product is going to be what's going to sell beyond that. After we get a few years in, then you're coaching the bulk of your team, players that you've coached, then it's going to be the product. Okay, it's one thing to say it now, but I think the one thing that I looked at and I think the other high school coaches at Indiana are, what's the product. It's one thing to talk about it. Now let's see the proof of it, and I think that down the line, it's going to be what are you producing, and, how are you treating our players in the process. Q. How did your experience at UCLA make you a better coach and maybe a better recruiter? ED SCHILLING: Well, for me, getting a chance to work with somebody different. I had worked with John Calipari obviously at UMASS, the Nets and then at University of Memphis. It gave me a chance to really get a different system, and that's with Steve Alford, being able to get the old IU motion, so to speak, learning that from an offensive perspective. I think that was very helpful to just see a different way of doing things. And then also, it kind of expanded the recruiting base into seeing how, you know, getting a chance to meet more people from coast to coast now. I obviously did a lot of the east stuff when I was at UMASS and a little bit at Wright State as a head coach, but then extending it all the way to California -- I think at Indiana, you have the opportunity to recruit coast to coast because of the name recognition. Obviously the bulk of it is going to be here in Indiana, but again, I think it's just getting a chance to learn another system, another way of doing things, and also to expand the recruiting base. Q. You said sunny and 70. I think it's more like you don't have In-N-Out Burger any more, but you don't have to drive on the 405 either. ED SCHILLING: That is right. Q. But I mean, talk about the different mindset maybe as a coach for how you would coach kids in the Pac-12 compared to how you coach them in the Big Ten? ED SCHILLING: Well, one, I think how you coach them I think is going to be pretty consistent. You've got to stay true to who you are, and I can't be -- I'm not going to be different how I'm going to coach guys there as here, but I think the style of play is a little bit different. The Pac-12 is a lot more up-and-down. It's going to be a lot more free-flowingness traditionally than the Big Ten. So Big Ten, you're going to have to be a lot more physical than probably the Pac-12 has been. So I think that's the one adjustment you're going to have to -- it's going to be a tougher, more grind-it-out type game traditionally than the Pac-12. So that would be the one change that I would see just from a coaching style perspective. But I think Coach Miller, that's how he coaches. He's not going to have any adjustment. Q. What was the extent of your previous relationship or knowledge of Coach Miller, and then John Calipari, the relation to the family did, that play a factor for you? ED SCHILLING: It did. Well, I guess my relationship with Archie began a long time ago. I was the best man in Sean Miller's wedding quite a few years ago. Now, he was pretty young at that time. Now kind of how I really got my respect for Arch was, I guess it was my first year at UCLA in the NCAA Tournament, I had the Dayton scout. We played Florida. They played Stanford. And so I had the Dayton scout. Now they advanced, we didn't, so that scouting report ended up in the trash. Same thing happened this year. Similar thing happened this year. I had the Dayton scout and the Anaheim, the John Wooden tournament in Anaheim, so I had the Dayton scout again. And so both times, as I scouted them, I was like, wow, they do a terrific job. And so I was very, very impressed with them four years ago and again this year, this past season. And then knowing Sean Miller, coaching against him at Arizona, there's a lot of similarities in how the two play. So I think, I just had a great deal of respect from scouting his teams. Also, I also had the Arizona scout each year, too, so I saw his brother. Then Calipari, once you work for Cal, you always work for him at some level. He talked to me afterwards more than any. I think he probably did some things behind the scenes with Bru and I. But Coach Cal, if you're with him, you're with him and he's with you. There's not a more loyal guy in the business than John Calipari. Q. Earlier questions and maybe the answer is no, you talk about UCLA and you were obviously at Memphis, a lot of success there. At a program where there is a high level of achievement expected and a lot of attention, is the assistant's role any different? ED SCHILLING: You know, I think it kind of comes back to what the head coach wants. I've been fortunate with Coach Alford that he gave me great, almost free reign from a skill development perspective, to, hey, good run with it. And then with Coach Cal, you have certain things that he's going to allow you to do. I've been fortunate to be with guys that let you run with different things. And so I've been at programs that have been pretty successful. When I got to UMASS, they had everything -- everything was rolling. We went to the Final Four at Memphis, it was kind of a little bit of a build but it had a lot of tradition. Obviously at UCLA every time I left the gym, I had to look at the John Wooden statue. There's a lot of pressure but the bottom line is you have to do your very best to coach your players like you'd want your son coached. That's what I'm going to try to do every day here at Indiana, same thing I tried to do at UCLA and before then. Q. You've obviously done a lot of skill development going back to the academy. How important is skill development going to be in your specific role here, how do you see that specifically playing out? ED SCHILLING: Well, one of the reasons, again, I was interested in the job is that I knew the priority that Coach Miller places on getting his players better and the skill development. So that's one of the reasons it made this job interesting is because you have a coach that puts a premium on taking the guys that we have and making them better. You know, some of just, okay, now it's all about X's and O's and here it's about improving them as players on the court and off the court. So that's what I want to do. That's what I think hopefully is one of my biggest strengths that I can bring to the table. I'm certainly going to do everything in my power to help these guys get better. I've worked with some of them already. Of course they were about this big when I was working with them. So I'm fired up. I really enjoyed the couple workouts that I've got to be with these players, and they certainly have a great work ethic. You know, I think that's -- if you kind of throw in some of the generalities that we've spoken about earlier, these kids know how to work, and they learned it from their champion's academies or whatever they came up in and their high school coaches and then even the foundation that's been laid in these players, they work here. So that was really fun to be part of that. Q. Who were some of the guys you worked with -- ED SCHILLING: Collin Hartman was one. He's one of the guys that was coming in, the McRoberts a little bit. So some of those guys, got a chance to work with them when they were, gosh, junior high, and coached against like Collin, and when I was at Park Tudor, he was at Cathedral. Got a chance to coach against some of them, as well. Q. What did you learn from working extensively with Calipari, how did he shape your approach? ED SCHILLING: Well, I think the biggest thing I gleaned from Coach Cal is one, just how hard he got them to work. He knew the buttons to push. He knew how to push them, how to just maximize them. And I think if you see Coach Calipari's teams, you see how hard they play. And also sitting in in recruiting visits with Coach Cal, you see his charisma. You see how he connects with players regardless of their -- where they are from, whether it's a kid in the south or the north or rich or poor, he has an incredible ability to connect with them. I think the extent of how hard he gets them to play and how he connects with them in recruiting, and also to be able to challenge players the way he has over the years, but yet, at the end of the day, they know that he cares about them. Q. So when Archie gets the job, can you just talk about the process and how quickly you were on the radar, or did he reach out? ED SCHILLING: Well, it was actually through Sean Miller. He gave me a call and we just kind of small-talked, which isn't necessarily unusual. We were just kind of small-talking, lamenting about the testing of the waters and all that stuff that we were both dealing with at UCLA and Arizona. So we were just kind of talking and he says, "Okay, the real reason I'm calling here, kind of a go-between here. I know your roots in the Midwest and Indiana. Would you be interested in talking to my brother about Indiana?" I said, "Absolutely." He kind of put us together and we spoke that night and we spoke the next night and it was done. BRUISER FLINT: I mean, it's big-time basketball, that's for sure. For me, probably my thinking in coming here was a little different than some of the other guys. One, I came because I believe that Archie could get it done. That's probably the No. 1 thing. And then, you know, you come to play at one of the historic -- coming to work at one of the historic places in the country in college basketball history. For me it was working for Archie, because I could actually stay at home and relax if I wanted to. I know I wanted to work but I didn't have to jump at it. But Indiana, you know, the opportunity to come and work at a place like this is unbelievable. But my whole thing was: I want to work for Archie. I think he can get it done, and why not get it done at one of the best places you possibly can get it done at it. Q. How does Archie most impress you? BRUISER FLINT: Well, I know the Millers for a long time, his dad, his brother, his uncle, Uncle Tim for a very long time. For me I just watched him from afar a lot a little bit. Probably was in more social circles with Sean than I was with Archie. When you live in Philly, those guys come through town. Because they play LaSalle, they play St. Joseph, they played actually Temple when they were still in the league, and I would go and watch the games if I could. I knew a couple guys on the staff. So I've always watched them as he evolved as a coach and everything like that. That paid big dividends for me in terms of coming here when he called me. But you know, we sort of coach in a little bit of the same way, you know, tough defense, tough-minded. So watching him, in a way, I say I watch a little bit of myself and how they went about playing. He's had a lot of success, so I knew he would do a good job and I knew he had a reputation of being a guy who really got after it, got some good players. I recruited against him a little bit at Drexel a little bit, so I knew he got things done. He was a hard worker. Q. You talked about the defense and the tough-minded approach to coaching. Where did that develop in you as a coach? BRUISER FLINT: Me, go back to my high school coach probably. When I was in high school back in the days when you did think you can't do today, but my high school coach, if you ain't doing it the right way, you know what I mean, you got, as they would call, punished now. But no, my high school coach, and then I worked for two good guys, Fang Mitchell and John Calipari, who they were -- that's what it was all about. It was about playing defense, playing with toughness, challenging the guys a little bit. So my two guys who I sort of, my two mentors in the profession, that's their thing, both, defensive rebounding. They talk about defensive rebound and get your chance to win every night. Q. As your career has gone along, have you found it harder to instill that in players? BRUISER FLINT: Not necessarily. I always feel as though as a coach, if you have good relationships, you can get anything through to them, but you've got to have good relationships with them. Is it a little different than it was when I was coming up? Of course, I'm old, you know what I mean. But if you have a good relationship with them, you let them know you care, they will still go through the wall for you. Now, do they ask a few more questions than they did back in the day? Oh, without a doubt. But I think as long as you've got good relationships with the guys and they believe in you and you show in them that you believe in them, then you'll be fine. Q. I read that you visited Indiana last year, and if I'm not mistaken, it really stood out to you what you saw in being able to watch how you practice. As you now are in it more day-to-day, what maybe still jumps out from that visit last year and this current roster and group of guys? BRUISER FLINT: Well, the great detail and the practice, good enthusiasm, since I've been around the guys a little bit. The guys really work hard. Really like basketball. They are always in the gym. So as a coach, you want to see that. You don't always want to have to grab them and put in the gym all the time and they only show up when you schedule something. These guys have done a great job. I see them shooting around all the time with each other, playing all the time, when you're walking through a little bit. Those guys are always in the gym. So when you have a team, you have players that want to do that, you know they want to get better. But last year when I came to practice, I thought it was great detail, as detailed a practice as I've ever been around. I went to a lot of practices last year. But like I said, you know, being around the guys, you see they have really great enthusiasm and they really work hard. Q. What are some of the lessons, philosophies that you bring to the table from having been a collegiate head coach for so long? BRUISER FLINT: You know, like I've always said, like I said before, I think if you play defense and you rebound the ball, you give yourself a chance to win. You've got to take care of the ball a little bit. As a guard, that's one of the things you preach, take care of the ball. You know, like I said, you push the guys, if you've got good relationships, you can push them. You can coach them harder than most people think you can coach them. That would probably be my philosophy as a coach. You know, my thing was, hey, push them as hard as you can. I always used to say: I love you, I might love your game all the time, but I love you. You do that, I think you'll get what you need to get out of the players. But defensive rebounding I think always gives you an opportunity to win basketball games, and if you can do that and establish that, then you've got a good, fair chance of winning. Q. Piggybacking on Zach's question, your year away from coaching -- BRUISER FLINT: One of the reasons why -- I had a couple opportunities to work last year but one, I wanted to take some time off. It gave me a chance to go around, because you don't do that. When I first got in coaching, you did that a little bit, especially with teams in your area. But as time has come -- guys don't necessarily want -- I know why guys don't want you necessarily being at practices unless you're really friendly with them. But it gave me a chance to go around and check out some different things. Maybe I did see some things that I would probably do a little differently than I did as a head coach. One of the things I appreciated is not only guys would watch but guys would talk to me afterwards, you know what I mean. Come on in and let's talk some basketball. You see some things, you probably do a little bit differently. Also, too, I will say that I felt pretty good in that some of the things I was doing, you saw again, so, you know, I felt pretty good about that. When we sat down and talked, people were asking me as many questions as I asked them. So you went back and forth with the basketball thing. It was fun. I did not just college but I did NBA also, too. It was good. Like I said, I probably do some things a little differently but I also felt for myself selfishly that my foundation, I thought it was pretty good just from talking to the guys that I was talking to. Q. You and Coach Schilling both have experience working under Calipari. Aside from the defensive mindset, how else has he shaped your approach to your coaching career? BRUISER FLINT: I mean, I learned a lot from him. I mean, we're like best friends to be honest with you. Schilling was only there for a year, you know what I mean. He wasn't there the other time. He wasn't there when we were bad at UMASS. He came when the good was really good. (Laughing) Our relationship is more than just basketball to be honest with you. We talk about everything. So we were young. I mean, we were really young, and we talked about a lot of things, growing up, relationships with our families, with our players, all those things like that. For us, it was almost like, you grew up together, you know what I mean. You had a guy, your next door neighbor, y'all are together every day. So you experience a lot of things with each other. It was more than just basketball. That's why our relationship is the way it is today. So learned a lot of things. Cal coached you hard but Cal is a big relationship guy as you all saw from the thing last week. Those are the types of things you learn when you were young. I was 23 years old when I started work for him. It's more than that. But we always play defense. We also believe, one of the things we always talked about was having post presence. We think if you don't have post presence, you're a little bit of a fraud. So we talk about that all the time. You know, those types of things like that. Q. Back to your year off. Was there a point where you thought, maybe I don't come back to coaching? BRUISER FLINT: Oh, yeah, yeah. It was, one, I think I took it off to see whether or not I really wanted to continue to do it or do something else. So after about four months, I realized I wanted to go back and coach again. But I will be honest with you, I wasn't in a rush. I wasn't going to just get back into coaching to get back in coaching. I got lucky because I looked at Archie and said, okay, I think this would be a guy that can be a good person to work for. He got a bright future. He's already done very well. So I just wasn't going to take a job just to take it. I didn't have to to be honest with you. I did a couple TV things and they actually had talked to me about being full-time; we'll get you a full schedule within next year. But I knew after the time off that I really wanted to coach again. But I didn't really have to. I didn't have to just jump at any opportunity to go back and coach. So this was a good opportunity for me and it was a good person for me to go with. Q. How much did you recruit the Midwest? BRUISER FLINT: Not necessarily. If you had opportunity to be involved with some kids -- I've been coaching for a long time and you meet a lot of people and you talk to a lot of people. Honestly, the guys that I've talked to in the Midwest have all been calling me saying, see now you're out here, come out and recruit a couple of my guys. You know, just having relationship with guys because I did it for a long time, and they have sort of like, all right, come on out. I try to get you to come out before, you're an East Coast guy. So you know, now they might have a couple guys for you here and there. And you're at Indiana, so that's the other thing, also, too. But I mean, I just think recruiting is getting to know people, and like I said, I've been around. I've been around for a little minute now. It's just an opportunity, just now that I'm out here, and like I said, the guys that I've known for years -- come on out. But I had opportunity to recruit kids, we recruit Ohio, Chicago, even when I was at Drexel, UMASS. I've been around some of those guys. We just never really got them to come there, got them to come to the schools but we recruited their kids. Q. You said you knew after four months, you knew you wanted to get back in. Was there a moment or something that happened that all of a sudden, you realized that you wanted to do it? BRUISER FLINT: When you're in the house for like three days because it's snowing, right, and you've got nothing to do and you're watching TV all day, then you realize, okay, you've got to figure out what you want to do. And John Chaney always told me this, because I actually tease him about, oh, I ain't going to be 80 years old coaching and doing all this stuff. He said to me -- it's really true and I really found it out this year: One of the reasons why guys that coach for so long is that the kids give you energy. He says, being around the kids, they keep you going a little bit. He said, you'll be surprised. And last year, I missed that. I missed the interaction with the players and the kid and just being on a college campus all the time and being around the young people. So I missed that a little bit, and he was absolutely, positively correct about that. And you know, you miss being in the game. One thing about Philadelphia, it's very unique in that you've got the six Division I schools; everybody comes through there. In the East Coast, you're not that far away from -- I went to see Indiana at Maryland last year, so you're not that far away from going to see any conference, all types of people play. So that was the one advantage about being in the East Coast, and so you miss it, going to the games, you miss the excitement. But more than that, you miss being around the kids and the energy that they sort of give you to keep going every day. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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