Sport: The Will to Prepare

It was the fourth quarter, nine minutes to go, and top-rated Michigan was trailing underdog Iowa 21-13. The 72,096 fans in Michigan Stadium at Ann Arbor were braced for an upset. Then Michigan got the ball on its own nine-yard line, and Wolverine Quarterback Jim Maddock began throwing passes. Iowa had been playing a brilliant game, but now the afternoon's battering began to tell on the Iowa defense. Two series of Maddock passes netted touchdowns and Halfback Tony Branoff ran 30 yards for a third. In nine minutes, Michigan scored 20 points, won the game 33-21, and preserved its perfect record (6-0) in the 1955 football season.

While one of the most stirring rallies in Big Ten football history unfolded on the field, a big, shaggy man walked stolidly back and forth in front of the Michigan bench. Under similar pressures, other big-time coaches kick water buckets, curse officials, bully their assistants, and alternately cheer and chew out their players. Michigan's Benjamin Oosterbaan, 49, seems as imperturbable as a 50-yard stripe. But his men know that, inside, he suffers. Says one: "He looks like a character out of a Russian novel."

Notebook of Maxims. In his office on Michigan's campus, Bennie Oosterbaan keeps a notebook filled with the sayings of the late great Michigan coach, Fielding ("Hurry-Up") Yost. "The will to win is not worth a nickel," says one of the Yost maxims, "unless you have the will to prepare." Oosterbaan, who played under Yost, follows that rule rigidly. For three hours every morning, an hour and a half before afternoon practice and two hours afterward, he and his assistants lay plans for the next game. Key decisions are often settled by a staff vote.

At practice sessions Oosterbaan's assistants give the orders. Oosterbaan strolls along the field, occasionally shouting "Beauty, beauty, beauty!" when he spots a good play. Sometimes he calls for the ball and gives a personal demonstration (he was an All-America end and pass receiver for famed Benny Friedman on the great Michigan teams of 1925-27).

How to Build Morale. "You don't put morale on like a coat," Hurry-Up Yost used to say. "You build it day by day." It is another Yost dictum that Oosterbaan follows by keeping players relaxed and happy. (As a sophomore, he himself was once kicked off the squad for "lassitude" by an assistant coach, but Yost got him back.) He never uses sarcasm to goad a player, never loses his temper, almost never makes dressing-room pep speeches.

The only time there is a real flap around Oosterbaan is when he is about to draw one of his elaborate strategy diagrams or prepare to read reports on a rival team's performance and finds that he has misplaced his reading glasses. Then everything stops and his aides go through a standard routine, beginning with a search of his pockets, an investigation of his room and leading up to a recap of all the places he has been that day.

At times this season, Oosterbaan's boys have been over-relaxed and careless, but they always rallied in the clinches, beat Army 26-2, won over Michigan State (the only team to beat Notre Dame) and over Missouri, Minnesota and Northwestern before taking Iowa. Chances are that before long Coach Oosterbaan will be wearing Rose-Bowl-colored specs.