Diary Series: Tim Kaine, Asst. Coach - Florida Atlantic

“Ups and Downs”

What a season it has been so far! Coming off of a championship season last year, the start of this season hasn’t quite been what our team thought it would be as of yet. With that said, we have started to turn it around by focusing more on our defensive principles and communication.  We have a talented team and are finally seeing in games what we have seen in practice.  I am writing this on the bus after a win vs. a good Troy team that can really shoot it. We were down 13 points to start the game and came back and took the lead going into halftime. Our team showed that they are fighters.

As any coach will tell you, we have a lot of ups and downs during the season.  Sometimes we let wins and even more so losses influence our moods and lives.  I’ve now been coaching for 10 years and I’ve been a part of 2 NCAA tournament teams, 1 NIT team and a few teams that struggled with rebuilding years.  Coaching is a roller coaster of emotions. Through my experience as a player and a coach, I have learned the importance of staying positive during the tough times.  Losing is always tough to take, but our attitude as coaches can be contagious throughout our team.   In order to improve it is critical to define our mistakes and fix them by teaching what we need to do to correct the problem.  This is a hard balance to give criticism while building confidence in our players.  As a coach, I hope to positively influence the result of games and the lives of these players.  

Speaking of battles, I have had 2 family friends who have recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer.  They only have a few months to live and that has really opened up my eyes. I have asked myself: What would my legacy be? How would I be remembered? I have so much left that I want to accomplish. After reading an e-mail from my dad about his mentor Col. Oakes and his positive attitude about coming to grips with cancer, I have gained perspective.  If he can be upbeat and positive, then I can be when things aren’t going our way this season. Something I found interesting is he no longer surfs the web because he doesn’t want to waste any of his precious time.  Most people nowadays think that being online is living and here is a man with months to live and he wants to interact with people in person or on the phone only.  Col. Oakes has been a mentor for my dad since he attended West Point and as he served in the US Army and beyond.  I know my dad owes a lot to Col. Oakes and I would like to personally thank him for all he has done for my family.  You are a great man and you helped turn a lot of young men into grown men.  I hope that one day I might have that same influence on young people. 

To all the Owl fans out there we are looking forward to seeing you in the “BURROW” as we take a young and very talented WKU team on Thursday night (1-26-12). Make sure you wear your white for “THE WHITE OUT”!

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