University of Massachusets Athletics
Q&A with Mark Whipple
July 21, 1999 | Football
Q: How did you get into coaching?
A: I got into coaching because I thought I was going to go
into law school or go into business my senior year. Our first game
was on ABC against Yale and I stunk the place out and we lost 21-0.
The next week we probably played worse and we lost 17-3 to the
University of Rhode Island. We started out 0-2 and we were the
preseason selections for Ivy Champions. Andy Talley, who's now the
head coach at Villanova, asked what I thought about calling my own
plays. I said I'd love to do it and from then on I called my own
plays and we led the league in offense and ended up playing Dartmouth
for the Ivy Championship. During my senior year I just enjoyed
spending more time in the coaches' office and with the coaches, game
planning, watching tape and what that environment entailed. So, I
was fortunate that this happened during my senior year. I talked to
Joe Paterno, who's a Brown graduate, and I ended up following Andy
Talley to St. Lawrence when he took their head coaching job. I
really enjoyed it and it's all taken off from there. Ironically, I
can remember in high school having a search for identity class that
talked about whether you wanted the profession you chose to be one
where you wore leisure clothes or a suit and a tie. I said that I
wanted to do both and this job works out that way.
Q: How would you describe your coaching philosophy?
A: Aggressive and passionate, with a sense of enjoyment.
We want to take the initiative. I believe you can learn a lot from
kids as they change and we'll listen to them. The feed back from
them is important to us and that might be a little bit different.
The relationships you have to form with them so that they have
confidence and are able to have sincerity in their beliefs in
conversation help formulate our philosophy and the direction the
program's going to go.
Q: Who are some of the people, as you came up through the
ranks, that had the most influence on the way you coach and how you
approach your job?
A: All of the coaches that I've had &emdash, I've taken
something from every coach that I've had. I can remember going back
to Pop Warner and seventh and eighth grade. My first three teams
that I played on were like 1-27, but it was fun. I really enjoyed
going to football practices even though I had more success in
baseball and basketball. My high school coach Jesse Parker was a
great influence who loved coaching discipline and toughness and the
mental aspects of the game. We ended up winning the state
championship in football and ultimately that success led me to Brown
University. Bill Saunders, the offensive coordinator, had a big
impact on me and also Charlie Webb, my high school baseball coach.
We played for the state championship every year and those guys
stressed academics and were talking about colleges where I could play
both sports. There wasn't a jealousy factor between the people
pulling for me.
Then when I got to college, John Anderson at Brown and Woody
Woodworth, my baseball coach at Brown and also a football coach were
very influential in some of the things that they did. I had more
success in football but baseball was a great learning experience at
Brown. Andy Talley and all the coaches I worked for including Joe
Wirth, who was the head coach at Union, helped me along. I got a
break when I got to work for George Allen with the Arizona Wranglers.
He and Roman Gabriel had a profound effect on what we do on offense
in the passing game. Then you come back to Bill Bowes at New
Hampshire and seeing the way they run their program there. Those
experiences gave me a chance to be a head coach at 29. Then your
kind of on your own and you use bits and pieces that you retain from
all the people that we meet, whether its Bobby Bowden during a trip
to Florida State, Bill Parcells when he was with the Patriots, or
Dick MacPherson on a visit to Syracuse. Everybody that you touch on,
you learn from.
That's the thing I'm most excited about coming to UMass, the
chance to learn. That's something that came from my Brown education,
that you keep your doors open. When you stop learning, you stop
growing.
Q: At your opening press conference you described UMass as
a "sleeping giant." What did you mean by that?
A: This school has great respect outside of New England,
and I believe that even more so now. The talk about I-A is a big
part of it and something that I didn't recognize at first just how
much it meant, but that's important too. When people talk about
UMass they look at all the championships won here, the most Yankee
Conference wins of anyone. The academic support is tremendous.
Things are in place for us to be successful. I don't think you can
have tradition without commitment, and we have that here and it has
been there. It's important here to be successful.
Q: How important is it for you to foster the attachment
between the community and UMass football?
A: I feel that it's crucial to success. We have to
support one another. I know we won't be successful without it. We
need the support of the alumni organizations, the support of the
students, even the support of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as
the state institution. We have to reach out and give back to the
area and the local programs in the cities and towns. Sometimes I
think college students can become complacent and forget about the
world outside. This will help them understand that there is more to
life than just football and classes.
Q: One of your first tasks here is recruiting. What kinds
of players are you looking for at UMass?
A: Good ones. Great ones. The best we can find. This
school allows you not to take a back set to anyone. You have a name
that immediately gets you in the door all across the country, and
especially in New England. People recognize UMass and you don't have
to take the time to explain yourself and just where you're coming
from to recruits. You skip past that part and get right down to the
more specific football information.
Q: You've been a head coach in New England for 10 years
now. How are the recruiting contacts that you've made both in New
England and beyond going to benefit UMass?
A: I don't think that there's any doubt that you will see
the benefits of that. Strong recruiting ties to UMass already exist
mainly in Massachusetts, New England, New Jersey, Long Island and in
eastern New York. Players from those places come here and they know
that they're treated with respect and given an opportunity to fulfill
their potential. They are better people when they leave UMass and
the high school coaches know that. I feel that this is the most
important factor in a football program &emdash, personal improvement.
It's important that you improve in your overall aptitude and your
confidence in addition to just in academics and to have the people
who leave here to be assets to the community and the world. A few of
our players will go to the NFL, but not a lot of them, and it is
important that they are ready for graduation and the end of
football.
Q: Your offense at New Haven was called the best in the
nation, regardless of division by Sports Illustrated. At
Brown they called it the "Whiplash" offense. UMass has been known
for running the ball offensively for years. How do you plan on
implementing it here?
A: It's going to be the same offense I've used for years
once we adapt it slightly to the players here. The offense gives us
the flexibility to run the ball, but it all comes from the pass.
Everything revolves around us throwing the ball. By the end of the
year we'll be in great shape. We'll get better from the first game
on. I know that because it's taken time at all of my stops. I know
it will be much easier than at UNH when I had to teach everyone.
Now, I'm a much better coach myself, and I have a staff that
understands it as well, and this will help our level of play be
better.
What will make us better at it though is not games but
practices. We'll learn much more through four years of practices and
get better at running this offense than with the Delaware game to
open next season. This has happened at every stop. The teams have
made great improvements in scoring and offensive yardage totals.
Overall with this offense though, I'll teach fundamentals and
then the little things that come off of them, and this will occur in
all three phases of the game. We're not going to practice fake punts
on the first day. We'll start with punt protection and coverage and
then later work on the fake.
Q: Your offensive philosophies of high passing yardage and
high scores are well known. What will your defensive philosophy be
at UMass?
A: Just the opposite. I want fewer yards and no scores.
Just like every other facet of this team we will have to be
aggressive. Good run defense is a necessity in this, or any league
for that matter. Having both sides work together is my philosophy.
People say that defense wins championships, but it's really great
teams that win championships. You need a combination of the two
because even if you have the best defense you still have to be able
to move the ball on offense. You have to have a combination of both.
Just look at Nebraska. They just won the national championship, but
they did not have the top defense in the nation. As a part of my
philosophy, I don't want one unit getting more recognition than the
other.
Q: What did you learn from your experience with the USFL's
Arizona Wranglers, both in terms of working with George Allen and
also seeing the proverbial next level up close and learning what it
takes to get collegiate players there?
A: That's a business and as such, the intensity of the game
and the commitment is far greater. The biggest things that George
showed me are focus and that football is football. There's really no
difference between Pop Warner and the highest level. In either,
fundamentals and technique are perfected in practices. Whether
you're the Green Bay Packers or playing in the Amherst Youth League,
many things don't change. Except for the caliber of the players,
things remain the same. It's just the schemes that are different.
At all levels you have to work hard and have a direction and focus
based on your systems.
Q: You brought five assistants with you from Brown. How
has having a cohesive unit as a staff eased the transition?
A: We certainly hit the road running and this helped in
recruiting. They know me well and how we do things. They know what
I want and what I expect. I know them and how they operate and
there's a certain amount of trust that develops out of this. Plus
there wasn't a whole lot of assembling of a staff which was very
important in our time frame. I feel like we're in a good position
now with where we're heading.
Q: What are your goals for this season?
A: Improvement, and ultimately, to win the national
championship. But, the bottom line for this year is just to improve
the entire program. Attendance, facilities, players, coaches and our
community service all need to improve. If we can do everything, it
will show on the field on Saturday. So often things are broken down
into black and white and put in terms of wins and losses. That
honestly can't reflect what a program's all about to me. It just
takes time to make the necessary improvements, and we plan on getting
better in 1998.
