Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 29, 1993 TAG: 9308290064
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FRANK VEHORN LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
Actually, it was a major problem. Only a handful of players seemed capable of passing a running test required by new coach Jim Caldwell.
Caldwell had laid down the law at the end of spring practice. Those who did not pass would be sent home.
A small committee of players, who knew most of their teammates were struggling to meet the standards, went to Caldwell seeking relief.
"Coach, we might not have enough guys out there to practice," one said.
Caldwell didn't blink. He didn't back down, either.
"I was worried myself," he says now. "My assistant coaches were worried, too."
When preseason camp opened, only four players, two of them potential starters, failed the test that involved a series of 14 40-yard dashes.
They were sent home.
"A week later all four came back and passed the test," says Caldwell, a former Penn State assistant who has replaced Bill Dooley as head coach at Wake Forest.
Caldwell is the first African-American head coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and one of only three in Division I-A.
But it isn't the color of his skin that is drawing attention. Instead, he is known for his tireless work habits, his rigid rules and a promise to turn what has been the worst football program in the ACC into a national champion.
Caldwell already has let his players know he isn't impressed with last year's accomplishments - eight victories and the school's first bowl trip since 1979.
"He seems to think that was mediocre," says running back John Leach, one of the few starters returning from the bowl team.
"He wants us to keep striving. He says one day that we will win all 11 games and go unbeaten."
What does Leach think of Caldwell's goal?
"He is a great coach," Leach says, "but winning all 11 of them this year might be pushing it a little."
Whether the Deacons win them all or lose them all, Caldwell has assured his players of one thing: They will be the best-conditioned team in the nation.
"When he came here and we started winter conditioning program, I thought we were a track team, he had us running so much," Leach says.
Then came the 40-yard sprint tests that 75 percent of the team failed at the end of spring practice.
Caldwell says the conditioning test is the same one used at Penn State, where 8-4 records are mediocre.
"I told my players that I didn't want them to be mediocre," he said. "All I ask is that they prepare themselves like champions."
Caldwell makes no secret that most of his philosophies come from Penn State coach Joe Paterno, a man he seems to idolize.
"He is the best coach in the nation, and his program is one of the most successful in the nation. It is a program that works."
by CNB