Indiana University Athletics
Coach Crean Gives Speech at IU Police Academy Graduation
8/17/2016 3:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Indiana University men's basketball coach Tom Crean had the honor of addressing the 2016 Indiana University Police Academy graduating class and their families and guests Saturday. August 13 at Alumni Hall in Memorial Union. The following are highlights from his address.
"It is beyond an honor to be here. I really can't put into words what it means to be in front of so many people that have so much to do with making our world better, from our campus to our community, our state and our nation. I would say this, with Captain Butler and looking at how he is accepting all of these well-wishes and with the humility he has for them. The greatest respect that he can get from his cadets, and I'm taking the liberty of speaking without asking, is to go out and live up to your training, your preparation, and your character as you have shown to him and his entire staff as you go out into this world.
I think that one of the great things about today is that you are embarking on your passion. That's the incredible thing. That's something that each and every one of us has gotten to know. I'm a parent, as well as a spouse, and we've got people in here that have raised you, prayed over you, nurtured you, disciplined you, and cared for you. But the most important thing that any parent wants for their child is for them to be happy, for them to be successful, and for them to do it the right way.
"And when you have a passion and are getting an opportunity to embark on it, no matter what emotions everybody feels out there right now, the fact is that all of these people are getting a chance to go out into the world and get to take advantage of the passion they have. When you look back, whether you were born and raised into law enforcement or it hit you a few years ago, and it hit you that this is what you wanted to do, that's when your confidence took off. Your greatest moment, or your hardest day, no matter what it is, whatever put you in this position to have a passion and sit where you sit right now having no idea what it would really take to get to this point, and having less of an idea of what awaits you out there, the passion is going to be in your confidence every day. There's no doubt about it.
"When I grew up in Michigan, my mother was one of nine children and she had family members in law enforcement. I had an uncle who ended up directing the homicide division in Saginaw, Michigan. I have a cousin that was a city policeman in Saginaw. I have a cousin who went from city police to state police in Lansing, to become a sniper on the SWAT team in the state of Michigan. For many days, I thought that's what my life was going to be. I thought that patch - I have one from Saginaw that was from my uncle, and I wore that thing everywhere. I used to put it on my shirt, because I knew I couldn't wear the shirt everyday but I could carry that patch everyday and I wore it out. The patch to me was the first visual, like, 'This is really special.' I can't imagine what it's like to get your badge. I can't imagine what it's going to feel like to protect one another while you're out there serving and protecting this community, this state, or this country, but it's coming. I have incredible respect for that.
"Along the way, my passion turned into basketball. My passion turned into coaching. And just as sure as you knew what you wanted to do; I knew what I wanted to do too. When it hits you, there's nothing like it because you take off with it. And everything that comes your way tries to knock you back, but that confidence and passion mixed together will be what carries you through and puts you to where you have to be.
"Today is a celebration not just because you're all here, or because you're honoring Captain Butler, or because you're graduating. When you go out into the world and take your next step and look at the opportunities that are going to be out there, not only with the IU Police Department, but with the city and state police and other police agencies in this state and country, up to the FBI, CIA, DEA, and even law school. Our world is going to be a safer place than it was the day you started. That's not hyperbole, that's not 'coach speak', that is real.
"The world needs passionate leaders, it really does. There's a lot of leadership out there, and we get to pick and choose in this country to determine what we view is the right kind of leadership and the wrong kind of leadership. I'm telling you now, all of us up here and in the audience are looking at the right kind of leadership.
"We are looking at that, because you have an opportunity right now to protect this world in a way that we can't. We don't get to protect our families when they're not with us the way that you will. In my case, I don't get to protect my players, and we don't get to protect others the way you get to. That is an incredible responsibility. The responsibility that I have, I feel it, I live it, you can read about it 24/7, but it's not even close to the responsibility that you have. I would be remiss to think otherwise, because what you're doing is protecting so many things: our freedom, our rights, and you're protecting us from our weaknesses, our bad attitudes, our negativity, and all the aspects that weigh us down and in turn hurt somebody else. Don't ever get away from it.
"Experience this great future, and day one will lead to day two, and day two to day three. In this world right now, you have to rely on the experience you have. You have to rely on your instincts right now. You have to rely on your training and your preparation. But at the end of the day, you're in your position for a reason. God made every one of us equally, and we all have different circumstances, different situations that we come through, and different ways that we live our life. But God didn't make us any differently that he did another. It all comes down to what we do with what we have. And you have an opportunity right now to doing even more for people that don't understand that than you can possibly imagine. And don't let anything or anyone get in the way of you understanding what that's going to take, because they will try.
"John McGrath, a CEO of an Australian real estate company, said, "The world will challenge you and try to distract and confuse you or ridicule you. Complexity is easy, simplicity is harder. Simplicity is removing the layers of complexity, the excuses, and all the unnecessary and unproductive debates." There are going to be so many things, so many people, and so many circumstances that try to put you off your mark, interrupt your passion, confuse your training and preparation. They try to confuse your ideals of why you did this in the first place, and you can never let it hide. Not because me and my family, and all the others in this room who have trained and supported you are counting on you, but because that's not what you signed up for.
Maybe the world is completely insane. It obviously is, but you made this decision. Maybe there are so many things out there that are different from what you thought of them. I guarantee that each and every one of you had an opportunity to turn back—parents, they had an opportunity to turn back—but they didn't do it. That's not only a reflection of them; that's a reflection of you. That's a reflection of the confidence and courage and what you've instilled in them in their life. I can promise you, there's a long list of people that would've said, 'No, I'm going to try something else. My passion is not greater than what I'm getting ready to embark upon. But yours is. And your confidence comes from that training will help make that passion even greater. See, passion is a buzzword. It's overused and under-taught because nobody can really tell what each person's passion is. But you guys have it and you're sitting here together. Maybe you got it in a different place, and a different time frame, but you have it. And now as you go through when you work together in another day in your life, or whether you walk into a completely different environment, your job is to use that passion and help bring it out in other people.
"And not only with people that you work with, there is a world of people out there that have the passion but they don't know how to express it, or they have gotten off track or circumstances have gotten in the way. And the consequences don't mean as much because of something that happened in their life. And your job is to help them keep exuding that passion.
"You are teachers and you are coaches'. We all are. When a player comes in to Indiana – I don't care if they are a freshman or a junior college transfer – they are a leader. They are a leader from the moment they walk in. They either exude good leadership or poor leadership, but they are bringing something to the table. We don't need 'baggage handlers' in our program. Our world doesn't need 'baggage handlers' in our police departments and law enforcement. They need people that are going to exude passion and leadership and will do what it takes to make it better. They will do what it takes to help people be more successful. Don't ever lose sight because your training and preparation and passion and how it can help people that you have no idea it helped. That's where coaching and leadership come in.
"One thing that really helped me, I read it during my second year at Indiana and I wish I would have read it earlier. I wish I would have read it when I was your age and just getting into coaching. I started coaching in college at the age of 20. I got my first graduate assistant job in Division I at age 23 and a full-time assistant job at age 24. I had no idea what this would all entail. Fortunately, I was around some good teachers along the way.
"And don't ever miss out on an opportunity to help teach somebody. Don't ever miss out on one of those 'teachable moments' that you have always heard about. You're getting ready to learn. And if you are waiting for five years, eight years, ten years. If you are waiting for a promotion. If you are waiting for an advancement, don't wait for that. Do it now. Unless the people you are serving and the people you are serving with see the same person. Be absolutely cognizant of how you can make the people you are working with better. Not do their job for them or tell them how to do their job. Don't walk in with all of your grand ideas and say 'You need to do it this way', but respect the authority and respect the chain of command. Show them that you have been trained the right way and are willing to do everything that needs to be done in order to be successful. Show them that you are willing to go the extra mile and the extra mile past that to make your department or your agency the best it can possibly be. And when you get out there in those streets… Celebrate the fact that you are getting ready to take yourself into a world that needs you badly. Badly. And the way you can adjust and help is by serving them and making them better.
"Yes, there will be times that go off the windmill, and you are trained to react in a forceful way. Yes, there will be times when you will deal with unreasonable and unrealistic people. You know that. But at the end of the day, God created every single one of us in the same breath. And every one of us has decisions and choices to make and every one of us has made mistakes. If one of you can help someone overcome (their mistakes) or help them grow from theirs, and help somebody not make the next one, the better you are going to be. The reward you are going to feel will be so much greater than the reward that Capt. Butler or anyone else could give you because you helped someone be their very best.
"There will be distractions. And there will be negatives and positives. Positivity can bloat you and negativity can deflate you. As I look back at our season, I know I talked a lot about basketball, but our improvement and our resiliency throughout this season, especially after the Duke game when we were 5-3…we went to Maui and didn't play very well. We lost a close game at the beginning. We ended up with a 3-point scoring differential over the three games but went 1-2. And there were people that would have liked to see me not have an office to go back to when we got back. There were people that would have liked to not see some of our players out on the court the next game. That's the way it is. We won a couple games and then we go to Duke and we didn't play very good. We didn't compete at the highest of levels that we can compete at. The game plan we had going into that game was that we didn't want to foul Duke so they could beat us at the foul line. We didn't want to be in the situation where Duke was in the bonus early on – they are hard to beat anyways, but if you give them the free throw advantage, they are almost impossible to beat. That game was almost the coaches fault as much as anything else. And I was able to tell my team that when we got back in the film room.
"But all around us in early December, so many things were swirling. Now we had the confidence after all the pumping up early and beating our chest because we were going to be pretty good. And then all of a sudden it became 'How was I going to survive (as coach)?' and 'How is this team going to survive?' and this team isn't going to be very good and the whole deal. And what everyone of us learned in that room is – and it's something that the quicker you can learn and the quicker you can apply it and, most importantly, when you can repeat it day after day, the better you are going to be – it's as simple as being able to control what you can control.
"We couldn't control what was being said. We couldn't control the negativity. We couldn't control what was being written. All we could control was what we needed to be and what we needed to get better at. And it wasn't what everyone else thought we needed to get better at. Our defense wasn't nearly as bad as our offense. Our offense was supposed to be our strength and it wasn't even close to that. We needed to become really focused on building our strengths so we could minimize our weaknesses. Because at that time, we were away from our strengths.
"When you think about how this applies to you and how it applies to you as you grown and learn. Because you will deal with positivity and you will deal with negativity. And what you allow yourself to internalize, that will drive you. If you put 30 minutes of negativity in your system, it's not 30 minutes before you can get rid of it. It might be in there for 30 days or three more days. If you put positivity in there and you allow that to inflate you and motivate you for a short time and you start to feel like you can't do anything wrong…you have to be able to look at what really matters and that's what you internalize. You don't internalize what everyone out there says. You don't internalize the negativity. You don't take it personal when someone doesn't look at you and respect you the way that they should. You help teach them what it is supposed to look like. You stay focused on what absolutely matters to making you successful, making your department successful and your partner successful.
You don't have to look very far to get an opinion, you just have to turn your phone on. Do not let anything distract you from the passion that you have, because they will try. They will try. You let them succeed, only you. If you do not internalize it and you stay focused on what matters, you stay focused on the mission ahead, you keep your life and your faith exactly where it needs to be and you keep moving forward you will not be stopped. The last thing before I close, do not forget to breathe. I am not kidding, do not forget to breathe. I learned it in Lamaze class, cleansing breaths. Anybody know what a cleansing breath is? Put your hands up.
You see our guys in the offseason or on social media wearing the training masks. They are not just another gadget in my mind. We learned that we use less than 50 percent of our lung capacity. We put those training masks on to help us focus on our breathing, go deeper into our breathing. We take those breathing lessons inside of a game to help us slow down, to help us pause or to help us get back to center. I do it throughout the game, I know that it does not look like it when I coaching, but I do. I encourage you to do it. Do not ever forget to pray and do not ever forget to breathe.
You can find something that puts you in the state that you need to be in to be able to handle any situation in the way that your training, your preparation and your confidence tells you to do it and that nothing and no one is going to distract me from what I am trying to do. I have been in California with my son for the last couple of days, and I knew I was going to be here today, so I brainstormed last night about something I wanted to add. For what this is worth to you, I had six people last night, four in the world of sports, one in the world of politics and one in the world of law enforcement who is a gentleman that I had met this summer by the name of Captain Cory Palka, a captain of the Hollywood police division, who I got a chance to meet because my daughter was out there this summer, between last night and this morning I got those responses back that I had asked for. It says a lot about the respect that people have when none of them know you, they are not from here, aside from the two that are on the staff. I asked them all the same thing: give me a quote that I can use tomorrow when I speak for these officers.
This is from Captain Cory Palka, "in the end it is not just the police are the people, but the people are the police. We must always culture to that principle. Together as one body we protect and serve our communities. Police officers are guardians, not warriors. Guardians are good, of just cause and correctness in a very turbulent world."
I have a couple of brother-in-laws that coach football and they were the first two in with their responses.
This is from Jim Harbaugh, "Frank Regan said on Blue Bloods, cops are held to a higher standard of accountability than the rest of the population and they should be. But do not forget that they are people too. Men and women subject to the same doubts and regrets that all of us are. I am not asking for anyone to cut us any slack, not at all, but a little recognition for the conditions in which our men and women operate would go a long way. You have my thanks, recognition and congratulations."
This comes from John Harbaugh, "the most honorable profession we have is an officer who stands the gap between freedom and fear."
These are profound, I mean, these are unbelievable. A couple more.
Mike McCarthy, coach of the Green Bay Packers who played a game last night. I figured out he sent this to me after he met with the media but before he even went home for the night. "My father served 38 years in public safety, eight in the police department and thirty as a firefighter. Law enforcement is essential for balance in our society. Discipline only works if enforced consistently from established relationships with continuing education. Special people who serve, humility, you cannot lead before you serve. They must know how much you care before they care how much you know."
That is the same thing you would say to a team, the same thing I hope I would say to a team and the same thing that they would say to you. That is the respect that people have.
This is from our coach of the Indianapolis Colts, Chuck Pagano. I got this in a later text. He said he was honored that I would think of him for this. "There is not greater expression of respect than what is owed to the men and women that put their lives on the line every day for our safety and security. Without them there is no us."
Really strong. The last thing is for the parents. You have raised your children in one of four ways to me. To be enabled, to be entitled, to be encouraged or with empathy. I am willing to go out on a limb and bet, from the bottom of my heart, that they would not be sitting here in this room if you had raised them with enablement and entitlement. So we will wipe those two of the books. We know that happens in life, but I do not think that has happened in here. Somewhere along the way that encouragement, and the fact that they understand empathy, the fact that you gave them courage and conviction to be in here that should be the confidence that you need as they move forward. You have trained them well, you have turned them over and let them chase their passion
"I've learned so much about myself and being a parent and I'm putting myself out there with you right now, and the world that most people send their children in to, can't even equate to what you send your own children in to. You can't forget to pray every day and get to the point where your faith is first every day too. But remember this, they wouldn't be sitting there – no matter who it is, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters or grandparents – without what you have done to give them that ability to understand what real passion is all about. To understand what real empathy is all about. Keep encouraging. Keep training.
"Just because they put that badge on and they call you out to the real world, just like when then turn their players to us to play at Indiana, they are not out of the equation. Because those parents and those that care for them are there for them every day. They never get rid of them.
"And the last couple things on that, I have two messages from an author and his description of parents. What would you say to the parents, that the police agency would prepare them for life. That they would protect them, they would train them as they grow in their careers. Thank them for growing young men and women of character and encouraging their son or daughter to pursue such a noble profession in which servant leadership is the foundation. The academy can train you for different on-the-job duties, but character comes from the parents, who have committed a lifetime of love and compassion to raise a child who has chosen to become a police officer. There is no greater honor than that.
"And last, but certainly not least, I reached out to Governor Pence, who has been gracious and come to some games and things like that. Obviously, he has a busy life going for him right now. He sent me a message, that I received about 7:30 a.m. this morning. It said: 'In these challenging times, we owe a special debt of gratitude for the men and women who step forward to serve on the thin blue line of law enforcement at Indiana University. But we also equal that gratitude to the parents and their families, who raised and supported them as they answered the call to serve our communities this day. Please offer my heartfelt congratulations to the newest members of the IUPD and offer my thanks to the parents of these heroic Hoosiers for raising such courageous men and women. Governor Mike Pence."
"I was inspired. What I learned more than ever, just like Capt. Butler, is that it's not about any of us. All of us, we pale in comparison. For those of us that have responsibilities in life, to be a husband or a wife or a parent, and I know what a great honor it is to be a coach, and I can look out at you and what you are getting ready to embark on and the title that you are going to carry and the title that other members of law enforcement carry, it's far greater. Don't ever lose sight that you will likely be parents, if you aren't already and you will be a spouse, if you aren't already. Don't ever lose sight that you are someone's son or daughter or grandson or granddaughter.
"As you go off into this, you have the passion. You have the fortitude. Use each other to get through things. Take every opportunity to make everyone you come in contact with better. Be it at the morning roll call or when you check out at night and everyone that you meet in between. God created every one of us equal and not to fail. But we all fail at some point in time. Stay true to your values. Stay true to your faith. Stay true to your training. Don't ever lose that passion. It has been an absolute honor, from the bottom of my heart, to be here to speak to you. Thank you."
"It is beyond an honor to be here. I really can't put into words what it means to be in front of so many people that have so much to do with making our world better, from our campus to our community, our state and our nation. I would say this, with Captain Butler and looking at how he is accepting all of these well-wishes and with the humility he has for them. The greatest respect that he can get from his cadets, and I'm taking the liberty of speaking without asking, is to go out and live up to your training, your preparation, and your character as you have shown to him and his entire staff as you go out into this world.
I think that one of the great things about today is that you are embarking on your passion. That's the incredible thing. That's something that each and every one of us has gotten to know. I'm a parent, as well as a spouse, and we've got people in here that have raised you, prayed over you, nurtured you, disciplined you, and cared for you. But the most important thing that any parent wants for their child is for them to be happy, for them to be successful, and for them to do it the right way.
"And when you have a passion and are getting an opportunity to embark on it, no matter what emotions everybody feels out there right now, the fact is that all of these people are getting a chance to go out into the world and get to take advantage of the passion they have. When you look back, whether you were born and raised into law enforcement or it hit you a few years ago, and it hit you that this is what you wanted to do, that's when your confidence took off. Your greatest moment, or your hardest day, no matter what it is, whatever put you in this position to have a passion and sit where you sit right now having no idea what it would really take to get to this point, and having less of an idea of what awaits you out there, the passion is going to be in your confidence every day. There's no doubt about it.
"When I grew up in Michigan, my mother was one of nine children and she had family members in law enforcement. I had an uncle who ended up directing the homicide division in Saginaw, Michigan. I have a cousin that was a city policeman in Saginaw. I have a cousin who went from city police to state police in Lansing, to become a sniper on the SWAT team in the state of Michigan. For many days, I thought that's what my life was going to be. I thought that patch - I have one from Saginaw that was from my uncle, and I wore that thing everywhere. I used to put it on my shirt, because I knew I couldn't wear the shirt everyday but I could carry that patch everyday and I wore it out. The patch to me was the first visual, like, 'This is really special.' I can't imagine what it's like to get your badge. I can't imagine what it's going to feel like to protect one another while you're out there serving and protecting this community, this state, or this country, but it's coming. I have incredible respect for that.
"Along the way, my passion turned into basketball. My passion turned into coaching. And just as sure as you knew what you wanted to do; I knew what I wanted to do too. When it hits you, there's nothing like it because you take off with it. And everything that comes your way tries to knock you back, but that confidence and passion mixed together will be what carries you through and puts you to where you have to be.
"Today is a celebration not just because you're all here, or because you're honoring Captain Butler, or because you're graduating. When you go out into the world and take your next step and look at the opportunities that are going to be out there, not only with the IU Police Department, but with the city and state police and other police agencies in this state and country, up to the FBI, CIA, DEA, and even law school. Our world is going to be a safer place than it was the day you started. That's not hyperbole, that's not 'coach speak', that is real.
"The world needs passionate leaders, it really does. There's a lot of leadership out there, and we get to pick and choose in this country to determine what we view is the right kind of leadership and the wrong kind of leadership. I'm telling you now, all of us up here and in the audience are looking at the right kind of leadership.
"We are looking at that, because you have an opportunity right now to protect this world in a way that we can't. We don't get to protect our families when they're not with us the way that you will. In my case, I don't get to protect my players, and we don't get to protect others the way you get to. That is an incredible responsibility. The responsibility that I have, I feel it, I live it, you can read about it 24/7, but it's not even close to the responsibility that you have. I would be remiss to think otherwise, because what you're doing is protecting so many things: our freedom, our rights, and you're protecting us from our weaknesses, our bad attitudes, our negativity, and all the aspects that weigh us down and in turn hurt somebody else. Don't ever get away from it.
"Experience this great future, and day one will lead to day two, and day two to day three. In this world right now, you have to rely on the experience you have. You have to rely on your instincts right now. You have to rely on your training and your preparation. But at the end of the day, you're in your position for a reason. God made every one of us equally, and we all have different circumstances, different situations that we come through, and different ways that we live our life. But God didn't make us any differently that he did another. It all comes down to what we do with what we have. And you have an opportunity right now to doing even more for people that don't understand that than you can possibly imagine. And don't let anything or anyone get in the way of you understanding what that's going to take, because they will try.
"John McGrath, a CEO of an Australian real estate company, said, "The world will challenge you and try to distract and confuse you or ridicule you. Complexity is easy, simplicity is harder. Simplicity is removing the layers of complexity, the excuses, and all the unnecessary and unproductive debates." There are going to be so many things, so many people, and so many circumstances that try to put you off your mark, interrupt your passion, confuse your training and preparation. They try to confuse your ideals of why you did this in the first place, and you can never let it hide. Not because me and my family, and all the others in this room who have trained and supported you are counting on you, but because that's not what you signed up for.
Maybe the world is completely insane. It obviously is, but you made this decision. Maybe there are so many things out there that are different from what you thought of them. I guarantee that each and every one of you had an opportunity to turn back—parents, they had an opportunity to turn back—but they didn't do it. That's not only a reflection of them; that's a reflection of you. That's a reflection of the confidence and courage and what you've instilled in them in their life. I can promise you, there's a long list of people that would've said, 'No, I'm going to try something else. My passion is not greater than what I'm getting ready to embark upon. But yours is. And your confidence comes from that training will help make that passion even greater. See, passion is a buzzword. It's overused and under-taught because nobody can really tell what each person's passion is. But you guys have it and you're sitting here together. Maybe you got it in a different place, and a different time frame, but you have it. And now as you go through when you work together in another day in your life, or whether you walk into a completely different environment, your job is to use that passion and help bring it out in other people.
"And not only with people that you work with, there is a world of people out there that have the passion but they don't know how to express it, or they have gotten off track or circumstances have gotten in the way. And the consequences don't mean as much because of something that happened in their life. And your job is to help them keep exuding that passion.
"You are teachers and you are coaches'. We all are. When a player comes in to Indiana – I don't care if they are a freshman or a junior college transfer – they are a leader. They are a leader from the moment they walk in. They either exude good leadership or poor leadership, but they are bringing something to the table. We don't need 'baggage handlers' in our program. Our world doesn't need 'baggage handlers' in our police departments and law enforcement. They need people that are going to exude passion and leadership and will do what it takes to make it better. They will do what it takes to help people be more successful. Don't ever lose sight because your training and preparation and passion and how it can help people that you have no idea it helped. That's where coaching and leadership come in.
"One thing that really helped me, I read it during my second year at Indiana and I wish I would have read it earlier. I wish I would have read it when I was your age and just getting into coaching. I started coaching in college at the age of 20. I got my first graduate assistant job in Division I at age 23 and a full-time assistant job at age 24. I had no idea what this would all entail. Fortunately, I was around some good teachers along the way.
"And don't ever miss out on an opportunity to help teach somebody. Don't ever miss out on one of those 'teachable moments' that you have always heard about. You're getting ready to learn. And if you are waiting for five years, eight years, ten years. If you are waiting for a promotion. If you are waiting for an advancement, don't wait for that. Do it now. Unless the people you are serving and the people you are serving with see the same person. Be absolutely cognizant of how you can make the people you are working with better. Not do their job for them or tell them how to do their job. Don't walk in with all of your grand ideas and say 'You need to do it this way', but respect the authority and respect the chain of command. Show them that you have been trained the right way and are willing to do everything that needs to be done in order to be successful. Show them that you are willing to go the extra mile and the extra mile past that to make your department or your agency the best it can possibly be. And when you get out there in those streets… Celebrate the fact that you are getting ready to take yourself into a world that needs you badly. Badly. And the way you can adjust and help is by serving them and making them better.
"Yes, there will be times that go off the windmill, and you are trained to react in a forceful way. Yes, there will be times when you will deal with unreasonable and unrealistic people. You know that. But at the end of the day, God created every single one of us in the same breath. And every one of us has decisions and choices to make and every one of us has made mistakes. If one of you can help someone overcome (their mistakes) or help them grow from theirs, and help somebody not make the next one, the better you are going to be. The reward you are going to feel will be so much greater than the reward that Capt. Butler or anyone else could give you because you helped someone be their very best.
"There will be distractions. And there will be negatives and positives. Positivity can bloat you and negativity can deflate you. As I look back at our season, I know I talked a lot about basketball, but our improvement and our resiliency throughout this season, especially after the Duke game when we were 5-3…we went to Maui and didn't play very well. We lost a close game at the beginning. We ended up with a 3-point scoring differential over the three games but went 1-2. And there were people that would have liked to see me not have an office to go back to when we got back. There were people that would have liked to not see some of our players out on the court the next game. That's the way it is. We won a couple games and then we go to Duke and we didn't play very good. We didn't compete at the highest of levels that we can compete at. The game plan we had going into that game was that we didn't want to foul Duke so they could beat us at the foul line. We didn't want to be in the situation where Duke was in the bonus early on – they are hard to beat anyways, but if you give them the free throw advantage, they are almost impossible to beat. That game was almost the coaches fault as much as anything else. And I was able to tell my team that when we got back in the film room.
"But all around us in early December, so many things were swirling. Now we had the confidence after all the pumping up early and beating our chest because we were going to be pretty good. And then all of a sudden it became 'How was I going to survive (as coach)?' and 'How is this team going to survive?' and this team isn't going to be very good and the whole deal. And what everyone of us learned in that room is – and it's something that the quicker you can learn and the quicker you can apply it and, most importantly, when you can repeat it day after day, the better you are going to be – it's as simple as being able to control what you can control.
"We couldn't control what was being said. We couldn't control the negativity. We couldn't control what was being written. All we could control was what we needed to be and what we needed to get better at. And it wasn't what everyone else thought we needed to get better at. Our defense wasn't nearly as bad as our offense. Our offense was supposed to be our strength and it wasn't even close to that. We needed to become really focused on building our strengths so we could minimize our weaknesses. Because at that time, we were away from our strengths.
"When you think about how this applies to you and how it applies to you as you grown and learn. Because you will deal with positivity and you will deal with negativity. And what you allow yourself to internalize, that will drive you. If you put 30 minutes of negativity in your system, it's not 30 minutes before you can get rid of it. It might be in there for 30 days or three more days. If you put positivity in there and you allow that to inflate you and motivate you for a short time and you start to feel like you can't do anything wrong…you have to be able to look at what really matters and that's what you internalize. You don't internalize what everyone out there says. You don't internalize the negativity. You don't take it personal when someone doesn't look at you and respect you the way that they should. You help teach them what it is supposed to look like. You stay focused on what absolutely matters to making you successful, making your department successful and your partner successful.
You don't have to look very far to get an opinion, you just have to turn your phone on. Do not let anything distract you from the passion that you have, because they will try. They will try. You let them succeed, only you. If you do not internalize it and you stay focused on what matters, you stay focused on the mission ahead, you keep your life and your faith exactly where it needs to be and you keep moving forward you will not be stopped. The last thing before I close, do not forget to breathe. I am not kidding, do not forget to breathe. I learned it in Lamaze class, cleansing breaths. Anybody know what a cleansing breath is? Put your hands up.
You see our guys in the offseason or on social media wearing the training masks. They are not just another gadget in my mind. We learned that we use less than 50 percent of our lung capacity. We put those training masks on to help us focus on our breathing, go deeper into our breathing. We take those breathing lessons inside of a game to help us slow down, to help us pause or to help us get back to center. I do it throughout the game, I know that it does not look like it when I coaching, but I do. I encourage you to do it. Do not ever forget to pray and do not ever forget to breathe.
You can find something that puts you in the state that you need to be in to be able to handle any situation in the way that your training, your preparation and your confidence tells you to do it and that nothing and no one is going to distract me from what I am trying to do. I have been in California with my son for the last couple of days, and I knew I was going to be here today, so I brainstormed last night about something I wanted to add. For what this is worth to you, I had six people last night, four in the world of sports, one in the world of politics and one in the world of law enforcement who is a gentleman that I had met this summer by the name of Captain Cory Palka, a captain of the Hollywood police division, who I got a chance to meet because my daughter was out there this summer, between last night and this morning I got those responses back that I had asked for. It says a lot about the respect that people have when none of them know you, they are not from here, aside from the two that are on the staff. I asked them all the same thing: give me a quote that I can use tomorrow when I speak for these officers.
This is from Captain Cory Palka, "in the end it is not just the police are the people, but the people are the police. We must always culture to that principle. Together as one body we protect and serve our communities. Police officers are guardians, not warriors. Guardians are good, of just cause and correctness in a very turbulent world."
I have a couple of brother-in-laws that coach football and they were the first two in with their responses.
This is from Jim Harbaugh, "Frank Regan said on Blue Bloods, cops are held to a higher standard of accountability than the rest of the population and they should be. But do not forget that they are people too. Men and women subject to the same doubts and regrets that all of us are. I am not asking for anyone to cut us any slack, not at all, but a little recognition for the conditions in which our men and women operate would go a long way. You have my thanks, recognition and congratulations."
This comes from John Harbaugh, "the most honorable profession we have is an officer who stands the gap between freedom and fear."
These are profound, I mean, these are unbelievable. A couple more.
Mike McCarthy, coach of the Green Bay Packers who played a game last night. I figured out he sent this to me after he met with the media but before he even went home for the night. "My father served 38 years in public safety, eight in the police department and thirty as a firefighter. Law enforcement is essential for balance in our society. Discipline only works if enforced consistently from established relationships with continuing education. Special people who serve, humility, you cannot lead before you serve. They must know how much you care before they care how much you know."
That is the same thing you would say to a team, the same thing I hope I would say to a team and the same thing that they would say to you. That is the respect that people have.
This is from our coach of the Indianapolis Colts, Chuck Pagano. I got this in a later text. He said he was honored that I would think of him for this. "There is not greater expression of respect than what is owed to the men and women that put their lives on the line every day for our safety and security. Without them there is no us."
Really strong. The last thing is for the parents. You have raised your children in one of four ways to me. To be enabled, to be entitled, to be encouraged or with empathy. I am willing to go out on a limb and bet, from the bottom of my heart, that they would not be sitting here in this room if you had raised them with enablement and entitlement. So we will wipe those two of the books. We know that happens in life, but I do not think that has happened in here. Somewhere along the way that encouragement, and the fact that they understand empathy, the fact that you gave them courage and conviction to be in here that should be the confidence that you need as they move forward. You have trained them well, you have turned them over and let them chase their passion
"I've learned so much about myself and being a parent and I'm putting myself out there with you right now, and the world that most people send their children in to, can't even equate to what you send your own children in to. You can't forget to pray every day and get to the point where your faith is first every day too. But remember this, they wouldn't be sitting there – no matter who it is, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters or grandparents – without what you have done to give them that ability to understand what real passion is all about. To understand what real empathy is all about. Keep encouraging. Keep training.
"Just because they put that badge on and they call you out to the real world, just like when then turn their players to us to play at Indiana, they are not out of the equation. Because those parents and those that care for them are there for them every day. They never get rid of them.
"And the last couple things on that, I have two messages from an author and his description of parents. What would you say to the parents, that the police agency would prepare them for life. That they would protect them, they would train them as they grow in their careers. Thank them for growing young men and women of character and encouraging their son or daughter to pursue such a noble profession in which servant leadership is the foundation. The academy can train you for different on-the-job duties, but character comes from the parents, who have committed a lifetime of love and compassion to raise a child who has chosen to become a police officer. There is no greater honor than that.
"And last, but certainly not least, I reached out to Governor Pence, who has been gracious and come to some games and things like that. Obviously, he has a busy life going for him right now. He sent me a message, that I received about 7:30 a.m. this morning. It said: 'In these challenging times, we owe a special debt of gratitude for the men and women who step forward to serve on the thin blue line of law enforcement at Indiana University. But we also equal that gratitude to the parents and their families, who raised and supported them as they answered the call to serve our communities this day. Please offer my heartfelt congratulations to the newest members of the IUPD and offer my thanks to the parents of these heroic Hoosiers for raising such courageous men and women. Governor Mike Pence."
"I was inspired. What I learned more than ever, just like Capt. Butler, is that it's not about any of us. All of us, we pale in comparison. For those of us that have responsibilities in life, to be a husband or a wife or a parent, and I know what a great honor it is to be a coach, and I can look out at you and what you are getting ready to embark on and the title that you are going to carry and the title that other members of law enforcement carry, it's far greater. Don't ever lose sight that you will likely be parents, if you aren't already and you will be a spouse, if you aren't already. Don't ever lose sight that you are someone's son or daughter or grandson or granddaughter.
"As you go off into this, you have the passion. You have the fortitude. Use each other to get through things. Take every opportunity to make everyone you come in contact with better. Be it at the morning roll call or when you check out at night and everyone that you meet in between. God created every one of us equal and not to fail. But we all fail at some point in time. Stay true to your values. Stay true to your faith. Stay true to your training. Don't ever lose that passion. It has been an absolute honor, from the bottom of my heart, to be here to speak to you. Thank you."
FB: Nico Radicic - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21
FB: Drew Evans - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21
FB: Bray Lynch - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21
FB: Spring Practice - Curt Cignetti Press Conference
Thursday, April 16