Oklahoma State wrestling coach John Smith and director of athletics Chad Weiberg held a press conference Monday morning to discuss Smith's retirement after 33 years leading the program. Read on for the transcript.
CHAD WEIBERG'S OPENING STATEMENT:
"All right, good morning. As you all know, we're here today to celebrate the career of John Smith, a legendary wrestler and coach and an even more remarkable person. I know that everyone is here to hear from him, so I'll be as brief as possible. My role this morning is simply to tell you some of the things that he never would and try to do some bit of justice for OSU and Cowboy Wrestling."
Before I start, I'd like to recognize and thank the current members of the wrestling team that are here this morning. I'd also like to thank former Cowboy Wrestlers that are here, as well."
I think John, obviously, will recognize a lot of the family: his mom, (his wife) Toni -- thank you, Toni, for being here and for you and your family sharing John with the OSU family for all these years – and, of course, I'd be sorely remiss if I didn't recognize and thank (his father) Leroy. As it turns out, Leroy led the way for the Smith family to become lifelong Cowboys. As legend will long be told, without the countless hours of wrestling by John in the family living room and then making the decision to, himself, wrestle at OSU, this (program's) story could have been very different.
There's a number of our current coaches that are here in the room. I appreciate all of them being here. Coach Holder is here, as well. So, thank you, everyone, for being here."
So where does one start? As a wrestler, he was a two-time NCAA champion, three-time NCAA All-American, three-time conference champion, 1987 outstanding wrestler, and 152 career wins is still a program record. Six straight world titles, two Olympic gold medals, two Pan-American Games gold medals, two Goodwill Games gold medals, 100 International wins -- the greatest wrestler of all time. Then, as a coach, his teams had 490 dual wins, with eight perfect dual seasons, 132 conference champions, 23 conference team titles, 153 All-Americans, 33 NCAA champions, 16 top-three finishes, 21 top-five finishers, and five NCAA team national championships. He is simply a winner."
But it is the coach, beyond all the championships and all the All-Americans, that makes John Smith a legend. I rarely, if ever, call him 'John.' He is always 'Coach' or 'Coach Smith', because I believe the title of 'Coach' is one of the most impactful titles anyone can hold. No one embodies all that this title means better than Coach Smith. During his time as the head coach, he has had over 400 young men on his rosters. As you can imagine, that means there are over 400 stories of how Coach Smith matters in the lives of these men -- and now their families. And that doesn't begin to count the international teams and the 1,000s of campers who have been part of John Smith wrestling camps throughout the years. When you pause and consider the impact, the influence, the significance he has had, that extends so far beyond the man. He has inspired athletes to reach deeper than they thought possible, and truly achieve all they were capable of -- even if, or especially if, they didn't know it was possible, themselves -- in wrestling, and in life. The very definition of a coach. In doing this, he has done the same thing for Cowboy Wrestling, which in turn has set the pace for OSU Athletics, cultivating a culture of excellence that permeates all we strive for today and into the future. So, Coach, thank you for the profound impact you have had on so many people: on your athletes, on Cowboy Wrestling, on Oklahoma State University and your community. We are grateful for all you've done and for the ride you have taken us on. We're grateful for things to come in Cowboy Wrestling. You're leaving the program in great shape with a talented roster and a bright future ahead."
And so now, in the historic tradition of Cowboy Wrestling, alongside the names of Ed Gallagher, Art Griffith, Myron Roderick and your coach, Tommy Chesbro, there is another all-time great: Coach John Smith."
The best thing is, you aren't going anywhere. Stillwater is home, and we know you will continue to be here for all of us, just like you have been since you first arrived over 40 years ago at 17 years old. On behalf of the entire OSU family, thank you."
JOHN SMITH'S OPENING STATEMENT:
"Okay mom, stand up. Let me introduce my mother, mother of 10, Madelene Smith. My sister, Mary Ann Smith, lives here in Stillwater. Marry Ann White now. David and Margaret Realmuto. (My brother) Mark is the oldest of 10 children. Smith Family, stand up. My sons. Cathy, stand up. And my beautiful daughters, Cece and Isabelle stand up. My beautiful wife, Toni Smith, stand up. And my hero, my first hero, Leroy Smith.
I just feel really nervous. I think I'm nervous because, I'm just really fortunate to tell a little bit of my story. Most people retire and they walk out of the office, they pack their stuff up in a box and walk out. I get to tell a story. For me, it's that important. I didn't want to do this, but I'm glad I got the opportunity. As I was thinking about some of the things I wanted to say, it was really just the things mostly that you're grateful for. My journey started at about 10 years old here. I came in to Gallagher Hall for the first time. Leroy had signed that National Letter of Intent. I'll never forget my first trip to Gallagher Hall. They had these pictures up all the way around. All these pictures were in what looked like 30-cent frames, but it was the most beautiful thing I ever saw. Going down the hallway and seeing the guys from the early 20s to the guys that I got to meet at the time, that I could connect with, wrestlers when I was 10 years old, 12 years old, when Leroy was wrestling here – I can tell you this, it was just a level of motivation and just saying, I can do this. You're walking down the walk and looking at Frank Lewis, 1936 Olympic Gold, just made it made me believe that this is where I belong. This is a chance, this is an opportunity for me to capitalize on everything I've ever wanted in wrestling. I was highly-motivated young guy with my brother growing up in Oklahoma, one of the best that ever came through the state and Oklahoma State. For me, spending time in Gallagher Hall was just one incredible moment for a young kid. Still today, Gallagher-Iba Arena, I can't tell you how much time I've spent in this facility. The time I lived in this facility, I literally lived in it when I was 11. I lived in the wrestling room and during the summers, training, and all of it was just an unbelievable experience. It just led me to do some things that were incredible. I didn't make it, it made me. That's really -- I want people that know about me -- the way I want to go out. I got to be a part of something that was incredible. I got to be a part of the legacy. I got to be part of something that, when you get your ass knocked down, it's a lot easier to get up, because of the program around you. A lot easier. We were fortunate, this year, that we had the success of our program over a long, long years. We were fortunate. This team, this year, was one of the most satisfying I've ever had as a coach. Knowing what I got and then seeing what they did. What they did is, they wrapped their arms around Oklahoma State Wrestling, and it took them all to another level. And not everybody has that. I sure didn't start that but I for darn sure helped to keep it. But I didn't start that. I feel really blessed that my whole career here -- as a young kid, as a student-athlete, and as a coach -- I feel blessed that I've been a part of something that I get to always be a part of."
With that, I just want to talk about a few things. Coach Chesbro – Tommy Chesbro – my coach, really gave me a level of belief in my skill and technique. Really gave me a level of belief that we'd win matches by our technique and by our skill. He'd work hard developing your skills and be motivated about developing your skill. I always took that with a passion. I spent a lot of summers with Coach Chesbro, from the time that I was – I don't know – 11 or 12 until I was 16. I traveled all of the United States in a van, going from camp to camp to camp. And I never once got tired. It was exciting. Here I am, at 12 through 14, I'm in New Jersey one week. I'm in Montana another week. I'm going over to Florida one week. And all of it was camps. I'm put out in the middle. I'm doing what Coach Chesbro's telling me to do, and I'm developing skill after skill after skill to show the students that are at camp. He really gave me the vision of skill and technique. If he didn't give me that vision, there would not be a low single leg. That's literally – for those of you that know – bought me everything. It's bought me my house. It's bought me my barn. It's bought me my other barn. It's bought me hotels. It's bought me my beautiful truck. The low single leg paved me way. Literally, they couldn't stop it. It was that vision that Chesbro gave me. What a man. What a great man. See, silly things are done sometimes. I'll even say, the most silly thing that ever happened here at Oklahoma State was losing him as a coach. Choices that people made. We went undefeated, taking second at nationals, and you come back to get fired. Never sat well with me."
Coach Joe Seay was my coach that followed Chesbro, and what he gave me was the idea of how you wanted to wrestle. I'm going to speed this up a little bit. He taught me how I wanted to wrestle and the style of wrestling that I wanted to wrestle. And he gave me the ideal of movement. Movement - of moving your feet at all times and making sure you can pick your feet up at all times. And making sure you're putting pressure on your opponent without ever touching. You know, by jab-faking, by creating that idea that I'm coming right now. He gave me that idea that helped me run right into my low-single-leg."
I appreciate Chad (Weiberg) as my A.D. I wish I had more time to spend with him. He's a great man, cares for people. This process, he's made it real easy for me. He cares. He cares, not just about winning. He cares about people. Coach Holder, I appreciate how tough he was -- for being a golfer. He should've been a wrestler. He's tough. His expectations were tough. I didn't like them all the time. I didn't like him all the time. He cared about OSU wrestling, and Chad did too. Coach (Holder) cared about wrestling, and he made sure I knew about it all the time."
To my coaches here, guys, my peers around me. I don't know if we can get any better. We've got some guys that want to be the best. You know, we got some guys that are driven. It's been a pleasure watching you. You've motivated me. All of our coaches. This hasn't been perfect for some of you. Seeing how you dig yourself out of the hole, a couple of you. You know, I just respect that. You know, not making any excuses, a team of people that don't make excuses. I don't know if we've ever had better coaches at Oklahoma State. I look forward to the next couple of weeks, to watch a good friend, Chris Young, chase championships, chase the Big 12, as well as our men's team, Dustin (Taylor). I look forward to watching you guys playing in the Big 12 (tournament) and competing at the NCAA (tournament). Let's not forget about it (being hosted by OSU in Stillwater this year). It's a great opportunity for us. But, anyway, our head coaches have been very motivated. Martha McMillan was my advisor when I showed up here at 17. She's still in Stillwater. But she really set me on a pace to where my academics were important. I'm not sure I had that when I came, but I had Martha McMillian. She set me on a pace that I wanted to do better. She helped me to do better. I remember I came back after my junior year, I had won a world championship. I had about 15 hours left and I told her we're going to wait and do them during the summer, and she goes, 'No you're not.' And I said, 'Okay'. 'You're getting your degree now.' I don't know. There's just a couple of things that she did for me. One, she made me scared. Yeah. Scared of 'can I do this? Can I do all of this?' Two, she was a supporter that motivated me academically and honestly made the difference in me quickly moving into a head coaching job. If it wasn't for her, I don't know where I would be. Would I have taken the job? Been able to take the job when I did?"
My friends, my good friends. I've had a lot of good friends in Stillwater that also became big donors for us. And they know who they are. They were behind us when we needed them. They were there for us when I needed them. It's really fortunate to have people that have such a passion for the sport, as I do."
And I want to say a couple of things about my first vision of the Olympic gold medal, and I'm going to talk about an OU wrestler because it was a Sooner. Wayne Wells was really my first experience of really understanding. When he came back from the 1972 Olympics, watching on TV, this was my first vision of 'this is something I'd like to do.' Wayne Wells won the Olympics in 1972, he wrestled for the University of Oklahoma. And ever since… He's been there. He's been there for me. He's always motivated me. He's always been a guy that just cared more about the sport than the school. And my first vision of wanting to be an Olympic champion came at about seven years old when he returned home with an Olympic gold medal."
And then, just in closing, I've had a couple of administers that were over the sport of wrestling, Dave Martin. Dave right back here. Tony Petro. Tony. You know, I don't know why, but for the longest time we never had an administrator over our sport. I mean, at OSU. It just happened like maybe 8-10 years ago. I mean I don't know. What a great idea of having that connection with people and their outlook and looking out for you. And they're making a difference and I've had two great ones. And then, finally, I've been pretty lucky to coach two of my brothers. I've been lucky to coach three of my nephews. I've been lucky to coach two of my sons. Listen, that's been really hard. When you're growing up in a family of wrestlers, and you've got a rattlesnake for a mother, and my nephews or my sons or my brothers are losing and you're the coach, you can't help it. You can't say anything that she hadn't said. She's a winner. She's always been a winner, Mom. She worked at Mercy Hospital for how many years? 62. How old are you? Yeah? During COVID, she stepped back, if COVID never hit, she'd still be working. She worked in Labor and Delivery. She delivered babies for 62 years. I'm proud of you."
And just to close, I'm grateful for - I'm just so glad I get to walk away. I get to walk away knowing that it's not what I did for anyone, it's what it did for me. What Oklahoma State, Oklahoma State Athletics, what it did for me. I can't begin to tell you other than the short story I gave you of how much it's been a part of my life. It has been so rewarding to walk away going 'this school made a difference in my life and my family. We've had the joy of events. We've had the joy of the experience of living on campus. My wife's a graduate of Oklahoma State. My daughters, they're graduates of Oklahoma State. I'm coaching a son now that will be a graduate of Oklahoma State. I have a 15-year-old today. His birthday is today. What was I thinking? Thank you."
Weiberg on working with Smith:
QUESTION & ANSWER:
"For somebody like me who grew up an Oklahoma State fan, I remember when I learned about wrestling, the sport of wrestling, and Gallagher Hall. I remember sitting in those old wooden chairs before it was renovated the first time. This would have been in 1985. I was in junior high, and I was watching this guy (points to Smith) wrestle. Even though I didn't know that much about the sport, I was learning and was grateful to have a couple of people behind me that figured out pretty quickly that I didn't know what I was watching. Through the course of the season, they started leaning over and telling me what was going on. I wish I knew who those guys were now, but even with that, I knew then that I was watching greatness. Fast forward to now, and through the years, when we would have regular meetings about normal things, he would get up from the table and he would leave the office and I would be like, 'holy hell, that was John Smith.' I can't believe that I'm that junior high kid watching him do what he did. Being able to have those conversations and working with him. In the last week or so, to have the conversations we've had about this moment, it's hard to – it's kind of like – how did this happen? As much as I hate it and didn't want it to happen, to be in the room with him during those conversations were incredible for me, to be around greatness, for all the reasons, not just the coaching but for the athlete and person he is."
Smith on why now was the right time to step down:
"I brought Coleman [Scott] back. We had a great year this year. He implemented some things and made a difference. Most of you know the story of the last three years and some of the issues that happened. I think when you coach 33 years, you're just like going, 'hey listen, I need to leave it in a better place.' That's all I thought about. I didn't think about myself, I didn't think about anything other than, 'damn, you don't coach 33 years and then you walk out on it now. If you want to finish, you want to finish with a bang. This team allowed us to. Watch them wrestle in six to seven different sellouts. When we showed up, everyone showed up. We had a sellout here and had great attendance. We broke our attendance record, and we finished 18th last year. Damn. There are a couple times I'm going, 'they sold how many tickets?' That's what happens when you win. That's what happens when you're aggressive and you've got something to watch. That's what I wanted. I wanted to grind it out, be in a better place, hand it over. It's not perfect. It means we've got some balance right now. It's good to know that we came back from nationals, and nobody's hit the portal, you know you're doing your job. It's a little different today. You want people having a good experience that they're wrestling for. I hope it stays that way. It was the right time. That's all I could think about the last three years. I can't leave until it's in a better place. Don't give them a pile of crap. Give them something to go with. I wasn't thinking about winning a national championship. I wasn't thinking about taking second or bringing a trophy home. I was just thinking that I've got to get it in a better place. That's all I wanted. To be honest, coaching 33 years, I walked away complete. In 1992, I retired, and USA Wrestling was trying to keep me and bundled a whole bunch of money together and it was about six times more than I was going to make as a head coach. They were going to do it over four years. Instead, I took the $15,000 and started coaching. Literally. Then I got a $10,000 raise to $25,000 the next year. The reason I didn't do it was because I was complete. My career was complete, and I didn't want to interfere with making decisions based on money. Really, when I walked away from the NCAA Championship this year, I was complete. I wish we would have done better than 10th. We were 16 points away from second. Which wasn't much. It's one guy. Everyone was bunched in there. I wish we would have done better, but for me, the way we wrestled – the year – it was nice walking away. It wasn't in good shape two years ago. It wasn't in good shape a year ago. I wanted to make sure that – you coach a long time, not everyone gets to do that. I got do it when I wrestled. I got to walk away being an Olympic gold medalist. And I get to walk away today feeling complete. My career is complete. I'm walking away from coaching. I won't come back. You can't believe the number of people that ask me, 'what are you going to do?' 'What are you going to do when you get bored,' 'Make sure you've got enough to do.' I said listen, 'I'm probably going to get bored, but I can promise you one thing. I'm not going to wish I was still coaching.' The changes that have happened, things like that. We've heard about it. I'm not getting into it. It isn't forcing me out. I wouldn't say that any of the changes are forcing me out. I just think 33 years is enough."
Smith on doing things the right way:
(Points to his mother in the audience) "When I say (she's a) 'rattlesnake', I mean it. We were brought up in faith. It was our priority. Being Catholic was important to us. Our Catholicism practices are important to us. It's easier to be successful when you know there's something way bigger than yourself. My mom and dad taught us how to keep the balance, and that balance is the difference. When you're talking with people, you always recognize who you're talking to. When I'm talking to Chad, can you imagine experiences since he's taken his job? What's happened in the NCAA, and what pressures are there. I've got a deep appreciation. I'm sure glad I'm not that guy. Incredible, so acknowledging the people that are in front of you and getting to celebrate that. With my mom and dad – being rude, it would not have been good. My dad grabbed me by the ear a couple times, and I thought I was going to be a kid with one ear. It starts with my mother and father. It starts with the environment. In our environment when we grew up, it was tough, real tough. Only tough because I didn't know any difference. Now, raising my own kids, I see how tough it was. But in the end, faith's stronger than all of us."
Weiberg on Smith's program:
"I never lost any sleep or was concerned about anything that was going on in the program. Actually, the exact opposite. I had confidence in everything he was doing. I would also say that about every single one of our coaches. There's not one coach that I'm concerned about in that way, and I think part of that is because of the pace and example he sets. He's been where all coaches want to be – at the very, very top – and that he can get there in the way that he's done it, is an example that you want to have."
Smith on his competitive spirit, getting up in the middle of the night to train because his Russian competitors were out there doing the same in that moment:
"Where did motivation come from? Everything came from family, it came from Oklahoma State Wrestling and Oklahoma State University, as well. You don't just find that level of motivation. I was a two-time state champion. I went to junior nationals but never won it. I got beat out as a true freshman in the NCAA championships. I wasn't there (yet). I wasn't the guy that ended up winning six World Championships and belts. I became that guy through my experience here at Oklahoma State and through the things I wanted. I was so driven that I didn't need sleep -- I thought. My running at 2 a.m. on the east side of Gallagher -- those steps are still there. And there's a lot of times when I'm going through the gym, I look at them, because I hate them. Literally, I hated them. I ran at 2 a.m. because it was 4 p.m. in Russia. If you're working out, I'm working out. I don't know what time it actually was in Russia. Some of you are trying to figure it out (laughter). I think you've got to create those moments in your career as an athlete. That's what you take to the mat. It's the hardest thing you're doing. I didn't do it all year. I did it six to eight weeks prior to my big competitions, and those stairs just made me iron tough. They hurt. It was painful. I'd walk out of there and -- I lived across the street. The dorms were between St. John's and Gallagher-Iba Arena. Those dorms sat there by the parking lot. I'd always crack the window in the training rooms and climb in the window, because there were no doors open. For me, it was the moment. You're in the moment of doing something that nobody else is doing. I don't know if anybody else is doing it, but I can promise you they didn't do it as hard as me. So those steps, every time I look at them, every time -- a lot of times during matches, I catch myself looking up there because it was such a long memory over a lot of years. Six years. It gave me the edge. We're all looking for that edge. It gave me the edge"
Smith on his family's input and reaction to the decision to retire:
"(My wife Toni) was really worried about me being around all-time. She literally was worried about it. I told her, 'hey, your days are going to change.' (laughter) No, she's supportive. She's known last several years the challenges as a coach that you go through, and what you got to do to create that environment. It's no different than running those steps. You better create an environment quickly. Don't sit around or pout. So, she saw that level of motivation to turn things around and the level of motivation that you need as a coach during your career. I think we're both content about what's happened. We definitely look forward to doing things with our church. We'll do a lot of things. She's a really good fly fisher. Seriously, we love fly fishing."
Weiberg on the moment he found out about Smith's decision:
"Honestly, I was surprised. We had a good year, a really good year. The trajectory of the program. like I said, was really, really good. And I thought 'Great. We're going to keep rocking and rolling. Hopefully get another seven, nine, 10 years out of him. Hell. Maybe I'll retire before he does.' He told me all of what he was thinking and reasons he had for it, which I clearly respected. But I tried everything I could to talk him out of it. I played the Toni card. 'I don't know that Toni is going to be ready for this.' I asked him what he was going to do with all of his time. You're young still. I really thought that my strategy at that point was to buy time. I told him 'Coach, we don't have to make this decision right now. We're in control of this. We can do this a month from now or three months from now or six months from now, because I thought that if I could get him a little further away from the season that those competitive juices would get flowing again and he'd keep going. But he was convicted. I think at the end of the day that's what I wanted to hear. It wasn't about anything in this moment. This was about, really, the bigger picture and where he wanted to be. It was pretty clear that's where his heart was, and he was convicted. I hate it but, obviously, respect it."
Smith on whether there a specific moment when he knew it was time:
"I don't know. I'm glad things worked out the way they did. It gave me way more appreciation for good seasons. I don't know if I could ever stand up here and say that if you're finishing tenth and you're Oklahoma State wrestling that we had a good season. I don't think I could've done that five years ago, 10 years ago, 20 years ago. It helped me to realize that not everything should be piled on to one weekend over three days. (National meet) scoring is a little bit backwards from the dual meets that we wrestle. No, I couldn't have done it. And I think, as I realized it was the season I was really hoping for outside of the very end. I wish we would have done a little better in scoring, but it was time. When did I think of that? I think maybe if there wasn't COVID I would have probably been retired. Because of COVID and the environment and the worry everyone had, you don't want to break out and leave them program then. I kind of knew, going into this year it was going to be my last year, regardless. I just wanted to make sure it was good."
Smith on his legacy:
People make your legacy. You don't. I'm not worried about my legacy. I'm worried about my legacy with my children. There's a time when you get tired of being out there in front of – being the man. Being the face of something, whether it's the face of your program or of wrestling. There's a time that you're tired of it. When you talk about legacy, I don't need it. I never have. Probably because I've had it my whole life. I look forward to stepping back and letting the next group come in here and build their own legacy. Any way that I can help, I'll be a part of that. A lot of times we forget about being the legacy of our own family. I've got some work to do. I need to spend some time with a couple of my children that I haven't had a lot of time with. That's what I'm looking forward to."
Smith on advice for his successor:
"Embrace it. Embrace the challenge of it. There's a level of expectation at Oklahoma State that you're going to get. It's no different than when I was a student-athlete. I never was afraid of that expectation. It drove me. It excited me. It gave me a reason to be doing what I was doing. I was training and trying to develop myself to be the very best wrestler in the world… There was a time that that's what I wanted to be – the very best wrestler at my weight in the world. And then there came a point in my career where that wasn't enough. I wanted to be the greatest pound-for-pound wrestler in the world. That's what this program gives you – pressure. Legacy's powerful, man. So powerful. It helps you not miss a lot when things are bad… It gives you that level of motivation and it helps drive you to different levels."
Smith on finding ways to continue giving back to the sport:
"Yeah, I'm going to be involved. I don't know at what level. When you work your whole life, I'm really excited about volunteering. You've worked your whole life, I got lucky – developed the low single-leg. Not lucky, that wasn't luck. I earned it. I'm looking at what I can be a volunteer at. Now, I don't want a lot of people calling me (laughter)… My wife and I are there might look for something like volunteering. Little league wrestling, I don't know. I have 35 cows, so I got a little work to do. I'm not sure, and it's okay."
Weiberg on the next step for OSU wrestling and whether he's had any thoughts on a statue:
"I suspect here in the not-too-distant future that we'll be back here talking about the future of Cowboy Wrestling. But we've been very intentional, as it should be, about making this all about John [Smith] and the program, and to do it the justice it deserves. There are very few times that there's moments like this that you get to celebrate. We'll get to that. We've been pretty judicious with our selection of statues around here. There are some schools that put up statues for all kinds of different things. We reserve that for the greatest of greats. Without committing to anything, I think that he [Smith] certainly falls into that category. I'm sure we'll be talking about that at some point. I'll have to fight him over it, if we do. And you know how that's going to turn out."
Smith on what HE thinks his legacy would or should be:
"I think we're doing it a little bit today. I'm glad I did this…Recognizing. Letting everyone know that the environment of OSU Wrestling and what it's done for so many of us as athletes. The level of motivation that has driven so many of us. Most of you don't know, we have nine wrestlers that have wrestled for our program that won 11 Olympic gold medals. Coleman Scott over here was a bronze medalist. Of those nine athletes, eight of them were from Oklahoma. Yojiro Uetake being the ninth, from Japan. These guys gave us a level of commitment and pride. That's the message I hope that comes out of this and the legacy that I helped drive it, and it continues to drive for the next 107 years. That's all. We're trying to give back to the program what we got so much from. That needs to be the legacy that I kept. We took it and we kept the motivation, kept the men, kids and Oklahoma. The 10-year-olds that come to Gallagher-Iba Arena for the first time. I see it. I've seen it. I was no different, I see it. I hope that we help them develop a level of motivation that drives guys into their career and guides them as a young person. Sports are so important. It's such an important part of our youth. Wrestling, I think for all of my brothers, it was so important for us. Growing up in Del City, it gave us a level of motivation… It's so important that you have that understanding of what your opportunity looks like ahead in athletics. It gives you that drive academically. It gives you that drive athletically. It helps you reach a little deeper when you're trying to find your soul. Sports are wonderful."
