If a team is a reflection of its head coach, then the Cal men’s basketball team is in great hands.

Smart. Steady. Calm under pressure. Professional. These are just a few of the characteristics I’d use to describe Cal head coach Mike Montgomery.

He has certainly put his mark on the program in his first two seasons as the Golden Bears head coach.  I was one of the fortunate ones crammed into Haas Pavilion on Saturday to watch the Montgomery led bears end a 50-year wait for a Pac-10 title.  It was awesome.

As much as I enjoyed the game itself, I found my self studying Coach Montgomery and taking mental notes.  What was the difference?  What did Mike’s crew bring to the party to turn things around is such a short time?

Now, I don’t know and “X” from an “O” when it comes to basketball strategy.  But I do have a keen eye when it comes to coaching in general.  Here are my observations:

• Coach Montgomery sits most of the time vs pacing the sidelines
• He appears poised and in control to his players and the fans
• He talks calmly to his assistant coaches and his athletes
• When Coach Montgomery does rise to his feet and raise his voice – he does so with purpose, poise and passion.
• He uses “trigger words” and signals to get his point across rather than shouting a long unintelligible monologue that no one can hear.
• Finally, he let’s his players play through their mistakes and cold spells vs yanking them off the floor at the first sign of trouble.

So it’s basically the same players yet a drastically different result.  And what does that tell me?  It takes good to great “horses” to win yet it takes good to great coaching to win championships.

I just had an awesome 7-Minute Clinic interview with Kevin Grimes, coach of the Cal Men’s Soccer team.   The first words out of Kevin’s mouth were, “Every team leaves a clue”.  I’d never heard this line before.  I was instantly intrigued.

I caught Kevin coming off a very UP and then a very DOWN season.  He and his staff are right in the middle of completing their post-season evaluation.  This is not some chit chat over a beer.  The coaching staff conducts a top to bottom review of the previous season – what worked, what didn’t and what was missing.

Kevin’s theory is that every team leaves a clue behind during the season and a thoughtful post-season assessment can uncover such clues.

Coach Grimes’ enthusiasm for the meticulous hunt of the tiniest clue is remarkable given the recent roller coaster season.  The Bears started out on fire – taking Maryland, the defending national champs down to the wire and winning seven out of their first nine matches.  Kevin was pumped.  He had his best team ever off to their best start ever.

Then the injury bug hit.  The Bears lost player after player to injury.  They won only two of their last nine games.

At a time when many coaches would be feeling sorry for themselves, Coach Grimes is sifting through the ashes.  He’s in search of that one gem that will make his program stronger and more resilient next season.