Word: oosterbaan
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...football history unfolded on the field, a big, shaggy man walked stolidly back and forth in front of the Michigan bench. Under similar pressures, other big-time coaches kick water buckets, curse officials, bully their assistants, and alternately cheer and chew out their players. Michigan's Benjamin Oosterbaan, 49, seems as imperturbable as a 50-yard stripe. But his men know that, inside, he suffers. Says one: "He looks like a character out of a Russian novel...
Notebook of Maxims. In his office on Michigan's campus, Bennie Oosterbaan keeps a notebook filled with the sayings of the late great Michigan coach, Fielding ("Hurry-Up") Yost. "The will to win is not worth a nickel," says one of the Yost maxims, "unless you have the will to prepare." Oosterbaan, who played under Yost, follows that rule rigidly. For three hours every morning, an hour and a half before afternoon practice and two hours afterward, he and his assistants lay plans for the next game. Key decisions are often settled by a staff vote...
...practice sessions Oosterbaan's assistants give the orders. Oosterbaan strolls along the field, occasionally shouting "Beauty, beauty, beauty!" when he spots a good play. Sometimes he calls for the ball and gives a personal demonstration (he was an All-America end and pass receiver for famed Benny Friedman on the great Michigan teams...
...While Oosterbaan was building up the opposition and tearing down his own team, California Coach Lynn ("Pappy") Waldorf was keeping mum and concentrating on football fundamentals. Waldorf put his pre-game program in two words, "Hard work." His veteran squad, unbeaten for the season, had a special incentive for hard work: the rankling memory of four consecutive Rose Bowl lickings for the West Coast at the hands of the Big Ten, including California's own 17-14 defeat by Ohio State on New Year...
Gloomy Bennie Oosterbaan went Waldorf one better. After getting special Conference permission for Sunday practice, he ordered an extra workout on the day before Christmas. While California took the day off, Michigan went grimly to work on a set of new plays. Oosterbaan had decided that California's powerhouse ground game would have to be met with a brand-new bag of tricks, but after the special drill, Oosterbaan was still "thoroughly discontented" with his team's progress...