Show Y tw N Backseat Driving nt w By By FRANK K K BA BAKER ER 8 Telegram Sports Editor It It is not lot surprising to have Frank Potts Pott voluntarily return ret return re- re turn t r to his IS track track coaching role at Colorado university after pinch hitting as football mentor this year because the genial soft spoken Potts said when he was draft drafted d that he wasn't so sure he relished all the high pressure attached to football The lanky mentor is a master of track and field funda funda- And he is among the best when it comes comes' to inspiring his track and field charges to high endeavor He has repeatedly proven that in 12 years as Buffalo track coach climaxed by successive championships during the past four years The Big Seven conference knows Potts too as a good student student stu stu- dent lent of football He was an America all-America halfback himself at atthe atthe atthe the University of Oklahoma and h he has proved by long scouting scouting scouting scout scout- ing service for the Buffs that he thoroughly understands the game Potts didn't undertake the football post though with any false notions of grandeur He had been called in to double in brass when Bernard F. F Bunny Oakes stepped out following a siege of internal strife on the Colorado athletic athletic athletic ath ath- letic front Oakes still had two years to go under a year a-year contract when he resigned and the compromise under which he settled his differences with the university left no funds with which to go after another established gridiron mentor This compromise figure was Vas not officially announced It was as variously reported from 2500 to but the but the exact exact amount is not vital anyway The important matter mat- mat ter Jer is the f fact ct that the university could not afford to pay for the part of Bunny's contract and give a new mentor a substantial salary too It had to rely upon somebody somebody some- some body already on the staff to do some pinch hitting at least for fora a year and that explains why the athletic council council council coun coun- cil called upon Potts As was pointed out in this space in September Potts was dedicated to the football cause only for the duration of the season As he put it The agreement was only until Thanks- Thanks giving After that Im I'm to be free to resume the track and field w work rk Maybe they the athletic council will want to talk to tome tome tome me me then about some other arrangement but that was not a apart apart apart part of the bargain The council was up against a tough lem Somebody had to help out and Im I'm glad to do all aU I can canAn canIn In ln return for all the favors Ive I've had I only hope I dont don't disapPoint disappoint disappoint dis dis- dis- dis appoint them too badly or disprove all aU the coaching theories Ive I've been trying to put over in my 12 years with the university The genial pinch-hitter pinch was indeed on the spot He was asked to take over a squad which was divided and mentally disturbed about a lot of campus politics Materially Materially Mate- Mate 11 it was a heavy favorite to retain the conference cr crown wn K Ir boasted virtually all the same talent that had overwhelmed Utah tah Denver and B. B Y U. U the season b before fore and it was also blessed with some highly touted sophomore t material Considering all these circumstances I believe Potts has done a creditable job By the same token the deposed Oakes was producing a measure of success when the players end and nd other sources opposed him a year ago despite some of his faults real or fancied At least the club was winning championships for Oakes and everybody hasn't forgotten that rather essential item as was was proved by a letter printed in this space from Boulder earlier farHer in the week This was exactly what C. C Us U.'s official athletic family has been dreading ever since the break came with Oakes It was aptly prophesied by Kayo Lam the former backfield star who is also a member of the coaching staff when he said last Septem September Sep Sep- September tem r Were not saying much about it but everybody knows theres there's a certain tension here as a result of all this turmoil Were We're scared to death that Utah will beat us and then therell there'll be thoughts about that not happening if Bunny were still here It Its It's well-known well history now how that very thing did 0 happen Potts was beginning to feel the strain of the pressure pressure pressure pres pres- sure under which he was laboring long before Utah handed the Buffs that 21 13 licking And I imagine he was more than glad for Cor a rest after Denver spoiled Colorados Colorado's hope a of tying Utah for the title with that minute last-minute field goal 2 f for r the 3 tie on Turkey day a r Potts was beginning to show the effects of this pressure I long before the season was over Instead of his normally sunny elf newspaper men found him predicting all sorts of gloomy I prospects the week before the Buffs were to take on the hapless Wyoming Cowboys He sought to avoid all aU the homecoming hysteria the night the Utah-Colorado Utah game by billeting his charges at a mountain lodge high above Boulder in one of the canyons Utah won the game though spoiling spoiling- the Buffalo homecoming and undoubtedly ruining the appetite of the man who has been he squabble post-squabble goat in the schools school's effort to put its coach- coach Jing program on a serene basis again i rg 2 In voluntarily returning to his track and field po post t y Potts should derive some satisfaction out of the general J f belief that he lIe probably did as well as anybody could have done with the psychological situation at C. C U U. and the Big Seven opposition being what it was this year Indeed the 4 schools school's official statement that it is deeply gr grateful to it Frank for taking on his extra work is well deserved I |