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Show Iteek nurtures Team pride unites crew 'tz 1 -aij but this group is really high. Character-wise they're an excellent group. This is what's kept them together." Full-time job Meek's sense of understanddhg and compassion show through the typical "hard coach" image. He and his staff work seven days a week throughout the year with weekends off only in June and Jury. They work late into the night analyzing films, figuring strategy and making recruiting contacts as well as builddng community relations with activities like "The Bill Meek Show" on local television and Ute Booster luncheons. "We try to give the guys a sense of security and confidence in themselves and in us. We shift personnel to get each man in the best position for the team as a whole. And we care for them when they break a finger or a leg. You know, the worst injury is when a guy falls in love; we just can't fix that," laughed coaching leader Bill Meek. 1 team, all of us. Necessity of the rules splits us up into offensive and defensive for work outs; but it's not offensive points and defensive points scored, it's Utah. And we are all proud of that," he explained. Meek feels his responsibility is to the team. He and his staff teach the athletes good, sound fundamentals and try to get a 110 percent effort from everyone. "I realize my responsibility as the team lines up on Saturdays. It is the worst feeling, too, standing there helpless and knowing that there is nothing more the coaches can do." Records don't speak Win-loss records do not necessarily speak for the effectiveness ef-fectiveness of the coaches, however, "Football is a game of breaks and mistakes; the team with the fewest mistakes wins. As far as coaching goes, nobody can do a jood job without good tools. I've seen good teams win with poor coaching but you never see a good coach win with poor material." According to Coach Meek, the University has just enough money to be a little competative in recruiting, but not enough to ever be a top power. He feels that more funds need to go for recruiting scholarships to get more powerful players on the team. "We would really benefit if the number of scholarships given by a school were standardized on a national basis. Right now, we have a smaller budget than any other school in our conference," said Meek. The coach is more than pleased with this year's crew. "We may have had a little more talent before by ROULHAC GARN "The real big rason I'm back to coaching in college after working with professionals is the closer personal per-sonal relations formed with the guys. I like to watch them grow up and help them develop. I look after them like I do my own." Head football coach Bill Meek's life is football the action on the gridiron and, more importantly, the young athletes he nurtures and trains. His devoted interest in his young athletes and their game make him an honored and respected coach to his associates, his players and the football fans of the University. Individuals reflect Coach Meek trys to instill the highest ideals in his crew. Along with the standard training regiment of curfew, diet and physical excellence, ex-cellence, Meek's squad is required to act gentlemanly at all times and io achieve high scholastic goals. "I don't expect them to be angels but I expect them to have a sense of pride in being a player. Each individual reflects his teammates," said the coach. "We demand academic quality from our fellows; they are here to work toward their degrees. I am really proud that our athletes have a higher over-all grade point average than the rest of the students." Team pride team pride is especially important im-portant to Meek and his coaching staff. He said they try to give the players a real pride in being a part of a unit, a part of a team, and a part of a winning group. "We're a |
