Putting a little 'pep' in your football team

CEDAR RAPIDS - They're rooted in psychology as much as instruction. They can be Triple Latte or Xanax, Metallica or Abba.

OK, probably not Abba.

But you're liable to hear just about anything come out of a football coach's mouth during a pregame pep talk. And at just about any volume.

"That's a real good question," said Cedar Rapids Washington Coach Tony Lombardi, when asked what he hopes to accomplish with his speech. "I guess for me it's just to give my team the best opportunity for success that week."

Which can mean yelling and screaming or being soothing and assuring. Some guys want to play Knute Rockne or Vince Lombardi, some don't.

Sometimes the best approach is being analytical. It all depends on the coach and the circumstances.

"Being as I'm old now, I don't get too tied up in being all fire and brimstone," said Cedar Rapids Xavier's Duane Schulte. "I basically just tell our guys to go out there and do their jobs."

"Some guys can flip that switch," said Iowa City High's Dan Sabers. "I don't even want to go to that switch"

Tony Perkins does, however. Or maybe it's more accurate to say the Marion coach doesn't need to flip that switch because he's always "on."

Perkins is definitely Type A as a coach, and he'll be the first to admit it.

"Yeah, I'm more on the fiery side," he said. "My (pep talks) are definitely not on the quiet side or anything like that. It's more tugging at their heartstrings and playing the game the way it's supposed to be played. That's what my message is. Play the game with no regrets."

Believe it or not, Perkins is a distant relative of Rockne, the famous old Notre Dame coach whose "Win One For The Gipper" speech is legendary. Even though he's just a seventh cousin, the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree in this instance.

"I was never really into Lombardi because winning does not mean everything to me like it did him," Perkins said. "With me, it's more building character and playing the game the right way."

West Branch's Butch Pedersen said there have been times during his long, successful career where he has let his assistant coaches give the pregame pep talk. Hey, they can be all fiery and brimstoney as well as anyone.

He has even brought in guest speakers from town to address his team.

"That's what we have always wanted this program to be," he said. "A true community program."

Mostly reserved in conversation, Schulte said he still vividly remembers one pregame speech he gave that was quite the opposite.

"It was the first year of Xavier," he said. "I did get a little fired up before that game. I'm not telling you who it was against or anything. It was the merging of the two schools (Regis and LaSalle), and there was a lot of tension going on at the time."

Xavier won that game, so whatever buttons Schulte pushed, they were the right ones.

That's the thing with these coaches, all of whom are in the postseason. They've seemingly mastered the art of the pregame pep talk, whatever their significance.

"I don't put them much to use, I swear," Sabers said. "That's got to all come from the kids. What if I'm off? You know what I mean? What if I don't get to them?"

"They can be beneficial at times," Pedersen said. "But if you're using them all the time to try and win games, you're fooling yourself."