B-roll and interview with Rutgers Assistant Basketball coach, Joe Boylan.

Ready. Three two one. What does an assistant coach do. Three two one. What does an assistant coach do a little bit of everything. Some recruiting some scouting of course helping run daily practice and if you're Joe Boylan there's more a lot more about your writing. Is coming pretty good or we have a couple of papers where the right last weekend. Turned in they were pretty good so we're doing pretty well as a book after reading. Working. You feel pretty confident you're good you're improving as with each paper. Grades constantly going up. We go over different parts of. The writing process. Paraphrasing. Different. Aspects of writing solos don't put it to it should be right for not. Creating a problem where you guys can start. Three to one. What does an assistant coach do

a little bit of everything. Some recruiting some scouting of course helping run daily practice. And if your job Boylan there's more a lot more this is a note from your professor. It's about what you're doing for Class B minus what's good about your writing house I come away from classes you have cover paper to do less when reading the book and work on the book. I would go through different parts of the book on paraphrasing and different aspects of writing isn't cool and I'm enjoying it. Oh that's good. So you feel like cave you get more conscious really you know it's emotion. One of the most important things in college is learning how to write write well not only here but when you get out there and just write a resume or business today is very much where you take it in those areas and I read it with Professor Brown. Oh you were.

OK. Ron it's always difficult coming into a new situation. You're a freshman you're away from home. And. You have to adjust to little effect. Has the adjustment been going for you here in this group. Just what the coaches have made nor smoother for me. As far as my classes. You know it just teaches in different systems of us. OK. That Joe is the assistant coach. But he also wears a lot of different hats and has a lot of different things. And I'd like to know from you how has Joe been helpful to you in the first semester here at Rutgers has been very helpful. Help me with all my classes for us to get to certain places I have to be. For my. My problems with my milk carton and other stories so it was kind of easy making it more comfortable here.

Academics What do you look at what do you look to him for guidance and what areas academically. For help in ways that I can achieve help or just certain ways to. Use the library didn't so the information would work in the papers and things like that. OK let's do that one again. OK that's OK. If you could just tell me how you know has helped you in terms of adjusting to the academic side of rockers just because I want to guess. For us too. Yeah as far as to the range of my classes to just know just what specifically has he helped you with in terms of some of the. Can you just review some of the things that he was doing with you before what was that all about. Before you what was in it was a rolling over here was that a student to just keep a record. We don't want to classes and keep both track was attendance and. In our. Test

grades. OK you think it's really been a definite help for you. To know where you step early before you get in trouble. So you know which direction to go that's fine that's fine with me. Okay. Okay. You said you had their problems. Earlier. Joe you serve a unique role I think here at Rikers as the academic advisor for the players on the team I don't think a lot of people know about that they don't know what that entails. I'd like you to describe for me some of your philosophy about. College academics and also specifically what are some of the roles that you do here in terms of the academic tutoring. Well I think that college first of all is for education. And Tom and I have been with him a long time and he coached my brother in college and really had been for him

Charles would not have gotten through his first year is very young in the tour he really understood the problems and having coached and taught for 10 years in high school I think I have a great effort say for the young men coming out of high school in the college. I believe that our emphasis that we've placed on the academics here at our basketball program is one of the reasons I'm still here. The school believes in a Tom believes very strongly in it and we feel that it's very important that the young men that we recruit who we recruit as athletes but are good enough academically to graduate from Rutgers and 10 years down the road are successful in whatever vocation they choose. And I think if you don't feel that way then you're really prostituting the athlete. And then college athlete athletics lose what it has and we might as well be a pro sport as a lot of people say I think that's wrong. To me it's very important that we stress the academics

and we don't use players and Rutgers is felt that way and I think we've been very successful doing that. I would say I probably spend more time than the average assistant coach and maybe more time than any other system coach in the country on academics. I enjoy I like it and it's very rewarding. What are some of the types of things that you were involved with on an individual basis with the players. Well in September for example when they come in the returning letter than a returning upper class and sophomore juniors and seniors we've already worked out their schedule the freshmen before they come in we worked out their schedule so once they get here and get acclimated then I usually sit down within two weeks and just talk to all the freshman as a group the individual returning players go over their schedule make sure that there are no changes they want to make. And then after about three weeks or so I try to get in touch with especially the freshman professors either by phone or a little academic counseling forum such as this which we send out. It's very simple we send it out

three or four times a semester it comes back with what the players are doing how he's doing in class whether he's going to class or things like that when he's come back I sit down we discuss it with the player. And I guess I should say student athlete and we go from there and I think we've been pretty successful in. Pointing out to the players that it's not just basketball but it's academics basketball and then social life and that's the order we really believe in. And obviously to be a student athlete in college today I think the pressures are greater than they have been in the past because people realize I think for the first time that hey I may not be a pro basketball player. And I've got to prepare myself for what is going to happen four years from now. That's what we've been preaching a long time but the realization is finally set in. So it's fun it's fun it can be very frustrating. We have some

very good students at Rutgers. We have some fair students and we have some students that really have to really work hard just to get by. But I would say we've never had a player flunk out. We've never had a player been eligible since that we've recruited since we've been here. And of the players we recruited we've only had one that hasn't graduated and stack that record up with anybody anywhere in the country. Well I want to DAV. Yeah. OK. You're. Going to have it OK this is just one Joe right Ron. Yeah. OK. During the game itself. JL I know a lot of things are happening you've got things to do right. Are the functions that you perform during the heat of battle. Well I think again being being you know with time for such a long time there's a lot of instinctive things both right and I have specific things to do. And well we have another system all set up in the stands for example and observe like a coach in a press box. I keep it

short which takes care of our man or fence on our fence and things like that and also how the other team is doing against us. And I was older man a man whoever it might be and this enables us to see what type of options all senses are working. What type of defenses are working and how the other team is reacting to our defenses and vice versa. Precious things like that and then I'll make suggestions for substitutions and things like that. Maybe a timeout but the times we coached for a long time and I would say it's only the new winces maybe a substitution here or. A suggestion and things like that and he's really like a computer in a way he'll take and he listens to you and then he decides whether in his own mind it's a good suggestion but I would say without any question it's a very open situation he does take a lot of your suggestions during the game. And it's so you really working with him and not for him and that makes a lot more enjoyable. Porous place. Oh OK.

Every assistant coach is in the same situation. OK. You've got to feel that eventually you want to be a head coach somewhere at least that thought crosses your mind and to the glory of course goes to the head coach. And you do not get that much recognition let's face facts. How do you cope with that situation. Well I think a lot. I keep saying I think I know a lot depends upon who you work for. There's no question that if I didn't have the responsibilities that I have here the academics and some of the other working with the budgetary areas and things like that. And recruiting I would still be here. But Tom is an extraordinary person. We're very very close personal friends. And I think that has a great deal do with my still being here as far as the glory and things like that well hey we were 31 and it was great. Last year. So so it was. Tom go ahead criticism. Nobody says anything about the assistant coaches. I really believe that the head

coaches deserve the credit they get. They work very hard there's an enormous amount of pressure in sports today. Paul was Ted's a good example. What what Michael's went through with the Jets at the beginning of the year and now as a son he's a great coach I mean these things you accept as far as my personal goals. I like to be a head coach. There's no question about it I think everybody would like to win. Program could I do it. Course I could do it. Otherwise I still would be here. But I don't think coaching is the end all of end alls. If I felt for example that. I have achieved what I could do here I couldn't get a head coaching position. I would have no hesitation to go on to something else in sports I think were right. Assistant coaches get frustrated is that they get trapped. It's a how I can become head coach. I can't I'm tired of doing what I'm doing what am I going to do. And you get yourself in a bad situation but I guess that's true in all corporations and things like that. And one thing about this profession it makes it very difficult to get a head coaching job somebody's going to get fired

somewhere. And that's not all good. OK. Point to place. Joe you've been with Tom as you mentioned yourself a number of years now I think it's 8:00 here for before that in American. It's a long time for one person to have a relationship professionally with somebody else. Do you sometimes feel like. You're Tom Young's alter ego. No I think we're two entirely different people in many ways. And I think that's probably why we got along so well for such a long time. Tom is a very intense individual especially during the season. He can't sleep. He gets up at 3:00 and 4:00 to Morty. Once practice starts he just can't sleep and he I remember the first time I went on the road with that American University. I said gee this is great college assistant going all right with the team. I was really excited was my first away trip with it with a base with American U. At about 3:30 in the morning I hear this rumbling in the room and the door opens and I said What the heck is going on. And it's

about 20 minutes later I see Tom walking with two or three papers just like four o'clock. He says I don't sleep very much and he had told me that but I never understood it. The great thing about records is art and I stay together. Todd has a room by himself so it works out well. But no he says I have a lot of interest in history my father. Often said that you know that there's a lot out there in the world it's of great interest to you. I think I still live in Florida now and every time I talk to him on the phone he's very interested in sports is What book have you read right. Recently you know where do you think of the economic policies. So I think my Spectrum is a little more Catholic with a small c and Tom has his own interest outside. He's an excellent golfer for example and he he has an interest in what's going on in the world. But we are different people off the court. And yet they were very very good friends and I think we made good friends about what happens as far as coaching.

Politically. Tell me what recruiting is like. Well I enjoy recruiting. I think recruiting early on is very very enjoyable you get to meet different people mostly nice where we recruit where it gets to be difficult courses towards the end of the year where pressure has to be applied and a young man has to decide between three schools there's not much difference. But I enjoy that aspect of it I want NCAA basketball recruiting Committee. And there seems to be a feeling I feel myself that although the eastern schools aren't as guilty I would say some of your other schools that there is an increase in some of the illegal recruiting that's going on and may just be small things like giving players T-shirts or giving them shoes. But I would say. It seems to me it's getting a little worse than it has been and one of the reasons is I think the penalties for illegal recruiting are as stiff as they should be and as a result it's worth the gamble to the school for example to take a kid maybe change a transcript or give them

something a little extra if they can get into the NCAA and maybe get you know $300000 for a first or second round game. I think some of that has to be done it has to be done immediately and the penalties have to be very very severe weather as loss of a season or a loss of scholarships or whatever it has to be in order to schools to realize hey it's just not worth it. Most eastern schools I would say are not involved in that. There are a few that are. But to me it makes it very difficult and it's becoming more difficult to go out and recruit honestly and if it ever gets to the point where you have to do something illegal I don't want to be involved in it because I don't think that's part of college athletics I really don't. It is today in some cases and that has to change and that has to change very soon of the game as we know it whether it's football or basketball is really in for a very difficult time. The stronger your team. OK I've always liked it but.

That's fine.