THE FUTURE IS NOW
Hirings of Sanderson and Brands had Gable legacy
It wasn’t the first time an Iowa university hired a former Olympic champion to lead its wrestling program.
And when both Iowa State University and the University of Iowa announced March 29 and April 5, respectively, that a pair of former Cyclone and Hawkeye national champions — Cael Sanderson and Tom Brands, who later garnered Olympic gold medals — would be leading its wrestling programs, one couldn’t help but think of Dan Gable, the man who was awarded a similar honor in the 1970s and whose legacy in part helped create the expectations that led to the hiring of Sanderson and Brands.
For it was Gable, who won all but one match in a college career at Iowa State where he won captured two NCAA championships in 1968 and 1969 before later winning a gold medal in the 1972 Munich Olympics. And it was Gable who became Iowa’s head coach in 1977, with just a few years experience as an assistant coach, and spent 20 years leading the Hawkeyes to 15 team championships — including nine straight between 1978-86 — before “reti
ring” after the 1997 season.“I’m not sure there’s a more difficult job in sports because there’s absolutely no room for error in the expectations of the Iowa wrestling program,” said Iowa athletic director Bob Bowlsby, when he introduced Brands as a replacement for Jim Zalesky. “I don’t put those expectations there, you don’t put those expectations there, a tradition of very high achievement is what puts those traditions at the very apex of the world of sports.
“We all understand (the expectations), and we know we’re not going to get back there overnight. But I have every confidence we will get back there.”
And the man taking on Gable’s legacy is another Gable disciple. Brands said at the press conference that this is what he’s been working towards his whole career.
“I’d be a liar if I sat here and told you this isn’t what I’ve worked my whole career for,” said Brands, who won three NCAA titles (1990-92) and a gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 while developing an equally intense coaching style; first as an assistant at Iowa and the past two years as Virginia Tech’s head coach.
“Watching (Dan) Gable’s boys on TV in junior high and high school, watching the Iowa wrestling gods perform on that mat (was) bigger than life,” added the 37-year-old native of Sheldon, Iowa. “I was late for some things as a kid, but I was never late for Iowa Public Television broadcasts of Iowa wrestling.
“It becomes addicting, and there was no place I wanted to coach other than Iowa. I don’t like saying it’s a dream come true because I don’t believe in dreams, I believe in going after it.”
Sanderson found a similar goal in coaching at Iowa State, but not until the native of Heber City, Utah, joined his older brothers, Cody and Cole, at Iowa State in 2000, which began an even more incredible streak than Gable’s … as Sanderson eventually won all 159 bouts and four NCAA titles.
And later as as assistant coach to Bobby Douglas, Sanderson became this country’s most recent gold medal winner at the 2000 Athens Olympics.
But unlike that day in Greece, where Sanderson jumped into the arms of Douglas, who was also his freestyle coach, the winningest wrestler in Cyclone history shed tears in Ames, shortly after he embraced his mentor — who reportedly was stepping aside so that Sanderson could take over — and before he stepped in front of the media for the first time as ISU’s sixth all-time head coach.
“One of the best decisions my family ever made was when my older brother (Cody) signed a national letter of intent with Bobby Douglas and Iowa State University,” said the third of four boys raised by Steve and Debbie Sanderson. “Ever since that day, Coach Douglas has had my family’s back and he’s had my back. He’s going to continue to be right by my side and and have my back the remainder of my coaching career.
“When you think of wrestling, you think of Coach Douglas. It’s hard to disconnect the two and I don’t think anyone will or try. Coach Douglas is wrestling and I’m happy that Coach Douglas will stick around here.”
Douglas, who left the press conference as Sanderson started his comments, had a statement read on his behalf.
“I could not be more supportive of the choice of Cael Sanderson to take over the Iowa State program,” said Douglas, who spent 14 years coach at Iowa State and 17 years at Arizona State, where he won an NCAA title in 1988. “I wanted to make sure that the future of Cyclone wrestling was in good hands and Cael Sanderson is the only person to lead this program forward.
While Sanderson credits Douglas for his success at ISU, he also can’t help but be compared to Gable, who like Sanderson was also just 26 years old when he took over the Hawkeye program. And like Gable did 30 years ago, Sanderson must answer the question of whether he is ready with just a few years of coaching under his belt.
“I’ve been around wrestling my whole life,” Sanderson said. “I’ve been around some great coaches. My father is a great high school coach; one of the best in the nation. I’ve been here four eight years learning under Coach Douglas. I’ve been learning every day from him and I think I’m ready.”
Cael’s father downplays the fact that his son has not built up a strong coaching resume.
“He’s been coaching for such a long time,” said Steve Sanderson, who coached at Wasatch High School in Heber City until Cael graduated from high school. “I always made my young kids teach and work with the little kids in the community. He’s actually been coaching since he was in junior high.
“As far as working with kids, he will be incredible. I think he will attack coaching the same way he attacked wrestling as a competitor. He has an idea of the way it should look like.
“I think the big thing is that he is genuine. He is exactly who you see. The appeal to the younger wrestlers and the people he will be associated with (is that) you take him by his word because his word is good.”
While Sanderson added his brother, Cody (who has spent the past two years starting the program at Utah Valley State) as well as former Minnesota national champ Tim Hartung, Brands also brought in someone he was familiar with to assist him: Gable.
Gable will maintain his role as an assistant to the athletic director, but adding the full-time assistant coach title to his moniker will allow Gable to officially work with Hawkeyes in the wrestling room.
“When you think about it, it’s the best situation as far as putting the best people in the best situations,” said Brands, who said he was not intimidated by working with a legendary coach. “You have to utilize your best firepower and surround yourself with the best people. To have Gable involved in any other way, I don’t think it does the program justice.
“This is how I think I convinced him. When he walks into the room and the athletes see him, are they looking at the same thing as Tom Brands or are they looking at something different. In other words, are they looking at an administrative opinion or are they looking at a coaching opinion. When Gable talks, they are hearing the philosophy of the program. When I talk, they are hearing the philosophy of the program.”
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