This is a great story about a coach faced with one of the toughest challenges a coach can face--how to get a team to rebound from initial setbacks to get this team back on track to achieving their goal. Often, this is an overlooked part of a coach's skills--how he/she can teach athletes to overcome adversity. Surely, a life-lesson used over and over again.




Copyright 2008 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company
Times-Picayune (New Orleans)


February 14, 2008 Thursday


SECTION: NEW ORLEANS PICAYUNE; On Preps-Orleans; Pg. 1

HEADLINE: A coach's strength shows in adversity;
Jesuit's Bertot: Better next year

BYLINE: Pierce Huff


Sometimes the true measure of a coach isn't what he does when he leads teams to championships, but what he does when he and his team fall short of winning title.

Nobody would have blamed the Jesuit wrestling team if they crumbled after dropping from first place to 28 points back in third place after the Division I semifinals in the LHSAA state wrestling tournament last Saturday at the Pontchartrain Center.

But Blue Jays coach Carlos Bertot has always told his team that state wrestling championships are won in the wrestle backs, and not just the championship bracket. With that in mind, Jesuit responded with five wrestlers finishing in third place, which helped it reclaim first place by nine points going into the championship matches.

Jesuit finished second to Baton Rouge Catholic (214-210) in Division I. It was a momentous loss for Jesuit, because it marked the first time since 1983 that neither Jesuit or Brother Martin had won at least a share of the Division I title. It also marked the first time since 1988 that the Blue Jays or Crusaders didn't win the state championship outright.

But no one can question Bertot's leadership of Jesuit when it mattered the most on high school wrestling's biggest stage of the season.

Only a good coach can rally his troops when faced with failure. Only a good coach can get his players to focus on the big picture when the smaller picture seems so dark.

That's what Bertot did at the state wrestling championships.

The Blue Jays administration owes Bertot some gratitude for being a good example in victory and defeat this season. The Jesuit parents owe him thanks for teaching their sons how to overcome adversity. And the players owe him a pat on the back for being their mentor and their friend.

I remember last year when Jesuit finished second to Brother Martin and had their streak of three consecutive Division I state championships snapped. Bertot looked me in the eye and told me things would be different the next year, and they were.

The Blue Jays were arguably two state champion wrestlers away from winning the Division I title. When was the last time Jesuit did not have at least one state champion wrestler? (It's proof that fate was on Baton Rouge Catholic's side last weekend.)

This weekend, Bertot, in his quiet, soft-spoken manner, told me again that things would be different for Jesuit next year.

And I believe him.

After all, the proof is there.

Anyone can be a leader in good times, because that doesn't take much effort. But leading a team in tough times takes faith, perseverance and hard work.

Anyone can coach a great team, because in a lot of ways great teams coach themselves. They have talented, smart and dedicated athletes who know how to win games. But not many people can teach good teams how to be great.

The bar for the Jesuit wrestling team is set high every year, and for good reason. The Blue Jays are always contenders and are one of the state's winningest programs ever. The school has enough material from its championship wrestling banners over the years to clothe five different wrestling teams.

But when the roll call of great Jesuit wrestling seasons is remembered in the future, this Blue Jays 2007-08 season deserves as much appreciation as some of the championship-winning teams of the past.

And Bertot deserves his due.

He kept Jesuit together in the face of adversity, and that gave the team a chance to win another state title even though it eventually fell short.

And that's always championship coaching.

. . . . . . .

Pierce W. Huff can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 826-3809.