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Smith likes to 'lighten it up' for meets

The approach relaxes the athletes in a Leopards program that has become a perennial state power.

By JOHN SCHWARB
Published March 13, 2005

Tournament day is no time for teaching, the way Matt Smith sees it.

Monday-Friday, mind you, the Hernando coach cuts an imposing figure even greater than his 6-foot-1, 280-pound frame. Hundreds of athletes have heard his bellowing afternoon voice, imploring them to give a little bit more effort.

But in a bus, on the way to a big meet, all of a sudden Smith turns into a chatty-Cathy.

"He has a lot of good stories he'll tell you while driving," senior Addison Chipoletti said. "Stories like when he was in college, different stuff."

If it is a coaching tactic, it's working. Hernando placed in the top five at state for the third consecutive year - this time taking third in Class A behind seven wrestlers, including champions in Chipoletti and Windham Rotunda.

"I try to lighten it up," Smith said. "I know a lot of coaches, they're telling their kids not to do this, "You can't do this or you'll get beat' - a lot of scenarios. "I don't like to do that. That makes them tight," he said. "They don't go out and perform because they're too worried about making mistakes."

Once on the mat, the Leopards don't make many mistakes anyway.

It's the work during the week that has made Hernando a state power among smaller schools, and Smith has been in the middle of all that since taking over the program in 1996.

During the week he might not be smiling, but it doesn't mean he's not happy.

"I'm not always in a good mood because I always expect more," Smith said. "It plays in my favor; I get more work out of them. "I don't ever want a kid to come back and say, "Coach, if you'd have worked me a little harder, I could have been a champion.' That, I don't want," he said. "I haven't had it in 10 years, and I don't plan on it."

[Last modified March 13, 2005, 00:22:15]