The UCF Report, Vol. 05 No. 29, March 30, 1983

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Univeristy of Central Florida
Orlando, Florida 32816
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The UCF Report
Volume 5, Number 2^f
for the Faculty and Staff
Wednesday, March 30, 1983
As head football coach of college team
Lou Saban: 'back where I belong'
"I've never seen a better guy at building a program. Everybody puts the
knock on Lou Saban for not staying in
some of the positions he has held. But I
think Lou has reached the point in his
life that he's ready to settle into one
place and make his mark."
— George Steinbrenner
By JIM MARTZ
Herald Sports Writer
ORLANDO — Lou Saban jogged
sprightly onto the football practice field.
Some of his players already were there.
Some jogged with him and a half dozen
walked in nonchalantly a few moments
later.
Saban glared at the latecomers.
"Did you guys walk that way onto the
field last year?" he hollered. "Get your
butts back there and jog."
The startled players ran about 1 5
yards and stopped, unsure of how far
back they were supposed to go.
"No, no, all the way back to the
locker-room door!" Saban yelled. "And
hurry! And put your equipment on!"
Saban then turned and winked to a
reporter.
"Any whistles? Anybody got a whistle?" Saban asked his assistant
coaches. They scrambled for one, and
Saban blew it, though he already had
everyone's attention.
At 2:23 p.m. Friday, 60 players
huddled with Saban to start the first
spring practice in the four-year history
of football at University of Central Florida. It also was their first practice under
Saban.
"I never want to see anybody ever
walk again, understand me?" Saban
said. "That includes coaches, too. Do I
make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir," the players replied.
"You're not doing me any favors, gentlemen," Saban said, pacing back and
forth and looking like Patton before the
troops. "You're doing it for yourselves.
Miss a day and you're through. We have
no part-time football players. How many
games did you win last year?"
A few mumbled the answer, "None."
"Why?" Saban asked. There was no
response.
"Tomorrow we start at 11 o'clock and
go until 1," Saban continued. "Monday
we start at 3. I'm not going to say it any
more. All we're concerned about is
building a football team. The first thing
you've got to do is school work. If you
don't want a degree, get out. You might
learn to like us if you live with us long
enough.
"We'll try people at new positions. If
you don't want to do it, there's the
locker room," Saban said, pointing to
the new $1.5-million weight-training
and locker-room facility. "Work, listen,
do your jobs. The best ones will survive.
"I take no excuses. Now jog there and
back. Gentlemen, this is the beginning.
Let's go!"
Athletic Director Bill Peterson, former
Florida State and Houston Oiler coach,
chuckled to himself. "They're in for a
rude awakening," he said. "They just
1  "T
Hkm
University of
Central Florida
Orlando
FOOTBALL COACH LOU SABAN
'like kid in candy store'
walked around here last year."
Lou Saban, 62 but looking younger
than he did when he became coach at
the University of Miami in 1977, is back
in the saddle, so to speak. After nearly
three years of shuffling papers for
George Steinbrenner, first at Tampa
Bay Downs race track and then with the
New York Yankees, Saban was starting
his 11th head coaching job in a
nomadic career that has included two
years at UM.
"I'm back where I belong," said
Saban, who was hired in December for
a reported $43,000 salary plus $15,000
from a television show. "As much as I
enjoyed working for George, I'm pleased
they [Central Florida] felt I could con
tribute to building their program.
There's a helluva lot of potential."
Jerry Anderson, the former Carol City
High coach who was on Saban's staff at
UM, followed him to Army in 1 979 and
now to Central Florida, said, "I've never
seen Lou so happy. He's having a good
time and working hard. He's a tough
man to keep up with.
"He knows everybody in the world,
anyway. He's refreshing, sincere,
straightforward and honest. Like I told
Sports Illustrated when they followed
him for two weeks, he's like a dinosaur.
He's the only one left."
When Colbourn was named president
of Central Florida in 1 978, he raised colleagues' eyebrows when he said he
President's Circle to hear Haig
Former Secretary of State Alexander
M. Haig Jr. will be guest speaker at this
year's President's Circle Club dinner
May 5 honoring those in the community
who gave at least $1,000 during 1982
in support of University of Central
Florida academic programs.
The event will mark the third annual
gathering of the sponsoring group,
which in that time has grown from
fewer than 40 members to more than
100, said President Trevor Colbourn in
announcing the Haig appearance.
To accommodate the increased membership, this year's dinner has been
shifted from the Sweetwater Club to the
university, said Georges St. Laurent of
Longwood, who again will chairman for
the occasion.
Previous speakers at President's
Circle dinners have been William F.
Buckely Jr. and Henry Kissinger.
ALEXANDER HAIG
Former secretary of state
hoped the school would consider starting a football program. After all, many
schools were cutting back or dropping
football because of expenses.
Undaunted, UCF launched an NCAA
Division III program in 1979, the year
the school changed its name from Florida Technological University. Don
Jonas, a local hero who played on the
Orlando Panthers of the semi-pro Continental Football League, coached the
team its first three years, going
14-12-1.
Jonas worked as a volunteer the first
year, then on salary before quitting last
•••••••••••••
"I've heard people say, 'Why not hire
a young person wanting to make a
niche?' If you can show me a younger
person with as much energy as Lou,
fine. But he's not going to have the
experience."
— Dr. Trevor Colbourn,
president of UCF
•••••••••••••
August, just before the program moved
up to Division II status. An assistant,
Sammy Weir, took over but resigned
with two games left in November. The
Knights played five Division 1AA teams
and went 1-10, being outscored,
356-109.
Now UCF has sights on becoming
Florida's fourth Division I program.
"There's no question there is room
for four," said Colbourn, who has a picture on the wall in his office of UCF's
first game being played at St. Leo College on a field resembling a lake.
"When we get to Division I is another
matter. You just don't do it overnight in
football. But there's no law you can't
play Division I teams occasionally.
"The advantages are obvious. The
number of players going out-of-state is
horrendous. One reason Eastern Kentucky played us here last year is
because this is their prime recruiting
area." [Eastern Kentucky, with 18 Flori-
dians on the roster, won the Division
1 AA championship last season.]
"I don't think we'll hurt the existing
program at all," added Colbourn. "We
may reduce the export level, and that's
a good thing. And we could help others
in the state because it will cut travel. If
See SABAN, Page 3
Author-victim Brady
speaks here Tuesday
Child abuse, incest and rape prevention will be discussed by author
Katherine Brady in an evening program
April 5 at UCF.
Brady, who wrote the autobiographical Father's Day has lectured at campuses across the country on the subjects and also is a counselor for incest
victims in New York City.
Her efforts on behalf of such victims
were recognized recently with creation
of the Katherine Brady Foundation,
organized to lend nationwide support.
Her UCF appearance at 8 p.m. in the
Student Center auditorium is free to
UCF students. There is a $1.50 general
admission.