We've all seen Virginia men's basketball coach Dave Leitao yell, stomp and stare at his players to get the most out of them. What we don't know, however: Where does this style come from and why has it worked so well in his short career as a head coach? I sat down with Leitao a few weeks ago to ask him these questions and others in an effort to shed light on the multi-faceted personality of the third-year Virginia coach.
Q: You are obviously not afraid to confront a player when he makes a mistake, and given your resume, it seems to have worked well for you. Why do you think that is?
Leitao: "I don't think what the public sees in a guy that is demonstrative, or challenging, or competitive or a lot of those types of things, is what goes on the other 22 hours during the day. You're not going to get the respect of a player just by challenging them or yelling at them, or even encouraging in a demonstrative way. I take a lot of time and a lot of pride in making sure that each individual has a relationship so that there's an understanding when challenged as to the reasons why they were challenged, and if they ever feel like they disagree, or can't handle it, or have any objections to it, that they have an open line of communication to be able to discuss that with me at any point in time. I don't think I always enjoy doing that and I don't think everybody enjoys hearing it, but I think it has its place in what I feel is necessary from a competition standpoint in trying to get the best out of each individual."
Q: Do you ever have to take into account the fact that some players might not take criticism as well as others?
"Absolutely. If one were to look at some level of depth at what happens, I don't treat everybody the same way. Some can handle it better than others, and some can't. I've got to understand that, I've got to make adjustments that way and make sure that each person is being coached in a way that would make them better. Not everybody can handle that level of coaching, and not everybody can handle not being yelled at either."
Q: As a player, you were soft-spoken. When did you become such an outspoken head coach?
"It was probably as I started my career in coaching. To be an introvert, and be a person in the background, and then to do anything which in basketball has some elements of business to it -- where you're a salesman, and you have to go out and you have to have people believe what you say -- you can't do it by being an introvert. I kind of learned quickly at that time, and it kind of grew as the years went on to a level of confidence where the exact opposite of what I used to be is probably true now, where there are more times where I probably talk too much than not talk at all. I read a long story before about Bill Walton -- who gets on the air now as an announcer, who speaks eloquently, and talks with great confidence and pride -- and he had a speech impediment and was an extreme introvert before -- so it happens to people. I actually try to use [the Walton story] with our guys because we have a number of them that are introverted ... [so they know] you don't have to settle on that, that you can work to be a better version, or if you think that that's better, to change in that way."
Q: What specific things did you take from Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun (for whom Leitao worked under for 14 years)?
"When things happen here that may be of some kind of challenge to me, whether they're coaching, specifically issues or items that I deal with, or running a program or recruiting, I often think back -- even if I don't have a conversation with coach -- I'll think back to a time that has gone by, and how I remember it was dealt with, or how I remember he reacted to it, or how I felt at that particular time as to what might happen, and use it as a comparison as to what the situation may call for. In that way, he always will be somewhere hovering around my program and our thoughts and process about how you develop people, or coach teams, or whatever. I think there's a constant feel from him in that way, and I think that's part of what was passed on in my years together with him."
Q: Do you have a specific example of that?
"It happens probably a lot. [Jan. 3] we kind of had our rear ends handed to us, and what do you do from there? The thought process of trying to think about, 'OK, what's the next best step to take,' [will always] take me back to a specific example where we may have lost. I remember way back when, we lost to St. John's at St. John's by 35 points or something like that, so the next day his reaction was to get back to basics, and reclaim your program, not just get back to practices. Thinking of something specific like that when we came back from Cincinnati and had to get back up on our feet, it was that specific situation that I can go back to, to say, this is what happened, and as a result we got better"
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