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"It's not a football manual, but it is. Everything is connected." Offensive coordinator John Shoop There's a section on spirituality. There's one on hope. There's one on humility and love. There are others on caring, on wisdom, on class. Players will read a different section each day to start their morning meetings. It's during "quiet time." Hazell structured which section will be read on each day, and he often times it brilliantly. "It's funny because it always seems like the section you read is perfect for that day," Freeman said. "You're tired, it's a Wednesday on the second week of two-a-days and you can't see the end and all of a sudden, there's a section on toughness. "Every single day it's almost like, 'Man, this is talking to me.' It's awesome." Purdue players have only heard about the book, and they aren't entirely sure what it's about. They've already heard Hazell preaching "A players get As" — he has the saying hanging on a wall in his office, like he did at Ohio State and Kent State. But in terms of the "A Player's Manual" itself, when a handful of players were asked about it in mid-June, they responded with blank stares or pauses. Center Robert Kugler's response was "The what?" What the players didn't realize was they've already gotten a glimpse of what the manual will be. During spring ball, Hazell had quiet time during meetings. It was about 10 minutes of each player taking stock, thinking about what they're thankful and grateful for and writing it down. "It's definitely a character-building thing," fifth-year senior Rob Henry said. "It's just basically challenging yourself every day and creating some internal pressure when you go to bed and when wake up in the morning that every day I'm going to be a better man, I'm going to be a better student and I'm going to be the best football player I can be as well. "As far as A players get As, As is not just an academic term. It's As as far as being a good citizen, of course being a good student, but also performing well on the football field. So it has some football sense to it, of course, but it's also being a good man and growing into being a good cit6 • Gold and Black IllustrateD • volume 23, issue 6 Tom Campbell Marcus Freeman had the "Winners Manual" as a player at Ohio State, and he's glad Hazell brought the "A Player's Manual" to Kent State and Purdue. "This book helps you become a better football team by giving more than just Xs and Os," Freeman said. izen." The manual also is quite practical. Each staff member and each player's responsibilities are specifically identified. There are schedules and charts detailing where to be when — for every day of training camp through the season. It tells players the smallest details, even how to dress for certain events. It breaks down to the minute — 42 in total — what will be discussed at a major staff meeting in July. It has all the practice plans. "We run a very thorough program," said supervisor of football operations Tommy Cook, who worked with Hazell at Kent State. "I had heard about it and read about it (before Kent). It's kind of sacred territory, if you will." There's also quite a history of success behind the book. Tressel transformed Youngstown State into a national champion and guided the Buckeyes to BCS championships. Mark Dantonio, a former assistant to Tressel, also has a "Winners Manual," and he's 51-28, including a share of the Big Ten Championship, as Michigan State's head coach. Hazell turned the Golden Flashes from a losing program into one that played in its first bowl game in GBIprint.com GoldandBlack.com