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74 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED gap, Hazell and Els chowed on pizza and talked bigger scale, talked mission and philosophy. It was then Hazell was struck with Els' passion for coaching, his passion for his own kids and for his play- ers. (Els insists he treats his players and kids the same.) "That's one of the things he talked about — it's not one phase of your life that makes you successful. It's all of them tied together," Hazell said. "Being able to make sure they succeed in the classroom (etc.). And it wasn't lip service. You can tell when some guy is trying to give you the classic interview lines, but you could tell he was sincere, that he cares about the kids, that he's going to hold them accountable and be fair and be stern with them. "It matters because the kids will see that — that he's trying to help them — so they will, in turn, give him great effort if he deeply cares about him." It didn't take long for teenagers to pick up Els' genu- ine vibe. King said his players, Bo's teammates, got "very, very close" with Els in a short period of time. That was, in part, because of how Els treated them. He had a high standard, but he coached at a level that the high school players understood, being careful not to speak over their heads, didn't use terms they couldn't grasp, didn't expect them to do things they hadn't been taught. "He was great at being able to say, 'Yeah, this is the way we do it, but here's what our kids can handle.' That's pretty special," King said. "It shows how smart he is because he's not a pound-a-square-peg-into-a- round-hole kind of guy. There's a huge difference in tal- ent level and knowledge level between Division I college kids and high school kids. He's able to make that ad- justment immediately because he's the kind of guy who knows people. When you're coaching a kid, you can't treat them all the same. Some kids respond to real strict motivation and other kids, you have to stroke a little bit. He's awesome at that. "Just being with him this fall, he's probably the best I've ever been around as far as being able to understand how to motivate individuals." That wasn't something Els had to change, though, to coach at the high school level. It's the same way he'll be at Purdue, says Compton, the former Cornhusker who is now with the Washing- ton Redskins. Els lives in the details, Compton said, but he's able to simplify concepts and break schemes down with specif- ic and precise explanation so players can execute. Re- peated mistakes aren't acceptable, Compton said, but if that happens with a player, Els first looks at himself and evaluates if he's not teaching properly. And though there's always a certain amount of pres- sure to succeed, Els doesn't heap it on unnecessarily or in combative ways. He stands alongside players. "He's not somebody who is very negative toward his players. He's not about that at all," Compton said. "He knows how to encourage people, pick everybody up. If he sees you're lollygagging or having a slow day, he's very energetic as far as focusing you back up and get- ting you back in tune with everything. "I have nothing but great things to say about him. Some of the credit goes to him as far as me being where I am today. I loved playing for him." Els certainly was groomed to be that kind of coach: It's what his dad modeled so well. Bob Els was a longtime high school coach in Lincoln — even coached Ross in high school — and Ross saw how much influence his father had in shaping young men, how he cared deeply about helping players devel- op "moral fiber," how badly he wanted them to succeed, how he enjoyed helping them respond to adversity. It was exactly what Ross wanted to do — and it's why he's still coaching. "When you get fired and things like that, you always look back and go, 'Am I doing the right thing?' It's al- ways been 'Yes.' This is what I need to be doing," Els said. "Being able to see kids that come, especially at the college level, from absolutely nothing that wouldn't have a chance in this world were it not for college foot- ball, giving them a scholarship, seeing them achieve, seeing them graduate college, raising their own family and breaking that cycle. Breaking that cycle of 'I'm ei- ther going to be in prison or I'm going to be dead,' and when you get kids like that and you see what an impact athletics are able to change in a kid like that, you feel great. That's No. 1 for me." j