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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — Whitney Hite is in his sixth season coaxing the Wisconsin men's and women's swimming and diving programs to the upper tier of the national swimming scene. He's nudged both teams into the top 20. He's landed some elite recruits, especially in the latest class for the women. He's guided the reigning Big Ten Men's Swimmer of the Year in Matt Hutchins. He's coached an NCAA individual champion in Drew teDuits in 2013. With the Big Ten championship meets coming up later this month, Hite took a moment this week to talk about, among other things, his one-time dream job, his Super Bowl success and the biggest splurge he's ever made.
You were born in Colorado. You went to school in Texas. You had coaching stops in Georgia, California, Washington and Arizona. What makes Wisconsin unique in terms of swimming?
"There's charm in every place you go. Denver will always be home, but this is as close to a home as I think I'll ever have. It is more of my style. Just kind of lunch pail, hard hat, go to work, blue collar. That's what I appreciate about it. People are genuine. People are real. It's the Midwest and that's a good thing. That's a positive thing. You get similar swimmers. I think it's taken me maybe four years to really understand who we are. … When I got here I remember fans were really kind of hard on (former UW men's basketball coach) Bo Ryan. 'Oh, my God. A throwback to 1940s basketball. Slow it down.' By God, he won. A lot. It worked. He had a system. He knew who he was. Same with Coach (Barry) Alvarez and Coach (Paul) Chryst (in football). We know who we are and there's success in that. We get some talented kids, but the way we're going to win ultimately is through developing kids. There's an article … that took all the four-year snapshots of who develops the most. Wisconsin women were second in the nation and the men were fourth of all the programs (in terms of) how much improvement that we have with the kids that are on our team. That's who we are. … The way we're going to climb this mountain, we're not going to take an escalator. We're going to take not necessarily the easy road, and that's OK. That's the type of kids I want to be around."
What's at the top of that mountain?
"Winning. NCAA championships. Big Ten championships. There are a lot of ways to get there. I know how we're going to get there."
You coach both men and women. How do you approach coaching your male swimmers versus female swimmers?
"That's a good question. With guys … it's more kind of you can challenge them a little bit more as far as, 'C'mon. Let's get after this.' Although I do believe women are tougher overall than men … you can challenge men a little bit and you don't necessarily challenge women. You support them. Encourage them. Not that guys don't like to be encouraged, but I can dig in with the guys a little bit. With women, you're going to get better results if you're more encouraging."
What's the best advice you received from another coach?
"I do remember one time (Georgia men's and women's coach) Jack Bauerle saying, 'Don't give up on kids.' Because as a younger coach you tend to be in a hurry. When you don't get results, you kind of just move on."
If you weren't coaching, what would you be doing?
"What would I like to be doing or what would I be doing?"
What would you like to be doing?
"I'd love to be doing play-by-play on the radio for baseball. I love baseball and I can talk. And I've got a face for radio. … I love sports, but with baseball it's easier, I think, to call a game. There's a lot more dead time where you can talk about interesting things or things that aren't as interesting. … And I really do love baseball. It's one of the last pure sports left. I would enjoy that."
Is there a random skill you'd like to have?
"I always thought it would be really cool if you had a really specific skill like being able to free-hand draw a perfect circle. I can't do it. I'd love to be able to play the guitar better. I've done a little bit of guitar playing, but it hasn't progressed the way I'd like. I think it would be pretty cool to play the guitar well."
Outside of marriage and fatherhood, what was your best day ever?
"I've been to three Super Bowls. All were Broncos wins."
What sold you on this job?
"I felt like it had potential. I knew (previous coach) Eric (Hansen) and he had done a great job. I felt like you could really win here. Winning isn't everything, but it's sure damn important. It had a really good combination. When I was at Washington or Berkeley, recruiting it and selling it, you could get behind it because it was elite in terms of academics. I thought (UW) was a pretty good school. We need to do a better job of telling people how really good it is. The Wisconsin Idea needs to go global, needs to get out beyond the borders of our state."
What was your biggest splurge?
"This watch. So I started the swim camp at Cal (in 2004). They hadn't done one before and I said, 'OK, I'll start it.' Trying to get that ball rolling is probably why I don't have any hair. So, the first year I'd done all this work and I'd made like $4,000. I was living like I used to live in college. You're still renting. You're still having ramen (noodles) every once in a while. I was like, screw it. I busted my butt on this and I'd always wanted a really nice watch. So I bought a Rolex."
