BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — It's a hidden gem tucked into Wisconsin's athletics culture and Jonathan Tsipis located a big chunk of it as soon as he arrived in Madison four years ago.
A sense of genuine unity can be found among the 20 coaches who oversee the 23 sports. They get along. They share. They listen. They make time. They go out of their way to help one another and it doesn't matter the profile.
That kind of chemistry is not found everywhere. It's one of the reasons Tsipis begins his fourth season as women's basketball coach with a sense of comfort and resolve.
"It's always great to hear from other people who look in and see and know what you're trying to accomplish," he said.
Tsipis was hired in March of 2016 to reshape a program that's nearly two decades removed from its heyday. The Badgers qualified for the NCAA tournament four times between 1995 and 2001 and won the Women's National Invitational Tournament title in 2000 after falling in the championship game in 1999, but have produced six winning seasons since.
Tsipis is looking to reprise his work at George Washington, where he debuted with a 14-16 mark in 2012-13 before guiding the Colonials to consecutive Atlantic 10 Conference championships in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
Wisconsin won a total of 18 games in Tsipis' first two years before making a noticeable stride last season (15-18). He believes he has his club on the right track with an eye toward qualifying for the national tournament for the first time since 2011. For evidence he points to a veteran roster and last season's Big Ten Conference tourney where the 13th-seeded Badgers won two games — the first seed from that slot to win a game at all — before falling in double-overtime to fourth-seeded Michigan.
"I think they got a taste of what it's like to compete and be successful in the Big Ten Tournament," Tsipis said. "I thought our mental toughness was so remarkable in that (Michigan) game. So much of what you do in basketball is based on chemistry and confidence and I think both of those were really evident in that run and I want to make sure to continue that."
Tsipis has endured the growing pains of another program rebuild in part because of the relationships he's cultivated with his UW peers, specifically men's basketball coach Greg Gard, men's hockey coach Tony Granato and volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield.
They are linked partly by circumstance. Tsipis was in town for an interview the day Gard — an in-season replacement for the retiring Bo Ryan — had the interim tag formally removed by school officials. Meanwhile, Granato's hiring came one day before Tsipis was introduced and Tsipis met with Sheffield before he ever set foot in the administrative offices inside Kellner Hall.
They are linked in part by proximity. Gard, Granato and Tsipis have neighboring offices on the same third-level concourse at the Kohl Center, while Sheffield, whose office is on the third floor of Kellner Hall, talks to or texts with Tsipis almost daily.
They are linked by their taste in culture. Gard is always on the lookout for books on leadership and motivation and he's been known to purchase multiple copies because he knows he'll be sharing.
Jon Gordon, a noted speaker and author on leadership, culture and teamwork, is a popular voice. He's written "The Energy Bus" and "The Power of Positive Leadership" and "You Win in the Locker Room First."
Another prominent series is entitled "Chop Wood, Carry Water" by Joshua Metcalf. It chronicles the task of falling in love with the process of becoming great.
"The Confidence Code" by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman is a book that Tsipis and Sheffield have shared with their players because it deals with the science and art of self-assurance for women.
"They roll into my office to see what the book of the year or book of the month is," Gard said of his colleagues. "We share a lot of the same leadership books."
Gard said he didn't know of Tsipis before he was hired to replace Bobbie Kelsey, but a bond has been created between the two men that goes beyond their coaching specialties and their shared practice facilities inside the Nicholas-Johnson Pavilion.
"You always hear horror stories of programs or coaches not getting along because you're always fighting and there's a tug-of-war back and forth in terms of what one program gets," Gard said. "Our relationship has always been good. There's give-and-take and we're able to share gym time when we need to.
"He's been helpful when I've had to bounce some things off of him and he's come to me with some things. So I think it's a microcosm of this whole department."
Imani Lewis
Barry Alvarez, the Wisconsin director of athletics, is constantly reminding his coaches to use one another as resources, whether it involves recruiting, tactics, motivation or compliance. It's a common development to see Paul Chryst, the football coach, entertain recruits from all walks, or Tsipis be invited to sit in when Gard meets privately with his assistants, or Granato texting Tsipis to compliment his players' efforts in the weight room.
"No one ever gives you the sense that they're too busy to help," Tsipis said. "You talk about having a family. It's wanting the best for each other no matter the relationship."
Sheffield, whose first team at Wisconsin reached the NCAA title match in 2013, has felt the same sense of kinship.
"Nobody here big-times anybody," he said. "It is the most down-to-earth staff I've ever been around. Everybody's approachable. Everyone's willing to help."
Granato, who played and coached in the NHL as well as the Winter Olympics, knows the power of camaraderie all too well.
"It's about being one," he said.
Women's basketball celebrating win against Nebraska January 2019
Tsipis connected with Sheffield immediately. They met over a meal with former UW associate athletic director Terry Gawlik in tow because she oversaw the two programs prior to leaving in August to become athletic director at Idaho.
"I felt he was interviewing me," Tsipis said.
"Us bald guys have to stick together," Sheffield said.
Both men came to Wisconsin after eye-catching stints in the Atlantic 10 — Tsipis at George Washington and Sheffield at Dayton — and both have young families with two children. Both also have backgrounds in pharmacy; it was Tsipis' field of study at North Carolina as well as Sheffield's wife, Cathy, at Virginia.
Sheffield said he and Tsipis are very curious people by nature, that when they have a meal "it's a race to see who can get to the 30th question first."
What's the line of questioning like?
"It's wide-ranging. It's life. It's coaching," Sheffield said. "What are you trying to do? What are you trying to see? How do you handle this? How do you handle that?"
Sheffield found an honest, humorous way to explain their shared traits.
"I probably have consumed more alcohol in my life than he has and I've probably cursed a lot more than he has," he said, noting that Tsipis doesn't drink. "Outside of that, we're very similar."
A sense of trust quickly blossomed between the two men as a result.
"Because we value each other's opinions, we're not afraid to share what's worked, but also what hasn't worked and how we can do something better," Tsipis said.
"I saw the challenges that he was facing trying to get his program up and running," Sheffield said. "I think he saw the challenges we did. We shared ideas."
Tsipis said he called Sheffield last week with a team-related issue and Sheffield "viewed it through a different lens," prompting Tsipis to consider a new angle.
"I'm so lucky to have people like that," Tsipis said.
Sheffield thinks Tsipis has all the proper coaching intentions.
"I think he wants to be really, really great at his craft," Sheffield said. "He knows it's more than just the X's and O's. You can tell he genuinely cares about his players. He genuinely cares about his staff. Everything matters to him.'
Sheffield said Tsipis has built a foundation of family beneath his club.
"He treats people the right way," Sheffield said. "He has the ability to bring out the best in people."
The big difference between Tsipis and Sheffield are their temperaments. Tsipis is excitable. Sheffield, Tsipis said, "is so good at staying even-keeled."
That's where Granato comes in. He and Tsipis have had long conversations about their shared traits.
"Our intensity. Our passion and love for what we do. Our family values. Our work ethic," Granato said.
Granato is one of six Wisconsin head coaches who are working at their alma mater, including Chryst, women's hockey coach Mark Johnson, men's tennis coach Danny Westerman and women's lightweight rowing coach Dusty Mattison.
Granato said Tsipis has shown a unique love for the Badgers despite not having grown up in the culture.
"How much he loves being a part of it. How much pride he has (despite) not being from the university. How much pride he has and recognizing how special of a place this is," Granato said.
Tsipis said he can't skate and has limited knowledge of hockey, but he knows Granato is someone to admire. Granato is in the midst of trying to get his six-time NCAA championship program back to the national tournament for the first time since 2014.
"If we pass each other, it's going to be a 15- to 20-minute conversation, never a pass in the night," Tsipis said. "He treats everyone like they're the most special person in the room."
Being a college coach means managing the ups and downs of a staff and roster full of impressionable young people. You expect the best, but prepare for the worst. As such, Tsipis typically texts his colleagues when things aren't going right.
"When you get 100 texts after you win a big match or a big game or something like that, it's amazing," Tsipis said. "To me, the people that I think I hold closest are the ones that know as high as it can be, when those lows (happen) you need to be there to pick them up."
Tsipis is hoping the heavy lifting will be kept to a minimum this season.
