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October 19, 2001/Cheshvan 2, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 6
Goldstein guides football powerhouse
JEFFREY STANLIS
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 Stuart Goldstein |
"I hated it," Goldstein says. "I hated the whole idea of coaching. I liked the strength aspects - I loved the lifting, but I never wanted to be a football coach."
Goldstein now finds himself at the helm of one of the top high school football programs in the state, coaching the Scottsdale Saguaro Sabercats, the No. 1 ranked team in the Arizona Interscholastic Associations' Class 4A.
Goldstein intended to follow in the footsteps of his father Phil Goldstein, a respected attorney. After graduating from Arizona State University in 1985, he had been accepted to Whittier Law School in California. He was taking some graduate classes at ASU, not wanting to leave for law school right after completing his undergraduate work, when he ran into a Shane Bates, who coached Goldstein at Scottsdale Community College a few years before.
"We just talked, and ate, and he asked me if I would help him with spring practice at SCC," Goldstein says. "They were short handed, and I wasn't ready to leave for law school, so I agreed."
Spring practice turned into a position as the SCC Artichokes' strength and conditioning coach, then the defensive line coaching position, and from 1988-91, Goldstein was the team's assistant head coach and defensive coordinator.
"I realized I just loved the kids," says Goldstein, who never ended up attending Whittier. "At first, I had no desire to coach, but once I started I couldn't leave it."
Goldstein first made a name for himself by piloting Carl Hayden High School - a poor, inner-city school located near 35th Avenue and Van Buren Street in Phoenix - to its first playoff appearance in 32 years, and its first winning season in 20 years. Following his stint at Carl Hayden, Goldstein spent time as an assistant coach at perennial west side power Maryvale before taking over at Sagauro.
Goldstein's strength, beyond the X's and O's of coaching, has always been motivation, according to his staff.
"He's got so many stories, and each has a moral, and each moral ties to a team-building concept," says Mike Giovando, Saguaro's offensive coordinator.
His work at Saguaro, a school with money for a weight room and students who grew up playing Pop Warner football, has been far easier than it was at Carl Hayden. But Goldstein still says he used metaphorical devices to motivate his team.
This year, he gave each player a 14-inch piece of rope, one inch for each win it would take to reach the state championship game at ASU's Sun Devil Stadium. Part of the rope's meaning is a reference to a speech Al Pacino made in the movie "Any Given Sunday."
"Inch-by-inch," Goldstein says. "We have to take things one step at a time, and we either win together or fail individually. Everyone has to pull on the same rope."
Goldstein says he focuses on helping his players remember his lessons, not just motivating them with clichˇs quickly forgotten.
"The key is to link information from the short-term memory to the long-term memory," Goldstein says. "Have you ever taken a test and the next day you forgot everything? Cramming is short term. I link stories together with a lesson so they remember them long- term. Our kids can spit out our stories, our lessons, from memory."
So far, the Sabercats have responded, compiling a 6-0 record and outscoring opponents 251-72. They are ranked No. 1 by the Arizona Republic, the Mesa Tribune and the Associated Press.
Not bad for a team that was 1-9 the year before Goldstein took over.
Saguaro was a power in the 1990s, winning the Class 5A title in 1995 and the 4A title in 1996 behind All American Mike Brown, who later played at the University of Nebraska.
Saguaro began its rebirth last year, barely making the playoffs and then running off back-to-back upsets to reach the state semifinals.
"I told them it all starts over here," Goldstein says. "Teams can go undefeated in the regular season and lose in the first round of the playoffs."
When Goldstein took over, he had modest goals.
"I just wanted to return this program to respectability," Goldstein says.
Goldstein also teaches elective classes at Saguaro.
"I know everyone's focused on the football, but I'm more proud of the speech programs I've built at each school I've been at, here, Hayden and Maryvale," Goldstein says. "My father is my inspiration for that. He's really my role model."
The lessons he teaches in the classroom resonate on the football field, too.
"When given an assignment, I teach my students to say 'It will be done, and I will do it,' " Goldstein says. "For the football team, the response is 'It will be done and WE will do it.' "
Goldstein's Saguaro program is one of the more innovative programs in the state. Unlike most schools, which run conservative, ground-oriented offenses and safe defenses, Goldstein is a risk-taker. Giovando and assistant coach Ron Safcik coordinate a professional-style offense that has showcased quarterback Kellen Bradley, who has already signed to play collegiate football at Oregon State University. Bradley has only played in 14 of 20 quarters, as coaches protect him in games where Saguaro has a decisive lead. Those big leads happen, thanks to the aggressive style Goldstein enjoys, Giovando says.
Goldstein also creates a family atmosphere, one of trust and understanding, Safcik says. Giovando and Safcik have young children, and Goldstein encourages them to bring their kids to practice.
"We baby-sit while we coach," Giovando says. "What other coach would let you do that? He understands that we have families, we have priorities. We do our job, and he never, ever questions us."
"My overriding theme is 'TLC,' " Goldstein says. "Trust, love and commitment through tender loving care. It's a state of mind. You can be the greatest X and O coach but if they don't believe, they won't win. If I can do this at Hayden, this is easy."