When long-time head coach Rod Myers passed away last spring, the Blue Devils still had plenty of golf left ahead of them.
Although it may have been difficult, the team had no choice but to move on. The players did not choose the situation-the situation chose them.
This summer, when former UCLA head coach O.D. Vincent was hired to take the helm of the program, the Blue Devils again found themselves in an unfamiliar position, but were ready to move forward.
So was Vincent.
"They didn't sign up for me as their coach-," Vincent said. "They were recruited by and committed to someone else, and I respect and understand that... So knowing that, we are trying to do things in whatever style our style is."
Vincent's coaching methods are, by all accounts, innovative. He describes his coaching style as somewhat unorthodox, but his players have bought in to his system and voiced their approval. Vincent has been less stringent about players adhering to a schedule of practice and team meetings. Instead, he has demanded several pieces of written work from his players. Sophomore Jeff Edelman spoke of the team outlining its goals for the month and the year, and of writing a mission statement for the team in which their coach had no input.
"[Vincent] said our mission statement could be anything we value, and I found that interesting because we have always had a coach tell us what to value," Edelman said. "He is very creative and he doesn't want to be like other golf coaches, because he wants to be better than other golf teams."
Vincent's achievements as both a player and a coach make him more than qualified to implement his philosophy at programs like Duke and UCLA. After winning the California high school state championship in 1985, he went on to Washington, where he led the Huskies to their first Pac-10 championship in 25 years. Vincent's playing career peaked in 1992, when he played on the professional European Tour and appeared in the British Open.
In 1995, Vincent became head coach at his alma mater, and then took the top job at UCLA six years later. There, Vincent received numerous individual honors, including two Pac-10 Coach of the Year awards, and led his team to four top-ten NCAA finishes in five years.
"I wasn't looking at leaving UCLA," Vincent said. "But in our sport, Duke should be the very best place to be a student-athlete and the very best place to coach so I think Duke is a step up for a lot of reasons."
When Vincent jumped at the chance to be the Blue Devils' head coach last June, he cited several major factors in his decision to come to Durham, including the tradition built by Myers, Duke's top-notch facilities, the ability to raise two young children outside of the rush of Los Angeles and the chance to work with women's golf coach Dan Brooks-one of the most successful coaches in the sport's history.
"I have a dream and a goal of having the two programs stand shoulder-to-shoulder," Vincent said. "And having him be very successful is very motivating to me to get our men's team to that same level."
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