Tuesday Q&A: Tossin’ 10 at Mark Manning, Nebraska head coach

Photo of Nebraska head coach Mark Manning courtesy of University of Nebraska Athletics.


Each Tuesday, TheMat.com will be tossing 10 questions at a college wrestling coach. This week, we visit with Nebraska’s head coach Mark Manning. The Huskers have their best team in years, and should be a major player at the Big Tens and NCAAs this season.

Question 1: Your lineup this year is very deep, with a ranked wrestler in every weight class. How does this group stack up in terms of talent in comparison to other Nebraska teams you have coached?
Manning: I see this team as different. This team is unique in the aspect that we have three seniors, six juniors and a redshirt freshman in the lineup right now. All but one have been to the NCAA Tournament. A lot of guys have had disappointment, which has hardened them and made them tougher. They have learned from experience, and they will use that experience to move forward in their development as wrestlers. Our goal is to get 10 guys on the podium. We feel we are capable of that. It’s one thing talking about it, it’s another thing doing it. We have to keep these guys on edge and keep their development growing throughout the season.

Question 2: The Huskers have a loaded schedule this year, with Penn State, Ohio State and Iowa all ahead of you, plus many other ranked teams. How do you prepare for this kind of challenge, and how does it help your team in the long run?
Manning: Those three teams, Ohio State, Penn State and Iowa, we have them all within about seven days, and two of them being on the road. That’s a great challenge for us. It will make our team better for the end of the year. Pressure can either drive you to be your best, or it can take you a step backward. Having that pressure is a good thing and we are going to use it to our advantage the best we can.

Question 3: As a coach, is Jordan Burroughs a once-in-a-lifetime athlete for you, and what has it been like working so closely with him through college and his Olympic journey?
Manning: For me, it’s very unique from the perspective that I have seen Jordan grow 10 years ago as a freshman here. I knew after his freshman year that he could be very special, that he could be a national champion. Then he won his second national title and I knew he could have success on the international level. And it just took off. Luckily, I’ve coached long enough that I’ve had the opportunity to be around a lot of good people, learned a lot of good technique, good strategy, a lot of good tactics throughout my coaching years. When a guy like Jordan came into my coaching career, I was prepared to help him on the next level. A guy like Jordan drives me to be a better coach. He has driven me to keep going as a coach. My coaching experience has allowed him to keep advancing and challenging him in the areas where he needs to get better. I am blessed to be part of his journey and part of his career.

Question 4: What was the key for James Green to win a World medal in September, even though he did not reach his goal of winning an NCAA title only a few months before that?
Manning: First of all, it started with his mindset. He had come off a disappointing finish at the NCAA Tournament. He kept an edge about himself that he wanted to make his first World Team. Obviously, we all know the story. He had a tough road to get there, some ups and downs in order to make the team. He won a medal. He beat a World champion at the weight below, (Frank) Chimizo, about a month before the World Championships over in Spain. For him to have a great tournament, it wasn’t his best because he would have won it if he was at his best. James performed really well to win a bronze medal. He kept an edge about himself and he wanted to prove that he was capable. He did it on that day when he needed to do it. He kept it very simple. He was prepared. He was ready for that moment.

Question 5: Who is the leader on the Nebraska team this year, and what makes it so important to the success of the program?
Manning: Austin Wilson is the guy who stands out to me. He has been a vocal leader, and he has led off of that. He has gotten a lot better. He spent a lot of time with Jordan and James last spring and during the summer, training and perfecting his technique. He is living his life like a champion. He’s a guy who has been a real inspiration to the team, and also, he is a leader in the locker room. Austin really learned from Robert Kokesh who he’s real close with. He took a lot of things from Robert that have really inspired him. Robert was a great leader for us. Austin has really picked up from where Robert left off and he is trying to make a mark on this team, his team.

Question 6: What key people helped in your development as a coach, and how did they assist in helping you grow in the profession?
Manning: Man, I look at it like this. You can learn from everyone. I tell kids at camp that, and I mean it. Everytime I do a clinic or a camp, I say that you can learn from everyone. There might be one assistant coach around that you can learn from, and he has one thing he shares with you that can impact your career or that match. That match can impact your career. I’ve tried to learn from everyone I have been associated with along the way at training camps and coaches up and down the line. Dave Schultz really impacted me. He was still wrestling when I got out of college. Travelling abroad with him, learning technique from him, learning how much time you have to put in to perfect that technique. That is one thing I took away from Dave Schultz, and he had a profound affect on my knowledge of the sport and technique work and position, and as a tactical person. I don’t want to go into names because there are so many people. I try to learn from everyone. I try to learn the physical aspects of the sport as well as the mental apects of the sport. I don’t know if there is anything that’s new that someone showed you 30 years ago that can’t work today. I try to look for that edge from a coaching standpoint.

Question 7: You have been very active with the U.S. freestyle program for many years, coaching at the World and Olympic level. What do you believe it will take to put the USA on top in international freestyle?
Manning: It is going to take a cumulative effort of our athletes really being committed and really buying into our program. We need more people like Jordan Burroughs, more people thinking like Jordan Burroughs. I know what he does on a daily basis. I know what he does on a weekly basis. I know what he does every month. He is putting in the work every day, and that’s what we need, up and down the lineup. We need that total commitment. Russia might have 30 who can medal. But only get six in the Olympics and eight at the World Championships. That’s all we need. We need our best six, our best eight each year to rise above, step up and beat them. We need more guys committed to being the best and thinking they are the best.

Question 8: Outside of Burroughs, what wrestlers that you have coached during your college coaching career stand out in terms of talent and achievement, and what made them so good?
Manning: I have been around Sammie Henson a lot, Cary Kolat a lot during those years. I was around Lincoln McIlravy a lot. My two assistants, Jason Powell and Bryan Snyder, were exceptional. A guy like John Kading, who I coached at Oklahoma was an exceptional athlete and an exceptional person. Tony Davis was a guy who was very inspirational, a great talent, and a guy who really committed himself each year to be better. There are guys like Craig Brester who was a walkon for us and became a three-time All-American and two-time national runner-up to Jake Varner. Each guy brings a different story, whether it was a guy who was highly ranked, or a guy like Craig Brester or Brandon Brown.

Question 9: What does it take to remain cutting-edge as a coaching staff, and how long to do see yourself continuing to coach at a high level?
Manning: I don’t see myself stopping coaching for awhile. I don’t know the exact number of years that it will be. As long as I love it and am passionate about it, I am going to continue to do it. You have to have something that drives you each and every day. What drives me is helping young men be their best, helping young men develop. My core principle as a coach is to help people develop and grow, and for them to see them bring out the best potential in themselves. I love what I do, whether it is folkstyle or freestyle. That is what drives me each day to get up and work hard.

Question 10: Your team is at No. 4 right now. Can Nebraska win the NCAA team title this year, and what would have to happen for this team to make history?
Manning: We have never done it here. A few years ago, 2008, 2009, we were close, but we had some unfortunate things happen. This team is special. It’s a long season. It’s December right now. We have to keep it very simple. We have to get each one of our guys to focus on the task at hand. We have to have a great tournament in March. A lot can happen before that. I am praying for good health and a strong mentality as we go throughout the season. If you don’t believe it can happen, it’s not going to happen for you. I try to get that in our guy’s head each and every day.

Past Tossin’ 10 interviews
December 1 – Drexel head coach Matt Azevedo
November 24 – Oklahoma head coach Mark Cody
November 17 – Oklahoma City’s head men’s & women’s coach Archie Randall
November 10 - Stanford head coach Jason Borrelli
November 3 - Pennsylvania head coach Alex Tirapelle
October 27- South Dakota State head coach Chris Bono