Coach Hughes instills his vision for a new Princeton football

As with any team, the bulk of Princeton football's fans are oblivious to the intricacies of the games, attending merely to fill their Saturday with a few hours of excitement. Their porous loyalty makes accurate meters of the perception of the team on the field, because most are likely to leave a poorly played game before halftime in favor of tailgate parties outside the stadium.

Recently, the fans have gotten considerably more familiar with beer, and a good deal less familiar with cheer. Their departure is excusable, as the following two examples show.

First: September 19, 1998, Princeton vs. Cornell. In the first game at shiny new Princeton stadium, a full house watches in agony as the Tigers win in traumatic fashion, 6-0. The touchdown-less sleeper kills the interest of all but the most serious card-carrying, plaid-pant wearing alumni for over a year, until . . .

Second: September 31, 1999, Princeton vs. Lehigh. The first night game in Princeton history once again brings the fans streaming through the gates. The result once again sends them screaming for the exits, as the Mountain Hawks maul the lifeless Tigers, 31-0.

These two years of dismal wins and abysmal defeats have left Princeton football battling a destructive image disorder, a fight that now falls squarely onto the shoulders of new Charles W. Caldwell Jr. '25 Head Coach of Football Roger Hughes.

Fortunately for Princeton, Hughes is a powerful weapon in image wars. He is a neatly dressed, well-kempt, press conference controlling machine. This is no blustery, overweight, over-the-hill ex-football player. Sprinkling selections from his vast array of inspirational maxims into every interview, Hughes deftly negotiates questioning in a manner that sends the assembled media home quote-laden and happy.

The coach maintains his verbal precision during practices, where his style contrasts sharply with that of his assistants. Offensive line coaches fire threats of unlikely tail-whuppings at players from close range, roaring and sputtering in the faces of ineffective blockers.

Meanwhile, Hughes stands quietly on the outskirts of practice, thoughtfully jotting down notes on his clipboard.

At one point, in a veritable fit of anger, he unleashes a tirade against his second-string squad:

"One's are up! Let's go! I'm tired of this."

Players quickly shuffle obediently and resume the drill, and Hughes returns to the study of his clipboard, saying not another word.

Hughes' reserved air belies a smiling player's coach beneath. He spends more of his time joking with players during practice than reprimanding them. This warm demeanor has created believers out of his charges.

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"The one thing that struck me about Coach Hughes was his accessibility," said junior quarterback Tommy Crenshaw, whose position coach is Hughes himself. "He's a really genuine guy. His willingness to talk to players is not a front, it's the real thing."

So, among his players, at least, Hughes escapes the dangerous description of being too image-conscious. With the press, however, the coach is more than willing to present himself as such. He has strived to give the players what they want, providing new facilities and equipment whenever possible. He worries about attendance at games, devising tactics to draw fans that range from spicing up the offense to making appearances on campus to rally support.

His concern is necessary, because a program's appearance contributes not only to the confidence of the players on the field, but the willingness of high school seniors to sign on with the team. Imagine Florida State's head coach Bobby Bowden fussing over attendance. It does not happen, and the Seminoles win game after game, year after year.

On the eve of his first game as head coach, Hughes is controlling a team that seethes with new vigor. Players enjoy a confidence that has been absent on this campus for several years.

"I think that he's just kind of injected some life and some enthusiasm back into the players," Crenshaw said. "Nobody's used to this kind of enthusiasm."

Plenty of enthusiastic teams have suffered gruesome defeats at the hands of superior opponents, however. The responsibility to channel Princeton's energy rests almost entirely on coach Hughes, who is not taking the responsibility light-heartedly.

While drills run at practice, Hughes looks on and interjects occasionally, then turns away to face baseball diamonds across the fields.

Occasionally, assistants call questions in his direction, but he will miss them, looking at, but not seeing the ground in front of him.

He is thinking, perhaps about last-minute adjustments, but just as likely about his first test this Saturday against Lafayette. His first game as a head coach:

"I won't sleep on Friday night."