Ulbrich has seen players laugh and cry together, smile and connect. And there are many times when Ulbrich walks out of one of those meetings feeling a certain way about the upcoming offensive opponent.
“Yeah, those dudes have no chance,” he said. “We’re going to steamroll them.”
Because when players truly care about the man next to them — when they know why they’re fighting and who they’re fighting for — they fight harder. That’s the physical byproduct of the abstract Heart.
“When you’re really connected to the man next to you, when you’re really connected to your own internal ‘why,'” Ulbrich said, “you don’t bend, you don’t break. …
“I strain and I show the man next to me: I’m willing to go there for you. I’m willing to empty my tank for you. And I’m willing to do that for my own internal ‘why,’ too.”
There’s something special about Heart: If you have enough of it, it makes up for deficiencies elsewhere. Heart, Kaden Elliss says, comes first.
“If your heart is in it, if you are connected to your ‘why,’ then I think everything else will come, too,” he said. “… If your heart is behind (everything) it is just going to be natural to put the work in.”
When Ulbrich looks for players to bring into his unit, he is searching for men with Heart. They need to love the game more than they love the things the game brings: The money, the fame, the status. That’s why he’ll take those players over others.
“If you love the game, you’re going to overcome some deficiencies,” he said. “And if you get a bunch of guys that love the game, that are good-enough athletes and good-enough players and have good-enough talent, you’re gonna be good — not just good enough.”
This sport is measured daily by size, speed, film and statistics. Ulbrich sees and craves something deeper in the game, though.
It’s what turns teammates into brothers. Adversity into fuel that fans the flames of fight. It also has the power to turn a good team into a great one.
When Ulbrich was a player, he saw this manifest in Gore. As a coach, he sees it in the men he asks to stand in front of their team and bare their soul. The Heart is the essence of Ulbrich’s teachings. The essence of the game itself.
And when Heart leads, everything else follows.