I respect men brave enough to embrace the perilous profession of coaching. The Head Coaching job is a throne of vanity and valor. In an instant, a regular Joe, once he leads a basketball team to victory, becomes General Douglas McArthur, Moses, and Messiah all at once. Based on the final score or a team’s winning record, the Head Coach morphs into the following: a) The paragon of leadership b) A man to save the people from the throngs of bondage c) The chosen one who holds the key to eternal salvation.

Yet in the same week, upon slipping into bitter defeat, the same Head Coach is suddenly crucified. The assembly, who just days ago venerate him like he was Gandhi reincarnate, returns to vilify him like he was Mussolini, Hitler and Sanjaya rolled into one. Admirers become aghast while devotees become doubters all in the speed of a basketball minute.

It is in this context that I share my admiration and concern for my PBA broadcast colleague and friend Richard Del Rosario who embarks on a journey fit only for the strong-willed. Del Rosario officially joins the Head Coaching fraternity when the College of Saint Benilde opens its NCAA campaign on Monday, June 29.

“I am both nervous and excited,” Del Rosario admits. “Nervous because this is a new field and a new challenge for me. I am excited because I love competition. One thing is for sure, I am not scared. There is no reason for me to get scared because there is nothing to fear. Fear is caused by not knowing what to expect.”

Del Rosario always knew how to manage expectations. After all, he was never a star player. He was a back-up center for De La Salle University in the late 1980’s providing support to more prominent big men Joey Santamaria, Dickie Bachmann and a then blossoming Jun Limpot. Upon unexpectedly joining the PBA in 1996 after years of inactivity, he instantly embraced the role of, well, a role player. Del Rosario developed into a reliable second-unit defender for Mobiline, Sta. Lucia and Alaska. Contrary to popular belief, the defining moment of his career didn’t happen during Sta. Lucia’s championship run in 2001. Del Rosario’s career, instead, was defined by a PBA Head Coach’s explicit instruction for him not to shoot, ever. Can a player’s role on a team be more defined?

Del Rosario’s background as an everyday Joe, however, is his advantage. He was neither somebody nor nobody during his playing days. He lasted in the PBA doing what was required of him and doing it well enough to stay just within the coach’s radar. Throughout his career, he has made a living observing what separates role players like him from star players like Andy Seigle and Dennis Espino. That collective insight leads to precious understanding and invaluable patience – both of which he will need lots of this season.

“It is no secret that I spent more time as an observer on the bench than an actual game participant. Instead of sulking, I utilized that time to study the game and learn,” Del Rosario, who never hesitates to make fun of his bench player status, shares. ” I have been fortunate enough to have been under the best and brightest minds in the PBA. Yeng Guiao, Norman Black, Derrick Pumaren and Tim Cone were my coaches in the PBA. I have learned a lot from them not only in terms of strategy but also in game preparation and the importance of the player-coach relationship.”

Star players, after all, normally don’t make good Head Coaches. Magic Johnson tried and failed. Isiah Thomas made this notion into a disastrous fact. I am also 200% sure Michael Jordan will make a terrible Head Coach. It’s all about having reasonable expectations. Super-humans such as Magic, Isiah, Jordan and even Bird for that matter have difficulty understanding why ordinary humans don’t measure up to their elevated standards. In contrast, role players, Phil Jackson being the best example, understand the importance of knowing the difference between super-humans and humans.

Just a caveat: Coach Richard Del Rosario is not Coach Phil Jackson, not yet perhaps. As individuals, however, both are quite bohemian in their approach to life. Jackson is a hippie. Del Rosario is a comedian (watch him in Baikingu on ABC-5. This show is best viewed after drinking three bottles of beer, trust me). Jackson once left the NBA to see the country on his motorcycle. Del Rosario once left basketball to look after chickens in the family farm in Zamboanga. While both are tall, wacky and colorful individuals, Del Rosario has an edge over Jackson. With a record ten NBA championships as Head Coach, Jackson is now expected to win every game all the time. Del Rosario, as a first time collegiate Head Coach, carries no such burden. The rookie mentor actually relishes the underdog tag just as he thrived on being the PBA role player who was forbidden to shoot.

“I just don’t think about the pressure,” Del Rosario, who is most likely the first ever former PBA player to successfully become a PBA TV anchorman, says. “I’m just going to do everything to prepare and train our players for them to be able to play their best every game. We are not being considered as title contenders by anybody. At the end of the season, I will find comfort in the fact that I did everything humanly possible as a coach to help our team and that hopefully, those efforts will yield positive results.”

I once covered a PBA game with Del Rosario as Analyst. During the game, a cockroach found its way on the Araneta Coliseum hardwood. We both share this keen observation to our viewers. For several plays, the cockroach inexplicably avoids getting stepped on by one of 20 shoes rumbling up and down the court. It was a miracle. All of sudden, a referee sees the insect and mercilessly crushes it with his black sneaker. Del Rosario is stunned. I am shocked. We share our distraught with viewers while controlling our giggles. We couldn’t hold it much longer. So we laughed on-the-air until tears gathered in our eyes and our stomachs ached. It is this observation to every trivial detail that will help Del Rosario stay on track as a rookie Head Coach. It is also this madcap, self-deprecating sense of humor that will keep him sane in the crazy weeks ahead. MH