Two years ago, a Division I college hockey coach in the Arizona desert walked into his new office in a building far bigger than his program at the time. His new workspace at the Carson Student Athletic Center in Tempe would be his place to try and dig his budding program out of its early struggles and into something great.
The new athletic center resident, 41-year-old coach Greg Powers, was moving in. Like with every new home transaction, someone had to be moving out.
Leaving his office for a new one of his own was Tracy Smith, Arizona State’s head baseball coach.
Smith was leaving the Carson Center for Phoenix Municipal Stadium, Powers was moving into the offices at Sun Devil Stadium and the two would start a friendship that would only grow stronger.
“From the day I moved into that office he was so good to me,” Powers said of Smith. “We kind of just hit it off.”
Every good friendship is built on the foundation of commonalities and conversation and when Powers moved into his new office there was certainly some of that. But, in some friendship, there is also a foundation built on the platform of hardship and struggle.
For Smith and Powers, it was both, a “bond through struggle” Smith said. It is a bond that simply defines the foundations for both of their programs, one rising from the ashes and the other catching on fire.
When Smith came to Tempe, ASU’s baseball program was in an odd state. The Sun Devils were winning, but most of it was as a direct result of the sheer talent on the roster. Tim Esmay, Smith’s predecessor, left the school and Smith was brought in to fill the vacancy and improve on what Esmay couldn’t. He was hired to raise the standard.
The first few seasons were really close.
A 35-23 inaugural campaign with Smith at the helm and a 36-23 sophomore performance quickly continued what had been a long tradition of Sun Devil baseball success. But, years three and four brought Smith’s job into question. The “nay-sayers,” as Smith calls them, were brought to the forefront and the struggle simply became the reality.
For Smith, the nightmarish fashion in which his program plummeted left his job in question and the fans quickly turned their backs on a program that was once so loved.
ASU’s junior Friday night starter Alec Marsh summed it up succinctly: “It feels like going through hell,” he said. “But it’s going through hell together.”
Smith not only had his players to lean on but his coaching companion as well. At the same time, Powers was going through his own hardships trying to coach a frozen sport in the scorching desert, struggling to build a program housed in a 200-foot long patch of winter encapsulated by the small confines of Oceanside Ice Arena.
Four years ago, Sun Devil hockey was merely a club.
NCAA Division-I status was by no means a dream destination but rather, something much more simple: just a dream.
It was Powers’ fantasy, but it felt like a longshot. And even after it became a reality, plenty wondered if he was the right man for the job, especially after three straight lackluster campaigns that resulted in a combined 24-62-12 record.
“We weren’t winning,” Powers said. “That’s hard. It’s hard when you’re a coach and your ultimate job is to win games.”
In building his program, Powers struggled. Thus, the “bond through struggle” a phrase used now by both coaches, was born.
As Powers struggled to build from the ground up and Smith struggled just to get back to the ground floor, the two became friends.
“Some human beings you gravitate more towards,” Smith said. “More so than others and I think Greg and I have always done that.”
“I have a lot of respect for the way he goes about his business,” Powers echoed.
Through building and rebuilding, the two coaches grew closer and closer.
Powers and Smith, despite busy schedules, try their best to see each other as often as possible. The two coaches bounce strategy off each other, building a concoction suited to put two sports in range of their championship-caliber goals.
It’s a formula built on culture.
“We use struggle here to build on our culture,” superstar goalie Joey Daccord said of his team and his coach. “Our culture is so strong and Coach Powers made it for us. We all did it together.”
Culture has been the biggest success for both coaches and their players recognize it as such. Culture is was can make or break both teams, culture is what defines them. It’s also part of Smith and Powers relationship.
“I’ve taken a lot of satisfaction of sitting back and watching Powers reap the benefits of him taking action on his plan, his program and his culture building,” Smith said. “It’s no different then what we’re doing here. If you ask him he may say the same.”
As if it was rehearsed, Powers used practically the same words Smith did.
“The culture over there is so strong and that is so admirable,” he said. “I think we have a pretty strong sense of that here as well.”
For the two, the journey has been just as important as the recent success.
“I’m happy for him because he got to this point,” Smith said. “I’m also proud of how he got there.”
While their relationship is built on a foundation of hardship, it has blossomed into a true friendship.
“Tracy on ice,” Powers exclaimed while laughing. “Man, that would be a disaster. But, me on the mound? I was very good. A bit out of the zone but I was throwing about 57 out there. Me playing baseball versus him on ice, I smoke him.”
“Okay Greggie, Haywood likes the hard stuff…don’t leave anything out over the plate.” See you at 6:13pm tonight @asucoachpowers pic.twitter.com/YanJVRdjdK
— Tracy Smith (@TracyJSmith13) March 8, 2019
The jokes are there, so is the success in their respective sports. With ASU Hockey taking on its first trip to the NCAA tournament and Smith’s baseball team top-10 in the nation, the struggle has finally started turning into success.
For one, it is the hallway entrance from the clubhouse to the dugout. For the other, a walk from the locker room, under the press box with a wire mesh floor and onto his team’s bench, chilled by the ice just a few feet in front of him.
Their goals are the same: win games and bring home a championship. One of them trying to get back to his winning ways, the other looking to build a new team and a new culture.
Tracy Smith and Greg Powers are opposites and the same. Smith a 52-year-old college baseball coach, Powers a 42-year-old college hockey coach. From Indiana to an athletic center office. From that office onto the diamond and into a rink: struggle, friendship and success have built two ASU powerhouses and two good friends.
