Stew opens first practice with ceremonial ripping in half of a phone book… just to show who’s boss.

When USU began official team practices on Oct. 17, head coach Stew Morrill wasted no time in using scare tactics to establish his dominance as the man in charge of things. Just prior to practice, Morrill walked out of the tunnel to the basketball court carrying only a copy of the yellow pages and his whistle.
“He came out, blew the whistle, and just pointed to get everyone’s attention without saying anything,” said freshman Jaxon Myaer. “He just paced back and forth for a minute or two staring everybody down along the way.” Morrill, still having not spoken a word to his team, presented the phone book for all to see, promptly tore it completely in half, and tossed the two halves behind his head.
“This wasn’t a weak-ass Cache Valley sized yellow pages either,” Myaer said. “This was a big one, probably from Salt Lake or something.”
After the pieces of the phone book hit the floor, Morrill soaked in the looks on the team’s faces for about 12 to 15 seconds before simply saying, “You’re next.”
“You could see the fear in the faces of all the players,” assistant coach Tim Duryea said. “Stew doesn’t mess around with this stuff.”
After 20 or 30 seconds more of stunned silence by his team, Morrill then blew his whistle and began the day’s practice as usual.