Fans cheered as Head football Coach John Bonamego was introduced Saturday at halftime of the Central Michigan University men’s basketball team’s game against Ball State.

Bonamego has spent the last two weeks since his hire making public appearances meeting with community members, players and coaches as he prepares to embark on what he said he hopes will be his first and last head coaching job.

During his tour, Bonamego sat down with Central Michigan Life to discuss community engagement, player discipline and schematic approach as the Chippewas prepare to start spring practice next month.

What have the last two weeks, since your hire, been like?

Bonamego: It’s been a whirlwind. Once the announcement was made my phone blew up. At one point we were up to 300 unopened text messages. I’ve had to get my family oriented and empty my office at the Lions facility back in Allen Park. There have been a couple of days where I have forgotten to eat. It’s been really exciting.

How do you plan to make Kelly/Shorts Stadium a place that opposing teams fear or do not look forward to playing in?

Bonamego: That happens by winning. It starts with how you approach everything in your daily preparation. Excellence is a process, not a destination. You don’t just wake up one day and you’re excellent. Winning breeds confidence and confidence breeds winning. It starts with teaching.

Schematically, do you consider yourself a more offensive-minded or defensive minded coach?

Bonamego: There are a lot of different schemes. They can all work. But none of them work unless you have the players to execute the scheme. The players have to know the system and play with great fundamentals. Those are the things that separate the teams that win occasionally from the teams that win consistently.

When was the first time you looked at CMU’s schedule for the coming season? Which game stood out to you the most?

Bonamego: Games are decided on the field, not anywhere else. If you want to be seen as the best, you have to compete in those (tough) games. We will do our very best every single snap for four quarters and into overtime if we have to. Our approach is going to be the same every week. I’ve always looked at every opponent as a faceless opponent. I’m more concerned with our effort and how we block and tackle than whoever we are playing.

Do you expect to see more fans at Kelly/Shorts Stadium this fall?

Bonamego: A big part of it will be the energy that we are feeling right now. We are seeing it happen with our basketball program right now. They are winning now and there is energy and an excitement about what they are doing. We plan to do it just that way. I’m trying to engage as many people as I can. On a personal level, I’m getting verbal commitments from people to show up on game day. This community and campus wants this. We all want this. People that have been here a long time know what that looks like and feels like, and they want that back. I feel a tremendous amount of responsibility to make that happen.

What do you anticipate will be the biggest difference between coaching the National Football League and as a head coach at the college level?

Bonamego: There are a lot more similarities than people realize. In the NFL, you only have seven draft picks a year. I really believe player development is one of the priorities you have to have in your program. Fundamentally, schematically and intellectually. It has to take place at every level. It’s refreshing in a college atmosphere because you have a very captivated and engaged audience. The NFL is a little bit more business like.

What do you do with a student athlete that has gotten into trouble with either the law, poor academics or other issues?

Bonamego: You deal with each case individually. Once we get rolling, that’s part of the education process. Jim Caldwell has done a great job with NFL athletes. He had a list of seven things that would lead to trouble: drugs, alcohol, being out past 1 a.m. He would put those up there. The best that you can hope for is that you have taught them to at least consider the consequences of the actions they take. If everyone would just stop to think before they do something, they can avoid a lot of situations. Things are going to happen. I will never condone it. We want to do as much as we can to be proactive to let them know they are not just hurting themselves, they are hurting the team.

Are you one to get up and make the cliché motivational speech at halftime if your team needs a confidence boost?

Bonamego: Absolutely. But I also want to be able to draw on the relationships that I have built in the past. If we get a former player in here, someone that I played with, if they’ve got a great message to deliver to our team I am all for that. I don’t have to be the one every single day to give the message. There are a lot of ways to deliver your message and sometimes it is good for them to hear it from somebody else.