Hunt’s ‘military style’ coaching adds to club’s success
Bidvest Wits coach Gavin Hunt’s “military style” of coaching has not only contributed to the club’s success but to players achieving their individual best, vice-captain Buhle Mkhwanazi said.
Hunt, 55, joined Wits in 2013, and his aggressive, handson approach has seen the Students take three trophies — the MTN8 (2016), Absa Premiership (2016/2017) and Telkom Cup (2017) — during his reign at the club.
Now, with the social distance ban in place due to Covid-19, many teams have had to use the Zoom App to interact and conduct training sessions.
Mkhwanazi told the SA Football Journalist Association (Safja) that this new way of doing things had made the coach tone down his approach.
“Somehow he [Hunt] is not happy with the current situation because he likes being hands on,” the 30-year-old said.
“Having these Zoom sessions, and us training on Zoom, he doesn’t have much of an impact.
“He is just there to come and watch, but I am sure that the minute we open he will be hands on because he is a hard coach.
“If you play for him it’s like you are in an army base.
“The training; how he pushes and how he speaks to players; the aggression that he wants from players.
“So us having these Zoom sessions, he can’t express himself.
“He cannot say much and he cannot do anything because of the situation we are in.”
Having said this, the defensive midfielder said he was fond of Hunt’s approach and was sure there were many players in the PSL who would love to work with him.
Mkhwanazi said he had developed a love-hate relationship with Hunt over the years and that the coach always pushed players to deliver 100% in their training and on match days.
“He always demands more from a player. It’s good because he has moulded me to become the player that I am today and it is all thanks to him, I don’t want to lie.
“The professionalism we have and the training hours we have, he gives you that platform to feel that you are a professional player.
“He is a great coach and Wits is blessed to have that kind of coach.
“I am sure without him we would not have won what we have.
“Since he has been a Wits coach we are always in the top three, and that is really good and to have that competitiveness and to know that you are the league to win it.
“I was at Celtic this other time and Tuks as well; that competitiveness was not there.
“You could see that we were just in the league to be in the league, but with Gavin you are in the league to win.
“If you can check where he was coaching before, you can tell that he has always wanted to win.
“Even at Black Leopards, back in the days, he always wanted to dish out a great performance,” he said.