GLENDALE, Ariz. – It was roughly 17 years ago when Paulo Crimber walked out of Gila River Arena following a third-place finish and ran into a brick wall of passionate bull riding fans.
The then-24-year-old Brazilian superstar had just won the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo a year earlier. That 2005 weekend in Glendale, Arizona, Crimber had just brought the rabid fan base to its feet with a 92-point ride on Coffee Time.
Instead of heading back to his hotel room to celebrate a strong weekend and a fantastic bull ride, Crimber signed autographs for nearly two hours in the plaza in front of the arena.
This past Sunday afternoon, Crimber’s voice echoed throughout that same plaza as he was announced alongside five-time PBR World Finals qualifier Colby Yates as the two-man coaching staff for the Arizona Ridge Riders during the inaugural PBR Team Series this coming summer and fall.
“The fan base here probably don’t get no better than this,” Crimber said. “They’re really there for you. They make sure you know they’re here to watch you. I’ve spent two hours signing autographs here before, and I have to walk out, and there’s still people there. People kind of really take advantage, cheering for whoever their idols are, and they just take advantage of them. This is probably the best fan base we can ask for.”
Ridge Riders general manager Casey Lane explained Sunday during the Ridge Riders’ unveiling press conference that Crimber will serve as the team’s technical coach, while Yates will fill the role of team manager.
The two coaches will have shared responsibilities with the ultimate goal of delivering a championship to the city of Glendale and the state of Arizona.
“We interviewed lots of guys, and we had lots of opportunities to talk with professionals in the sport who we thought were super competent candidates for coaching,” Lane said. “At the end of the day, we wanted to bring a mix of experiences, a mix of backgrounds, and a mix of skillsets that we just couldn’t get in one coach. We wanted to sort of juxtapose some things from a talent standpoint on the coaching side. So we brought in two guys who are going to split up the responsibilities rather than having one head coach in charge of everything.
“We are having a team manager, which is a very similar approach you will see in European soccer, and then a technical coach. He will be the coach in the weeds, making decisions in the moment at the events. But we will have a broader approach with two heads is better than one when we are talking about the draft and bull choices and the way we are going to be implementing new training techniques, sports psychology, and some of those outside influences. We will have more of a brain trust with myself and our two coaches.”
When Yates was riding alongside Crimber, he remembers how impressed he was with Crimber’s physical workout regimen.
Yates wants the Ridge Riders to have that kind of work ethic.
“I have known Paulo ever since he came here,” Yates said. “Ever since he came to America. He was one of those guys who really set the bar with working out and that physical regimen that not everybody took on. It was an eye-opening thing. A guy with that kind of work ethic, I am all about it because that is what I am about.”
Crimber said he is excited to work alongside Yates and form a dynamic duo.
“Colby, we go back a ways,” Crimber said. “We rode together for a while with the PRCA a little bit, too, rodeoing. When he was rodeoing, I was rodeoing too. And then I know his brother really well. Colby, we’ve been friends for a while, and I think it’s going to be a good experience. He’s an American, and I’m a Brazilian, and I think we can probably get the best out of both countries.”
Yates was on the back of the bucking chutes with Crimber throughout the weekend, scouting various riders. At one point, he looked up into the packed upper levels of Gila River Arena.
The 40-year-old nudged Crimber in the abdomen and said, “Do you hear how loud they are? We already have a huge home-field advantage, man.”
“I always got the feel from Gila River Arena that it is almost like AT&T Stadium,” Yates told PBR.com. “They have this energy here. Win or lose, these people are really supportive. They are really going to get behind the Ridge Riders like they do the Arizona Cardinals. They are going to be a strong fan base. Every single year, they are crowded outside this building. It is so crazy, and this venue is great with all the action around it.
“I am really excited to have these fans be the foundation of our team.”
When it comes to building the foundation of the team, Yates and Crimber both agreed on the kind of culture they hope to build under the Teton Ridge ownership group and Lane’s leadership.
The roster the three-headed leadership group plans on building at the upcoming PBR Team Series inaugural draft in May will be very much focused on creating a culture of family and unity.
“When you’re talking teams, that’s what it comes from, that’s the foundation,” Crimber said. “When you go into a team event, it involves family, friendship, looking after each other, making sure your teammate’s family’s going to be taken care of, and they don’t have to worry about anything but each other and our families. That’s the environment I like to be involved in.”
Yates has spent years working alongside the Western Sports Foundation. Building relationships with the sport’s superstars and up-and-coming riders on the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour has always been a strong suit.
“I have done all their camps, and I thoroughly have enjoyed that, and I have a bond with these bull riders, and I always have,” Yates said. “For me, it is fulfilling to be able to help our riders get better, getting these guys in that team atmosphere. We have always been like that. We have always been a family, but it also has always been like, ‘Bear down. I want you to do good and win second. I will be 88. You be 87.’ So you are held back a little bit. In a team deal, you don’t care what they are scored. You want them to be 100 all the time, and your teammates can feel that. This is really going to elevate that.
“I am a fan of the sport 100% full-heartedly. I want to see the guys succeed and get paid and treated like true athletes. They are going to be enduring things that, during my era, I never did. Sports psychology, sports nutritionists, and financial advisors to help plan out their future. I am super excited about this opportunity, and there is no telling in the future how far this will take the sport.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media