USD Football 1997

Mos t would love to be in an environment where they're helpful and meaningful in the lives of the young players they're coaching. They'd like to teach good val– u es. Sure, they are people with a high competitive bent to their personalities. There are extreme– ly few coaches I've eve r known or com– p eted a gainst whom I've disliked. Most of those I've gotten to know, I've liked 'em and had admiration for their qualities. And I feel good around them. One of the finer p eople in

graduated. He met his wife there. Carey could have gone to Iowa State or some other place. Would he have gotten as much of a chance? I don't know. They might have looked at him and said he's too small. At least at a smaller school you get the chance quickly if you've got ability. TDI: There is a certain charm to a Sat– urday afternoon in Grinnell, Iowa or Beloit, Wisconsin. LEVY: During the NFL strike they televised a small-college game. They showed players pulling in on rickety school buses and eating pregame meals out of brown paper bags in the stands. It was like somebody was doing a Forrest Gump movie or something. A few years ago our bye week came during Coe's homecoming. My wife and I went back. She was just so taken by the scene. We could see the little neighborhood houses off in the back– ground and some kids way down in the end zone were playing with Frisbees during the game. There is a charm to it. TDI: Why is that level of the game not as revered or respected as the other levels? LEVY: It depends on what you revere and respect. I certainly do. And I hope there are others who do. I coached for a while in the Canadian Football League. One of the reasons that the CFL is struggling is because of how the NFL games on TV have been so gla m– orized. The same thing prevails in col– lege. A young kid sees Ohio State ver– sus Michigan and there's whe re the glitter lies. It doesn't lie in going to Denison or Heidelberg or Grinne ll. TDI: What would you say to the 20- year-old kid who really looks like he's a big-time pro star in the making? LEVY: He's an injury away from h is career being over in a game where injuries occur. Very few players do earn that kind of money. And three or four years after all first-round d raft choices are picked, only 30 percent of them are still in the league. TDI: What's your perception of the pri– orities of today's "typical" college foot– ball coach? LEVY: Most are well-intentioned.

TDI: We see fewer kids who want to play youth football. If you were to talk to parents of a young kid about what football can give to that child, what would you tell them? LEVY: You're treading on difficult ground when you try to take over par– enting. I don't think a coach ought to meddle in the parent-child relation– ship. I would never urge anyone to play the game. You have to gravitate to it. Football caught my fancy when I was young. But it's a hard game. I see a lot of coaches now who played pro football who are walking around with hip and knee transplants and bad arthritis. TDI: Looking at the state of college football today, what is there about the z game that makes yo~ feel good? ~ LEVY: The same thmgs that attract- ~ ed me initially. It's exciting and that's why ~ you participate in sports. There's a lot ~ of fun associated with it. Not just the i players on the field but the students in 8 the stands. It does help create a bond i:; UJ with alumni. It's a rallying point. There ~ are a lot of good things about it. LD1 8

coaching right now is Tom Osborne. And yet he's had five or six or 10 situ– ations where players have gotten in trouble. The impression in many areas with people who don't know him is that he doesn't give a damn. He cares g reatly. It's a shame that he's gotten himself in a funny mix there. TDI: Speaking of perspectives, Rowan College has gotten to three of the last four Division III title games without winning once. Why do we as a society say that a team like that loses the big one instead of admiring what they've accomplished? LEVY: I can relate to that, of course. We've gone four times to the Super Bowl and haven't won one of them. I don't know who the coach is (at Rowan), or if it's the same coach, but he's done a hell of a job if he's gotten them that far that many times. And I think that other coaches recognize that. A per– son who has not been in the competi– tive arena in some way or another - and I don't mean that he has to be ath– letically competitive, it could be what– ever field he's in - finds it easier to call other people "losers." The guy who hasn't laid it on the line very often is more likely to find flaws in others.

DAN HERBST is a freelance sportswriter and a regular contributor to Touchdown Illustrated.

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