Put Me in Coach, I'm Ready to Play, Today...
Part 1: I Was 49 When I Finally Became a High School Baseball Coach & Hitting Instructor...
Casarsa. Getty Images.Coach was five-eight and jacked. Even in his mid-50s, he still hit the iron hard. Later, when I became his assistant varsity baseball coach, I realized it wasn't just his musculature that intimidated the kids; he had a way of curling his lower lip when he spoke that reminded me of Mussolini's evil snarl. And it was every bit as threatening. He was emotional, prone to explosive outbursts, and used his thick index finger like a weapon during heated discussions…
That winter, I started spending more time in Coach's shop after school. We talked baseball, but being fresh off of his second consecutive Super Bowl win, football still dominated the conversation.
The coach assembled a great football team. John, his left-handed quarterback, was smart and athletic. He could run with the ball and throw it. In the spring, I'd find out that he could also throw a baseball pretty damn good, too.
Coach's running back trio was incredible. Gary was the workhorse, an absolute beast. He was about five-ten and 205 lbs. He ran hard, shook off runners with ease, and had breakaway speed to boot. He was the most dominant runner of the three and the difference-maker on the field.
Ben was small compared to Gary, five-nine and 160 lbs, but he had great instincts, could cut on a dime, and once he saw daylight, he had breakaway speed and was hard to catch. He was a very smart runner who could square his shoulders and dish it out when he had to.
Then there was Mike. He was slightly smaller than Ben at five-eight, but he was a muscular 165 lbs and the fastest of the three, and it wasn't even close. The rap on him was that he didn't like contact, which greatly influenced his decision-making running with the ball. But he was everything you wanted in a third running back. His initial burst was lightning.
Ben carried the load when Gary was put on a three-game academic suspension mid-season. Ben's family attended every game, and after sitting near them in the stands, I realized Ben had a strong, supportive family, and not all the kids at the school had that. It made a difference. In addition to being a great high school football player, Ben was a great kid.
I worked with Mike on a collaborative school project; he was an electrician and a great kid, too. Being a former running back myself, one who never shied away from contact, even when, at times, I should've, I decided to talk with Mike about finishing a run. I told him there were times you should run out of bounds to avoid what could be a damaging hit, but other times, you have to put your shoulders down and initiate the contact and get that extra yard. By doing that, he would earn the respect of his teammates and strike fear in his opponents. He was a great listener, and in subsequent games, the combination of him and Ben made some people forget about Gary…
But the team wasn't just about offense. They had a very disruptive defense that could create turnovers. The team I watched in 2005 dominated Mayflower-Small.
When Gary came back, he reclaimed his dominance and took over games. He was the real deal. Ben was the perfect complimentary back, and Coach began utilizing Mike more often.
Just before the Super Bowl, Mike looked me in the eye with great conviction and told me he was going to score a touchdown. Even knowing that his playing time would be limited with Gary back, I believed him. Surprisingly, Coach put him in the game more than I thought. Maybe his time on the field when Gary was out changed Coach's opinion of him. Mike had proven he was no longer shying away from contact and had become a more aggressive runner.
Then it happened. John pitched the ball to Mike, and he burst around right end. After shaking off some initial contact, he saw some daylight and wasn't about to be denied. Mike ran 44 yards and scored the touchdown he promised.
The coach's second Division 4 Eastern Massachusetts Super Bowl win was huge, earning him Mayflower League Coach of the Year and several individual awards, one of which was presented to him at Gillette by Robert Kraft. But I was even more impressed with Mike's bold prediction of scoring a Super Bowl touchdown and then going out and doing it.
Coach and I continued talking about football, and he revealed some things I didn't know. He told me that when he became head football coach in 2002, he asked the MIAA for a spot in Mayflower- Small so he could rebuild the program. Previously, because of the school's size—over 1,200 students, they were in Mayflower-Large. The MIAA allowed him entry into Mayflower-Small for the sole purpose of rebuilding the school's football program.
After his second consecutive Super Bowl win in 2005-'06, the other schools in Mayflower-Small petitioned the MIAA to have Coach's team put back in Mayflower-Large.
Being in Mayflower-Small didn't minimize the team's Super Bowl wins or individual accomplishments. But after two consecutive Super Bowl wins, it was obvious Coach's team belonged back in Mayflower-Large, and the MIAA put them there for the start of the 2006-'07 season.
Two kids from that Super Bowl team were trying out for the varsity baseball team. John was a southpaw pitcher who could hit and the right fielder you couldn't take extra bases on. Mike was a weak-hitting center fielder with incredible speed both in the outfield and on the basepaths. I looked forward to helping him learn Rotational Hitting, which would give him his best chance at becoming the complete baseball player I knew he could be…
To be continued…
*All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental…