All sports, but especially football and baseball, have been a part of my life forever. As a high school football, wrestler and baseball player when it came to making a college decision I had no guidance for choosing a college. My mother and father were not college educated and no one in my extended family had gone to college. My father passed away when I was a junior and my mother was forced to work long hours to support my four young siblings and me. My high school coaches did not discuss college options with me or any of our athletes. My feeling was that I was a DI athlete or I was not going to play. During the summer of my senior year, I still had not received a scholarship, so I decided to walk on at the University of Northern Iowa. Not focused on the academics at the collegiate level I decided to transfer and play baseball at the community college level. After having academic success at the community college I enrolled at the University of Iowa. In May 1984 I became the first person in my family to graduate from college.
After 3 years of coaching at the high school level on a dare from a colleague, I decided to become a graduate assistant football coach at New Mexico State University. After two years I was hired as a full-time coach and received my MA in Education Administration. I went on to coach collegiate football for 31 years. The fact that I am most proud of is that I have been a part of rebuilding 6 collegiate football programs, as either a head coach or an assistant.
As a college football coach, I have used NCSA to build various programs. NCSA provided me the tools to evaluate, communicate, and sign recruits that I never would have known about without NCSA. My recruiting philosophy for 31 years was to help educate families in making a
college decision that was best for the athlete and the family. NCSA allows me the opportunity to continue to educating athletes and families about the recruiting process and making the best college decision for them.
My son Matt, was a high school football and baseball player. In the middle of his senior year, he decided he wanted to play college football. I contacted a couple head coaches for him and tried to get the process started. In hindsight, NCSA would have been perfect for us, both earlier and later in the process. Matt could have gotten more help through using NCSA, and more exposure throughout his brief search. Fortunately, he did decide to play for me at Hiram College. It definitely was a fun 4 years coaching and seeing him daily while he was in college.