20 Years Ago Today — A Blessing in Disguise

Twenty years ago today, I was a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Notre Dame. I loved football. Although I appreciated Notre Dame's academic reputation, as well as its status as the most well-known Catholic university in the country, I can't help but think that the opportunity to be around Notre Dame football caught my attention when I was filling out college applications. I even thought that I might try walking on to the football team to be a scout team quarterback at some point (Notre Dame haters --- this is the place to insert your favorite Rudy joke).

Luckily for me, I got to keep playing football when I got to Notre Dame. Legendary Irish coach Knute Rockne had started the Interhall Football program in the 1920s. Coach Rockne was astute enough to recognize that an intramural tackle football program would allow him to scout for players that might help him on special teams or otherwise. This program continues today and is one of only two such programs in the country.

On October 2, 1994, on the first series of an Interhall game, it was 3rd and 14. I ran an option play to the right. I gained 17 yards and a first down but would never play another down. On the play, I was tackled by three defenders at the same time. I immediately knew I had a serious injury to my left knee. As I laid on the field, the coach and referee ran over. All that I could say was "Did I get the first down?" They told me I did and I said, "OK. Good. I can't get up."

They called an ambulance and I was transported to St. Joseph's Hospital. Upon arrival, I was told by the doctors that I had badly damaged my knee and they were worried that I may have ruptured my popliteal artery and that if it wasn't evaluated and fixed immediately, I could lose my leg. I was scared to say the least. Thankfully, that didn't happen. However, I did tear my ACL, LCL, MCL, medial meniscus, lateral meniscus, and dislocated my kneecap. The Notre Dame football team orthopedic surgeon who operated on me said it was the worst knee injury he had seen in over 30 years. What he told me next may have hit me the hardest though --- he told me that I would never be able to play football again because I would never regain the strength and range of motion in that leg. I was devastated. I had started playing football when I was 10 and had never even missed a practice.

But, then it happened. I was in the hospital for three weeks recovering from surgery. One day shortly after the surgery, a priest came into my room to visit. He was the head coach of the Interhall football team that I was playing on. He knew how crushed I was that I wouldn't be able to play football anymore. We talked for  awhile and he said, "Have you ever thought about coaching?" As a 19-year-old college student, I probably hadn't even thought about what I was going to have for dinner. So, I told him I had never really considered it because I had always thought of myself as a player. He said "I've been around you and coached you and you really know the game. The University wouldn't normally allow an undergraduate student to be a head coach. But, next season, I'm going to come to the first couple of practices and then step aside and let you take over. How does that sound?" I told him it sounded great.

He was as good as his word and one year later I was a head football coach. In that first season, I lead the team to the championship game. The university rewarded me by selecting me to coach the all-star game where my assistant coaches had been assistant coaches to Ara Parseghian and Lou Holtz. I'm quite certain that I learned more about football from them in that week of all-star practice than I had in years of football before that. And they were my assistant coaches!

The following season, I once again took the team to the Finals and actually got to coach the last tackle football game to ever be played in the original "House that Rockne Built" before stadium renovations began the following day. After three more years of coaching during law school, three more trips to the playoffs, and getting to be featured on an NFL Films segment on ESPN2 about Interhall football at Notre Dame, the University rewarded me with my very own letterman's jacket with the interlocking "ND" on the chest. I was intent upon coaching for as long as I could.

To this day, I continue to coach football. I have had the great learning experience of being a head coach at Bishop Donahue, the wonderful experience of coaching in  seven state championship games (by the way, we won them all!) at Wheeling Central, and the honorable experience of coaching in the OVAC All-Star game.

When I injured my knee, I thought my football career was over. As it turns out, it was just the beginning of it. That single event that I thought was one of the worst things that could happen to me turned out to be something that helped shape and define the next 20 years of my life. I continue to have the joy of being around great young people every day and get the opportunity to teach them about football, life, and hopefully have a positive impact on their lives. I now have four children of my own. I get to experience seeing them and my wife when I come off the field, along with their smiles, and I look forward to one day getting to coach my own sons.

So, the next time that something happens in your life that seems to be really bad, remember that God has a plan for you. He knows before you do where you are headed. And, it might just turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

 

Twenty years ago today, I was a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Notre Dame. I loved football. Although I appreciated Notre Dame's academic reputation, as well as its status as the most well-known Catholic university in the country, I can't help but think that the opportunity to be around Notre Dame football caught my attention when I was filling out college applications. I even thought that I might try walking on to the football team to be a scout team quarterback at some point (Notre Dame haters --- this is the place to insert your favorite Rudy joke).