Ep. 14 | Coach Luke Fickell Tells How He Became a Badger

lady George was one of the great examples and leaders that that I was ever around we don't need to eliminate suffering because we can grow from suffering they were calling for his job and calling for this that and the other if you're not Tough Enough it breaks you when you've got these things built from within you can kind of handle whatever comes your [Music] way hey team welcome to another episode of It's all about the team and we're so fortunate today as we're getting ready for another fall campaign in major college football to have the head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers in fact I brought my hat but I couldn't fit it over my I couldn't fit it over my headphones but I I've got my hat because I got to wear it on the sideline at your Purdue game and your LSU game and and uh and it was exciting to watch you in action and we have the head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers Luke fickle well I'm uh I'm honored glad to be here coach I only wish I could be there in person um as we work through some of these technical difficulties as three coaches trying to figure all these things out but I'm excited I'm happy to be here okay well we're excited as well and our whole goal with it's all about the team is just to add value to people as they try to build teams at home and in their community and in their business and their organization and on their campus and in their high school and and uh but one of the coolest things is we've talked a little bit off and on this summer is you had a chance to go with your dad on an honor flight and I know two teams that are really important to you is one is the United States of America and two I know is your family uh tell the viewers a little bit about that experience with your dad on an honor flight well uh it was incredibly humbling to be honest with you I I I wouldn't trade it for the world um to have that opportunity not only from to me to spend you know an entire day with my with my father which was unbelievable uh to see him in in that element was something I had never seen it was one of those things as a Vietnam vet he had never really talked about um but to get to spend that entire day not just with him but to see the rest of that I think there was 88 I think there were 88 Vietnam Vets uh and then there were a few Korean War veterans that were on the plane uh that took the trip that day and the entire day was unbelievable um they did un a great job of just honoring those guys and making sure they could you know see all of Washington and see a lot of the things that uh you know maybe a lot of them hadn't seen um but really to to just pay their respects to him and I think that was the greatest thing and to be honest with you that that flight home as we landed and got off the plane in Columbus there at uh about 10:30 at night we were a little late over 2,000 people to greet these guys that's when you saw a lot of those guys it just that was not something that those guys at that time coming back from Vietnam got to experience and it was uh it was incredible for me I know for my dad he continues to talk about it um but the people that put that thing on it uh it it's a special event well you know we talk all the time from back in the day uh having that attitude of gratitude uh and you know to be grateful for the people that built this country and and uh Ellen and I just got back from Greece and Turkey and uh we took a footsteps of Paul trip and and what was interesting is you know as you would run into people from other countries and so forth uh to hear their gratitude for what our nation has done on behalf of the world and you know sometimes well often times we take things for granted most times we take things for granted and how fortunate we are and how blessed we are and and I thought that was pretty cool when you sent that picture of you and your dad I thought that's better than when you're with your dad winning the state wrestling championship or the national football championship and there there's no doubt those are some things that uh yeah don't get an an opportunity to do that often and uh I would trade for the world well speaking of the the team of the family um you spent a long time as an assistant coach in college football and you've spent quite a long time as an assistant coach of your family at home uh because I know who the head coach is Amy does amazing things in the community and raising your six young people and and you know as you think about Lessons Learned uh obviously you learned great lessons from your parents and and their service and so forth talk a little bit about what you've learned from head coach Amy fickle well it starts with humility I mean to to you know you've done it to pick up and move your family to you know be Allin on the things that that you're doing as as in your professional life but still saying that your family is the first thing and the most important thing to you and and it is because learning a lot from what it is that you know I watched you do and how the families were so involved as we started this you know next journey of being a head coach we knew that our families were going to be my family as as well as the rest of the coach's fam were going to be a big part of it and to say that but then to can move your family a few times to say they're first it it's a it's it's incredibly humbling that she has to be able to pick up and do those things and and uh so so that's where it starts you know the leadership of of of selflessness is an example in our home every single day you know as as I take off and and get out of there before anybody wakes up so that I miss the chaos and then they make everything run and she makes everything run smooth and and I say smooth smooth in a way that six kids or four boys in the house now can be smooth um but putting all of us first and and I think that for me coming to work and and doing this there's always a great reminder of okay yeah we have a tough job and there's things that we're doing and our our landscape is evolving and changing but there's many me lessons we can learn um that happen right there at home and uh I know I'm very fortunate I wouldn't be able to do what I what I do in the way that which I do it um it wasn't for that because that's really important to me well I've been asked often who was the greatest leader you've ever been around and without hesitation it was my mother y you know she never had a title she never had a paycheck uh she woke up every day trying to figure out who she could serve beginning with her family but not just her family you know the the schools and the the community and and my dad's teams and uh she'd cook for the players and you know on and on and on and and uh there's no question sometimes just like you have to reset and be grateful for the men and women that came before us and served our nation and served the world but we've got to make sure we keep in mind uh you know who serves right at home and so Landon now is going into what year at UC this will be his fourth year at UC and uh wow yeah so it's uh these things start to go fast and and my daughter's in her second she'll she'll be a soft more she plays volleyball at Indiana and uh and then uh the boys are Juniors and The Young Ones Will will be in fourth grade so we still got a ways to go so if if you think about talking to Landon or Luca about their experiences on their teams have there ever been any things where they've said you know hey you know we learned this lesson through our coaches or through our teammates or any did you ever get any aha moments from them yeah it it from the eyes of somebody else it's it's it's refreshing to see and to hear right I mean sometimes you know you get in a position where people don't always tell you things that you maybe need to hear right and then sometimes just unbeknownst to you as innocent as all innocent can be uh you get something from somebody within your own family that you know hits you right between the eyes and makes you realize like okay you know these are kids these are you know the things that you do every day have an incredible effect um on so many people within your organization within your within your program and uh I I just remember listening to you know uh Maryann Miller the the general and her three lessons and one of them was be careful with your words and that's something that I pick up from my own kids that I don't always realize how impactful some of those things can be and you think you're doing things to motivate but then sometimes just little things that maybe you do or don't say and the effect that they can have especially on the people that we deal with in younger people and um so yeah it's it's a reminder to me my son's gone through a lot of injuries so he's blown his knee out he's blown his shoulder out he he's kind of he's mdq now he's kind of gonna do this year as a uh student Coach G type of thing to see if this is what he wants to do and I look at some of those things that happened within our own program when guys have injuries yeah definitely different now just because I know the things that my own son has to go through and has gone through and how those little words mean a lot more and can go a lot lot further and uh so a lot of those experiences you know fit right into what it is that we do I do every day well you know those kids that get banged up and and lose their dream of maybe you know being a part of the team and lose a little bit of their self image of you know I'm not contributing as much and it just reminds you so much because we talk every day about everyone's important well are we messaging to those kids you know do they feel important um and and that's what I found from kids is we need to find out what they're hearing you know we think we know what we're saying um and uh you know that's that's amazing so you started out your high school career at St Francis the sales right yep and you know like many people when you're blessed to be a part of a good program you can learn a lot of valuable lessons and so not only were you a great football player at St Francis to sales were you three or four time St champ wrestler three three um so so talk about if you just kind of muse back in your mind an early message of the importance of the team well that's where I was very fortunate and people have always asked you know is your kids got got to be older and I remember even being in Columbus like where's your kids going to go to high school and what do you want from your kids from your high school you know or the high school teams and I used to always say I want them to be a part of a team and what does that mean that means I want them to go some place not that well who's going to win the state championship and is he going to be on a state championship because I was not on a state championship team in high school we were Runners up got beat in the state semifinals but I was in a program that you had to be dedicated you had to be committed and you really had to put the team above yourself and growing up as a wrestler that's a little bit different right yes it's a team sport in wrestling but the reality of wrestling is it is an individual Sport and I can be you know I guess the the best thing I can say is like I was a wrestler I wanted to be a wrestler my whole life my whole goal was to you know go to the Olympics and be a wrestler and um obviously I started playing football and I and football became a you know a passion of mine but it was wasn't until going into my senior year recruiting started to happen that that passion kind of flipped and it was all because of the team I was I reflect on that to say where where's that switch between wanting to be a wrestler to wanting to go play football and it all was about that team that I played on in high school the commitment the dedication the the selflessness you had to have amongst your those guys on that field that flipped my passion of the individual sport into the passion of playing football and trying to play at the next level cuz I wanted to be a part of a team so much different than I wanted to just be that individual that was a wrestler and you know the thing I hope people understand and and in this day and age where you have to win and you have to be ranked and you have to be this you know I had a chance to coach 25 teams as a head coach and not all of them were great teams but I picture when I'm standing talking to some of the guys that were on our two and9 team at Youngstown State and I hear them talk about the lessons they learned and the values that they got and you know handling the disappointments and and hanging in there and and you know never giving up and and they were so proud of our two and9 season because one of the two happened to be the last game and it happened to be against the Rival and and you know what all the lessons they've learned and and I get nervous sometimes in sport that it's all about who wins it's all about Who's the champion uh you know they talk about the Hall of Fame well so and so is not going to get in they didn't they didn't win a Super Bowl it's like come on you know the value of sport is what it teaches you about the team what it teaches you about yourself because sport can expose you know your your weaknesses and and and give you adversities and and uh that's why when I was a college President I said if we can add Sports and if we can add uh engineering race teams and if we can add musical ensembles and if we can we need every one of our students and I'm biased but if we can have every one of our students a part of a team we're going to have a better Society because being a member of society's team is what it's all about not just how much money am I going to make or you know all those things so you got a chance to go to Ohio State and you red shirted your first year and was there anything in particular that you think you learned about yourself or about being a teammate being red Shir yeah I actually kind of was in the mix I I got to play one game or so and then got hurt and got and and kind of got that medical red shirt so I got the taste of being a part of it and then that ability to or that you know inability to play anymore and to be put aside um but my experience there was was I think as a freshman was unique because it was there was a different culture I don't know if we said culture back then but there wasn't quite the same culture that uh that we had as we moved forward and so in my year one um as a freshman I learned a lot about you know what it doesn't exactly look like when when all guys are on the same page and it wasn't it was just it was just a locker room there was just it wasn't all on the same page and and I vividly remember those things as a freshman and how I'm not say uncomfortable but like you could see the you know not the togetherness that I was used to coming from you know a smaller you know private school you know environment of a team to this giant you know um team of Ohio State and to see how it wasn't you know kind of all one um and how that leadership kind of LED that and and and then in year two it completely flipped and you know you kind of maybe you know some guys move on or some guys go or some different leader kind of steps in and and treats and creates things a little bit different um and it wasn't a coaching change it was just the leadership within the locker room it was night and day difference of how things worked together in the field as a player of you know what a team really looked and felt like within that own locker room well you know we talk all the time about the Lessons Learned in things that don't go perfectly I mean we've learned so many lessons on on looking back and saying hey you know what we didn't do things as well as we could have we want to do things better you were fortunate you went on and played four straight years started 50 straight games and for a while that was a a record but now that you guys are playing however many games you are and now you have playoffs that record will be long gone but as you think about those great teams you were on that that as I listened you felt like culture really evolved were there any guys that you learned lessons from because you played with some of the greatest college players in the history of the game uh any guys that jump out at you that you learned a lot from yeah I I use this one all the time and you know obviously because he he won a Heisman Trophy everybody talks about but Eddie George was one of the great examples and leaders that that I was ever around um obviously an incred player but not everybody knows the story and and I maybe my story is a little bit different being a part of it from the eyes of everybody else but he he didn't have success right away had some fumbles and some things that really happened in a negative light that cost him the ability to sit for over a year from you know my perspective but from playing as a freshman fumbling you know allegedly losing a G right I mean and then yeah and then all of a sudden two years later by far the hardest worker on the team that he goes out and rushes for like 14500 yards as a junior then 18 19 and wins a Heisman Trophy um everybody would just see this you know W he was you know he's so gifted he's a great player he's this and that the adversity I saw him go through the leadership that he showed within that locker room um is something I still use today as an example I know it's not everybody remembers Eddie George anymore not whether they're at Ohio State or the Heisman Trophy winners but surely if you weren't a part of it and recognize the example example of what you know I don't say failures but what it really looks like when things don't go well and what true leaders and true guys that have a passion to continue to climb and be an example um what happens in the end it's it's a one of the best leaders um I know that I was ever around especially as a player well you know as I know the story and I talked to Eddie maybe more now than I ever have cuz he's a coach you know and he's got some of the same problems we've all had in challenges and you know question things and so forth but as I recall the story he was in Philadelphia mom said hey you need to go and you need to get some challenges and so she sent him to Fork Union Military school then all of a sudden he's a senior in high school and no one's recruiting him and so he says I'm going to stay for a post year if if I think the story is right and then all of a sudden boom and I recall one time I was an assistant coach or no I was the head coach at Youngstown State and I went to visit coach Cooper in the summer one time at Ohio State and I remember walking through the Woody hay Center and Eddie had just finished working out now we had good players at Youngstown State but we didn't have any guys that looked like Eddie and then as we were talking with Coach Coop and those guys they said well that was just the first of his two workouts that he worked out in the morning group and the afternoon group and and uh leadership by example um that's EXA that he's the first guy I remember kind of doing that in the in the morning group and then an afternoon group and and that's not a a story you know it's not in in his freshman year he was a big back you know and he fumbled on the goal line then fumbled again and and that's how everything kind of went the other direction and and again I don't I'm sure he went through some tougher times and I'm sure Eddie could tell it a lot better but like I know as a guy within that locker room the example that that said I think continued to help progress that that locker room that culture that I was a part of that um was incredibly successful on the field but also off the field but probably is why I'm a coach today of seeing how all those things happen and and even from year one of maybe not the greatest alignment of guys within that locker room and the subcultures within the own cultures that was so intriguing to me as to why and how teams work that I've always wanted to from that point on kind of continue to be a part of something like that hey teammates I want to tell you about a project we're working working on with Youngstown State University one of the ways Ellen and I have decided to give back is Through The Trestle Institute for leadership and teamwork we've collected a set of successful business and nonprofit leaders to serve as guest servant leaders in partnership with the sakov Honors College to teach University students teamwork leadership and personal skills we teach from a foundation built on gratitude Excellence hope love and self selflessness if you're a young person or parent helping to search for a unique college experience you can learn more at Trestle institute. yu.edu or ysu.edu links will be provided in the show notes that's the reminder for all of us that leadership and teamwork and team building happens from within All Phases of the organization you know you you can't count on someone standing in the front of the room you know it's got to build a team it's got be throughout the entire building all the way to the training room to the equipment room to to everyone else you know you know the best leaders I think I've observed um besides like like you I I learned that from you to remind my mother my own wife the best leaders I've observed within our own programs are the ones I say Eddie George because he want to but the ones that didn't have the success right away the ones that went through battles and struggles and those low times and those tough points and the guys within that locker room recognized that and saw that and then see how they persevered and grew and all of a sudden their their voice and what they did and what they said and the way that which they did it I think it just hit so much harder it meant so much more because of the things they saw them struggle through as opposed to that guy that's walked in was always the best and you know is a great leader in his own right but to see those struggles and to see where those people grow I know seeing that myself as you know within those teams I I know that was more powerful you know what's interesting and I don't want to get into a big philosophy discussion about today's college athletics and so forth but with rosters changing so much people sometimes not being forced to fight through because like it's well if it's not going as well and someone gets a hold of me and I'd like to go play somewhere else and you know I don't want to get too deep into that but both players and teams that have have suffered and we've talked about this often with our guests have a chance to get so much better and we've got to make sure as we're building our teams is that we're not trying to eliminate the suffering in fact we can grow from our suffering and you were fortunate you got to work with a number of head coaches I did the same you played for and then worked for Coach Cooper Y any thoughts as to what you thought he did best in terms of creating that feeling of Team within the organization I always thought that Coach Coupe just the personality his ability to you know in in my case you know interact with the kids to get to know them um you know he wasn't a guy that sat in his office he wasn't he wasn't a guy that coached as much on the field I thought he did a phenomenal job as I looked at it of letting his coaches coach right I mean like he hired these guys put these guys in positions he never I was a player he didn't seem like a guy that was you know stepping in and trying but he still created a relationship within that locker room that that we knew him really well we knew him as a player we knew him as a person um and I just thought that was one of those things that like okay he's got a person it's not you know a head coach That You Don't See and you're not around and um he did a really good job I thought of that of just that connection walking around that locker room making sure he knew people because didn't get a chance to spend a whole lot of time with him right I know that's my thing I miss the most about being a head coach is not spending more time with those 18 to 22 year olds whether it's a smaller group and and even at that time it was just one of those things I always know I knew him really well because of just his access his ability to be around um and and I thought that went a long way when when tougher times hit well you know and even today he's probably in his mid 80s and I see him at the charity golf things this and that and he still has that that he just gets along with everybody and and you know there's a warm feeling you know you know he's there for you and and you know so the thing I I I I remember about that the most is is obviously they were on him in my time there um we didn't do well against Michigan and there was always that you know down on Coach coup and always you know there was a lot of negative some so to speak which I understand it is what it is is um but it it for us that almost rallied us a little bit closer to him I always felt like he didn't take that out on us he didn't like bring that upon us he didn't you know he was still who he was within that locker room and amongst those things even though he had to go to this press conference and you know they were calling for his job and calling for this that and the other thing when I when I was in school there um but he never was a different person and I always thought that was something like how he was able to handle some of those things I I even look back today I'm like gosh that's not an easy task well you know you're at one of those places at Wisconsin that in in this Century you know you're in the top I don't know six or eight schools in terms of numbers of wins expectations are high you're in a state where you're the only school you know which sometimes if you're in one of those states that has two large schools you know you can take a little heat off because they're talking about the other one and so forth and and how you still stay true to who you are I think is what Coupe was able to do and still keep those relationships and and uh and and I learned from him you know because all of us younger coaches in in the state of Ohio that you always looked at our Flagship and uh so then you went to the New Orleans Saints had to suffer because you got banged up and so now like many of the guys we work with who had been dreaming about these things for a long time and if fate sometimes is is not kind U so the 97 season you were in New Orleans and then 99 you started working for Coupe is that right yes yeah I came back and rehabed where were you the 98 season just rehabing coaching Little League football and rehabbing uh rehabbing at uh back at school there at Ohio State rehabbing and and uh I actually was kind of like helping out be like a ga but didn't know if that's what I wanted to do um as I reach haveed as I coached Junior High football with some of my buddies and and in the Catholic League there um and then the following year that that I became a ga uh for Coach Coupe and and PR pugin and those guys so what made you make the decision that you know what I want to go and build teams and work with young people the rest of my life what what what flipped the switch that I'm CU for the viewers you know graduate assistants do not make much money you're you're eating Spaghetti O out of a crock poot uh but what made you think that you know what I want to go do this yeah actually it was laying in I to tell laying in Lacrosse Wisconsin when I blew my knee out um trying to play at the next level and and I it just started to hit me as I'm laying there and you know knowing you're having surgery and things like that oh I don't really know that I thought as well about the end of the career or the end of playing and it just started to hit me that like everybody that I've you know learned so much from outside side of my family even my family who were coaches you know um and I had so much respect for I go back from you know from my junior high coaches to my to my wrestling coach to my High School coaches and it just it just kind of hit me like I don't know I was always talking about go back to you know med school and these kind of things I'm like I don't want to give up the team I want to be a part of this yes I love the competing I also I love you know what I had done since I was a kid but it really was so much about can I walk away from the team things can I walk away from this competitiveness that is so much around so many other people and so many to you know rely upon so many others and that's what it kind of hit me I I came back and you know took a little bit of time to figure out if this is really the route I wanted to go um and a lot of people try to talk you out of it you know yeah sure you know hey I've got a job before I got this that the other thing and it was just one of those like no I think this is what I want to do and um it became really clear for me and and became a little bit easier to to like you said go and uh go to that volunte not volunteer role that GA role that you know it's a little bit different well you know it's funny I know when I was growing up all I want to do is play sports and hang out with the guys and you know do well in school and all that stuff and I remember when my guidance counselor asked me well what would you like to do later in life I thought I don't know play sports and have fun and you know and no no we got to think and that's when I reflected on watching my dad who he really loved what he was doing and I could see he was really making a difference with young people they didn't wi every game you know and it was a different time heck my dad had probably four average Seasons as a new head coach in college well today you know I mean they'd be screaming at him and writing things in the newspaper and and uh but he was making a difference in in people's lives and and so you were fortunate that coach Owens hired you after one year as a grest assistant which you know people don't understand how few jobs there are you know I used to tease my players in young said well I'm on their goal sheets I'm going to be a division one football coach I used to say hey guys there's more attorneys in Youngstown Ohio than there are division one football coaches in the country so are you sure you know that you want to do this you were fortunate you got to go work with Coach Owens who I think is one of the great coaches in the history of our state um tell the viewers what you know as a firsttime full-time assistant coach what you learned most from coach Owens about the team I learned that I knew nothing about what I was doing um that's right as you get thrown into a group of guys and you're like you know you you think you have all these ideas and you think you know all these things and then you realize like oh my goodness I I got to start listening and watching and seeing how these guys do all these things more because you've just done it you've been a part of it but you've never you know had to organize it you've never had to have a system of it and and um he was another great example like I said I I just talked to him the other week and and every time I get a chance to talk to him or something hits me I I sent him a message to remind me how you took a chance on me and gave me my first opportunity I have no idea but I appreciate it you know I still appreciate it today the things I learned I wouldn't be obviously here but like to be where we were too you always made fun of me like you division one guys you don't you don't know what it's like and I always say like had I gone to the University of Akon with Coach Owens for two years and seen something different it's still division one but just the things you had to do I mean I learned from him look in my first off season there we tore out the offices and the carpet and redid it all ourselves because we wanted something new and you just learned about this is so much more about what the team looks like yes not just your team in your locker room but for the first time I really really started to understand what that team within your own walls look like those leaders those other coaches and the things that they were willing to do for those kids in their program and to you know make it look a little bit better or or what do you have to do to to give a different look and those are the things that as much as football I learned from him I learned about being first time really being a part of that team of a staff where you got to fall in line you got to find ways to improve the things that you do along with being in line with what the team does and as a ga I don't know that I understood that because you know hey I played here I know what I'm doing these guys take care of me pretty well and and to be at a different place to see it in a different light is invaluable to all the things that I was able to learn well one thing that a lot of our viewers know that are football fans and and maybe those that aren't wouldn't know is how did you end up back at oh State and and I think I need to tell that story because that story to me is is a lot about the team I remember when coach kater retired and coach kater and I had been together for 16 years he told me when we went to YSU in 1986 that he'd come for one year but he really wanted to get to a bigger school well he he stayed for 15 years and then came to Ohio State uh and then retired after one year and and uh I remember sitting with the staff talking about well okay let's let's see what we can do to replace a guy and and you can't replace coach kater because there's only one coach caner but what can we do what do we need what do we what does our team need and we talked about this and that well special teams expertise and this and that and and I remember we brought in a couple guys to interview and I remember sitting with them and they were great you know and they they were really could bring us a lot of knowledge and so forth but it kept sticking in the back of my mind is that if we are going to be a team of the history of Ohio State then I really wanted to have someone from the John Cooper era that played for John because John was there for 13 years that's a big part of our history he's the second winningest coach in the history of Ohio State and so I said to coach hok who had coached with Coach Cooper is there anyone out there that played for Coach Coupe that you think's ready and uh we talk back and forth and I think as I remember the story I said well what about that young guy that's with Lee Owens at akan I said I don't know him I said but coach hok you coached him and coach hok said that's the perfect guy and you came interviewed obviously got the job and I really felt you were young you were orary right but but I felt that you completed uh that feeling that you know what everyone that has played at Ohio State everyone that will play at Ohio State later everyone that's here now is all a part of the team and we need to have that feeling that we're all in this together because it's too hard you know it's too hard the expectations are too high and uh uh so so what was your thought when coach I think coach aot called you and said hey do hey do you want to interview what what was your thought at that point I I I remember my son was just born so Landon was uh your oldest yeah a week old um or we had just had him I didn't go to Florida with the group because they had gone to Florida in the spring whatever that was for a little like uh you know hey we're GNA go down and study with somebody um and I stayed back because my son was just going to be born or possibly born and he called me and he's like hey you never sent anything here you know didn't send a resume or something would you be interested in this I'm like interested I I I would crawl there tomorrow if you if you needed me to you know and and it was just like one of those things where yes I had heard that someone had coached kasser had retired or left but in my mind was look I'm a part of this team here and that was one of those things that as I went to akan one of the things I saw you know you're at a smaller place that I wouldn't say everybody was all and we had you know somebody who lived in the office because they didn't move their family you know someone and and in my mind I was always like that's not right for these kids you know I know and as I get older I understand like there's some things with families and stuff but in my at a young age at that time I'm thinking like these kids need to see that we're all in that that this isn't and I don't ever want to be out looking for another job and that was I just felt the Loyalty of Coach Owens giving me that opportunity so when coach Hott called me I'm like well yeah I wasn't going to I don't going to call and Stu I I love what I'm doing I love this place but yeah I would crawl there and um that that was I mean it happen pretty quick because I remember I came down and then you invited me back you offered me the job invited me back like two days later and I remember I walked in the office and Coach de anonio was like what are you doing here I'm like uh coach trest go I think I'm HED but it all happened pretty quick so you spent 15 years correct six years somewhere in there so some of the guys we've had as guests on our podcast were guys you recruited and coached and we had AJ and Marcus and um uh cam Hayward and N Nate Ebner and and so as you think about those years there which was a long time and there were some teams that maybe the society said were great and some that our fans didn't think did well enough because that's just the nature of the game as I've told you and I told Coach dantonio when he went to Michigan State and I told Marcus when he went to Notre Dame keep in mind you can't win enough so forget that you know but can you make a difference in those players lives and and and can you build a team give the viewers a couple examples of teams in those 15 years of why you thought they were great teams not necessarily one every game but throw out a couple of those years you thought were special from a team standpoint you know I don't know it's hard to remember exactly what year it was I remember it was AJ and Anthony and and Bobby and those guys and we had an incredible team and I think we lost early in the year maybe it was the SC uh I can't remember and and then we lost have been Texas that might have been Tas was that the Texas lost maybe it was Texas lost I think it was Texas yep and maybe it was Penn State lost too I can't remember I I know this that we lost a game or two that year but for the first time I never worried you know usually you lose and it's like I'm I'm like oh my goodness like where where's this thing going and and you know obviously you expected to win every game there uh but I just remember that we had such a leadership group and such a tight team that I never worried I just was like these guys aren't going to let things go sideways and I I vividly remember the strength of the leadership of the of the hawk and the slagles and and cam Hayward was a little a young guy and and and even though we were supposed to win everything single game and then you lose early I think you lose to Penn State there was never a influx of there's a different attitude there's a different personality there's guys bicker like but it was all because of the leadership and I and that to me was one of those ones where it just was a reminder like okay now if when you've got these things built from within you can kind of handle whatever comes your way but I also remember years where things went really well but I wasn't sure that the leadership from within how are we going to handle if we have that real adversity and I'm not going to pinpoint yeah I can't remember I might have been 02 I just was always kind of curious in 02 it's my first year there how strong is our leadership if and when we hit this adversity and and we had adversity but we never really hit the big one and and we were able to build and build and build as that kenzel and and those guys' leadership I thought grew and grew and grew um obviously to what it was at the end of the year but I always thought that was so for me intriguing to see you know and as a younger coach how do you feel like my emot you know me I was like you said I was hory I was young I was my emotions were too much of a roller coaster um but I always envisioned what it was going to look like if that's what my emotions are what are within that own locker room and it was always about what's the leadership going to be like and how's it going to handle it hey teammates I want to tell you about a project we're working on with Youngstown State University one of the ways Ellen and I have decided to give back is Through The Trestle Institute for leadership and teamwork we've collected a set of successful business and nonprofit leaders to serve as guest servant leaders in partnership with the sakov Honors College to teach University students teamwork leadership and personal skills we teach from a foundation built on gratitude Excellence hope love and selflessness if you're a young person or parent helping to search for a unique college experience you can learn more at Trestle institute. yu.edu or or ysu.edu links will be provided in the show notes you were there through 15 or six 15 right yeah yeah so you are part of two national championship victories okay I really looked at those two teams the O2 team and I really just watched those kids and I could see how much they had suffered prior to that year you know they had had a 1999 6 and six and then they were eight four and then they had a coaching change yeah and then they're seven and five and it's like wait we didn't come to Ohio State and I thought they grew closer and closer and closer and O2 probably wasn't by far our greatest team talent-wise and all that I agree but but they had suffered and I kind of looked at 14 I wasn't there you were there with Coach Meyer and so I'm I'm the president at the Youngtown State and so I'm I'm still around watching and you know I was at the national championship game or I was at the yeah Oregon was that who was against or Alabama or yep I was at the game and and I kept thinking about your 14 team that they suffered yeah you know they they had a coaching change they had a year where you weren't allowed to go to a bowl you lost a quarterback and then you lost another quarterback and they C it appeared to me that the team just coales together uh and it's just it was a great reminder to me that hey we don't need to eliminate suffering because we can grow from suffering and I don't know that I ever put the two together like you just said but it and what I said about the O2 team of you know obviously I was a part a little bit of that early on suffering as a ga and and before I left there then came back and you know obviously for O2 and you know but I didn't see the you know the two years prior to that but I was a part of o2 where I thought that you know how we going to handle some of these things and the leadership just continue to grow and grow and come tight and Tighter as we you know hit those tough games you know whether it was Cincinnati whether was those you know one possession games or last play games which created who we were and as I look back at 14 it's very similar right I mean like yeah because because you didn't get a chance to to play in 12 when you were undefeated and there was this like emptiness like we're suffering and then the next year you you lose in the championship game and you you get beat up in the bowl game and it's like there was some serious suffering like what are we you know where are we headed how's this leadership going to go and I remember going into 14 like not just with the injuries but it was a same thing like yes we're talented but how is this team going to come together and didn't you lose a game early in the year we lost to Virginia Tech yeah right right and and that was kind of that s like all of a sudden you saw some things grow from within but it's leadership it it it it has so much of the do you have those guys that can't can bring that team closer and closer together we can preach it as a coach but if you don't have the the right parts from within and I don't just mean you know you've talked about it earlier you have to have comparable Talent yep but do you have the people that can continue to pull those things and grow um from within during that season I I I spoke in media day the day and I said we have 38 days now until we kick off these next 38 days are more important than the last six months for us yeah in the growth of our team and our leadership and you know that opportunity to be together and and um it's going to be critical and that I just refer you know refer back to those those teams that were very similar in some of those ways of how they handled that suffering and how they were able to grow to tighter together you know I when I was on the uh episode with General Maryann Miller I asked her the question about in the military you have such a short window to build your team and a lot of the officers are there for short times and you know there's changes and and so forth and and and I said college football is a little bit like that now because the roster changes a little bit more than it used to uh it's it's a little bit different and what I was really impressed with what she talked about is in a short time in the military which is way more serious than playing football uh Readiness competence being prepared and and knowing where you fit into the group has to happen quickly and to your point all these college rosters uh these these next 30 some days you know they're going to have to grow the teams that are going to reach their potential are going to grow closer together more quickly it it it it is so true and and it's always been like that you've been I mean it's always that time where you can see your teams grow and those you know those Camp moments but I think it's even more so now the the landscape that we're in that these by Nature your teams are you know a bit different than they were you know 10 years ago you know whether you're a big group bringing in transfer guys or not you still have them um and they're vital and they're critical to your program because a lot of times they're one and twoe guys and you know how you tie all those things together and you know like the military how you get yourself to Readiness in 38 days is is really critical and uh I think it's ever more important today to have that Foundation of what a team's going to look like in our sport because if you don't have the foundation of it when you bring these other pieces in I don't know that there's any way of continuing to grow and um you know I think that's as much of the challenge of all the new things in college ball we're dealing with um the ability to continue to focus on what within your team to understand the you know they're 18 to 22 year olds what's going on in their life and how do you tie them and pull them all together to add incredible value not just in this game but beyond is going to be the biggest Difference Maker in the next few years well you know Howe long talked on his episode about the fact that the one thing about the Raiders and when he went to the Raiders they were you know they were up it's not a little bit different than we maybe think of the Raiders today they were you know Super Bowl off and on and and uh he said hey the veterans when you came in set the standard you know and it just goes back to people think that teams are built from above you know there might be some guidance from above but teams are built from within and and that's so critical and so you had a chance what how many years with Coach Meyer uh five six five so one of the winningest coaches in the history of the game uh if you had to pick one uh thing that coach Meyer did to to help build team uh share with the viewers what what maybe his top U uh ability was from a team building standpoint well he was such a motivator but I think the thing that he did it was a constant pressure that was always on that that really kind of made guys have to rally and do things together um it was it was intentional you know and it was such a you know gotta be on pressure situation every single day whether it was as a coaching staff or with the players and in in a lot of ways those guys had to like rally together often and I thought I really saw that you know it was it was this kind of a be a very aggressive very you know um you know outgoing emotional but what it did was that pressure that was applied whether it was to the coaches or to the players in a in a motivational way really made them and had them pull tighter together because they they needed each other even more on a consistent basis as opposed to just just the Saturdays or just you know in those tough times like it was it was one of those ones that in a short amount of time in a short period of time it really brought everybody together and in some ways it it brought the guys on the on the periphery further away but the nucleus of what brought together that motivation and that team became really really tight it galvaniz you know pressure galvanizes right I mean pressure creates diamonds you know and and and I lived through that with Coach Bruce coach Bruce was he was tough he was tough on us coaches he had high expectations and uh you know it that that brings you together and you know if you're not Tough Enough it breaks you you know sometimes but you know those who remain coach shackler used to say those who remain will be Champions you know we're going to we're going to Galvanize it so then all of a sudden you have a chance to go to the University of Cincinnati and I was so excited about that because I saw how coach dantonio loved his time when he left the Buckeyes and and went to Cincinnati and and you went to Cincinnati and and did things that you know nobody ever did and and uh you know as old coaches you know your former players your former coaches you're so proud to you know Bear Bryant National coach of the year you know the afca national Coach of the Year Bobby DOD National coach of the year and every year we'd be getting phone calls that this team wants you know to talk to you and so forth and what I always felt very proud about was how you want that team that University that Community was important to you and so as you reflect back was it six years there yeah yeah six years talk a little bit to the viewers about what made some of those teams special well I think it started with the first team when you went three and eight and and probably should have been one and 10 um that was that suffering I mean you you talk about bringing guys together not just as a team within our own locker room but even a coaching staff and and to me that's when I really realized how much more you had to have around you to do this and to be able to have those guys that you know your your your swim buddies as we would have in the wisdom of the bull fog right I you got to have those people as you go through these things and and it's such a prideful place that you know uh had had incredible successes whether it was with Coach Antonio in football been a roller coaster in football where basketball had been so you know such a historic run over long periods of time um that it was like this is a place where we can create some things and stay for a really long time and do things and build from within and um I would say that the thing I loved the most was was really kind of creating that nucleus that started with with the coaches and we had a foundation of guys that had the same belief meaning that like we don't have to run all over the country we we can do something really special here and create this from within and and I can say this six years the core nucleus barely changed you know from from what we did in the weight room with Coach Brady to what we did on offense you know with Coach Dem Brock and Coach Gino and then what we did on defense with Coach Freeman and Coach you know obviously Coach Phillips was my rightand guy and Y we lost coach but the core never changed and it allowed our kids to not be distracted and and you know kind of going in different directions and and I don't know if I've ever seen a better kind of development from with in um because of I thought because the offense did such a great job at growing over time the defense and and our kids weren't confused like it wasn't a new offense it wasn't a new defense it wasn't a new voice the core nucleus was able to stay and we were a able to really kind of grow and build ultimately from within and the message has never changed you know whether you were three and eight you know or you undefeated and that's where I I told the when when the when the seniors walked out after that 3 and eight season I had said them all year your leadership might not is not just measured in this season because it's going to look a little bit and it ended up being not your leadership and the strength of who you were is going to be measured in what you left behind and I will always be proud of those guys because they did a phenomenal job we only won three games but what they left behind they galvanized and things they got guys to believe and that's why we became very successful well you know and I can relate to that cuz our two and9 team at Youngstown State I mean to this day when I see people at the former player golf outing whatever and I see guys on that two and9 team I say hey if it weren't for you hanging in there and believing in the team and you know suffering through you know our growth pains and then our seven and five team there at at Ohio State you know those guys hung in there you they got this new onea coach coming in and and they hung in there and they hung in there and they set the stage for what it was to be a team being a team isn't just winning every game no you know being a business isn't just making every sale you know my number one question I ask a guy like a coach when when I do an interview and stuff is tell me about your failures tell me about your greatest failure and and if they can't tell you about things that they've done that they failed at or I'm not sure I'm like okay well how are they going to react something because in our in this world you're going to fail whether it's Some Day Some you know some issues lose a recruit I mean like and how do we handle those things how do we grow because I know as I look back it my failures are my greatest strengths and amen and the way that you know you've handled them whether it was good or bad but the way you've come back from them and and you know I I I do that with our leadership group now today um is tell me about your failure like we have to fail in order to grow and we have to be willing to to to do that I was talking to a team uh in July and went to visit with and and I asked they had their leadership group or whatever and I asked them I said okay after two games if you're one in one what are you going to be talking about because if if the world's going to end you know because you're one in one um you know you being you know the voice of the team and so forth U cuz you're going who knows what you're going to be I just you know the messaging I just did that the other day after listening to your podcast and you talking about that I had the leadership group and I said okay let's think about where what are we going to be doing what are we going to be stand if we're 4 and0 y because you know we have you know our first four pretty good you know we we got two preseason we got two early on and then we've got Alabama USC I said and then what are we going to be talking about it for two and two or somewhere in between and we've got to be able to do these things in our heads so that we can have consistency regardless of what they're saying about us if we're 4 and0 or 2 and two and it just you had talked about that in one of the one of the other podcasts and it was a reminder to me like we've got to with our leadership and with them on our team we' we've got to do some of these exercise so we can prepare ourselves you know so we can respond a lot better when we get into these moments so what's been the most fun of being in Madison and being a part of the Badgers I think is is recognizing and and seeing how we can grow this right I mean I think right now the most unique thing is is we want to put a plan in place but right now over the last three years it's hard to try to say okay where's our landscape going so how does the plan go right so in some ways it's there's a positive behind that because it makes us really focus on the now you know it makes us Focus as much of know building a program but okay let's focus on this team and I think that's where I've kind of said this is is the most exciting thing right I mean this has been the toughest challenge but I think every challenge that you're in at the moment is the toughest challenge because you look back at this other challenge like oh man that was so much fun and you know all those different things but the challenge that you're in at that moment is is the most difficult one and it's a difficult challenge but what we went through last year with our expectations even from my own true spot to where we ended up is one of those things where it was in a lot of way it was a disappointment now how have we handled that and the change from year one to where we are even right now the leadership has grown in a in a in a different direction and I just feel really good about like the group that's around you of understanding now we know each other better after year one that we got a much better opportunity to attack some of these things and have a plan and a preparation um for when we do you know confront these adversities these adverse situations going to have well you know a lot of businesses call and say hey can you come talk to us about being how do you build a team and or other universities call or whatever high schools call and and I always remind them that relationships take time and the only way you build a team is with relationships and there's no fast forwarding relationships you have to spend some time together you have to learn from one another you have to appreciate each other's warts you you you have to uh have some tough times together and and uh that's that's reality the other reality I happen to think in your case is people ask me all the time what's the what's the most fun place to play in the Big 10 Camp Randall I mean I loved being the opposing team there because you know when I was an assistant coach I remember they were throwing batteries and hitting our guys in the helmets and so they put those little cages over the tunnel remember and then and then when we were there you know facing you know JJ Watt and you know all those guys and and but it was just so much fun if you think about what's college football I mean Camp brandall you know the I was an assistant coach up in the Press Box in the 80s and they did that jump around going into the fourth quarter and all of a sudden the Press Box rocking I'm thinking this place is going to fall down I was up there I was up there too when we were there and uh I don't know what year it was but um yeah it it is a very passionate place I mean they love they love like you said you're the only show in town other than the Bay Packers um but they are they are passionate about it they've uh you know and and and no matter what like even last year you know we didn't have as good late in the year and it was no different I mean it is a it is a passionate passionate group uh it's what college football's all about I mean even though there's just you know some changes and you know guys maybe aren't going to be at places as long uh you put the uniform on and and they look at you as a badger and they love you and uh that's what's fun that's what that's what it's exciting um that's what keeps me rolling knowing that uh you know there's an expectation to and I love that I really do I mean coach alz created that here and I think that's the greatest thing that you can have because it does apply some of that pressure that ultimately pulls you all together because you got to be committed to do things together if you're going to be as successful as you need to be you know I've been real proud of your coaching record and your your being a great husband hband and great father and all that kind of thing but one of the other things that's been pretty cool in my mind about uh your path is has been you and Mike brael and Ryan Miller creating the second and seven foundation and uh you know uh I'm a Believer in fundamentals and if our young people aren't good at reading you know their future isn't going to be as bright their chance to reach their potential is not going to be as great and so tell the viewers a little bit about how that started as three college kids and now you're giving away millions of books well it was kind of start Ryan and I had an idea you know Ryan as kind of the outside the box thinker um all the things that we had done as a as a student athlete as a player at Ohio State and he always you know thought about what he hat how do we pay it forward how do we you know what can we do to make sure that we continue to give back from all the things that that was given to us and he had this idea of you know starting a literacy program and so we kind of tied it with football with the second seven important time in your those kids' lives you know to they really kind of take off with this with reading and believe it's something that's important and tie it to football and and then Mike got involved with it too which you know in a lot of ways Mike took things to another level which he does in a lot of lot of things that that he's a part of um and it has continued to grow and the passion that uh Ryan has for it right there within Columbus and then the ability for like Mike and not myself to as we go other places and grow to continue to grow the program um it's amazing it's I 25 years I think maybe now I mean that that uh We've continue to write books and and give books and and give back and we just actually started the program here and in Madison that we'll be reading to the to the great scorers as well and um it's another one of those things like look that wasn't something that great idea this was something that because of what we were exposed to when we were student athletes at Ohio State and recognizing the words of Woody Hayes of how do we continue to have gr to give back in some ways or pay it forward um for all the blessings and the things that people did for us well you know it's interesting when I first went to Youngstown State as the president governor Kasich called me and he said hey while you're there you you have to help the Youngstown City Schools so come up with an idea and so we came up with this idea to have our College of Education students go and read to the second graders in the Youngstown City Schools so I called up Ryan Miller and talked to Amy ho and Megan McCabe and that whole team there and I said hey I know this sounds like a lot but I need 20,000 books and they said send a truck we have them for you y and the impact that that's made how many states are you in now it's a bunch yeah it's it's 14 or 13 or 14 States I anybody who has left millions of books and taken with them and uh you know I mean the impact that student athletes can have when they walk into some of those schools um is incredible and and yeah to be a positive impact to be talking about something that they may not be hearing about on a on an everyday basis they surely don't hear about when they flip the TV on or their phone right so there's nothing that we can do to help our fure future than than things like that well I can't let you go without asking you about one of your staff members Mike Trestle who happens to be my oldest brother's uh oldest boy and uh he was a grad assistant for us in uh 200 two or one two yeah yeah two 2002 2003 and then left with Coach dantonio to Cincinnati and and uh so tell us what you think Mike Trestle I'm this this is a Shameless plug for my family but what the heck it what does Mike do well to help build team he lives it I think that's the the most important thing like Mike Trestle lives being a part of a team and he has this humility to him that it's it's never about him um obviously he gets that you know from within from his father too but I I can tell you the best story is when Mike came here with with us uh I told him I'm not sure exactly what position right Jim Leonard is still there we're going to offer try to keep Jim Leonard if he would like to stay and if he does that'll probably make him the defensive coordinate I just I don't know what the position exactly is I want you with us I'm with you it wasn't like well what's my salary what's what's my title going to be like look I I trust you I believe you I want to be a part of the team and to me that meant more than anything that look you we will make it right whatever we need to do because it's not about him it's about everybody else around him how can he make him better and he epitomizes the things that we want to continue to create and be the example of uh within our own program not to mention he does a phenomenal job you know he is organized and and meticulous and and obviously had an incredible amount of experience and around some great people but not above and beyond his ability to say I'm I'm a part of a team and I'll do whatever I need to do well I'm not a very good adviser but when he was a young guy he had a perfect score on the math sat and I said to him hey Mike whatever you do don't go into coaching go into go into something where you can really make a difference and you you might invent you know something or you go be an engineer go be an entrepreneur no no Uncle Jim I I want to be a coach I said oh no I I I just I'm not sure that's a great idea well it's been a great idea and a great way to to end our hour together because just like Mike Trestle wasn't about me it's all about the team and and that's the fun of it um when we get back together with our teams we don't sit around and talk about the games nope we talk about each other and and what we learn from one another and and that's what's special of being a part of a team and on behalf of our team here at the it's all about the team podcast I can't thank you enough in this busy time and all of our technical glitches here to get started that you'd spend time with us and appreciate it coach always always appreciate it I learned more about the team from you than uh than anybody else I ever did and uh because of the example so I appreciate that all righty well folks tune in next time cheer for the Badgers and remember it's all about the team is it true that you said that you would walk home from a game 10 miles or something if you didn't win the game yes and that would probably wasn't the smartest thing I was young and dumb to do a good job helping to serve your team to become the best team they can be you do have to understand a lot about history so we don't repeat some of the mistakes and we can learn great things and I never thought I'd get back in the college I didn't you know except I had a relationship with Matt Campbell and Luke fickle mhm and both those guys played a role in getting me back