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A few weeks ago I spoke about losing my father.
Never easy to lose someone. But, I can’t image losing one of your children.
I’ll never forget July 2, 1998. My mom coming into my room to tell me that Kurt Hoerman had passed away after a car accident in Upper Michigan.
I just remember crying.
I didn’t know Kurt personally, but felt like I did.
I was headed into 7th grade and had started to develop a love for basketball. Kurt played at my high school and was an ultra successful athlete. He was All-Conference in football, basketball and baseball in a highly regarded Wisconsin Valley Conference. He played at the state tournament in basketball and baseball his senior year.
Kurt’s mother was my second grade teacher. I remember watching that 1995 state game (on a small portable black and white TV at a school dance) where Kurt scored 11 points in a two point loss to Appleton East.
In June of 1998, I attended a week long boys basketball camp at Antigo High School.
Head Coach John Mielke ran the camp with Kurt Hoerman and Matt Fermanich helping assist us youngsters. Kurt was coming off his redshirt sophomore season at UW-Stevens Point and Matt had just finished his freshman year playing at UW-Eau Claire. Two prominent NCAA Division III basketball programs in the country. Being at that camp, both Kurt and Matt were guys I wanted to be like.
Then a few weeks later, Kurt’s gone.
At that point in my life, that was the first person I knew that died. 12 years and that was the first person I had physically known. I hadn’t lost any family or friends.
Fortunately, I was able to get that opportunity and play four years of college basketball. I wore #20, just like Kurt did at Antigo High School. Kurt didn’t know me personally but he had a huge impact on me.
You never know who’s watching you and what they’re learning from you. Whether it be a skill you have or just grabbing some inspiration.
Today, we remember #20.
Episode #85 - Chris Reinert
Chris Reinert talks about his football journey from California to Vanderbilt to coaching roles across college football, AAF and currently with Dallas Renegades of UFL. Deep dive into Mike Leach's coaching style and delegation, Jim Mora's organization and Rick Neuheisel's leadership. Winning three Sun Bowls across three different institutions. Leading his alma mater as a head high school football coach. Being on staffs with interim coaches. Innovative tools like GameplnIQ for data-driven decision making!
Episode #86 - Kyle Morgan
Kyle Morgan is a firefighter of nearly 20 years who has spent time in the scouting space of football. He attended the Scouting Academy with Dan Hatman, worked at Arizona State in Player Personnel, spent time working for Catapult, the NFL Combine and most recently helped launch JUCO Insider Report. We talk about player evaluation, AI, insights of the combine and lessons learned from firefighting.
Book Review
(2001)
“I’ve never had a ten year or five year plan. I have a one year plan and the plan hasn’t varied much over the years.”
“If a leader doesn’t surround himself with good people, he’ll spend most of his time swimming against the current. And somewhere along the way, he’ll drown from exhaustion.”
“You cannot be successful in this business if you’re unwilling to work long hours.”
“Anybody can coach a three-hour practice. A great coach can organize it in one and one-half hours.”
“Don’t promise something you can’t.”
“Humility is wisdom’s prerequisite.”
“My first requirement of hiring a new employee is: loyalty, loyalty, loyalty.”
“My code has always been to work like this is the last job I’ll ever have, and live like it’s the last day of my life.”
“You discipline your kids, but you don’t throw them to the wolves.”
“Good character is a leader’s greatest ally.”
“Nothing scares me on game day like the absence of enthusiasm.”
“The biggest mistake made today with the modern athlete is not explaining to the player why he must do something and how it will benefit him.”
Be yourself
Don’t hire YES men
Look for reasons not to hire the person you’re interested in
Don’t need to harp on the fact that you are in charge
Humble people can still be confident in their abilities
Honesty makes things so much easier
Staff meetings were for “serious” issues
Greatest lesson learned was delegating responsibility to assistants
Goal was to begin each week with a clean desk
Took power naps between 1pm-2pm during the week
Don’t have too many rules...have as few as you possibly can...but enforce them!
Every decision I make is predicated upon...How does this affect team morale?
Worth Your Time
Fired Coaches Podcast started in May 2020. The podcast interviews coaches, scouts, media and others connected to the sports world that fell from the mountaintop. They were either fired, resigned or told that their contract would not be renewed. Level does not matter. The story does.