Tales from the Gridiron

What's better than some good, old fashioned, hometown football? We sat down with Isaac Sliger, Head Coach of our very own Rushville Lions Football team and talked so much more than football...

Transcript

Welcome to this edition of the Hoel Roofing & Remodeling Podcast. Today, our special guest is, head coach of the Rushville football program, Isaac Sliger, and, also teacher at the school and whatnot.

So, pretty cool. we did a podcast with his wife, probably about a year, year and a half ago. So this may be the first couple that's been on the podcast. So, you know, we're setting records every day. So but take a minute, introduce your family and kind of, you know what your role is at the school and why why you chose to come back and do what you're doing.

Sir. I'll actually even kind of go off that a little bit. First couple that also start the Dave Ramsey classes. So background beforehand was business teacher and did all that stuff too. But no. Again, my name is Isaac Sliger, head football coach over here at the high school. also in the physical education department and then assistant athletic director as well, with the middle school in the high school.

my wife is Kristen. we've been married now a little over a year and a half. and then we just had our first son, Luke. last Christmas. and he's he's awesome. about seven months old now, a little over seven months. And, we're kind of heading into the venture now of our first, first full season, as a family of three.

And, it's it's pretty exciting. you know, I, I was given the opportunity to come back, in January of 2021, to take on the head coaching role. And, you know, it's a situation for me where I graduated from here in 2013. you know, I had an opportunity to go on and play up at Anderson University for a little bit, and then I got to come back here as an assistant, under Scott McMurray.

and he is somebody that I've always kind of look to is one of my main mentors in the coaching realm, just because of the amount of responsibilities that he put on me at an early age. you know, there's a lot of guys that don't get those opportunities. And I think that's what's got me to be where we are today.

but, you know, as an assistant here for three years under him, left for a little bit, went, over to Shelbyville for a period of time, then was teaching over at East Central for a period of time as well. And, then ultimately we're heading into, our fourth season here this fall and, ready to get things rolling here in a few weeks.

That's what. so what did you play under Scott when you were. I did not, so I, I played under Chris Mckowski, who's now actually up at Peru High School. and he had a great season here with his first year up there. and then my senior year, Rocky Alspaugh kind of came back for that for I think it was a two year stint.

And then that's when Scott came out. Okay. Okay. Yeah. What? so, I mean, we're all about leadership here. We're all about legacy. and, you know, you just. You said that you got responsibility. you know, he put a lot of responsibility on you. And, one thing is, you know, you're you're just starting your journey as a dad with a youth, a boy, and, moms are fantastic, but there's there's that dad that that pushes the limits.

I mean, my boys nine, playing youth football and, it's so funny because, like, I'm always, like, challenging him to be more like, he's running AAD2 99 skid steer, the biggest cat track machine they make. And I mean, it's it's a lot of responsibility. And you know, my my wife, his mom, her like, you know, that's my baby.

I'm like, I know he's gotta learn like he's gotta learn responsibility, you know? So I guess talk a little bit about what kind of responsibility put on you and then kind of how that helped you with your journey. So when I actually got hired, I was 19, just turning 20 years old, again, had an opportunity to move back here and still finish school.

I didn't want to be away from the game at that point. And, you know, after talking to him, I was able to get on immediately. that first year, took on a lot of responsibilities, on the JV and, and basically doing anything and everything I could under him, a lot of the dirty work that, you know, some people aren't necessarily always willing to if that means, you know, being the first one in the building, last one out the building.

you know, obviously things that now being in my shoes are the same exact thing that has to happen, because you're trying to get other guys to do the same thing under you. and doing the things that, you know, aren't necessarily expected of you. whether it's, again, going to set up all the huddle stuff, unloading the bus, reloading the bus, helping those guys do that, and, then going into year two for us being able to be a coach, offensive coordinator at, you know, 21 years old is, at a three year program, really wasn't heard of, necessarily.

or at least very often. So, with him being able to give me those responsibilities and a lot of special teams coordinating responsibilities that kind of help jump me, when he ultimately ended up choosing to leave, there after the 2017 season. And then I headed over to Shelbyville and, was the offensive coordinator over there under my Clevenger.

So, just again, kind of kind of being willing to do not just what's asked of you or what's expected of you, but doing things that may not necessarily come to mind, that are ultimately going to help the guy that is in charge. and I think that kind of correlates to what we're trying to teach the guys to, you know, it kind of you talk about legacy and it kind of points back to me.

That's one of our prime pieces that we've preached as a culture. And preached as a program. when I first got hired, this was like right post-Covid area. So I was still down at East Central at the time, too, because I didn't get in the building until that fall. so I had to do all of our group meetings over Google Meet.

and the one class specifically that I remember talking to, as far as having the biggest impact, was that class that just graduated the class with Danny Core and, and Chase Wolfe and Keegan Bolles and those guys, and they were going to be sophomores at the time. And the last thing that I said on the meet before, you know, breaking off and saying, hey, we're going to meet with individual people, and we'll start that next week was when it comes to this program.

And when it comes to, as a coaching staff, as long as we are here, you're going to understand how to leave a legacy and what that means. And you may not necessarily know what that is right away. it may be a couple of years. You may not see it until 5 or 10 years down the road, but at some point in time, you're going to be able to see some type of legacy and impact.

And, you know, three of those guys that I just mentioned that immediately come to mind. I think actually recognized it for the first time this fall. you know, you go to a youth camp over the last couple of years, all those kids are yelling for Danny Korn. Where's Danny Cornett? And they're they love him. regardless of what it is.

same thing after a Friday night. The amount of kids up in the stands that, you know, are making shirts for Keegan Boles or talking about how my favorite players Chase Wolfe or Keegan or, you know, any of these guys. And I think for those guys, it finally clicked. Ben. but being able to get those guys to understand, regardless of what you do and hopefully when you come back here, you're eventually going to see that type of legacy.

Well, and I mean, it's so hard at that age to realize that they're, they're little kids watching you. Oh, yeah. And when you do something stupid and you show up at Pizza King drunk at 19 years old or something like that, like them kids are idolizing that and like. And it's so hard, you know, it's no different than being a dad.

Like, you know, sometimes we think we're being funny with our spouse or wife, and it's like, I mean, the first time that I heard my son say exactly what I've said to my wife, I'm like, you, shithead, you can't say that. And then I look at myself like, wait a second, I can't say. I mean, I can't say that, you know?

but I mean, that is, just a legacy thing. I mean, and it goes like one thing that I say around here, like, I mean, I want to build this business to give opportunity to people, and you know, I want, you know, some of my sales reps. literally. Yes. We as we record this, two of my sales reps, one's wife's getting induced, within the next couple of hours.

one is, one's wife's going to have a baby any day. Another one just had a baby a couple months ago. so, like, I want their kids, their grandkids that probably never know my name. Like, I want to make sure that I'm impactful, you know, on their life. And they don't even know that they're technically part of, of my legacy, you know, and even a simple podcast like, you would be surprised the amount of people that will reach out to you and walk up is like, I heard you say that, like, you know, or, you know, whatever it is.

And like, I have a mission in life. I feel like right now we're really bad about complaining. And I've noticed this is just all the time. But we always bitch about these kids these days. Ten years ago, they were doing the same thing. It's like, okay, what are you doing about, like, are you born into them? Are you coaching them?

Are you volunteering? You know, enemy I know one that used to play with you, Brody trail. Like I poured into that kid for years. and, you know, he's he's went through some stuff in the last year or so, and, like, he reached out to me, like, one night, and I was working on our new house with my electrician, and he goes, he trusts you enough.

He called you Mike? Yeah. 930. Not like he he he did. and I just, you know, but I've also the one that I've, I've, I've set them straight, like, you know, the Dave Ramsey financial stuff. Like he called me, he said, hey, I got somebody that'll cosign for me. Will you sell your old truck? I know you're getting Emily's new truck.

You're gonna be driving her truck. And I said, no, I said, absolutely not. I said, I know you could go borrow money or you go buy another truck and borrow money. But I said, I can't consciously preach legacy and Dave Ramsey and financial peace and sell you a truck that I know you're going to the bank. I said, go, go buy a truck you can pay cash with.

The other day, he pulled up in a truck to help me on a little project. He goes, hey, about that last night. And you know, it's ten years older than the one that I could drive. But I'm like, bro, like, who cares exactly what you dropped? I said, I promise you, I get it. You're 17 years old. He's like, that matters.

And I was like, in ten years you won't, you know, you won't, you won't, you won't care, you know? So, yeah. No, that's what, And it's it's so funny, like, just listen to you talk like, you know, the responsibility. Then people, the coaches, the mentors, like, put on you, like, I seen a quote one time it said, you know, boys will turn into men when you put more responsibility on their shoulders.

And, now I'm seeing it, you know, I'm seeing it with my kids. I mean, I'm sure you see it with. With kids, like, you know, this this may sound bad. When I coached youth football years ago. Like, I can almost point out right then I'm like, yep, that one's going to make it. that one's going to struggle.

Just as a ten, 11, 11 year old. yeah. Of kids out there. Well, and, you know, kind of piggybacking off some of that too, like, you know, obviously, you know, I'm in a situation now where I'm a new dad. but something that, you know, for our staff and I'm extremely appreciative of our staff and their, you know, their spouses and their families, because not a lot of people understand the amount of time that really goes on behind the scenes, let alone in season, but especially once you dive into the off season, too, whether it's going to clinics or whether it's, you know, doing the youth clinics that we have with the coaching

staffs and the kids with the camps. But, you know, one thing that, I've really tried showing our guys, not only kids, but staff members, you know, when we got started with it, we've got a relatively younger staff and, and a staff that has a lot of young families. And I know one in particular came up to me at one point was asked, you know, hey, I've, you know, my daughter's got a game this weekend, whatever.

And I, I cut them off. I said, it's no question like, I'm never going to ask you to miss anything when it comes to your kids. I don't have kids yet at that point. Right, right, I said, but I know there's going to come a day where I do, and I know that's going to be a situation where, number one, I want to be there for them.

Number two, my kid's going to want to make sure that they see me there. And it's the same exact thing, that type of impact that they're able to then see from a support system. and you do see it from a wide variety know of kids that may or may not have that, you know, again, funny, you know, talk about the impact piece.

once you kind of get into the fall every fall, as soon as school starts, there's a kid that lives across from the high school who he plays youth football, and he's always out there in the evenings, or he's out there in the mornings. And as soon as I pull in to work for the morning, or as soon as I'm pulling out, he's out there.

Hey, coach Sliger. Hey, buddy. Right. You know, and that's a kid that's, you know, first and second grade right now. Right? But knows who I am, knows who our kids are. and it's something that may not necessarily come to mind for us at any point in time or any of our coaches or any of our kids. But if they're able to see that and model that, well, anybody is watching you at any point in time.

So how again, is that going to be correlated for you to others and for others then to be able to build off of that for you? Well, and I mean, like that, that kid watch, you know, he watches you pick up a piece of trash that you do out of habit. He do out of respect, like you just never know, like the impact that's going to have.

Because, like, I even think of about it now as being a leader running a company of, like, holy cow. Like I just look back at good and bad bosses. I mean, there really was no bad boss. There's good bosses and bosses that maybe taught you something. Yes, like I had one that he didn't trust anybody. Yeah. and, like, I just couldn't work there.

And when I quit there, like, what? I'm like, he just doesn't trust anybody. Like, literally, like, well, send me a picture that you're on the job site, like, cuz my PS, I've clocked in like, yeah, there's got to be enough trust here. But you know, you going back to being at sporting events and stuff like my dad raised me as a single dad.

he never missed a football game. He never missed a basketball game. When I was coaching youth football, he would show up at every game to support me as a coach. I was I was an adult at that time. And I look over and, you know, there's my dad, you know, and there a close family friend that used to play football and, he told me he's like, you don't know how lucky he is that your dad is that every was at every game.

And I remember one game he missed my brother's. I was an eighth grader. My older brother Kurt was a freshman, and, he had a, they had a way game that my my brother told my dad it was at home because my brother got it mixed up and my dad showed up for it, you know, 630 for the game and realized it was away and he couldn't make it.

And my dad was so upset because that was the one game that he had missed of, you know, so that's that's also important because, like, that's one thing that, is a struggle, for my sales staff, they're all young in their late 20s. They've all got kids are getting ready to have kids. and like, it's a they can they can make good money selling for us.

However, like I, I preach like work life balance guys like and and and and some days there really is no work life balance. There is no work life balance for you. Come, come season like now. I hope you're intentional when it's over to try to make up for some of that, you know? but, you know, and it's why I tell them guys, like, if a storm hits like, well, you gotta go make hay.

When. Yeah. when the Sunshine Boys, you know, in January we go on vacation, you know? but now we're building a big enough sales team. It's not as, as crucial when when a guy takes off for a week, but I'm like, no, guys, like, you know, go to the doctor's appointment. It's like, you've got to. You've got the flexibility in making your schedule.

call me, you know, if you need something, you know, covered up. but yeah. No, I mean, it's it's it's just so ironic. Every time I sit down with a leader, it doesn't matter. you know, I sit down with a principal the other day. That was a blast. his energy, just like it's it's fun for me to to sit down with another leader and just hear, like.

Yep, I had to put in the hard work. Like I had to do the dirty work, the stuff that nobody sees. And and some people look at a successful business owner, a successful coach, and they're like, oh yeah, that was that was easy. Yeah. Freaking right. Like, you know, so yeah, I know that's, Yeah. I guess, kind of let's dive into, you know, some impactful stories or, you know, kids that, you know, that football just just helped out, you know, some special connections that as a coach that that you've had.

Yeah. So one in particular, I mean, obviously throughout the years, you know, you you sit there and you develop different relationships with guys. And for me, I would say one that kind of I would use this last class again as a pretty good example. and I say that because I got to see them in a couple different views.

and then I'll, I'll have a couple others too. But like, one in particular is like a Chase Wolf. you know, he's somebody that when I came back here as an assistant, he was a freshman that year. and I was, you know, one of his receivers coach. So you have that, you know, individual bond, per se.

And, you know, he's somebody that I've, I feel like over the last few years in particular that, you know, I would say from like a, from a coaching standpoint, in addition to a father figure like you feel that way with a lot of your kids because, again, like for the amount of time that you spend with them, whether it's in school or in practice or in the off season, you're around them more than they're at home a lot of times.

And but he's one in particular that really comes to mind in regards to being able to have tough conversations with being able to show right from wrong and being able to, you know, for him have a very successful career here, both academically and athletically. you know, he's somebody that is third all time in receiving yards here now.

he's somebody that tied the single game receptions record this year with ten. over at Shelbyville in week two. and he's somebody that works his tail off nonstop. you know, he's a kid that as a freshman was probably five, six, 110 pounds. started for us as a sophomore. Why showed up? He was a three year iron man for us, which, basically, for those that may not know that we do an Iron Man award for kind of like the Brett Father Award.

You know, you never miss a practice in season. you're there at everything on time. He was that way for three years since we had started it. but he showed up to everything and outworked everybody and epitomized what we were trying to build in this thing. And, you know, when we had talk about the tough conversations, you know, whether it is, you know, expecting more from a leadership standpoint.

And again, when you're talking to a 17, 18 year old kid of, yeah, you've got to be more vocal with this, you know, you've got to go show and lead by example. Not a lot of them. No one understand that or can necessarily do that in the right way. And or I shouldn't say right way, but the way that it feels right to them.

And, you know, he's one that may not he wasn't always necessarily the most vocal guy, but he's going to show you how to he's going to lead by example. And that was one thing that I felt like for him, he really molded into this year a lot more of, you know, he had a young receiver room outside of him.

as far as being able to mentor guys, and, and somebody that ultimately just, I felt like, compared to me a lot of ways is in regards to, you know, how he looked at the game, how he acted off of the field, how he kind of led by example and was just always willing to do the dirty work that not a lot of people, again, understand and not a lot of people see.

But he's going to outwork. Yeah. That's why he got in the position that he was. Right. somebody else that, you know, obviously from a quarterback's point, you always have a unique relationship with those guys. you know, we've we've had to, you know, my first year, obviously Harper Miller kind of fell into a different role. And you know, Harper and I have a great relationship as well.

But Austin Vance is one that, you know, very different relationship than obviously the one that I have with Nick Jarman right now. and again, that's just from a personality standpoint. Austin, though, was somebody that, you know, when we kind of went into all of this, our first year got hurt year one. was out for the year, had go through a very, very tasking offseason where we really just needed to get healthy again, build confidence back in himself and get acclimated to a game that he had been away from for a while.

we were at a point, program wise where, you know, we it was almost three years. it had been 25 games since we had won, a football game here. And being able to see and have the relationship of building something, that not a lot of people necessarily, again, understood or not, a lot of people may not have necessarily had confidence in.

But not a lot of people know this either. He was the only kid in our program at that point that had ever had a varsity win, one out of 52 kids. And the task that gets put on you to show guys, hey, we've got to kind of do this when nobody really knows how to. and just the again, the behind the scenes work and the toughness that it really inquired him to have to have to come back from that.

there's again, another relationship that I think stands and there's a picture that, you know, Mark Mendoza, who used to be the dean of students here, he sent it to me afterwards. And after that meal in game two years ago when we'd won and, you know, kind of broke that unfortunate streak. There is a point where, you know, he drops his helmet and it's a video recording actually drops and just runs over and, you know, there's a hug between the two of us that kind of gets snapped.

And it's like that kind of epitomized, you know, in that moment, a lot of emotions that had kind of been built up in that relationship over the last couple of years. And now we're able to kind of get something going with this program. and then Nick, obviously, you know, Nick's entering his second full year as a starter now for us, somebody that had a lot of success last year in the program, ultimately broke a couple school records from passing standpoint.

ended up being named All-Conference. and is somebody that, again, from a couple of years ago when he entered, you know, as a starter late in the year when Austin got hurt, completely transformed himself, going from late sophomore into junior year, to the point where physically was unrecognizable by a lot of coaches when they came over to us.

And, you know, again, somebody that from, from personality standpoint, very different from Austin, you know, Nick is somebody that's relatively quiet. Austin is a lot more talkative, but Nick is very short and direct and is going to tell you, hey, like, here's what we got to do. And when he messes up, he knows. And you know, it's it's something that's very quick to diagnose.

But he's somebody that ultimately is one of the most competitive kids that I've probably coached. and as somebody that is able to help diagnose and communicate with me, to kind of get this thing again going where it needs to, so those are a few different examples. I know. but I think the blend of the three, over the last few years really kind of helped show like the progress from a culture piece that we've really been able to build.

and I think you're able to kind of pull and see different moments that while are similar. the reactions and the, I guess, the, the specific specialness behind each of those, or kind of what's unique. Yeah. And I mean, and, and that just goes back to, you know, I think about in our business, my wife's a big part of it.

And like, I am the I am the. Hey, guys, we got gotta we gotta go freaking kill this, kill this monster or what? Like, we got to go get it. Yeah. Where she's is, she's more of a quiet leader, but, I mean, she's there putting in the dirty work, you know, putting in the work behind the scenes. and I and I am to not to pat myself on the back.

I mean, you know, and I look at a look as our team grows, we just, I keep saying this just hard, but it's, been six, seven, eight months now. Jonathan holds back like, he comes in and he just get stuff done, like, about a month ago, there was three jobs that we all ended up at the same job site.

Me, Emily and Jonathan. And it was 1030 that night, and we were just trying to get jobs wrapped up because rain was coming in, you know, and it's just it's just get it done, you know? But, same thing, like, you know, you've got to learn how to read and get this guy to role no different than me.

Like, you know, one thing that, you know, so again, we do things a little bit differently, like with our off season stuff and, so we do the normal X meeting. But one thing that's always driven me nuts about it, meetings are there's so many times where you'll have an exit meeting with a kid and you'll set all these goals and like, you'll talk about what their expectations are and what we need you to get better at through the off season.

But when do you ever meet with those guys again? Probably that next, the next exit meeting. And then a lot of times you're still harping on the same stuff, and that's always driving me nuts. And so like, we'll sit there and we'll meet 2 or 3 times a year and you know, we'll set, hey, here's what we need from you.

And, you know, for all of our guys, I, I kind of sit there and freeze as like, we don't want to put leadership, like, in a box. you know, you've got a lot of different personalities, you've got a lot of different guys with different experiences. You know, again, kind of going back to I've got guys that I can yell at, I can scream at, and that's going to light a switch form.

They're going to be good at that point. I've got guys that I can sit there and if I yell at him or scream at him or react a certain way to them, fold. Because again, there's so many layers that kind of go behind each kid of, well, if that's a kid that goes home every day and gets yelled at 24 seven and goes to school and gets yelled at 24 seven, they don't want to listen to that.

You've got to be able to actually have a hard conversation. You've got to be able to sit down with them and be able to get through to them what we need. And it may not be the same way. And, you know, kind of again, going back to like, you got to where a lot of hats, like when you're in the offensive line room or when you're in a DB room or receiver room, you may have a guy right next to you that you can sit there and cut up and the message you going to get across, and you may have a guy that you just have to lead and show the right way.

And being able to balance that as a leader is again, at that age in particular is extremely difficult. but it's something that as they go through what we do and they're able to move on into the real world world and do whatever they choose to, that's going to be something they're able to take and get them, hopefully in a situation where they can get promoted and go advance themselves.

Well. And I mean, and, you know, you have a unique challenge there, but you have such an awesome responsibility, just because, you know, they're going to as a teacher, as a coach, like, I mean, Mr. Warm was such a huge part of my life. my personal development, my whatever, like, you know, and I remember that one really hard conversation that we had.

And I probably hated his freaking guts after we had it. Now come back like, holy cow. You know, and I mean, and like you said, with with teenage boys, like, you know, they've got one thing on their mind. It's not football. Yeah. Unfortunately. Yeah. So, you know, I just want to ask you, I'm just fan funny.

so, you know, you say that about how people respond, and, you know, like, my dad was a yeller growing up. So, like, I catch myself yelling at my kids, trying to get a response. you know, I came from a totally different family from my wife. Like, I had to communicate everything with my dad. She communicated nothing.

What's her parents and, you know, and then it's like, then it collides. It's like, you know, I need to have a more gentle approach when I'm talking, and she needs to have an approach to it, or I need to have a gentle approach when I'm communicating. She needs to have an approach, you know, to, to communicate. And that's for me.

Sometimes I laugh because I feel like I do a halfway decent job with the guys, and then I go home and I'm like, all right. I just failed frickin miserably with my wife. The most important relationship that we have here, you know, it's, it's. Yep. I know I was saying, and that's welcome to marriage and starting a family and no, I everything you're saying, I completely understand.

glad, glad, glad your wife can't say the phone in right now so she'll hear about it later. I'll get a call whenever she sees it, so. No. But, Yeah. You know, and that's just that's so important, though, you know, as leaders, you and me like how we lead our family. that is way more important because the kids are watching that they are paying attention to that, you know, because unfortunately, I don't even know what the statistic is.

But I wonder what the statistic is of the boys that you're coaching, the young men that you're coaching, like, how many of them come from a family where their mom and dad are still together? I, I don't know that, but I, I would be interested to know that too. and again, I think even picking off of that, like the ones that, you know, obviously have a support system in place versus, you know, from a coach.

And again, even talking about that coaching piece, like there's obviously a relationship, you know, from the head coach standpoint, but it's even such a different relationship from an assistant coach standpoint or a position coach. Like there's so many added layers with that from a structure piece. That and not just a football thing. There's other sports that obviously provide that too.

But I do think football gives a few other things that, others don't necessarily. But that is a stat I would be interested to know though. Well, and I mean, you know, one thing that I've learned, as a business owner is like, I'm almost to the point where I want to hire somebody that's had some problems, that's had some diversity.

I was just on a call. Me and Emily, meet with a mentor once a week, and we just had to call, this earlier, and you know, it just it talks about overcoming the challenges, putting in the dirty work, like, you know, I mean, this may sound dumb, but, back in the day, when I was a kid, you know, my dad would try to buy crap out of the farm world all the time.

You know, that was before Craigslist and before Facebook. And he would always make me and my brother call and ask, like, 20 questions about the cattle that we were trying to buy or the tractor or the truck, and, like, then if we forgot, like, he's like, so how good were the tires on the truck? So we'd had to call back.

But looking back now, I'm like, Holy cow. Like and I mean, you're probably seeing it, but like, whenever me and Emily go in to speak to the financial, literacy classes, find that foundations of, personal finance, I always kind of give a pep talk to these kids. I'm like, hey, if when you go get a job, like, show up early, actually work, put your phone down.

And I'm like, if you guys would put your phone down and quit looking down and look people in the eyes like, you know, these phones are. It's a beautiful piece of technology, but it's ruining it. Change things too. It changes everything from a relationship standpoint to, again, just what you do in your spare time. Everybody's glued to them.

and it's it's unfortunate. And it's like from our standpoint, what we've kind of, you know, noticed the amount of kids in today's age that don't watch sports, like growing up. That's all I watched. again, my mom would kick me off and say, you know, hey, go outside. And what would we do? We'd go outside and play.

And again, I feel old saying that, but, but but it's true. And, you know, early on, especially one of our bigger things that we kind of felt like we had to overcome was just a football IQ standpoint of knowing situational awareness, knowing situational football. And, we finally got to a point where we asked our guys, you know, hey, how many of you guys actually sit down and watch football?

You have a couple guys raise their hand, but the majority in the room didn't. And that, again, wasn't just a football thing. A lot of them don't watch sports in general. so we actually put it on our kids started. Hey, you guys have to go watch a football. I don't care what it is. If you want to go watch the Colts, go watch the Colts.

If you want to go watch, college game this weekend, to watch college game this weekend, but you're going to come in Monday. You're going to tell me what that game is. And one thing about it that stood out more for us at the time especially, we were kind of more on the run and gone up tempo and, you know, you could go watch Tennessee and see.

Exactly. Because, you know, we took our coaching staff down there. you know, you could go on and put on Auburn or, you know, Ohio State or Notre Dame, and you could see glimpses of what we do in today's age and even seeing that the amount of kids would come in. Oh, yeah, I watched the Tennessee Bowl State game.

You know, the other night after we left the volleyball game and, you know, they ran Cincinnati. Which ones are passing concepts or they ran New York or they ran this like, yes, they did. And just being able to see that start to click. and then it kind of turned into a like everybody would sit there and talk about it and they'd start to actually go watch games together.

And that was from our standpoint. Number one got them kind of away from the phone a little bit more. And then two, it helped us in turn. And you know something that really doesn't happen anymore unfortunately. Right. Yeah. And I mean, you know, it's it's funny that I think we were talking about this, off air, but my son played flag football for two years, and then he played he didn't play for two years.

And he's back playing this year. And it's funny because that kid watches sports left and right. he, he was among Ohio State fan, and he watched Alabama beat up on Ohio State a couple of years ago in the Nati. And I was pissed. So a little click went off on his head like, I'm going to be a Bama fan.

I think just aggravate my dad. Yeah. so like, he's a Bama fan, actually took him to the UT Bama game. Okay. and I was like. And he was heartbroken that Bama got beat, but I'm like, bro. And and the Tennessee Tennessee fans were phenomenal. Yeah. And the guys that were behind us were like, hey buddy, you don't realize this now, but your dad's pretty bad ass for bringing you to this game.

And I had bought the tickets like two months before. Really. So before that, they really knew it was going to be the game that it was. Oh, I just hope one day he watches that game like, oh, isn't that Holy cow. Like I was there like, you know man, a good friend of mine Dale. And we took him and like, that's a memory that we'll always have, you know.

And then, you know, I mean, he just he's, he just he's he's so in the sports, like, he's all boy, like he's either outside fighting his sisters, throwing mud, shooting the gun, or playing sports like throwing a football in the house and throwing a ball. And my wife just, like, almost like, just just let it be a boyfriend.

But, you know, Yeah, it's it's it's so fun to watch him, though. and, just, you know, as a dad and, like, that's one thing we say a lot, like, get out, like, we've been in our house two and a half know, three months now, and, there's a TV on the floor in our bedroom. but I think I've seen it on once, like, I'm just like.

And I get it. It's nice out now. I'm like, get outside. Like, just go outside. And he goes to football practice. And you think that where is little, you know, what out. He comes home and he's runs laps around the house. Oh my gosh kid. So but yeah. No I mean it's just it's so important for the kids.

and you know, I'm hoping that we start to see the pendulum swing the other way. Yeah. And less technology and more like making sure the kids are getting out there. and, you know, and, like you said, like, at least if they're watching football or something like that, that's educational, you know, and I mean, that's, that's crazy to hear because, like, I remember watching I mean, my dad was like my dad got hurt in high school, so he helped coach.

So like, my dad was just like a he was a dad always wanted to coach anyways. Or, you know, he was always coaching just in life. Not like on the football field, but like we would he would make us watch NFL games and be like, okay, do you do you see why. You know, the busses you know, rolling over people.

Yeah he's 400 pound dad. But you know like right. But like he literally would, you know would point out like solid NFL quarterbacks. Like look how that guys act. And look how that defensive guys you know hitting me and my brother always played defensive end like you know. So you gotta have a lot of self-discipline you know don't shoot that gap unless that's really the key play.

Yeah. And you know contain that outside or you know contain the outside. You know whatever whatever that looks like. So yeah, for me, like I said, you know, I just like football. Like I love football. Like I was heart broke the two years he didn't play. Yeah, the first year. I will admit, I try to guilt him into playing.

And I was like, all right, I promised myself I wasn't going to be that dad. Yeah. and then this year, he picked out my number, my third grade number. So that was that was kind of cool. And then when he got that number, just, you know, just as a dad, because as a parent, like, you just want the best for your kids, you know, and you just want to love them and give them the opportunity, you know?

And for me, like, I don't want to I want to set them up for success. Yeah. And they make them do the dirty work, make them put in the hard work just because I know, like that's that's what made that's what made me, you know. You know who I was. So what position did you play? so I hear I played tight end receiver and then defensively I was an inside linebacker.

And then up at Andersen, when I was up there for, what, two years? I was a slot receiver up there. Okay. What? so what is, So as head coach, are you just head coach or do you do any of the coordinating? So I, I do coordinating, offensively, I call the offense. So, and then I split a few roles up with everything.

you know, Brady Cavani's our quarterbacks coach. he played with me when we were up at Anderson, together. Went to Batesville High School, had most of the Batesville passing records, up until I think here recently. he's our quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator. actually, another Ohio State guy. So, and then Matt Colvin's back on staff with us.

He's our run game coordinator and offensive line coach. and then Drew Metzger, is our running back, running backs coach. And then he also does all the JV for us. And then, this year, Doug Thompkins is going to take over the defensive coordinator position, and then I'm going to help him, kind of navigate with that.

and then he's also doing, safeties. Forest. Jake Neal's doing corners. and then Preston Bowling is doing defensive line. So I still have position groups that I still, go through. so I coach our inside linebacker group, and then I also coach are running back tight end group as well with what we're doing. years past I did receivers just because again, with what we were doing, felt like that was one of our, most intentional groups that we needed, focus with.

And just, with what we were doing at the time. and now with that kind of changing a little bit moving forward, that's why we've kind of made those changes. But, no, it's it's something for me that, you know, with what we've been able to do, I try to do what I can to put guys in positions to not only be successful on their end, but, I know that there's guys that may or may not have aspirations of someday being a head coach.

some may want to go on and try to be a coordinator somewhere. And I've had some assistants that have had that opportunity to go advance themselves. my I guess my philosophy behind it is trying to do what I can to put them in a position where they can take on the hard work and they can advance themselves how they so choose, because at the end of the day, I want them to have those same opportunities that I was given.

You know, I, I again, was given a lot like what I said, an early age, and I worked for it and I did what I could put myself in that position. And, you know, there were sacrifices made for that. And, you know, again, not a lot of people understand that. Like, one of my biggest goals was making sure that I became a head coach by the time I was 30.

I knew that in order to do that, number one, I had to have a supportive family structure in place. and that meant kind of putting that on the backburner for a period of time until thankfully, I was able to find my wife, you know, and I was fortunate to be able to kind of accelerate that goal, and getting it by the time I was 25 years old.

but being able to provide that for our staff, I think, again, is something that I, I've always philosophically been appreciative of because that's what the guys that I was around that afforded me that opportunity. I just want to be able to give that back to them. And, and again, everybody has different goals with that.

Some people do it because they enjoy being around the game and they want to be here. and, you know, they've been a part of the program before. Others, you know, may choose to advance themselves with that. So any of the other coaches, do they, any of them teach at the high school? Matt Colvin's a teacher. He was over here at our.

Yes, he's actually over at Connersville now. I can't remember what the elementary is. Drew Metzger's won over at Shelbyville. Doug Armstrong was in the building with us. and Jacob Bentley was, but they ended up taking different jobs as well. So right now at the high school, it's just myself. and then we've got a lot of late coaches.

you know, Doug Tompkins, I know works up here. The old, or old soldiers and sailors. now it's a Hoosier Challenge Academy. And, you know, Brady works over, in Shelbyville as well, so. And then Preston, obviously up here at the meat shop and, so we've got a, again, a different group of guys. But again, for me, I've been a lot of around a lot of different staffs.

And I think one thing too, for us that really has, I think, been a key component for the success we've had advancing this program and building this, is the camaraderie. you know, I've been around staffs that don't get along and it's it sucks. it's for a variety of reasons, like, you know, you're trying to get things going in the right direction.

And it, you know, it feels like there's always pulling and, you know, people are going different directions and, you know, that's that's one thing that, you know, I feel like we've done a really good job of is getting guys in place. That number one, want to be here. Number two, want to do what's best for the kids, and ultimately want to, you know, put themselves in a position where other people see them.

And when I say that, you know, again, some people may or may not understand this and I'll kind of I'll probably go on a spiel here with it because it does kind of get me excited. but we when we took over, our, our school was kind of in a situation where kids really didn't support each other.

and when I say that from an athletic standpoint, like, you know, you would go out to a game whether it was, you know, baseball or football or basketball or anything, and you'd see some kids up in that section, but it really wasn't what it was at one point in time. And, you know, again, part of that whole legacy piece that we had talked about to the guys is, you know, our culture is going to be, you know, we're the flagship of this place.

and when I talk about that is however football goes and however football acts, that's generally how other people are going to lead and follow behind us. You know, if we're going to set an importance and measure ourselves with being the best that we can in the classroom and getting as many kids on on a roll that we can, you know, other people are going to probably follow that as well.

If we go lead by example and show up at other people's stuff, they're probably going to show up for you in the fall as well on Friday nights. And it wasn't just a kid thing. our staff as well, you know, we went to a lot of volleyball games. We'd go over to soccer games after we got done with practice.

we went to the we always go to the cross country classic meet that we host. The big one. and same thing in the basketball. You know, our, our staff tries to do a really good job. And and again, being in a situation where I'm not going to ask our kids to do something and I'm not going to ask our staff to do something if I'm not willing to do the same thing.

and as they saw us do it, flocked to it, and then all of a sudden you kind of get to a point where Friday nights, you know, heading into year two and that place is packed and the kids finally start to see it. And, you know, just, again, that's a kudos to our guys. That's a kudos to our coaching staff and just the camaraderie that we've been able to build and the the family atmosphere amongst all of it.

it's just crucial in today's society. Well, and I mean, one thing that you said that that popped out at there, at me was like, nobody supports anybody. And I mean, I won't say nobody, but it's almost a trend nowadays is it's you have a lot of fake friends on Facebook. but like, do we really have that many people that we can call in the middle of night, like, as men?

Yeah. and I've, I've worked on this for myself, but do do we have a mentor that when I am struggling with my wife because we're polar opposites and we just had a kid just say, man, I feel like a piece of crap right now. And like, somebody that's not going to judge you and that's genuinely going to love you and or be able to be like, hey, you're being an idiot right now.

You've got a seven month old or you got a five month old and like, you know, that woman just went through hell to birth that kid. You know, you know, and that's, that's one thing that, you know, I've worked for big roofing companies and, you know, and a roofing company, you've got, you got more in two big pieces, but you got the sales team and the production team, and I've literally worked at places where they've hated each other.

Yeah. And like I've said this, like, guys, I'm that is not going to fly around here. Like I tell sales, I was like, I want you to set production up for success. Production. I want to make sure you're setting sales up for success, because if I sell you the proper expectations, I communicate that properly with production. And then we come in there and we orchestrate it.

Holy cow. It's a construction company. It actually does. What the hell they said they're going to do. Everybody's happy. And then you're like, oh my gosh, you know what? I had this seamless process when they did this for me. You need to call them. Yeah. And then and that's what and I and the team is probably tired of me hearing me say it.

It's just a circle here, guys. Marketing, sales, production. Like, yeah, if we help each other out, do our job right, you know, but I mean, like, what you said is. And I just love these frickin conversations because you're right. Like, go out and do it. You got to go to that volleyball game. You got to go to that soccer game.

And then, you know, and I never even thought like, yeah, you're trying to get the kids, but, you know, have your coaching staff follow suit and then, you know, then the kids do. And I get it. It's football. It's there's more people are going to naturally come out the Friday Night Football than a Tuesday afternoon baseball game. Like, you know, I get that, football is a more popular sport in my opinion, you know?

Yes. Basketball's pretty crazy here in Indiana sometimes too, you know, and that kind of stuff. But I mean, that is, I mean, that's a kudos to your leadership, that, you know, you you even say that because, like, one thing that, that I love about our current sales team is like, they are so supportive of each other now.

They're complete trash talkers and just one of the other ones, bad. Which that's what I need, is a business owner. But like, genuinely like they are, you know, they're they're at the diaper party for the team or for whoever, you know. And I mean, it it really shows. it shows in our company, like there's the amount of volume that we do for being a Rushville contractor is I've heard people say your line to me, your numbers, like, you can come and look if you want, none of your business, but, you know, so no, I mean, that is, like I said, that's kudos to you and your leadership and your staff.

because, you know, most of your staff that I hear is, Preston. How old? Preston. Preston. What? I'm 29 now, so he's probably around 25. Okay, I coached him. Yeah. That's funny. Like when you said that, I was like, And I feel Paul is his dad, right? Yep. Yep. And he helped, he helped us at the middle school there for a few years when I first came back to.

Because, one thing, kudos to Paul. And I mean, this right here is legacy. Like, I remember when I coached, Preston, we dropped an award off or something at his house, and his dad made a point to set us down, and it was like he told us he shared a story about, I believe, about being sober and how many years he had been sober, like, and I've never struggled with that, but still, like, for him to have that, the boldness to build a to set the young man down that was coaching his son, you know, and that's, that's what I always say.

Like, I love to hear when there's a 25 year old pouring back into 15, 16, 17 year olds because, like, you know, the whole like the mentor, like what kind of people we have, like, you know, I'm a firm believer we need a mentor. But I also you got to be doing what you expect somebody else to do.

So like, we've got to be mentoring, you know who however that looks, you know, for you, it's obvious it's young man that's, you know, in high school, you know, for me right now, it's young men that work for me. But I even I mean, I'm in toward the hell out of Brody, and he helps me some, but he's not like, a, every day team member, you know, and, just, you know, to to give that opportunity to, is there any books that you read that, like, you just really like, or any podcasts you listen to or like, you know, who are some of your mentors from afar?

I guess so, one in particular, John Gordon, I read a lot of his books. Yeah. and I guess I'll, I'll again kind of talk a little bit about what we do off season wise. so I started this, what, three years ago as we were going into year two. so that that senior class would have been, there were six of them.

It was Austin Vance, it was Dylan Thompson. it was Jaden Russo, Brian Zimmerman, Sam Barrett, and then Austin Kennedy, and Austin's actually already been back in the program helping in the Youth League, too, even after graduating a few years ago. but again, talking about a point for our program and what we were trying to do.

you know, I, I sat down with the guys and we met. It ended up being about twice a month. and we do it normally before school. I'd bring in breakfast for them, and, you know, we'd sit there and we did a book study and it was, you went in the locker room first, by John Gordon.

And, they're basically seven keys behind that. And to me, we were at a point, program wise, where again, when we took over, we we basically blew everything up. you know, it was an entire new staff at that point in time. we were changing philosophies at that point in time as far as how we were going to operate on and off the field.

you know, obviously from a schematic standpoint, all of that. But it was a culture overhaul. and we wanted to make sure that that was known and understood. And we went through a lot of struggles as a result of it. Year one, at a lot of times that does happen whenever you do have a culture overhaul.

but with that group, as we went into year two, I felt like that book in particular had a lot of similarities to what our guys had endured. and again, talking about from a leadership standpoint, like, it's one thing to hear me say the same thing over and over again, you know, whether it's again, how we're going to conduct ourselves, whether it's, you know, making sure that we're showing up on time where the first guys, you know, not only in the classroom, but we're trying to sit in the front of the room and all of that.

And I will never forget this impact off of it. Jaden Russo. So Jaden, again, as a kid that, had a lot of success here for us on both sides of the ball. ended up going up to play at Anderson their last year. and was a kid that as a freshman or really didn't show up to stuff.

If he did, he didn't show up on time, missed a lot of Saturday mornings. and really just was not in a position where he was necessarily held accountable. And so going into your time with us at that point, at that point, going through everything that he had was always at school by 730 in the morning, was always the first car that I saw in the parking lot there from a kid.

Never missed any practice at that point in time. The rest of the year, if there was ever a situation that arose where he would potentially even be late by a couple minutes, where there was like, hey, I got to go to the training room and get this taken care of, or I'm going to, Math League on Tuesdays because I got to get my grade up.

you know, whatever always communicated everything. And and that to me was number one. He was able to when we talked about a lot of that stuff in the book study, it clicked with him, and then ultimately able to, you know, lead by example to other guys and everything else. But with that group being able to do that study together, you really saw, like the light bulb click.

And we'd sit there and as they read it, you know, I'd always kind of try and back with, okay, you know, after this last week or two that you had to read these couple chapters, you know, what stood out to you and the amount of guys that would sit there and be able to pinpoint something or have something highlighted in the book and say, I remember when you said this last year when we first got started, and how difficult it was going to be and what we were going to have to do, and I kind of brushed it off.

But then when I read that they're talking about the same exact thing, and I understand now what we're doing. And again, that was before, you know, we still hadn't won a game yet. it's been again, almost three years. But for a kid to be able to sit there and recognize that in front of me, you know, and not just me, but obviously that whole group like that to me is such a special moment.

that again, the light bulb clicks. Now, I've got to go do this for other guys. And again, when you're sitting in a situation where they like, we, we didn't know how to win as a, as a program, we we had one kid that knew any bit of how to win a varsity football game, and it was only one.

so getting those guys to be able to understand how to apply this information, I just I'm a huge John Gordon fan, you know, the energy boss. Again, really good one. And having, infectious energy and, just there's a lot of similarities with what we've gone through. And, he would probably be the biggest one book wise that I've read.

Row the boat obviously is a big one. And PJ Fleck kind of made that one famous. I really don't listen to a lot of podcasts, truthfully. my wife thinks I'm kind of crazy. I really don't listen to a ton of anything when I'm in the car just because all day I'm either listening to music when I'm at work or like, that's kind of my moment where there's peace and quiet for a little bit of time.

she's the complete polar opposite. She's jam and country music and everything else. Any chance she gets. But, but, I don't listen to a ton of podcasts, but I'll see, like, kind of as I wind down through the night. you know, I'll get on Twitter for probably ten, 15 minutes, just, kind of go through and see, you know, anything in the football world or anything crazy.

That's kind of my news outlet, I guess, and all occasionally see some, little tidbits that are talked about. But, but I, I'd say John Gordon, Urban Meyer, not necessarily after that whole fiasco that, I was I did have an opportunity to go listen. And I bring up his name because of Brian Kite, who, when he was at Ohio State, was kind of their culture guy, brought him in, and I actually had a chance to listen to him probably three years ago, over at Cincinnati, at the Glazer clinic.

And again, the process just behind everything. And, you know, when, when people sit there and, you know, hear like, oh, culture this and culture that like, I again, it's something that I feel like has always been kind of a loose term. And and again, I'm, I'm a major advocate when it comes to that. But when I say that, I feel like it gets thrown around and people don't fully understand the process that actually has to unfold for all of this.

Like it's a day by day, minute by minute action. And like, if you're not willing to buy in and accept that wholeheartedly, you're not going to get it in the right direction. And just being able to listen to him kind of unfold everything, I thought was, again, very unique. It was around the time when Ohio State kind of had their big run and kind of got them over the hump, once urban and kind of came back with that.

And, I would say those two, though, are major components that we've used with our guys. So, I heard Nick Saban, at, Andre Leadership and Dave Ramsey event and like, he goes back, the respect that he has for his wife. Yeah. and, you know, that's something else that I don't feel like we talk enough about or push enough, but like, these highly successful people, they've been married once.

They've been married 40, 50, 60 years. Like, we want overnight success at our age, like. Yeah. No, and, you know, everybody wants to be rich by 25. Yeah. Like, you know, you want to be a football, you want to be a head coach by 30. Like, you know, I had a goal to be a millionaire by the time I was 40.

Yeah, like. And, you know, as soon as a we got to be willing to put in the work whatever that is, financially coaching profession, whatever, but be like, we really gotta be willing to do the dirty work and to do it right. And like the what the two things that I see that stick out from the Nick Saban talk, because that was at least a year and a half ago, if not two and a half years ago, when I heard him talk, was just a respect.

Yeah. It just when he talked of his wife, and, also, Man, what a man. I just so loved it. I think kind of picking off of that, though, like, you talk about those guys and it's the support system. Yeah. Oh, and you know, there's there's so many people that, you know that I've been around just whether they're assistants or whether they're head coaches.

Like, you hear horror stories just and not from a necessarily like family structure, just a support structure itself. A support structure can be, you know, mom and dad like you were talking about, you know, if you're not married or it can be a spouse figure or a family figure and, it's it just it goes back to anyone that is a leadership position, like the amount of work that goes in behind the scenes.

Not everyone understands. Right. And they're never going to understand unless they actually sit there and go through, because it can be a very, very lonely world. Yes. When you're at that, because again, like there's so many different unique relationships, the higher that you end up on this and it goes back to again, like the relationships that I had with players as an assistant coach are so different from as a head coach.

Some of that overlaps, but the closeness, the closeness and the uniqueness behind that are it varies so much because you're in more of a CEO type of role more often then into the nitty gritty part. But no one understands that part. But the person that you bring home to the team or the kids that you know, you go home to at the end of the day and at the end of the day, the part that again, being able to separate the two and this again, I think is a crucial piece.

I think the ones that are most successful understand when to put the boundary up and say, hey, I'm home now, I'm going to spend time with this. I'm not going to be on my phone with that. I want to spend time with my kids for this, you know, even if it's only 30 minutes. Right. and some nights it may be less than that, like what you were saying.

but I think that part in particular, is it's so critical and people don't understand. Well, it finally came back to me. he Nick Saban talked a lot about working at the service station, for his dad when he was a kid. And, like, when he didn't do something right, his dad made him do it again, and like, you know, Holy cow.

That's so anti culture right now. You know, and another thing that, you know you talk about your sports system your spouse or whatever, is higher. Nick Saban tells a story that he, several years back, five, ten years ago, he pulled up to a service station. And his mistress, his wife, her boyfriend, before she started dating Nick, was, like, run in the service station.

He goes, well, looky there, honey. You know, if you had a married him, you're to own a service station. And she goes, no, if I had a married him, he'd be the head head football coach in Alabama. And there's there's so there truly is so much true to to that support system, you know, and, you know, to be an encouragement to loving that person like, you know, you guys are in a crazy season right now with, her becoming a stay at home mom.

I'm so happy for her. I'm so happy for you guys. But I'm so sad for the school system. And I've told her that in a text message, you know, because, like, she is one of them teachers, and you are two from just talking to you hear this little bit there, like you're not mailing it in like you're there for the right reason.

You're there to pour in the name kids and love them kids. Even if you say the same thing over 100 times every week. you know, it's it's so funny because I feel like I have to do that too sometimes myself for the team, you know? but, like, it's just it's a season that you're in, and, you know, one thing I want to encourage is like, enjoy it.

Like, it's, I look now after five, seven and nine, and it's so nice because they're old enough to go to grandma's for like, three or 4 or 5 days. Yeah. And like, they're excited to go to grandma's, like my mother in law stopped by the other day at the house just because she was driving by. And I was like, grandma, are you taking the kids home?

She's like, sure. And I ran in the house and grabbed her stuff. We worked on the freaking house, working on finishing this house. We're trying to get done, and, you know, that kind of stuff. But still, it's it's it's that season that that we're in and we're the type of people that we're always busy. There's always something going on.

So, you know, one thing I can encourage you, is like, enjoy. be intentional with the family. Like, when I worked for Dave Ramsey, he said, when you're at work, be at work. When you're at home, be at home. And like, sometimes it is only 30 minutes. But if it's a true 30 minutes, I just I seen a video or a reel or something, on Facebook.

And I just said, there's too many dads out there. and it's kind of hit me right between the eyes. Like, you got to be present. You just can't provide. You just can't go do your hobby like you love football. Yeah, like that's awesome. But, like, you got to make sure that you're just not checked out when you're around your spouse or when you're around, the kids.

Just because, like, they deserve a dad that is, is physically and mentally there. And you know, that's good that you just you drive in silence. That's it. That's how you're, you know, that's that's how you decompress. you know, I'm I'm listening to podcasts, I listen to books, I'm listening to radio. My wife's my wife's more like you where she's is like, she doesn't listen to anything.

And I'm like, why don't you listen this podcast? She's like, And I'm like, no, you really need to listen this podcast. And she's gotten better at like, kind of when being intentional about listening to some of that stuff, you know. But no, I mean, I, I was just curious on, you know, because, John Jordan Gordon.

Right. Yeah. I've, I've listened to more of his stuff and I've read or listen to a couple of his books here more recently. I must be following them on Facebook now, or they're sending me more of his crap to be in my face. I was going say, I'm on the email thread. There's there's about 1 or 2 every day.

Yeah. So I mean, that's, you know, that's that's so important and so awesome that you're investing in the guys, you know, like that because, that is, that is something that they can take with. I'm like this warm back to Mr. Warm, and he's retired, and the little son of a gun is going to be in this chair sooner than later.

I text him the other day and he goes, yeah, how about January? And I was like, all right, January and I made a date up. I look at the time and he's like, oh, I think I'm busy that day. He turned, but he gave these, when we graduated, and I get it, like, I would not want to be a coach or a teacher because you'd get a million graduation invites.

and he gave this Zig Ziglar quote book away, and, man, it was like. And it's just a quick read. Yeah. And like, I was pretty confident to say it's sitting, on my desk or on my bookshelf in my office right now, like from Holy cow, 19 years ago, I was going to say, somebody said something to me the other day about it, and I'm like, yeah, it's been like 11 years for us.

It's wild. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I think, 20 years. yeah. They say that it just. Yep. It flies by and and it does. Yeah. Whatever it is, being in high school is taken forever, you know. So but, you know, as we wrap up here, any, I mean, thank you for your time. thank you.

You know, thank you for what you do for our youth and our community. because there's part of that legacy that you'll never see, this side of heaven. and that's the fun part for me. but any any closing words of advice or, you know, thoughts? I mean, you've you spewed out some really good stuff. So, yeah, I, I think more than anything.

first off, again, I appreciate you having me on, I think more than anything, what, when it comes to this and, you know, when it comes to the impact part, I think that the community itself is something that I've really tried to make sure our guys understand. And, are appreciative about because, you know, I've, I've been at places where it's not the same, you know, on homecoming week, they're down there at the courthouse when people are lined up at the masses for that parade.

Like, that's not something that happens everywhere. You know, when you look up, at homecoming this year, against Connersville and, you know, everybody's in pink shirts for the breast cancer awareness event that we had. And, you know, we were able to raise money for, that doesn't happen everywhere else. so just the, the appreciative ness and, behind number one from my, myself and my family towards that.

you know, it's it's a great community. obviously being from here and being in a situation where, I've been able to see it in multiple lenses, it's been very unique. And being able to have our guys understand the uniqueness behind that and be appreciative towards that, because, again, early on, when there weren't a lot of people showing up to things, you know, we told our guys there when we will get this thing to the point where this is such a this community is extremely supportive.

And if you go watch a girls basketball game on a Friday night, they travel in droves and it's filled to the masses. And you know, it happened, you know, and that goes back to, again, not only the work that our guys have done, not only the work that, you know, our staff and everyone else, but it goes back to the uniqueness of this community, and the willingness to support, not only our student athletes, not only just citizens in general, but just the community itself and what we're willing to do for each other.

And I just think that's unique and special. Yeah. I mean, that's that's why we built this business here. one of my newer sales reps said, you know, this may sound corny, but like, he's like, I'm proud of this community. And, I'm thankful to have an opportunity, this close to home. And because I always joke because the other four sales reps I have are all from Shelbyville.

Like, I was like, I just put a help when they added Shelbyville for my sales reps. But, I mean, it is, you know, it it it is an awesome community, you know, and just small town Indiana, like, some people just don't get that. you know, when we were down in Tennessee and I was working for Dave Ramsey, we, we had gotten pretty close to some of our neighbors.

And like, they were heartbroken that we were leaving. And I was heartbroken because they were phenomenal people. and then he, like, started asking questions and he goes, oh, wow, you guys are really going back to like, a community. And I said, absolutely. And there's just there's no way there's there's no way to describe it. And we could we could focus on the people that want to bitch and complain, or we could focus on the people that like, we genuinely know, you know, literally like the other day, like me and my wife, we're always wearing Hoel roofing shirts and the kids and, somebody walked up there like, hey, how are you associated with

them? And I'm like, well, we I guess we are then. And, you know, he was a customer. Yeah. we've been we're setting up with the fair boots and stuff, and I've been over at Townsville for a couple nights at the fair. And like the people that come. Oh thank you. Yeah. Thank you for supporting this or thank you.

You did this for my aunt or whatever that that looks like, you know. so. But thank you for your time. and, and I mean this if I can ever be a resource, if I can ever be a pep talk, if I can ever be coming in or pouring in any of them, young man. let me know, because, like, that's that's one of my passions.

That's like, I want to, we have a man problem in this country, and a mormon would step up, love their spouse, love their kids. Like a lot of these problems would go away. So it's a big responsibility for us. So thank you for, for what you do for our community. Thank you. And, thank you for, tuning in this edition of the Hoel Roofing & Remodeling Podcast.