BeTempered
BeTempered
BeTempered Episode 29 - Greg Pettit's Legacy: Inspiring Leadership and Transformative Education Through Integrity and Community Impact
Retired superintendent and principal Greg Pettit takes us through an inspiring journey from his humble beginnings in Hamilton, Ohio, to his impactful career in education. Greg shares stories from his childhood that taught him the essence of hard work and family values, recounting adventures with neighborhood friends that shaped his commitment to motivating teachers and students. We explore Greg's evolution from a high school athlete receiving a worn-out jersey to a college football player, underscoring resilience and the unexpected paths to success.
Greg's story continues as he transitions from being a hall monitor to the youngest head football coach in Ohio, highlighting the profound influence of mentorship and leadership. He speaks candidly about his personal life, including his partnership with his wife, Fawn, and how their shared dedication to education has impacted their family. We dive into Greg's tenure as a principal and superintendent, where he implemented innovative programs that transformed school environments, earning national recognition and creating lasting change for students and communities.
Throughout the episode, Greg emphasizes the importance of integrity, leadership, and leaving a meaningful legacy. He reflects on the powerful role educators play in shaping students' lives, sharing heartfelt stories where his support made a difference, even saving a student's life. This conversation celebrates the ripple effect of inspiration and community appreciation, urging educators to focus on relationships and integrity as the foundation of effective leadership. Join us in honoring Greg Pettit's journey and insights, inspiring listeners to make a positive impact in their own communities.
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Speaker 2:Welcome to the Be Tempered Podcast, where we explore the art of finding balance in a chaotic world.
Speaker 3:Join us as we delve into insightful conversations, practical tips and inspiring stories to help you navigate life's ups and downs with grace and resilience.
Speaker 2:We're your hosts, Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr. Let's embark on a journey to live our best lives.
Speaker 2:This is what's up everybody, welcome to the Be Tempered podcast, episode number 29,. 29, rolling right along. We have a super inspirational man in here today, someone who was my high school principal my senior year. He's been a superintendent. He's a retired superintendent and principal in Ohio. His name is Greg Pettit, and Greg has served in several administration positions since his retirement in 2014. He's completed teacher evaluations for several school districts in Indiana and Ohio and he's also a motivational speaker and his topic is Be the Teacher of the Year in your Students' Eyes. And he has earned numerous accolades and appearances at several schools and universities and, as we've discussed here earlier, he's also coached a lot of sports, a lot of football, and is currently helping at Hamilton High School. So, mr Greg Pettit, we welcome you to the V-Temper podcast Welcome.
Speaker 4:Thank you so much. It's just a real honor to be here. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we appreciate you making the trek, especially to come up here in person, and it's great to see you after 20-some years and you look great. You look just like I remember you in high school. Oh my goodness.
Speaker 4:Have you had your eyes checked, but I appreciate that. I really miss you and your family and all the National Trail people, and it's just great to be here.
Speaker 2:Yeah well, we're glad to have you and excited for you to share your story. So with that would you give us a little background of kind of growing up and then we'll get into you. Know what got you into education?
Speaker 4:Okay, sure, well, I was born in Hamilton, ohio, grew up in Hamilton. My mom and dad were just hardworking blue collar people. Actually, my mom was a what they called back in the day, just a home body. My mom was what they called back in the day, just a homebody. Home mom. She took care of things around the house and she was just somebody that taught me respect and manners and et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 4:And my dad was a machinist, and sometimes you talk about absentee fathers. Well, my dad kind of was, but it wasn't for the reasons that you might think. I mean, my dad worked two jobs pretty much my whole life, or as a child anyway. And so you know, six days a week, you know he'd go into one job in the morning and work a second shift job, and so I would only see him a lot of times if I stayed up late at night or when he got home from that second shift machinist job, um and or uh on on sundays, uh and uh. You know, taught me a lot a work ethic.
Speaker 4:You know, when I was growing up didn't really realize it. You know, kind of how come dad's not at my games or whatever. But then you know, as you get older, you know you realize he's putting food on the table, yeah and uh. So it taught me a lot about, uh, hard work and dedication. And you know I had, uh, two brothers and two sisters, all older. Uh, I was a baby, um and uh, just uh great people and I love them to death and and um, uh, so that's pretty much. I grew up in Hamilton. You know kind of a funny story. I grew up in a neighborhood but in my backyard was a paradise, basically because behind my house was about 10 to 15 acres and it was a woods.
Speaker 3:There was a lot of young people who don't know what this is, but there was a soapbox derby track. Do you guys remember soapbox derby?
Speaker 4:Okay, it's kind of a thing of the past now, but back in the day it was a big deal and so soapbox derby track in the backyard, basically a baseball field and a public swimming pool. So you know, I grew up thinking that every kid in America had a soapbox derby track in their backyard, you know, but it was just a wonderful childhood, you know, really and truly. We didn't have a whole lot of money, but we were rich.
Speaker 4:You know we never went without and it was just a great childhood, great childhood, and you know. So I went to Lincoln Elementary School, wilson Junior High School and Taft High School and and and so it was. It was just a great place to grow up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, sounds like it to have that in your backyard, If you want to go swimming. You go swimming If you wanted to do the derby car. I mean, that's amazing.
Speaker 4:Absolutely, and you know pretty much. That was our life growing up as a child in the 60s and early 70s and it was basically, you know, football out in the field behind us, baseball and swimming and running around the woods.
Speaker 2:Everything any kid would dream of.
Speaker 4:Yeah, you know, and I waited the longest time to tell people this, but there was also especially my kids to tell them this until they were older. But there was a railroad track that ran behind our yard as well, way back by the woods, and a friend of mine and I, you know, we used to jump the trains and, and a friend of mine and I, you know, we used to jump the trains and ride those trains, you know it was. It was crazy and stupid and dangerous and but yeah, we'd ride him for about a mile and then jump off, and you know. So I'm lucky to be here, I guess for sure.
Speaker 2:Now we were talking about this earlier, you you had posted a picture on Facebook of you on, I believe, an eight-foot unicycle. Yes, what's that all about?
Speaker 4:Well, I'll tell you what it was amazing. At Lincoln Elementary School we had a gym teacher that moved up from Sarasota Florida and his name was Jim Smith, and Sarasota Florida was the home of Ringling Brothers Barnum Bailey Circus. And so, mr Smith, he started a group called the Mini Circus and anybody that is familiar with the Mini Circus will tell you that it was an amazing thing. I mean, we did everything that a circus did, including trapeze. You know, my sister rode a six on a bicycle where she would pedal the bicycle and these acrobats would do all kinds of things hanging on the bicycle and, of course, the unicycles Tumbling things like that, but unicycles.
Speaker 4:I got to the point where I rode a 10-foot unicycle. I rode in parades. I rode at the Louisville Gardens at halftime show. We did halftime shows at the Cincinnati Royals basketball games back in the day, so it was something else and to this day, if they could build a unicycle big enough for me, I think I could get on a unicycle and ride it if my knees didn't give out or whatever. But yeah, it was great.
Speaker 4:As a matter of fact, a few years after that, now we're talking about mainly about elementary school kids. After that, now we're talking mainly about elementary school kids, aids kids or junior high kids for the most part, and some high school kids. But a few years after that, five or six years after that, we actually had a guy named Danny Haynes set the world record for riding the tallest unicycle at the time, and I forget I think it was a 30-footer or something like that, but they did it in the Champion Union Hall parking lot in Hamilton and he had a harness on him for safety and they built this unicycle, but it was a world record at the time. Wow, that's crazy. And so the Hamilton Mini Circus was just an unbelievable thing for young people.
Speaker 3:You had me at 10 feet. I'm thinking like a basketball hoop, like sitting on it riding a bike. Yeah, 30.
Speaker 4:And you know what? I rode a eight foot unicycle in a parade downtown Hamilton and I fell off of it. And if you've ever fallen off a unicycle, it's not fun. For the most part you come straight down and you're laying on your feet, kind of like a parachutist, I guess you could say. But it's still not fun. And that was the one time that I did take a spill. So it was downtown Hamilton, but anyway it was a great experience.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so your childhood. I mean, that sounds like anything any child would dream of.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and you know, and at the time of course you just think that it's normal and you think that everybody in America is doing this stuff. But you know, looking back on it, it was unique. Yeah, for sure, very unique.
Speaker 2:So you go through that whole experience amazing experience as a kid. You get into high school. Talk about high school a little bit.
Speaker 4:You know, high school is really where my trajectory, I guess you could say, really changed as far as what I wanted to do. Because going into high school I think I felt like most of the boys and girls not necessarily girls as far as champion paper goes, but I thought, you know, I would just graduate and go to work at champion paper or one of the big paper mills in Hamilton or Beckett paper, or else I'd go into the service. I wasn't really thinking about college or anything. And then that's where it all changed. I was a football player Taft High School at the time, which is Hamilton High School now Taft High School. Hamilton Taft High School was grades 10 through 12. And I was a sophomore and I was on the JV football team and barely, barely started for the JV football team Wasn't very good player. Barely started for the JV football team, wasn't a very good player, average, I guess you could say average football player. And so you know how every football team has a parents' night. You know where they introduce your parents and things like that. So, second game of the season. And again, keep in mind, I barely started on the JV team, so I wasn't real good. And so we get to parents' night and we come out and we warm up, you know, and we go back into the locker room where our head coach, coach Bob Muschietti, he surprised us with brand-new jerseys. So we're out there in our old jerseys warming up, and when we come in we put on brand-new jerseys, okay. So we line up at the equipment room to get our new jerseys real quick and get them on, because we got a game to play and the seniors go first, of course, and the juniors, and you know, here they come holding up their new jerseys and man, oh man, look at these, you know, and everybody's all jacked up and pumped up because these jerseys are awesome. And so, finally, the sophomores, you know, we get up there and again, my buddies are turning around and holding up their jerseys. Yeah, they're all jacked up and pumped up.
Speaker 4:And I get up there and the coach I'm number 58, okay. And the equipment manager, whoever it was at the time, he handed me this old, ragged number 57 jersey and I go well, sir, I'm number 58. And he said, well, this is what you get tonight. And I turn around and I'm bummed out. I'm going why don't I get a new jersey? I'm bummed out, I'm going what you know why don't I get a new jersey?
Speaker 4:And I turn around and, walking back to the locker, and the guys after me are getting the new jerseys and and all this stuff and and um, and you know, as, on my on my way back to get dressed, there's a few snickers and, you know, laughing at me a little bit and and I'm embarrassed. You know, I'm going what you know what the heck is going on here. So we get down to the lineup for the pictures and I'm sitting there thinking to myself, I'm looking around, everybody's got on these new jerseys that sent me and I'm lining up with my mom and dad and my dad and them they could tell that I'm embarrassed. And you know, uh, before I go on, you know, uh, these days, as a superintendent or as a principal, you know I'd be getting a call from parents. How dare you, how can you put my son, you know, in a ragged jersey and and all that kind of stuff, because that's the way things were or things are nowadays unfortunately.
Speaker 4:But my dad looked at me and he says well, son, he says it looks to me like you better work a little harder. And I made up my mind that night I was so mad I said I'll never wear a ragged jersey again. And that was the night I became a football player. I mean, the next day, the next morning, we didn't have a reserve game. The next day, the next morning I got out of bed early and it was right in front of Hamilton Taft High School, which is now Hamilton High School. There's Eaton Road Hill. I don't know if you've ever been down it, it's a Huge hill. So my buddy, jerry Lauer he lived right behind the high school and his family was masonry people, they were bricklayers and they always had bricks laying around the yard and stuff. And so I went over and I grabbed a couple of bricks and I started running up and down Eaton Road Hill. I started working out and again, I was never going to wear a ragged jersey again. Yeah and um, and I mean I now, when I was working out, we had a universal gym. Yeah, you guys may be too young to remember universal gym, or do you? I remember? Okay, so it's just a little unit, blah, blah, blah. But man, I started working out and I wore that thing out and at the time of the ragged jersey incident I was probably 5'10", 5'11", about 175 pounds or whatever. Well, I worked hard the whole winter and suddenly I hit a growth spurt, roseburg, and by April of that year, of next year, I was 6'2" and about 2'10". I'd grown that much and I'd gotten so much stronger and everything else, and by the end of the football season too, I'd gotten a lot better, just from working out hard.
Speaker 4:And then the moment changed my life. It was in May after that year and Coach Muschietti and Coach Merz, I got called down to Coach Terry Merz, just a great mentor to me, and Coach Bob Muschietti, again our head coach, was just a great mentor to me. I got called down to his office. And you know, if you got called down to Coach Muschietti's office it usually wasn't good. Okay, and so I'm all the way down there.
Speaker 4:What did I do? I don't think I did anything wrong, et cetera, et cetera. And you know, we get down to the office and they sit me down and Coach Muschietti and Coach Murs, they both said Greg, they said we want to know if you've been thinking about where you're going to go to college and play college football and the first thing that came to my mind was, no, I really haven't. But they said, well, that's what you're going to do and we've seen how hard you're working, so you're going to be a great player for us and we want you to start thinking about going to college and getting a degree and playing college football. And I said, okay, coach, that's what I'll start doing. And then fast forward to the next football season.
Speaker 4:That was my junior year. I was all GMC first team, all GMC player center, and again we talked earlier, dan, that the GMC is truly one of the best conferences in Ohio. I mean, you know you're talking Princeton and Fairfield and Lakota, the Lakotas and Middletowns, and you know Coleraine, you know back in the day, all the state titles and everything, but you know a pretty good football conference. And so I was All-League and I was All-League the next year and got some state honors and things like that. And then suddenly I'm getting recruited and suddenly I was fortunate enough, I got to take, you know, a few visits and had a few offers and ended up accepting an offer to go to Kent State and play football at Kent State, and so that kind of started me on my journey to going to college, getting a degree, and that's what led me into education.
Speaker 2:What an awesome story. So my question is when you think back to that uniform being handed to you, do you think it was intentional? Do you think they were trying to spark something in you, or they just didn't have that number, you know?
Speaker 4:I, you know, I don't really know. All I know is how it affected me. Oh, yeah, yeah and um, and so I'm not really sure. Uh, I, I think I heard a little while later uh, you know, I think we had 76 guys on the team and I think they had 75 jerseys, okay, I think. But the only thing that went in my head was it wasn't about they didn't have my number or they didn't have this. The only thing I was thinking of was they must think that I'm the worst player on the team, and it did. It sparked me. I mean, you know, from then on, I was never going to wear the ragged Jersey again. Yeah and uh, and I was fortunate enough a few years back to to get inducted into the Hamilton hall of fame uh, in athletic hall of fame, and um, and I told that story because it it changed my life.
Speaker 2:And it's super impactful and I hope that any any young kid listening to this right now. You know, like I think of my son, who's a freshman in high school. He's 125 pounds and he's hitting the weight room Just you know, you try to encourage him and encourage him, and you never know how an instance like that is going to affect someone because it could have easily went the other way. Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you could you could have said ah, this is what you think of me, I'm done and I quit, and who knows where your life would be now.
Speaker 4:Sure, and you know, in my current position as the director of football operations for Hamilton, you know I've told that story and Harvey Crouch, our head coach, has asked me to tell that story a few times and I've told it to our younger kids. And last year I remember this sophomore kid that was a lot like me and he wasn't playing and he was frustrated and wasn't getting to play and stuff and I told him that story and this year that kid is an all-GMC lineman this year.
Speaker 1:That's awesome.
Speaker 4:And I don't know if it was because of my story he worked pretty hard, yeah. But you know, yeah, you never know what switch you're going to switch on a kid or turn on to a kid, and that's what I've really tried to do my whole life.
Speaker 2:So that go ahead Ben.
Speaker 3:Oh no, I was going to say, hopefully some parents hear that story too. Yes, you know, you talk about how parents back then. Hey, maybe you need to work a little bit harder, you know.
Speaker 4:You know absolutely, and you know, and obviously as a principal superintendent, you know I've dealt with a lot of parents and and you know all of them are good, they really are, they've all. All of them have a good in their hearts and you know, some of them just go about things a different way and things like that. But yeah, you're absolutely right, I've, I've always tried to. You know. Again, you know we talked about this earlier. It just seems like I just always want to help people if I can.
Speaker 2:So well, and being affected like that with a, with a story like that, it's, it's, it's awesome to see how it projected you. So you go to Kent state and and so I decide, you decide your major is going to be uh.
Speaker 4:I decided to major in broadcasting uh, believe it or not.
Speaker 1:Uh, to prepare for this moment, to prepare for for today?
Speaker 4:Actually, TV and radio. But you know, backing up, I forgot to mention this In high school, at Taft High School, we actually had a radio TV program and you would go to radio, your junior year, TV, your senior year. You'd do radio for four periods a day and then you'd take your academic subjects the rest of the day. We had our own radio station and everything and it was awesome. You know, because I'm a music fanatic, I love music, play guitar Not very well, but play guitar and stuff and just love music, and so that was awesome. So yeah, I went on to major in that. Actually I went to Kent State for one year, Quite frankly didn't like it at Kent State and I transferred to Eastern Kentucky and Roy Kied, legendary coach at Eastern Kentucky Actually Eastern Kentucky, 79, 80, 81, 82, played in the national championship game, Division I, AA, and won it twice. Long story short, unfortunately, at the end or in the spring of my sophomore year at Eastern Kentucky I had my fifth concussion and that ended my career. Even back then the doctors were saying you know, you shouldn't play football anymore and it was a rough day. It really was.
Speaker 4:But I went on to graduate from Eastern Kentucky, had a major, again, a degree in broadcasting.
Speaker 4:But my last semester of college at Eastern Kentucky I got a call from Dale Robertson, who was a head football coach at Hamilton High School, and he wanted me to come in and coach for him.
Speaker 4:And so at that time I started thinking, okay, well, first of all, I accepted the job and second of all, and I decided that, oh, maybe I want to go into coaching and teaching, and so I took some classes my last semester, but I went ahead and got my degree in broadcasting and then I went into the season as a. I was hired as a hall monitor while I was going back to school getting the rest of my credits for my teaching degree. And that's where another twist in my life happened, Because, going into coaching my first year as a young 21 years old, actually, I was my wife and I had just gotten married, right before that, in July, and had a one-day honeymoon where we were at the Marriott in Springdale, Ohio, and I was back and it's a funny story, I was back on the garbage truck Monday morning because my summer job was I was a garbage man for the city of Hamilton, and so that was my honeymoon back on the garbage truck and my wife also went back to her summer job.
Speaker 4:But we both ended up back on the garbage truck and my wife also went back to her summer job, but we both ended up, uh, uh, that's where the twist came in. So so Dale Robertson hired me as a football coach and now they need I needed a job, uh, basically for the school systems and but I didn't have a teaching degree yet. So, um. So Dale said or uh, they said, well, we want you to interview for this hall monitor's position over at Garfield Junior High. And that's when I went in and I met one of the guys that influenced my life more than anybody, principal named Jim Brown.
Speaker 4:Mr James Brown and if you talk to anybody that knows of him, with Jim Place, who you had on the show last week, we'll tell you all about Jim as well. But anybody that's ever been in Hamilton, he is the goat of education in the history of Hamilton, greatest of all time, and he was the principal at Garfield Junior High. And so I go in to interview him. I've never met him before. I go in to interview with him. And here's what he said to me right off the bat.
Speaker 4:He said if we can get you in here. We're going to be great, really we're going to be great. And I get a little choked up. I want to talk about it. Um, he's a great man, but and then so so he hired me and so I'm the hallmark. But here I am thinking, okay, I'm probably at the lowest position in the school system, okay, and this guy's telling me that you're going to be great, you know, if they get me.
Speaker 2:So, and and I imagine for you, you know, and I, we can see the emotion, which which I love because you know, you're talking how many years ago yeah, that was 1983 and look at how it's, how, how much it impacted your life for someone like him, who who is, you know, the Michael Jordan of of Hamilton school system absolutely to look at you and to say, if we get you, we're going to be great.
Speaker 4:yeah, I, how how that impacted you and look at what you've done Absolutely, and then you know so. So I go about doing my job every day, uh, with that passion in mind for him. Yeah, I'll do anything for him, you know Absolutely.
Speaker 4:And um. So and he taught me because, backing up a little bit, when I first started coaching football before I went to work for him, I just thought that football coaching was all about yelling, screaming and being a hard core and this, that and the other around Jim Brown, I started realizing how positive reinforcement and being positive with kids, telling them how good they are, how good they can be, is the key. Yes, the leadership it really is. Still having discipline, of course, yeah, but telling these, telling them how to, how to be positive individuals and be positive with the kids, and that's the way I coached and that's the way I taught from then on. And so he really had a big impact on my life and he has a lot of people. I'm not the only one that would tell you a story about Jim.
Speaker 4:He's just a great man.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what a fantastic story and sounds like a fantastic man, so. So so you're the hall monitor, you're, you're, uh, you know an assistant football coach, and and and things start progressing.
Speaker 4:Your life, you're married, children yes, yes, I am, I'm gonna blow my nose. Oh and um, yes, I am, I. I have three children my wife Fawn best thing that ever happened to me, without question, anybody who knows her will tell you that and my wife Fawn, she was a teacher for 30 years. She traveled around with me to assume my different jobs that I had and she was a teacher in Hamilton actually for 15 years and then the other places, for a total of 30. My daughter, kayla. I have a son Cody and a son Colt Colt's, the youngest at 28 right now and Kayla is 37 now, I think, or 38, something like that.
Speaker 4:And you know, as time goes on, you kind of lose track.
Speaker 2:Well, I've got six grandkids too. You say that I want to make sure my kids hear that, because everybody I have five kids and everybody always asks me is their age? And I always have to like okay, I got to start in order and go backwards. Absolutely, I feel you Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 4:But yeah, they've, uh, uh. They're all very successful. Take after their mom. They're great kids.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you're moving on up and finally you get your teaching degree. I did, I did.
Speaker 4:As a matter of fact, I was going back to get my teaching degree and my master's and for some reason it just clicked, and I have no idea why. But I just felt like, well, I have to get my teaching degree and my master's. And for some reason it just clicked, and I have no idea why. But I just felt like, well, I have to get everything, I have to get my master's, I have to get my doctorate, I have to do it all. A big reason for that is because the State Department of Education started changing things. It used to be right before I started if you had a master's degree, you could be an administrator. Before I started, if you had a master's degree, you could be an administrator. Okay, but now, right, right, when I was right in the middle of it, they changed everything to where you had. Not only did you have to have your master's, but you had to have 15 hours above that. And then they changed it to you had to have 15 hours above that to be a superintendent. So, as my wife will tell you, I've been.
Speaker 4:I was in school forever, you forever. I was at Xavier working on my master's and my teacher's certificate, and then I went to Miami working on my doctor's degree, which I did not complete because I didn't have to I started realizing that all these superintendents were getting hired. They didn't have their doctor's degree. So I was about done with going to school as a student anyway, because it was taking quite a bit of time. But what happened, too, was I was very fortunate as I was working. I was at Hamilton for two years and then I went to New Miami and I had an opportunity to not only get a full-time teaching job but they also would allow that to be my student teaching okay. So so that was fortunate there, and and that leads into another another story and and leads into some of the other stuff that that you know we're talking about here, because this is all about ultimately, it's all about leadership and helping other people and helping kids, and a lot of this stuff is how I learned to do that, and then there'll be some stories of me doing that. But and you know I'm nothing special, but it's just that you know that was always been my thing. I just really wanted to help, especially young people, young students, and so anyway. So at New Miami, I have taught there one year and I had a football player who was an offensive tackle, a good player, a great kid, hard worker, this, that and the other. And so end of the summer, you know, I've been working with this kid and other kids and helping them any way I can the weight room, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 4:But three weeks before the footballs, or three weeks before two-a-days were to start in 1986, I was still at New Miami and I get a call from Preble Shawnee and Preble Shawnee, one of their coaches, had just quit, three weeks or two weeks before two before two days was supposed to start, and they wanted to know if I would take the head coaching job. And I'm 24 years old. And and then one of the coaching guys in one of the coaching associations said well, that would make you the youngest head coach in Ohio. And I said, okay, well, preble Shawnee at the time had won two games in the last six years or something. They were arguably the worst program in Ohio. Okay, and so I figured, okay, well, that's the only reason they want me. I mean, they're bad, you know. But anyway, I took that job.
Speaker 4:But I called this young man up who I'd been working with at New Miami and told him what was going on and I was leaving New Miami because I had his head coaching job offer and this young man was crying. He was upset. I was upset too. I didn't want to leave him and some of the other kids that were on the team, too great kids. Well, this young man was Arvey Crouch. Arvey is the head football coach now at Hamilton High, who just hired me three years ago to be his director of football operations.
Speaker 4:And Arvey's a great guy. He's a great football coach. He's turned Hamilton's program around. He was at Mount Healthy for a number of years and took them to the playoffs almost every year, and now at Hamilton High. The last two years at Hamilton High we've won two playoff games for the first time in Hamilton's history and Arv he's just done a great job. But he was my player and he was that player that was crying his eyes out when I was leaving and I was crying because I was leaving, etc. Etc. So, anyway, so on to Preble Shawnee real quick.
Speaker 4:There's a couple of funny stories again about how you can help kids, et cetera, et cetera. So I go into my first meeting with my players, again two weeks before two-a-days, okay, and I'd never met any of them. I was in the locker room, I was in the coach's office with my coaching staff, and then I go out into the locker room to meet my 35 players, grades nine through 12. And I had heard that four of their best players had transferred to other schools because they didn't have a coach, and they were pretty good players that ended up being really good players, but anyway. So I go out and this is my first meeting with the kids and I look around and out of 35 kids, I bet you 15 of them got a dip or a chew in their mouth. And they're sitting there with a spittoon in their hand. Oh boy, and I'm going. Okay, this ain't good. And I said, all right, boys. I said listen. I said I'm going to tell you what I said. We're going to win a lot of games here, but I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to turn around, I'm going to go back in that coach's office and I'm going to come back out and start this meeting in five minutes and I better never see another dip, I better never see another chew, another spit tune as long as I'm here.
Speaker 4:And one of the coaches from the previous year said Coach, he said you may not have anybody left. He says these kids are off the farms, man, they've been dipping since they were 10 years old, you know. I said well, I said that's the way it'll be then. So I turned back around and went back out to the meeting and there wasn't a single one of them that had a dip in their mouth or anything else. So we set the tone right there.
Speaker 4:And then so a couple weeks later we go out to our first practice and you know again nothing but positive, positive, positive, because you know these kids have had nothing but negative for their whole career. And so we go out to the first practice and I said all right. I said after we warm up I said give me the first offense up here. And I said give me the best defense that we can put out there. And we got on a four-yard line. All right, four-yard line on the game field. Hand the ball off to Scott Cotton. I don't know if you know that name. Scott is the superintendent now at Twin Valley South over here, great player for me.
Speaker 4:Hand the ball off and we score. And I blow the whistle. I call the guys in. I say listen, practice is over. They're like all right. I said practice is over. I said because here's why, if we can get four yards of play every time, we're going to win a lot of games. Blew, the whistle Broke and that was it for that day, for the first practice. And then from then on, long story short, we come out of the gate and we won the first four games. We're 4-0. Wow, yeah, I opened up with National Trail. As a matter of fact, that year we come out of the gate 4-0, then we lost to Brookville and then we won our fifth game against Oakwood. Oakwood was the playoff team that year. We beat them 8-0. So we're 5-1 out of the gate. Wow, all right.
Speaker 2:And I mean they wanted to make me mayor of Camden.
Speaker 4:All right, but no, we had great kids. We ended up 5-5 that year, because then we hit the gauntlet I was talking about earlier Eaton, brookville, valley View, blah, blah, blah, dickie.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just kidding.
Speaker 4:Well, we beat Dixie Ben's a Dixie guy from what I've been told, but anyway. So I was there four years and the last year just to show you how bad the program had been. The last year there we had the best record in the history of the school.
Speaker 4:My last year there, six and four, yeah, yeah, best record in the history of the school. And what happened was they failed a tax levy and they canceled football for the next year. So I was devastated because we had started. Nine sophomores on offense had the best offense in the league. Wow and um, you know, we were really. We were going to be really good in my mind. I'm thinking state championship, I'm thinking league champions, state champions, you know and um, because we were going to be good. So I was going to hang in there, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker 4:But then I got a call from Ben Hubbard at Fairfield at 1986 State Champions Division I he wanted me to be a defensive back coach and then the offensive coordinator after that. And you know, at first I thought I was going to hang in there. I said well, ben, can you give me a couple days to think about it and call me back? Yeah, so he gave me a couple days and he called me back. Yeah, um, so he gave me a couple days and they called me from europe because he was coaching the european, the australian whips, which was a summer, uh, football league, kind of a semi-pro football league. And he called me back and he said, and I still wasn't sure what I was going to do. And you know, I know I'm 28 years old, I'm still a pretty young pup by those football standards. And Ben said well, greg, he says I've taken a look at your salary and here's what I can offer you. The bottom line is you raise? I had my daughter and my second son, my boy was on his way and he says it'd be about a $12,000 raise for you, greg. I said Ben, I'll be there tomorrow. I mean, you know, got mouths to feed and stuff like that. So, anyway, so I go to Fairfield and again I'm trying to fast forward some of this stuff because again, this is what comes in people that I've learned from. I learned a lot from Ben Hubbard.
Speaker 4:So when I went into Fairfield he wanted me to coach defensive backs my first year and I told him I said, well, you know, ben, I said, of all the positions, I really don't know DBs. That well, I said. And he says, ah, you'll be fine, you'll learn it. I said okay. So I called my buddy, randy Walker, who was the head coach at Miami University yeah, he's a good friend of mine and I said Randy.
Speaker 4:I said listen, I don't know anything about this DB stuff and you know, can I come up for spring ball? I think yeah, it was earlier than that, so it was spring ball. I said, can I come up and work with Terry Heppner? Terry Heppner was his D coordinator and defensive back coach and Terry went on to Indiana and of course Randy went on to Northwestern as a head coach and stuff, and so I went up there and I learned more from Terry Heppner in a half an hour than I knew about football. Yeah, and unbelievable. But listen, who was on that staff? Okay, well, not only that staff, but in the four years there, I would go up there all the time and work with these guys. Sean Payton, head coach of the Denver Broncos right now. Aaron Cromer, offensive line coach for the Buffalo Bills. Pat Narduzzi, who was the head coach at Pitt, was a GA on that team. Kevin Wilson, who was the offensive coordinator of the house.
Speaker 1:I mean so all these guys that you know.
Speaker 4:I didn't even know Pat Narduzzi would be a great football coach at Riskin State and at Pitt and at Sean Payton I mean New Orleans.
Speaker 1:Super Bowl.
Speaker 4:And these guys are younger than me and blah, blah, blah. And it was just amazing who you learn from and where you take stuff from.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:And so so I was at Fairfield for a while and then, uh, middletown. Uh, I left Fairfield after about five years. And then Middletown. Guess who hired me at Middletown for a year? Jim Brown. Going back to the first guy that hired me, he hired me. And then, right after that is when I went to National Trail and so I made a. I made a decision at that time to get out of coaching and go into administration, and and, and and I decided I'm going to carry an awful lot of stuff about being a principal that I took from Jim Brown and all these people.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Because it was all about kids. For me, it was all about kids. Now I'll tell you this. The first day at National Trail, I'll never forget this. I go into my office, I sit down at my desk. I'll never forget this. I folded my hands and I just said to myself now what you know, because I really didn't know what to do, quite frankly. But anyway, so that started that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that started you in administration, which led from being a principal into being a superintendent. So kind of talk about, from an education standpoint, the difference between being a high school principal to going to a superintendent so you're running a high school to now you're running a district.
Speaker 4:Sure, so talk about that. Yeah, you know I'll tell you this and a lot of people will say this over the years, and I agree with it 100% High school principal job is the hardest job in any school district I've heard that.
Speaker 4:I've heard it from many people and I experienced it. You know, I was a high school principal at four different places and it's a very difficult job. And, just backing up for a second, I forgot to mention, you know, when I left. Well, no, that'll come later, never mind. But you know the superintendency. It's just a different ballgame as far as the difficulties of it, et cetera, et cetera. And the principal's job is far more difficult and really and truly, you have way more of an impact on young people.
Speaker 4:And you know, starting off at National Trail, you know, when I first came in there, dan, you know I've got to be honest with you. Here's what I heard from National Trail and I don't know if you experienced this or not, but here's what I heard from National Trail there's not a whole lot of spirit in the school. The kids don't really, you know just, they don't really like school, et cetera, et cetera. Some people said that they had a nickname of what National Trash, national Trash, which I didn't like that at all, et cetera, et cetera. So one of my goals was okay, I'm just going to come in and I'm going to coach this school and coach these kids like a winning team and I'm going to motivate the best I can and I'm going to do anything I can to quote, turn this place around if it even needed turning around. And you know, one of the first things that we did at National Trail was that I got a big, huge Pepsi contract and negotiated, you know, a huge Pepsi Coke contract and that allowed us to build a brand new track for the kids, that allowed us to do some things through the baseball field, that allowed us to give some things to the band and to the ffa program and different things that allowed money. It was so funny because the negotiations started with uh from coke, oh, we'll give you a new scoreboard. In the yeah in the gym, I said now, look, we're looking for a lot more than that. And and then pepsi would come in well, we'll give you a new scoreboard. I said, look, we're on different pages here. I said we need money and you know I've got some stuff I need to do here. And then it finally got up to an incredible number. I think it was $150,000 they gave us and it was unheard of for a school that size. And then, plus, they gave us money every year. But the only reason I say that is because that provided kids with a lot of things and opportunities that they could be proud of and that they could want to come to school and they'd want to excel and want to succeed, and I just thought that was really important.
Speaker 4:We also put in what was called a Renaissance program, which was sponsored by Jostens and it was a national program, and basically and this was one of my favorite things that I've ever that I've ever done in education and that's why I wanted to talk about it today the Renaissance program was a motivational program for all students. Motivational program for all students, and one of the things that was part of it was the different levels cards that these kids could get and what these cards was. For example, if you had a GPA one semester of 4.0, you get this certain card that you carried around with you and it was good for prizes and it was good for appetizers at Applebee's or whatever the case may be. But the thing I liked about the cards was this card over here was for any kid that failed a class the last semester and didn't fail any the next quarter. They were just as important as the A student and that was probably the best thing we ever did, because I would have kids coming in. That said, I've had parents coming in. My kids never got an award, especially an academic award, and I just felt like those were things that needed to be recognized and, man, it just took off big time. I mean, we would have assemblies where we would just it would just be a celebration where the kids would get their cards and they would be honored. So we would have kids that maybe last year was suspended every other week or was in detentions and suddenly they're walking out and getting academic awards.
Speaker 4:You know, changed the whole, changed the whole scope of everything at National Trail. It really did. And and I rode a motorcycle into the gym one day I remember that Because you know our theme was get your motor running, which was get your brain running here we go. It was a kickoff to the season and then it ended up that we were honored and we were named one of the top renaissance programs in the country and we were flown to Washington DC, our whole team, and we made a big, giant presentation at the National Renaissance Conference in Washington DC. So National Trail and I still have that picture at home of everybody and you know all the teachers that were in on it. All the teachers were involved. I mean, you know, even the ones that weren't on the core Renaissance team. They all did a great job. Our whole staff was excellent. You know, we had great people at National Trail.
Speaker 4:Had a great board. I have nothing but good things to say about them all and just a lot of good people there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I remember you coming in my senior year and of course we had Matt Kemper was our coach and he had been there for three years and you know we were starting to change. My class was a pretty strong class. Especially our girls were really good in volleyball and basketball.
Speaker 2:Um so you know things. Uh, my senior year was, you know, as as great as I think anybody's could be, so and it has a lot to do with you and the leadership and everything. So it's it's interesting for me to hear. You know, I don't remember the Pepsi thing, but I do remember all the changes. I remember the track we had a sender track before that and then we go to an all-weather track and the improvements to the baseball field and all that. You don't think about that stuff as a kid, but now as an adult, looking back, people want nice things and as things get nicer then people's appearance maybe will improve, their, their attitude will improve and and things did Absolutely. You talk about Preble Shawnee school record being six and four. My senior year we tied the school record, you did.
Speaker 4:Yeah, that's right. I remember that kind of kind of similar Um, it was Matt Kemper and his staff did a great job off and offing those guys. Yeah, great, great staff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, that's awesome. So you go from trail, you become principal at other schools and then at some point in time you make the jump to superintendent. Talk about that.
Speaker 4:Okay, Well, I retired. I went from National Trail to Trotwood, Madison, where Jim Brown hired me again Third time. Must have liked something about me. I was a freshman academy principal over there for three years and then I went to Patrick Henry, which is in Northwest Ohio. As a principal I retired from up there 2014. I retired from there and then I got a job at Bettsville Bettsville Local School District. Now, Bettsville was the second smallest school district in Ohio, okay, and second to the island Put-in-Bay oh yeah, Second to that, Okay.
Speaker 4:So the funny story about that was that was right when the Ohio graduation tests were big. So, like the first week of school, I wanted to talk to my sophomores at the high school about the OGT, which was the Ohio graduation test, and how important it was. So I get on the announcements and I'd say, hey, I'd like to meet with all the sophomore students. I'll meet you in the gym here at 10 o'clock or whatever it was, and so you know, I'm thinking we always would have our meetings with our classes in the gym, with their classes in the gym, so they come down there, all 10 of them, All 10 of them, and then that's when it really hit me oh yeah, I'm at the smallest school district in Ohio but it was good. It was a good two years, what it was and great.
Speaker 4:And then they combined with Old Fort School District because it was so small and I told them that I wasn't interested in being a superintendent because we were moving back to Hamilton.
Speaker 4:And then, when we moved back to Hamilton in 2014, Hamilton City Schools hired me as a administrative support person, which I went in and I would, you know, sub basically for principals and or I would work every day with any of the buildings that needed some administrative support. And then I was a drug and alcohol coordinator for Hamilton and then I Most recently about a year ago, I became the interim superintendent at Union County College Corner School District over there and had a really good semester there. They offered me the job but I didn't at the time, didn't want to do it, but I spent a semester there and they got him a really good person in after that. It was just an interim position, but that was a semester there and they got him a really good person in after that. It was just an interim position, but that was a wonderful position and again, I was just glad that in my career, I got to experience the superintendency as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's awesome and your impact on kids is evident. One thing I want to talk about that is kind of unique. You know you played college football but you had a couple sons that played college football and uh, we were talking about that earlier because one played at Virginia tech and uh the the. You know, I I. My goal someday in life, when I have time, is to go to all the different colleges, college football stadiums and to to see these entrances. Sure, you know. And Virginia Tech, you know. They play Metallica's Inner Sandman.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:It's going crazy. I mean, I'm getting goosebumps just even thinking about it. Your son plays there. Mm-hmm, talk about that.
Speaker 4:Well, you know, I'll tell you something. I probably saw Inner Sandman live probably 25, 30 times or whatever, because we would go to most of the home games almost all of them probably and every single time that Inner Sandman would start, of course, everybody's jumping in the beginning and you can feel the stadium rocking. You really can, and there's been some. They measured it on the.
Speaker 4:Richter scale and all that kind of stuff, how loud it gets, and I mean every single time. There was never a time that I did not have tears rolling down my face, just pumped up. I mean I could have gone out and played. No, I guarantee it, it would have been goal line defense for one play and then the oxygen tank. But yeah, every single time just chills running down your spine and just tears rolling down your eyes and just it's an incredible thing. And you know, my other son played at Central Michigan and I'll tell you what that atmosphere up in Mount Ple pleasant was unreal too. Um, you know, some of the mac schools they don't draw a whole lot of people to their games, right, but central michigan was one that it would be 25, 30 000 every game in a 25 000 stadium stadium, you know, and uh, and it was an incredible experience as well. And and, um, you know, cody's first game that he started as a starter was at the Big House in Michigan. So that was quite an experience, you know.
Speaker 4:And the other one with Colt. You know, colt goes to Virginia Tech so we get invited down for his official visit day and just real quick. You know, frank Beamer was a legendary coach at Virginia Tech and just one of the finest human beings I've ever met in my life. And when we sat in his office for about an hour, I mean I'm just in a daze because it was just. It's just so unbelievable. You're sitting there with a legend and he's just so down to earth and you know, if he was just sitting here with us he'd just be a normal guy and I mean it was just incredible.
Speaker 4:And Colt was. You know, it's funny because we were making a trip, a recruiting trip, to all the places. It was in the summer and all the places before senior year, and we were going to all the places that Colt had been offered. So we were making this trip and Virginia Tech was going to be the first place that we went, and then we were going to go to Marshall, and then we were going to Kentucky and then Tennessee and then Louisville and kind of making a little swing. And so when we left Virginia Tech, one of the last things that one of the coaches that was recruiting him said to Colt was well, you know, where are you looking at and stuff like blah, blah, blah. But he says you know, I've got three offers out for offensive linemen and I'm only going to take one of them.
Speaker 1:Now, that's a ploy, that a lot of staffs use.
Speaker 4:But anyway, that's what he said. So we're on our way to Marshall after we left there and Colt's going. You know, dad, what should I do? And I said, well, let me ask you a question. I said what if Colt called you right now and said, hey, I just got a call from the kid in Virginia that accepted the offer. And he said, man, I'd be devastated. And I said, well, there's your answer. And we didn't have very good service. So we pulled over into a gas station and he got on a pay phone or something or the other and called the coach and committed at that time. But it was just a wonderful eight years, basically, with the boys.
Speaker 2:That's a pretty cool and unique experience. I don't know that. A lot of people you know all my National Trail friends probably don't know that, so that's a really unique thing. So well, this is awesome. As we start to land this plane, what advice would you give to current or future school leaders to help them navigate the challenges they face in today's educational environment? Because things today, especially post-COVID, are way different than they were in 1997 when I was in school, right? So what advice do you give some of these administrators?
Speaker 4:Well, you know, the first thing is, you know, jim Brown and some other people told me a long time ago, when you make decisions, what would those decisions look like if they're on the front page of the newspaper the next day? And that should drive you into doing what's right and what's honest and integrity. So much of my things, and it's gotten me in trouble sometimes, but honesty and integrity has been, has been, my, my thing the whole time. You know, and I just, I just think if you, if you work hard we had a thing called TPR when it's a Renaissance program and up at Patrick Henry, one of the high schools, at work program and TPR stands for treat people right, and you know, if you treat people the right way, you know, I think a lot of things are going to work out pretty well for you. You know, and, and you know you need to listen.
Speaker 4:I wasn't always a great listener, you know, I was always a doer and and you know, a lot of times I had a thing of, well, my way is the right way to do it and that wasn't always the right way. And you have to be able to listen to people, you have to input and you have to really appreciate the input that you get from people. And there's a lot of good programs out there, people, and you know there's a lot of good programs out there, um, but if you can't execute those programs and if you can't motivate the people around you to execute the programs that you're wanting to install um, then then you're fighting behind the eight ball a little bit and um. So I I think you know, the biggest thing that I always tried to do and wasn't always successful at it, but tried my hardest always was honesty, integrity, do the right thing.
Speaker 4:And, as cliched as it sounds, is it best for kids? Right, is it best for kids? Because there was a lot of times that I had to do things. Well, I was told to do things by, maybe, board members or whatever. That I didn't feel was best for kids and I wouldn't do them and I would hold to my principles and sometimes that didn't work out so well for me.
Speaker 1:But that's okay.
Speaker 4:I'd look back on it now and I wouldn't change a thing. But that's okay, I'd look back on it now and I wouldn't change a thing.
Speaker 2:Well, that's good you talk about listening. God gives you two ears and one mouth. Oh yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 4:And that's the other thing. I read my Bible every morning and I ask God to please guide me today. I thank you for another day and guide me. You know everything that comes out of my mouth, I want it to be something that glorifies you, and I just want to live the right way and I want to help other people and et cetera, et cetera. So, you know, and that's the way to try to live. And, speaking of that, we didn't get to touch on it, but in two places that I went, I got to start a Fellowship of Christian Athletes program. Okay, places that I went, I got to start a Fellowship of Christian Athletes program and that was just very rewarding. You know, we had a lot of people that uh, uh, it really helped turn their lives around and things like that. So, um, so that was, that was something I was really proud of as well.
Speaker 2:That's, that's awesome. What legacy do you hope to have left behind in the communities that you've served?
Speaker 4:Well, you know, I hope that what they say is you know what he turned things around here. Maybe he really pushed us to another level. And when I say he, you know, I always mean the people that work with me, not for me. I always say the people that work with me because I couldn't do anything by myself, but I just hope that I always want to leave a place better than when you got there.
Speaker 4:You want to leave it better than what it was, and so I think that's the main thing, yeah that's great, and so that's.
Speaker 2:I think that's the main thing. Yeah, that's great. Any closing thoughts, any words of wisdom, any goal or not goals, but any quotes that resonate with you on a daily basis or that have got you through some challenging times that you could share with our listeners.
Speaker 4:Sure, you know, jim Place has me over to talk to some of his classes over at University of Dayton. You know, of course, jim was on the show a few weeks ago and one of the things that I do in the presentations up there, as I say from a teacher's perspective, is you know, they may not remember what you taught them, but they'll always remember how you treated them.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:And that was, you know, just always something that stuck with me and always something that I tried to pass on to all the teachers. You know again, Dan, do you remember what you did in math class?
Speaker 4:No, but you probably remember you know those teachers that you had in high school, in college or whatever that you remember how they treated you. As a matter of fact, I actually had a teacher in high school one time and she was a pretty mean lady and she actually said to me one day she said, you know, you're never going to amount to anything.
Speaker 3:That's what she told me.
Speaker 4:And okay, okay, maybe she's right, who knows. And that was what I swear. Well, a few years later, when I was working for Hamilton, I went back for an in-service and there she was and I went up to her and I said you know, hey, mrs, do you remember me? I'm Greg Pettit. And I said you know, I just wanted you to know that you were a little bit wrong. I said I've got my master's and I'm working on my doctor's degree and, a little bit cocky, I probably didn't even say anything to her. But you know, the point of that is, why would you say that to somebody? You know, why would you say that to a kid? And so I always tried to nothing but positive. You know, really and truly as a principal I would have, and you knew some of these kids, you know, at Trail and some of the other places, but some of the lowest acting kids, kids that got in trouble all the time, couldn't stay out of trouble with the law or whatever, some of them were my favorite kids.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:They really were, you know, because you know it just felt like that. We and to this day I've had some of them contact me, you know, and say, hey, thanks, and that's really what it's all about. I had a girl, one of my former students, maybe a year or so ago, you know. She called me on the phone and said you know, I just want you to know, mr Pettit, you remember that day that you talked to me because I was down, because blah, blah, blah, this, that and the other, and I said, yeah, I said I do remember that. And she said, well, you helped me so much that day and I thought, well, you know, good, I'm so glad about that and, and you know, I always knew that you would be successful and and things like that. She says, no, you don't understand. She says I was, I was really to take my life. Wow, he said that's how down I was.
Speaker 2:And she said you're the reason I didn't, and you know stuff like that.
Speaker 4:Well, that's an impact. You know stuff like that. You know really, uh knows that you can have an impact on kids. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And that's, that's powerful, and you know, when we're we're kind of trying to do the same thing with this podcast and you know, and getting getting stories like yours out and there's there's so many good people in this world and and all we see, if you watch any news which I don't, but if you do is negative, negative, negative and and people like you who have made a massive impact on countless who knows how many numbers of kids, just like those who made an impact on you, like Mr Brown right.
Speaker 2:Um, all, the, the, the teachers that that were part of your team, and all those different schools. That's what life's all about, right?
Speaker 1:It's all about helping others.
Speaker 2:It's all about helping kids, especially the kids. You know Ben and I are very involved in our kids' lives and coaching youth and you know trying to help high schoolers here and there and even if it's just, you know, every morning I'm at the Y with my two boys working out and you know there's high school kids in there shooting hoops and doing things. Man, hey, it's great to see you in here at five in the morning.
Speaker 2:You're going to come in here before school and get your shots in or get your workout, and I mean that's. You just never know what those kids go to go home to.
Speaker 4:Oh, absolutely, you know, especially in the role that I'm in now at Hamilton. You know high poverty level in Hamilton now a lot different than it was, you know, 40 years ago or whatever. And you know again, part of my role right now is the director of football operations and I really look forward to it, because most of my work happens in the offseason and that is. You know, I'm getting ready right now to have my meetings with the seniors right now Okay.
Speaker 4:Where, where. What are you doing? Are you going into the military? Are you going to college? Are you going into the work world? Whatever it is you're doing, I'm here to help you find that way. We're helping with resumes, we're helping with everything you know, whatever it is that they want to do, and so that's a big part of it, and I really enjoy that. I really enjoy it because, again, you can have a great impact. If you have a great impact with just one kid, it's totally worth it.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, totally worth it 100%. You got anything to add? No, I just love it so much. I mean the whole conversation today about building and how Mr Brown affected you so much. And then a couple years later, you're yeah, you're leaving for another job and a player has that same, basically the same feeling about you, you know, and the passion you had for that kid and that young man, and that's what it's all about I've been so blessed, it's just unbelievable.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yes, you know from from growing up with?
Speaker 2:uh, sounds like the um, the Disney world of backyards you know, to getting into the circus, to going into high school and be handed a ragged jersey you know, player number 76 when there's only 75 jerseys. That changes your life Absolutely. That changes your life Absolutely and motivates you to go from maybe the worst football player on the team to probably one of the best by the time you were a senior, to go into college, to go, you know, into broadcasting and then to become a teacher, just because Mr Brown saw something in you.
Speaker 4:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:And then the leadership that you took from there to all these different schools and teaching and being a principal and then a superintendent. Now, now, you know I I would imagine right now has probably got to be just an enjoyable time because you got your, you know your kids are through school, you live that amazing eight years watching your boys play football. Now you got grandkids. Now you're still involved in football, which is a passion and and, and you know, affecting young men in a in a positive way. I mean your life is full.
Speaker 4:It sure is. And you know we mentioned my boys, but I'll tell you my daughter, you know she has four of the grandkids and, uh, four of her own children, my grandkids, and uh, and she's just incredible. I, you know, and I of her own children, my grandkids, and she's just incredible, you know, and I told her this a couple weeks ago. I said you know what? You are the nanny of our family, and what I meant by that is they used to call my mom nanny and my mom was just a wonderful woman as far as being the peacemaker, being the one that holds everything together and stuff, and that's what my daughter's doing now and you know that's bigger than football and anything else, you know, and so she does a great job.
Speaker 4:Her name's Kayla, but you know she went to National Trail for a little bit, and so did Cody, before we moved and stuff. And Kayla actually was ready to graduate from Eaton when I moved her her senior year, and you know so I was the worst dad in the world for about two months, but anyway.
Speaker 2:I've been blessed. I've been blessed. Well, mr Greg Pettit, I appreciate you making the trek from Hamilton to come up here and spend time with us in the studio. It's it's been great seeing you. It's been great hearing your story. You, you, you had a an impact on my life, my senior year when you came into trail and um, you know I I'm grateful for you and for your, for your mentorship, um, not only to me, but to to anyone who's come in contact with you.
Speaker 4:Well, thank you so much. It's just a, uh, an honor to be here and and I hope I can keep on doing some good in life, and you will, and you will.
Speaker 3:Hamilton's blessed to have you.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you very much, For sure. Well, everybody, thank you for listening. We always appreciate your ears. And again, we ask you know, especially if you know Mr Pettit and you were impacted by him in your years prior and even if you weren't, maybe you're a teacher, maybe you're an administrator out there who's gained some knowledge by his experience Be sure to share the show with those who you think it can impact, because it definitely can. So everybody go out and be tempered.
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