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Big 44 Ernie Davis / Floyd Little All-Star Classic Football Game & "The Coaches" · Cover IV Podcast

• 0:08
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to Cover Four.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_02: If you're a Section 4 football fan, you're in the right place.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_02: This is your podcast.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Coach Smith, and I'll be your host.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_02: Buckle up.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_02: Let's go.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_02: Hello, Section 4 football fans.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_02: This episode is dedicated to the second annual Big 44 Ernie Davis Floyd Little All-Star Classic.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_02: It'll be played Sunday, November 19th at 1 p.m.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: at Vestal High School.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_02: This All-Star game is a new version of the original Ernie Davis Exceptional Senior Classic, which was held from 1990 to 2021.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: It was played between Section 4 senior student athletes on teams divided in Section 4 by East and West.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: In the 31st and final version of the Section 4 game, the West team won 41-7, which was the first West win since 2009.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: The East team leads the series 23-8.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_02: This new version, named Big 44, Ernie Davis Floyd Little R Star Classic, is between 44 student athletes from Section 4 and 44 student athletes from Section 3, the Syracuse area.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: The teams wear replica jerseys worn by Ernie Davis and Floyd Little when they played at Syracuse University.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_02: The team donning the white jerseys will be for Davis and the team with the blue jerseys for Little.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_02: In the inaugural game played last season, Team Little defeated Team Davis 29-0 at Liverpool High School.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: The goal is to play the game at the JMA Wireless Dome.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_02: But until this happens, the game will be alternated annually between a Section 4 site and Section 3.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_02: Our first guest is longtime Owego head coach, Steve Verkler, who has been very active not only as a football coach, but very active in the section level and at the state level, making the program much better.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_02: Coach Verkler is now very active as one of the people behind the scenes that make this particular game a reality.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_02: Today we also have three guest coaches who will be leading these two particular teams in this All-Star Classic.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_02: From Team Little, we have head coach Nick Patterson.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_02: He's a first-year head coach at Hedinger High School, but a longtime coach of the Marcellus Mustangs out of Section 3.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_02: Nick's motto is commitment, hard work, and fun.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_02: From Team Davis, we have head coach Mike Biltford Ford, who is the current Susquehanna Valley head coach since 2013, where he has coached back-to-back state champions in 2018 and 2019.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: Also from Team Davis is defensive coordinator Tommy High Energy Bolino and the current UE head coach since 2013.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_02: All three of our guests were former BC Jets in 1999, and I'm proud to say, as defensive back coach, I coached Mike and Tommy directly and indirectly, Coach Nick, who was a standout running back for the offense.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome, Coach Berkler.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_02: Appreciate having you on, uh sharing some insight with us.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: How are you doing?
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_03: I'm doing good, Tim.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_03: How are you doing?
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_02: Good.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_02: You enjoying retirement?
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so far, so good.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_03: You know, it's uh it's only been a couple months, but uh yeah, it's been uh spent some tough weeks, you know, adjusting, but overall, yeah, I enjoy it very much.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah, I can imagine it's pretty tough adjusting to retirement.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I just I miss I miss football on MBS Friday nights.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_03: That's that's the the main thing.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_03: And and I love teaching.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_03: I love I love uh teaching phys ed and being around kids, so I do miss that part of it.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_03: But uh the daily grind of it is certainly nice to you know get up and do what you want when you want as a as a retiree, no doubt.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_02: You uh as a teacher slash coach, you have the classic withdrawals that you go away from.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm glad to see you're still involved uh specifically with the Big 44 game, and that's why we we uh wanted to have you on and share your insight with uh you know with our listeners.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: So uh first question I I have for you, coach, is what goes into the behind the scenes stuff to coordinate something like the Big 44 game?
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_02: Because I know it just doesn't happen.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: There's a lot that goes on, and take us through that.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_03: There is there is quite a bit, and you know that's that's kind of uh the role that I've taken on this year.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_03: Last year I kind of helped with that, but was a head coach, and this year Mike Ford has taken over as a head coach, and you know, I'm doing more of that behind-the-scenes stuff.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_03: I actually had to travel up to Syracuse today to pick up jerseys and t-shirts and shorts and bags and all that stuff that uh has been donated to all of our kids from both for both teams, and um you know, yeah, that part obviously taking care of the stadium and and with the help of Josh Gannon at Vestal and uh Jeff Paskias, our section four coordinator for football.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_03: Those guys have been fantastic uh guys to lean on and help with anything that we need.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, hopefully we've got everything lined up, ready to go.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_03: I guess we'll find out uh Sunday afternoon at one o'clock.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and uh I'm hoping for a better uh end result than we had last year.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_03: It was uh it was certainly a tough goal event, and we we kind of knew I think going into it a little bit that we might have our hands full, and then we got up to uh Syracuse that day, and it was I mean it was cold for both teams, so I that doesn't is what it is, but it was the windiest day I think I've ever seen since I've been coaching football.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_03: They would place the ball on the turf and then the ball was rolling along the turf, uh was bowling so hard.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_03: And and we had we had I thought some some pretty good skill guys that we could throw the ball around to, and that was our game plan, and and that win just took it out of us, and uh, we had a hard time running the ball, and and they took it to us a little bit.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_03: But Mike Ford has guaranteed me that we're gonna be in a better situation this year.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna have him on as a guest a little bit later, along with his defensive coordinator, Tommy Bellino, and then we're also uh gonna have Nick Patterson on, the uh the team little head coach from the section three.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_02: So uh that that's kind of interesting.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_02: I've got a soft spot for Ernie Davis in particular, because my dad had coached him in high school.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: I'd never met him, but one of the things on my coaching bucket list was to actually coach in that Ernie Davis uh exceptional senior game.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_02: And I actually got to do that when I was at Vestal, so that was really cool to be able to do that.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: And uh I actually have a podcast guest, I've already recorded the episode.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: It was one of Ernie Davis' friends at college at Syracuse.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_02: His roommate was John Mackey, who went on to play with the Baltimore Colts, and now he's a he's a Hall of Famer.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but he's he's since passed away.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_02: But his wife, um, I interviewed her and she took me through some really neat stuff.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm also also gonna have that episode on later as well for our listeners.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that'll be really cool.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_03: That's really really awesome, and that's really what this game is about, right?
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_03: It started, you know, long before I came to Owego.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_03: They were doing the the Ernie Davis exceptional senior game, and you know, over time it's evolved into what it is right now.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_03: We've done this for the last two years and connected with those guys from Section Three to turn it into the team V Davis versus Team Little.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, there's a lot of younger guys that don't know the history behind Ernie Davis and the number 44 at Syracuse and all the tradition of that that that holds.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_03: And we try to educate those guys through the week on some of those things.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_03: And I think honestly, there's probably guys that we're coaching right now that that haven't seen the movie The Express.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_03: And right, but you know what?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_03: Now I'm thinking maybe I'm thinking about it.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe we give them as homework, they have to go and watch that to get a true appreciation uh for how important Ernie Davis was to not only our community but the Syracuse community and and the you know the football community at large is just a tremendous honor to be a part of this.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: I've I've uh gathered a lot of memorabilia articles, uh things like that.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_02: I'm putting together a uh an overview of Ernie Davis, and it might be something to consider to have um, I don't know if you get to meet with these student athletes in this contest in a uh nice setting indoors where they could actually you know hear something like that.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_02: But I'd like to share that insight in the future if that's something we could consider.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: But that's what I've I've got in the works, and it might be a podcast, but it might be a two-episode podcast because there's so much uh that I've found by researching his background, a lot of things that don't show up in books or movies and those kind of things.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm really uh really proud of that.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_02: So maybe we'll do something with that someday.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_02: But speaking of proud coach, I want to get your insight on how you feel about your son Rusty following in your footsteps in the in the coaching profession.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_02: And he's actually coaching in this particular game as well.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_03: He is, you know, it's uh it's been pretty pretty special, no doubt.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_03: When he left, when he left high school and was going to school, he he you know he wanted to play college football.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_03: That was probably number one more important than his education.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_03: And uh he ended up going to Hartwick and studied economics and had a great career at Hartwick and absolutely loved it there and wouldn't change any of that for the world.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_03: But when he left, his mother said to him, I think you're I think you're missing the boat on being a being a teacher.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_03: And uh when he got done, he had done a uh a one-month internship with uh some middle school phys ed teachers and it kind of sparked him his senior year, and and now here he is, he's he's doing his grad work as a phys ed teacher, and uh you know he's been lucky enough to been be hired at at a Weagle um in a part-time role right now.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_03: Um and uh while he finishes up his his graduate work in Phys Ed and yeah, he's been able to coach with us the last two years, I guess the last three years now.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and he's coaching this game the last two years, and uh, you know, he's he just he brings great energy and and um you know it's it's been pretty cool to see.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_03: We've we brought on some really young coaches at Owego, which are tremendous, tremendous people.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_03: And uh his best friend TJ Wegman, who was his quarterback at Vestival, uh has is also there as well.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_03: And those two guys were were ball boys for me when they were six and seven years old.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_03: So to see them grow uh into what they have uh and turn into tremendous uh people and coaches and teachers has just really been an awesome experience the last couple of years.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_02: It it really is.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_02: I grew up in a family that both my parents were teachers.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_02: My mother was a fourth grade teacher in the Elmira City School District.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_02: My dad was a phys ed teacher at EFA and a football coach and track coach and basketball coach.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_02: So that's what I wanted to do when I graduated, but the teaching ranks back then were saturated, and there wasn't very few opportunities.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_02: So I went a different route, but obviously I've still stayed involved, you know, through playing here locally with the TC Jets, coaching with the BC Jets, Vestal High School, youth football.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_02: So I've stayed in the mix and now I'm kind of on the periphery with the podcast.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's my lane now to keep you know the Section 4 football fan uh in tune with everything that's going on.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_02: So that's that's good.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_02: So this listen, coach, is there anything else you want to share with us about uh the game coming up this weekend?
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_03: You know, it's it's uh it's certainly a tremendous opportunity for for kids in both sections um to not only get nominated, but then to be a part of that game.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, you know, we're looking forward to it.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_03: We're playing at Mestal at one o'clock on uh Sunday afternoon.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_03: It's five dollars to get in, and the money that's raised there helps cover the cost of whatever it is that we have for the game between uh you know all the extra stuff that we do, and then if there's anything left over, we split that with our coaches association in section four with the section three guys, and we did the same thing last year.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and and those guys up in section three are awesome.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_03: Paul Seeley, who was kind of one that spearheaded this from section three, he he mentioned it to Jason Miller and myself at one of our state meetings, and Kevin Depart, those guys have been awesome.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_03: They've raised a tremendous amount of money through uh the U.S.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_03: Army and uh BMK um as is uh a company up in Syracuse is taking care of all the jerseys and the things for these kids.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_03: So they don't have to pay a penny, they just gotta show up and do the work and hopefully hopefully have some fun at the same time.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_03: So it's a tremendous opportunity for everybody, and uh we can't thank all those guys enough for everything that they do.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, actually, last year, about this time, I had uh coach Sealy, Paul Seely on in an episode to kind of go through the inaugural phase of that.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so yeah, I got some good insight that our listeners can go back and listen to that podcast as well.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_02: Listen, coach, I know you're on the road again.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_02: Appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule and sharing your insight uh with us here in section four and and this weekend coming up with section three as well.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_02: Really appreciate it, and you take care of yourself.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_03: Sam, I want to I want to thank you too.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_03: I haven't uh, you know, being out of it this year, I haven't followed high school football as closely as I did in the past, but I I listen to your your podcast every single week, and I can't thank you enough from a high school perspective how much you do to promote our game and our our sport at the high school level and what you do specifically for Section 4 is awesome, and I know pre people appreciate that.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_03: So I want to say thank you and thank you for having me on today.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_03: I appreciate it.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, you're welcome, and thank you, coach.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_02: Appreciate it.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_02: Take care.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_04: Welcome, guys.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_04: How are you doing?
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_04: Doing well, man.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_04: Good doing great.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having us, Tim.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_02: All right, thanks for taking the time to do this.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: I know you guys got busy schedules and especially trying to fit in this uh big 44 game, and that's part of the reason I wanted you guys here.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_02: I've got a series of questions I'd like to ask you guys.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_02: You guys up for that?
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, certainly.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, all right.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_02: The first one we'll start off with with the section three guy, the occasional adult.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: We'll go with you, but go with you, Nick, on the first one.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_02: Why did you select a coaching profession?
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_04: Um, I believe it was my calling.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, I never really thought of coaching.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_04: You know, uh, as you guys know, I played semi-pro football down in section four.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_04: And uh Dave Johnson, he was who was the head coach of Seton Catholic back then, and he was our defensive coordinator on the Jets.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_04: And he came to me one day and said, Hey, you want to be, you want to get into coaching?
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_04: And I was like, man, I don't know about coaching.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I this was about 2003, maybe, I don't know, around that time anyway.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_04: And then he was like, he said, think about it.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_04: So I thought about it a little bit, a couple days.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_04: I said, I'm I'm up for it.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_04: He said, Okay, good.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_04: You're my my head coach, you know, my head modified coach.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_04: I was like, wow, head modified coach.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_04: I was thinking about just helping you out.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_04: So, so you know, and as you know, most back then, especially, you know, C and Kavlic, you know, a lot of that never played football, and they uh they you know he got them out to play, and so I'm coaching these kids.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_04: We're 0-6.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_04: We got one more game left.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_04: And uh I believe we were playing Norwich, and we ended up winning the game.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_04: And the kids, the seat of joy in those kids, I said, you know what, this is for me.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_04: And and that's what got me into coaching, and that became became the uh love for me, man.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I look at it as teaching, you know, it's really teaching, but your classroom is different.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_02: You don't have chairs and desks, you've got fields and courts and things.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, it's uh it's great.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_02: I I know exactly what you're talking about.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Coach Ford, you done with your nap?
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm ready.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, Coach Ford's awake now.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_02: So we got Coach Ford tough.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Mike, same question for you.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_02: Why did you select the coaching profession?
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, uh growing up in high school, uh, my grandfather had been a baseball basketball coach at Binghamton.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, I was always running athletics growing up.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: I had 20 cousins that all lived around me growing up, so we're always playing together, but I was one of the older ones.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so often I take what my grandfather worked with me with and worked with the younger cousins, and I found I really enjoyed it.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I knew I wanted to go into uh physical education teaching, and uh, I just uh nobody really in my immediate family played football.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: But uh I had started out in Wesley Youth Football League because we didn't have a uh youth league in Johnson City at that time, uh, and had some great coaches uh with the Miami Dolphins, which is why I'm a Dolphins fan to this day.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but some of the coaches that I had there, uh, like uh Glenn Cole, who uh was a phenomenal player at Penn State and uh ended up coaching at Susquehanna Valley.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and I was fortunate enough to student teach at Susquehanna Valley when I was doing my teaching uh internship.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: And the coaching staff at that point at SV was familiar with me because I had some of them when I was in Pee-Wee and uh learned a lot under them.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: An opening opened up at SV the following year, and I've been coaching football ever since.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: So uh I think for me, uh growing up where I did, it was a great outlet for uh a lot of frustrations and energy.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I wanted to share that with kids.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's the best team sport in the world.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: You need 11 people every single play working together.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's always under attack, but it has so many life lessons that I learned for that in high school when I had Albert Netty at Johnson City, you know, hard-nosed, tough coach.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: And at the time you don't appreciate the lessons you learn until later in life.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, since I didn't realize it when I was in school or in those lessons, I wanted to emulate that and work with young kids and teach those lessons because I feel like they're kind of going out of society.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: Nice.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, very well said, and you mentioned high energy, and that's a great segue into our next coach, uh, Tommy High Energy Bolino.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_02: Tommy, same question for you.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_02: Why did you select the coaching profession?
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: Am I gonna go last this whole time?
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, no, next time around, you go first.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: How am I supposed to follow these two up, man?
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's too good.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, come on, you can cut but think of it as a trail technique and coverage.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: I I guess so, but you know, I have to you know, I played with both I played with both coaches here, Coach Ford and Coach Patterson, and it was it was great, you know, spending that time on the field with them.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm almost calling you know BS to their answers.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know why?
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: Because because if we could still the reason why I coach is because I'm I I just love football.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: I love playing football, I love the the competitiveness of it, I love the I love hitting.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: I just I love the high energy and I just couldn't really play anymore.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I I still want to be a part of it because it's just oh just a part of me my whole life.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I just didn't want it to end.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: And that was the only way to kind of continue to um to get that rush.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you know, football is a rush.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: I love the nerves, I love um everything about it.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: So so I'm giving like a selfish reason, you know, because you got two other great um you know answers before me, but I know I do it for myself because I like to be a part of it, you know.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: But it is true.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I am a teacher as well, and and there's nothing there's nothing like it.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: So I teach art and I teach football, and everyone thinks they really contradict each other, but they're very, they're very similar.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: You're you're teaching kids um a very specific skill set and and they learn a lot about themselves, you know.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: And um, and and that's what I really like about football.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: So it's uh it is uh it is under attack, like what coach was saying earlier, and it is um it is something that you could really mentor kids, like you know, um you know, Coach Nick was saying as well.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's uh it's all that.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's all that and it's it's it's just something that uh it helps uh uh boys become young men because you're if you're facing adversity, uh you're facing um challenges, there's there's a part of fear in there, the fear of being embarrassed by you know missing a coverage or missing a block, right?
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: But there's also that physical fear of getting run over.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's what we really need in in society is men to be able to, or young boys to become men to understand that it's it's not easy, life's not easy.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, and like coach was saying, that there's a lot of life lessons, and and life is not easy, and you have to be able to overcome those fears.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: And uh you have to learn how to become comfortable in uncomfortable situations and uncomfortable and un be comfortable in uncomfortable situations, right?
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it's it's those kind of challenges and making kids kind of like push beyond what they think they're capable of doing is is really the joy of it.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_02: I a couple of things there to unpack.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_02: You had talked about getting run over.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_02: I can remember at a young age, I got run over, and my dad was a coach and he coached Ernie Davis in high school and stuff.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_02: He he told me, he says, that's the original physical therapy.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_02: He says when you get run over.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_02: And also, uh, when I was broadcasting with Roger Neal UE game at Ty Cobb Stadium, we saw this.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_02: Roger said to me, He goes, Did you see that blur running down the sideline?
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I think that was Coach Bellino.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_02: So, what we did is next time there was a bad call or something, I put the stopwatch on you.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_02: You ran a 4540 to go talk to that official.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I was icing down in the locker room after that game, too, I believe.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: I might have popped a hammy on that one.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you were moving.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_02: What was that blur?
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, now we're gonna start off with with you on this one, Coach Belina.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_02: We'll kind of go back the other way.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_02: What does coaching in this particular game mean to you?
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: Well, there's a lot of history.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's I mean, this is only the second you're going for like the big 44, right?
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: It you know, back in the day, you go back like 60 years.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: ago you're you had it was I think I believe it was UE versus Binghamton North at Ty Cobb Stadium on on Thanksgiving, right?
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: So families would orchestrate their whole holiday around you know watching a football game, high school football, right?
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then it evolved into um the Ernie Davis at Ty Cobb Stadium.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um to celebrate Ernie Davis and all his accomplishments.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then and now it's uh you know now it's evolving into the Big 44 to talk about you know Floyd Little and and and Ernie Davis.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's it's a very cool thing.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: I mean you think about Ernie Davis as you know uh section four guy and then he plays in section three you know college you know so and now uh we're combining section four and section three so it's something special to be a part of I think it's a great way to um kind of like culminate a uh a season of coaching right so you we're coaching like in section four you know where I'm coaching these kids that you know we were you know just playing against you know a few weeks ago right and um I'm the kind of guy who you know I kind of like you know coach with a little bit of edge a little bit of anger a little fat um and and it's great to kind of see these guys that you're like they're your arch enemies and now you're coaching them and and it's a great way to kind of bring it back you know full circle you know exactly so it's so it's fun and it it's a great you know we talked in section four on you know that we're a section four family and it's it's a great way to kind of end the season of getting all back together.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know you start the season with maybe some contact camps and practice camps you have at the beginning of the season with other teams and then you kind of like splinter and you kind of like develop your own team and your own chemistry right and then it circles back around and and you kind of like bring it full circle you know coaching you know other kids and and seeing other kids um just not as uh another group of guys that are trying to take something away from you right yeah but working together for for a common goal so it's great.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_02: Good thank you uh coach Ford same question what does coaching this game mean to you and also I believe there's a Davis on the roster and he's gonna wear 44 uh I'm pretty sure Coach Verkler said nobody's gonna have 44 this year is what I thought he said tonight I believe oh okay uh in recognition of that but uh for me this game you know when I was in high school and I played in this game just like Tommy said it was at UE and I remember uh the grass had froze overnight so it was a grass field at the time it was like an ice rink but uh you don't realize it at that time that you're getting an extension on your senior year of high school football not a lot of people get to play after high school and uh to really sell that point home with these kids that you know you're getting an extra few days to practice together to play together and to play this great game because not everyone can put on helmet and shoulder pads like other sports.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_01: The history of the game, Ernie Davis, and uh you know just teaching kids you know about the history of what our area has and football and the strong traditions.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: And uh for me it's just an opportunity to give back we have a lot of stuff going on in our life right now but this is an opportunity for us to volunteer, spend time with kids from other schools and just uh cherish the fact that we're out there playing football in November.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_02: Coach Patterson, you still there with us?
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yes sir.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_02: Same question.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_02: What does uh coaching in this game mean to you?
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_04: Oh man, it means a lot to me man.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_04: Being connected with section four and obviously I'm from section three, you know, playing semi pro there playing with these guys and finding out that they're coaching in it, you know, that made it that much more special.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_04: Just you know and also you know giving these kids another opportunity to play you know the the sport that we love man.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_04: Like like coach said, you you a lot of these kids may not play football again you know flag football yeah but nothing like putting on the pads and team you know getting together with 10 other guys on the field man and and and it's like the ultimate team sport like coach said man and um it just it is to represent Syracuse you know and you know 44 is is Syracuse.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_04: Everybody knows 44 is the big number in Syracuse and and seeing the you know Floyd Little and Ernie Davis and Jim Brown not Jim Brown but all the others that won wore 44 and the kids actually learning the history of of 44 because a lot of them didn't even know you know the story behind 44 and it was just kind of cool man to be in being you know being a scan I coached last year as an assistant but this year they you know they voted me in to be the head guy and that was special.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_02: Nice.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: If you when you look again at some point at the cover four logo on this website or on the podcast look at the 44 yard line you'll see down there little small orange 44 and that is a shout out to obviously Ernie but it's also you know for Jim and for Floyd as well but in particular uh from for Ernie because he did come from section four.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_02: All right so now the the last and final question this uh coach uh let's see who can we have Nick you'll be up first on this one I'm sorry coach Ford you'll be up first on this one I don't want to get you want to steal Tom's thunder if I can if I can steal Tommy's thunder sure that opportunity okay you better be able to pick them up and put him down fast because I've always said uh Tommy you might know this too and I don't know if you knew this mic when I was coaching I said can you tell you know how you tell when another student athlete is faster than what another student athlete you just watch their socks the one with the faster socks is going a lot faster than the other student athlete so that's kind of easy to do just watch your socks you know I'll also say you know I I played with these guys but I was a young pup at the time I was 19 20 years old and I probably would have rather faced Tommy's blur than uh be on the opposite side of Nick coming at me as a running back so I'm glad he was on our team.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_02: Well I'll tell you I was I was standing I remember standing in the backfield and it uh Tommy your uh dad might have been back there with me because he and I coached together when uh for a while but coming the it was a live scrimmage it was going live and there was Nick uh was coming around a corner he was being led by Trent his cousin and Trent I'll never forget had these knee braces that squeaked and he was coming around a corner and I was back there and whatever defensive back I was near and talking to I said that that's illegal I said but I'm glad you're in uniform and not me I said back in the day when stuff like that come at me it was like oh my God you know this isn't why I play and that was all the original physical therapy that my my dad had talked about.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: So Mike now I wanted what would you do or what insight would you share if somebody came to you whether it's a youth young student athlete or maybe a uh a dad that's now or a mother that's got empty nest and says hey coach Ford I'd like to get into uh the profession of coaching what do you think go spend time with kids you know volunteer with youth football go you know ask the schools around if they need volunteers budgets are getting cut uh you know you could always get involved in some capacity whether it starts out as doing statistics or you know a ball boy water boy you know get your foot in the door I mean I'm a Dolphins fan look at you know their head coach he was a ball boy but uh no you know start with the youth because those guys are all volunteers uh you know they're always looking for extra help and uh you know just giving to those kids the youth kids you know making it fun for them would be a great start and then if you like it you know you work your way up but uh just giving back to the kids because we want it to be fun we want it to be a game and you know the more people that are involved you know there's a lot of teaching at that level so that's where I'd say yeah and there's a lot of great memories that come out of it at whatever level you play I can remember certain scenarios like it was yesterday I forgot what I ate for dinner tonight but I can remember certain plays we ran certain scenarios uh those kind of things coach Bellino talk to me about some insight that you would share somebody came to you and taps you on the shoulder and uh as you're running by or something say hey coach come here what what would what would you say to them?
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: Hey do it do it you know give it give it a try you don't want to have any what ifs in life right so it's a good thing you're like we already talked about you're giving back you know so you know work with you know get your foot in the door somewhere and just you know volunteer everyone needs volunteers nowadays um not just you know in athletics but you know anywhere right everyone has answers but no one has no one has the time to do it but so you find a person that is willing to give up their time give up time then and spend time for others you know and service right you know life is about service right servicing others you know um and it's not always just about self right there is self-reward but you know you you know you you feel bad about yourself well then just don't sit there and you know feel bad about yourself go help someone else right that that's good therapy go help someone else so it's good to get out there and go help someone else and and try and try to uh give to them and my big advice is you do get into coaching um is you have to be yourself you can't say oh I'm gonna coach like you know Bill Belichick or or whoever right you you have to be yourself right so you have to be genuine so I because kids it doesn't matter if they're five or if they're 15 they're gonna they're gonna see through you if you're not genuine.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: So be yourself you know no matter how quirky no matter how energetic no matter how what you are you need to be yourself um and you know share that love of of what you're doing with others and and they'll buy in right if they see that they see that you love it they might not they might not really be into it at first but they'll respect you because you love it and then they'll listen because you love it and then hopefully they'll buy into it and fall in love with it too.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: I mean that's what the that's what really the main purpose is because we're talking about youth a little bit as well is you know a youth coach what's your job your job is to maybe teach them a little bit but then have them fall in love with the game to go play another year right not to win the you know the uh the championship game you know for the for the peewee you know you know falling in love with it we know winning winning is a one way to fall in love with it but also being able to see improvement right to um be a part of something that's bigger than yourself those are the things that uh that really matter you know and absolutely if you can find a volunteer that wants to do that then then that's great you know and and if somebody is willing to spend time with others you know that's great too.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_00: I was at one point in um where I was having a hard time you know filling my staff you know where there wasn't people that were really interested in in coaching and there was like a little lull now I have a lot of volunteers and I I don't have a problem at all but there's one point where I was short and I'd go find you know a teacher in the middle school hey do you want to coach you know because I wanted to get I wanted to get coaches at like every level to recruit the hallways to get you know that's right more people involved and like well you know coach I I don't know anything about football is like yeah but I know you like working with kids and I know that you can motivate kids and I know that you love kids and I know that you'll do good by kids and you'll be a good coach.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_04: The exos will come first right the first things they have to look for is people are going to be loyal to loyal to you loyal to the program right and then who are going to be loyal to the students who can motivate students right have them do the right things when sometimes doing the right thing is not the fun thing right and then the exos is the bad part about it you know so sure yeah that's good stuff and like what my response was when somebody came to me and asked me that question say hey coach I don't know anything about football I said don't worry I don't either hey Nick uh you're uh buddy what insight would you give somebody that came to you and said hey hey big running back I'd like to be a coach like you're doing now so I'm what would what would you say um I I would you know I would first I would say hey make sure you respect the game you know respect the game do it for the right reasons um always make it about the kids um you want to you want to perfect your craft stay learning always seeking and learning ways to make me a better coach you know I don't think you're ever too old to learn and and you you definitely don't know it all um I believe in adjusting to the times you know and I know we got a lot of old school coaches that won't that won't get out anything you know you gotta you got a drop back quarterback but you're still trying to run the option with it you know you gotta you gotta adjust you gotta do some things um however with adjusting to the times keep your values you know you can you can still work your values in there and your beliefs and and and and don't have to step back on those um and just knowing that the it's bigger than football these kids are you know the kids they're like like we talked all through this podcast you know it's life lessons life lessons being learned man this whole thing you know it's just life it's big like I said bigger than the bigger than the game man it's really definitely with you know respect to game and and also knowing that these kids you know I work I work in the inner city schools and and a lot of these kids use football and other sports as an outlet to get away from the things that they see every day and and come to school to try to get away from and they use they use these sports in football to get away.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_04: So you know trying to make it as comfortable and as as possible.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_04: So you know I'm uh I I don't scream a lot but I do you know once in a while but also like you know you don't know if that kid is coming from a home that screams all the time.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_04: So you know adjust adjust your your your style to to each kid because every kid is not the same.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_04: So you have to treat everybody accordingly as we all know just with life in general.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah and that's that's my that's been my biggest thing man and and I've always said I my I've built my coaching philosophy based on you know what I wanted as a kid when I was playing football.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_04: This is what I wanted when when I was playing or these are the things I didn't like when I was playing so that's how I kind of make you know that's how coach Nick became you know all those things.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_04: So that that that would be my that would be my spiel to someone that was interested in coaching.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_02: Question for you this I'm gonna hit you with a model and you tell me if you've ever heard this before commitment hard work and fun.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_04: Yes absolutely that's what you said right that's what you stick with yeah that's my three ingredients man commitment hard work and have fun you know yeah exactly I think we lose sight on fun.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_04: Yes and that's that's why I say guys we get you know have fun let's be but it but there's time to be serious you know when we step in between the white lines let's take care of business but water breaks and and and you know sideline stuff we we can have fun we can do those things we can joke around but you know definitely have fun man because it it's like I said you you know you don't know where these kids are coming from the things that they're dealing with and so if it's all serious and militant you know to a certain extent it gets kind of like you know what I don't want to play football and we all know that you know like you said earlier football is under attack as always so let's continue to make it better allowing it to be fun so more people want to be involved.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_02: Sure I'll share a quick story with you guys and you may have had something similar but it was a uh summer practice we haven't our our you know two a days and we were finishing up our second two a day we were huddled up and I was a uh I was a position coach I think at the time so I wasn't up leading the the closeout but I was standing next to a student athlete and it was hot we were sweaty and I said man I said I'm starving I said I go get some some lunch and I and uh the student athlete made a comment he says yeah he goes I'm hungry too I said well what would you have for breakfast he says coach he says I didn't have anything for breakfast our we don't have any food at our house I mean that almost crushed me and so every time I see that particular student athlete around whether it's at a restaurant or where I'll buy his meal I'll say no no I got it I'll you know but you know you your point is well taken you get these student athletes for a certain period of time but you don't know what they've gone through to just get to practice they may have to fight their way to practice you know or whatever you know those kind of things but uh taking all those things into consideration is uh is great stuff to all you guys thank you very much not only for you know being the people that you are and doing what you do but thanks for coming out and sharing your insight this is valuable stuff that uh I'm gonna be up burning the midnight oil tonight getting this uh getting this getting this ready for people to listen to so thank you again guys I really appreciate it if you enjoyed this episode be sure to subscribe tell your friends to visit cover4.com and be the next fan up your inputs are never out of bounds in football and life it's not where we line up it's where we wind up thank you for listening to the Cover 4 podcast