There are many things I am thankful for in football. But there were two important things that really started me off on a good path.
First, I played for some good coaches.
In Northampton, Pennsylvania from little league on thru Freshman, Junior Varsity and finally Varsity football as a Konkrete Kid (Yeah the name of my Blog 
konkretekidinfootball.com – guess where that came from??!!) we had very good coaches who were also solid role models.
Then in college at Muhlenberg a very good coaching staff who helped not only me, but so many others stay on the right path (OK, admittedly I veered off that path here and there – OK, quite a lot in fact). Frank Marino and Sam Beidelman were the only full-time coaches and they allowed us to grow up, but they kept a careful eye on us and knew when to pull the leash tight as we went through those college years.
Another big influence was that I was fortunate to start out coaching at Kutztown State College. I was surrounded by very good coaches and we were led by one of the finest men I ever met – George Baldwin.
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The little league coaches were all good men – they taught us football from a fundamental standpoint – more importantly they were solid people. Rich Derkits, Bill Beidleman, John Legath, Bouncy Zepp, Hosh Herschman – well even Mertz! They gave so much more than they got back.
****Well I have to say Rich Derkits did teach me some good cuss words. I consider myself a professional in this area and I credit him with my success.****
Even the Junior High coaches we had made the game fun. Hell, our freshman year I don’t think we won a game (Have to check with my pal Eric Butler though because he would remember since we went through elementary, junior high and senior high school and then college playing together football together!). We were pretty bad that ninth grade year.
Having a coach like Donnie Carbone however did make things interesting and despite our shortcomings on the field he kept things light.
Early in the season Carbone said that our team played like a bunch of Italian sailors … “Chickens of the Sea.” Nowadays the PC police would have probably
been bitching at him. But in the late 60’s what we said on the field stayed there. In fact, a bunch of us went home and took the labels off of the tuna cans in our cupboards.
We taped them on our helmets and many of the guys on the team were wearing “Charlie the Tuna” proudly. Donnie Carbone took great delight as we proclaimed ourselves “Chickens of the Sea!”
Carbone and the rest of the coaches who worked with us younger players did prepare us in the basics of football and by the time we played for the varsity we were pretty good. It really does come down to learning and executing fundamentals – that never changes – from little league thru college and into professional football it depends on blocking and tackling, throwing and catching, running and kicking.
Lou Wolf our varsity coach at Northampton was really a down to earth man and a very good teacher. I know that some of the players and parents didn’t always think he was a good guy or a good coach. But, in him I saw a man who really cared about us and who truly loved coaching. Plus, we were very successful on the field.
I really wanted to find a job like he had – because he always seemed to be happy on the field. Once he and I were talking after a game and he told me it was the only job he ever wanted – being the coach. The extra bonus was being the coach in his hometown.
There was a time when I thought it would be phenomenal to be the head coach in Northampton to return to lead the Konkrete Kids. But, as I aged I realized all of the crap you have to put up with when you were in your hometown. Everyone knows you and certainly everyone knows how to do your job better than you do.
Sprinkle in the parents … yeah the parents may be the biggest drag on high school sports. Everyone’s little Johnny or Mary is going to be a sports star. But, I am off the track right now – plus don’t want to go down that road.
Frank Marino our head coach at Muhlenberg gave me the final push into the coaching world. We often spent time bullshitting about our current teams, coaching philosophies and the game itself. We would spend hours just exploring hot button topics in athletics – oh yeah – a lot of this happened while I was supposed to be in class. (Me …. go to class … ?? Too many other fun things to do.)
****Remember what Mark Twain said (yeah, but understand I was an English major) …”Don’t let the books get in the way of your education!”**** (Honest! I can’t make this shit up!)
Coach Marino told me one afternoon that coaching football was the only thing he ever wanted to do. HMMM …. So much like my high school coach Lou Wolf said it was the fun part of his career – Frank was doing the same. He told me that I should think about getting into the profession …. “you won’t make a lot of money. But, you will make a lot of friends and find it a lot fun.”
Well, I missed a lot of classes talking about football – might as well take advantage of the things I learned in the classroom of football. I wasn’t very smart, but I was just smart enough to stumble into an awesome (mis)adventure for life!
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Starting my coaching career off at Kutztown was also a very important fork in my path through the coaching profession. The coaches and players that I worked with during those first two-years were critical in my deciding to move on and figure out my life and chase my dreams.
No one was more instrumental in my decision to make coaching my livelihood than George Baldwin the head coach of the Kutztown State (I know it’s now Kutztown University) Golden Bears. He was an amazing man who truly was a leader of young men.
He was also a very grounded person. Married with children, religious and a former US Marine. Yup, he sported the GI flattop and stood ramrod straight at the playing of the National Anthem. I truly admire this man and his values to this day.
Well then of course, he did convince me to work for twoyears without pay (well, he hoodwinked one of my 
closest friends – Scot Dapp to do it as well – he’s not real smart either.) But, it was well worth the experience.
Rarely, if ever did George lose his temper. He never swore (I mean never!) and although he had some old-fashioned ideas for the late seventies – he had the respect of everyone. From players to coaches, administrators, opponents and boosters – I rarely if ever heard anyone say a bad work about Coach Baldwin.
We were in a period where earrings, facial hair and young people questioning authority and experimenting with drugs had become the norm. During those years – the seventies – well it was a very interesting time.
I was pretty much a middle of the road guy – Long hair, mustache. But Coach had his values and he was sticking to them.
While George was willing to accept his players and coaches having a few beers and raising some hell – he would not suffer fools. But, while he could be tough it was his complete honesty and sincerity that affected us all so deeply.
Like most successful leaders George had very few rules. Pretty much common-sense stuff. Don’t be late for anything, respect your coaches, teammates, classmates and teachers. BUT WAIT and no earrings or facial hair for anyone with Kutztown football – players but us COACHES as well.
What did you say – no facial hair?? No earrings?? Yup, if you wanted to coach or play at Kutztown State (OK – Kutztown University) you were going to look clean and didn’t need jewelry. Come on it’s the seventies! (You know … Sex Drugs and rock and roll – throw in some mustaches and earrings as well.)
The seventies – the decade of rebellion and awareness! The Age of Aquarius! Pass the joint and let’s hear about that sexual awaking we all were waiting (hoping) for.
But George, who as I said was a former Marine complete with crew cut, was able to impress his values upon all of us. He was able to bring everyone together – to not only have a common goal of winning – but to become as close to a unit as possible.
Coach would say he wanted us to be “Americans!”
When anyone would question why he wanted these things done he would say …. “I don’t get it, does that mustache make you coach or play any better?” “Is that earring going to make you tackle those backs any better?”
Football is American – you don’t need mustaches or earrings to be an American!
But we all bought in – I shaved off my mustache (never wore an earring so it wasn’t an issue). Got cleaned up and was a Golden Bear! I was an American!
To this day those of us who coached and/or for George still tell Coach Baldwin stories. Stories that reflect how much respect and love we had for this great man and his standard of becoming an “American!”
Being that former Marine (still with that flat top look) George would continuously regal us with quotes like. “That guy plays like an American – look at him block” “That Quarterback throws the ball like an American!” He would see a guy loafing or laying on the ground during a play and not hustling – “That guy is not an American – he’s staying on the ground!”
The one I caught him on was “Well gosh darn it – Any American can tackle!” “Come on if you are an American you can tackle!”
So, one of my favorite experiences as a young coach with George was when I pulled the old “He’s an American” and reversed it on him. It got a lot of chuckles from the entire coaching staff when it happened.
We were closing out our season in my first year as a coach. Coach Baldwin had put me in charge of kickoff team for that year.
Now, if you were on the kickoff team in those days – you were coached to stay in your “lane” run down the field as fast as possible and tackle the guy with the coconut. Not a difficult assignment – but to get it done meant you had to navigate the opponents who were trying to knock your head off along the way.
One of the keys to the kickoff team was having a good kicker who could put the ball deep and high so the coverage team could run down under it and get the return man on the ground. The other is to have some pretty rugged dudes who would run down the field full speed! The bigger and faster the better.
Like I said it was one of the last games of the year – perhaps even the last game. We had lost a key guy on the kickoff coverage team and we needed a replacement. So, as a staff we were kicking (hmmm…no pun intended I guess) around a few names – trying to find someone who could help the kickoff team.
Now we had a freshman offensive lineman named Jimmy Bennett. Jim was a local kid from Allentown PA who had played at William Allen High School. He was a backup at guard and he would go on to be a great player at Kutztown before his career was over.
Jim was big at 6-3 and 235 pounds and he could really run … OK I get it, he doesn’t seem big by today’s standards … but in 1977 he was a pretty big dude. He was also really fast and he was very tough. I loved him and where he was going!
In the meeting when we talked about the kickoff coverage team I brought up Jimmy’s name. I think everyone pretty much thought it was a pretty good idea. But George did not agree.
“But Donnie … I like Jimmy Bennett a lot. But come on he is a freshman (George did not like to play freshman) and he is an offensive lineman. I don’t know if he can tackle … he’s an offensive lineman.”
I knew I had him, with a grin I said … “But Coach he’s an American. Everyone knows if he’s an American he can tackle.”
The whole room cracked up and George just started laughing and I had him. Jimmy was now a member of the kickoff team.
By the way he did a great job!
Sorry a long and winding road (wow, that might be a good name for a song??) to tell you a simple and probably silly story!