SportStars Editor Chace Bryson spends the day with De La Salle’s new head football coach, Justin Alumbaugh, as he takes over for a legend
J
ustin Alumbaugh is already nearly eight hours into his day — a day he admitted started a little earlier for him than usual. “I woke up pretty early this morning,” he says. “Definitely got up a little earlier than I intended to. That’s a good thing, though. I’m excited.” Other than that, this day — Friday, Aug. 30, 2013 — is set to pass like any other early-fall Friday he’s experienced over the past decade of teaching and coaching football at De La Salle High. With a few very notable exceptions. Today is his first game day as the varsity head coach. Today is also the first game day coach Bob Ladouceur — who with a 399-25-3 record in 34 years of heading the Spartans program, is arguably the greatest high school football coach of all time — is NOT the head coach. Alumbaugh has officially been the head coach since Jan. 4, when Ladouceur called a press conference to officially step down and, essentially, appointed Alumbaugh as his successor. Lunch period is nearly over as the 33-year-old Alumbaugh strides purposefully across campus, past the main office on his way to the faculty room. In the first of four different wardrobe combinations he’ll sport over the next 10 hours, he wears black slacks with a plain white polo shirt. Inside the faculty room he visits his mailbox and finds it nearly overflowing, mostly with large white envelopes sporting the logos of various high-level college football programs. It’s the type of mail haul one would expect the head coach of a nationally-ranked, four-time defending state champion program to receive — and recycle — on a daily basis. As a teacher who splits time in both the English and Social Studies departments, Alumbaugh doesn’t have a permanent classroom. Due to an abnormal schedule, he’s teaching his Period 3 Freshman English class in the Period 5 time slot. Today the class is to go to the library computer lab to participate in the state’s Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) testing. “I’m going to thoroughly explain to them before leaving (the classroom) how to log on, and what they need to bring,” he says. “But I’m going to be bombarded with questions as soon as we get there. Watch.” He’s right, of course. But his passion for interacting with kids, even to the point of occasional exhaustion, is obvious. He strikes up a conversation with one student about the “Freshman Mixer,” a freshman-only social event that’s the reason behind the day’s alternate schedule. “You going to make the magic happen?,” Alumbaugh asks with a big grin. “Get a few digits?” “Sure, we’ll see,” the student replies. “Good talk,” says Alumbaugh. The following period is a prep period for Alumbaugh. He takes long,
Support Your Local Business • Say You Found Them In SportStars™
brisk strides as he walks across campus toward the locker room. He has his own cubicle in a coaches office that’s approximately 18 feet by 12 feet and features five other desk/cubicles shared by more than 20 coaches across the program’s three levels. The only other person in the coaches office when Alumbaugh arrives is Ladouceur. The legendary coach has not retired from teaching, or coaching for that matter. He remains on the varsity coaching staff as the most over-qualified assistant coach ever. Alumbaugh’s desk faces Ladouceur. For some, Ladouceur’s presence would be an intimidating reminder of expectations, but not for Alumbaugh. Nobody has been a bigger champion of Alumbaugh’s credentials to take on the role than Ladouceur. For the next 50 minutes, Alumbaugh will sit at his desk and look over some notes he’s made as well as notes left by assistant coaches. Up until the kickoff against visiting Clayton Valley Charter-Concord, Alumbaugh’s game day routine will play out very similarly to the many which have come before. After kickoff, there will be one fairly significant difference, he’ll be calling the plays on offense. “The main difference is that I’m calling the plays, and that’s a big difference,” Alumbaugh explains. “So right now, I’m getting the plays right in my head — the plays that we want to run first and what we’re looking for. I just want to get the wheels turning a little bit to where I’m comfortable with what we’re going to be doing.” He knows there won’t be any big rah-rah speech before taking the field. “By now we’ve either prepared these kids well enough, or we haven’t,” he says. It’s at this time that assistant coach and Dean of Students, Joe Aliotti, walks through the coaches office. “You better win,” he cracks at Alumbaugh. “You better freakin’ win.” Alumbaugh fields the ribbing with a grin and shake of the head. It’s not the first time he’s heard similar remarks made in fun this day, and he knows it won’t be the last. Time for the first wardrobe change. This ensemble involves high-top sneakers. On every game day for approximately the past 10 seasons, members of the coaching staff have played pick-up basketball right after school. Ladouceur never participated in the games, according to Alumbaugh, but just about every other Spartans coach has at one point or another. The games also feature football alumni as well as a few current students who play basketball for De La Salle. “A lot of us have a hard-time sitting still and waiting for the game,” Alumbaugh said. “This is something that lets us take our mind off it for awhile.”
Score Digital Content: Scan SSM With LAYAR
September 12, 2013
SportStars™
15