Full Show - 10/4/2025

Full show from the Donovan & Jorgenson Heating & Cooling Studio: Saturday, October 4th, 2025

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Varsity Blitz high school sports show, presented
by your local Pick and Save and Metro Market stores
only on Fox Sports nine twenty and your iHeartRadio app
coming live from the Donovan and Jorgenson Heating and Cooling Studios.
Any issues you have, I'm telling you, Donovan Jorgenson dot
Com is where you're gonna want to go. You're going
to turn your furnace on soon, air conditioners on now,

(00:23):
furnace is going to be coming soon. I can tell you.
Always at the end of football season, right coach starts
getting cold.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
So they tell me. But it doesn't seem like we're
getting much weather like that this year.

Speaker 1 (00:33):
It does not. Donovan Jorgenson the largest employee owned the
HVAC company in this state of Wisconsin. Second hour today,
we're gonna talk to Brian Lear, the head the former
head football coach at Cedarburgh. Dave Keel is going to
join us at ten twenty. Talk about when those two
guys used to coach against each other. Dave got I
think he got the better of Cedarburg when he was coaching,

(00:55):
but he's got a lot of respect for Brian Lear,
and I'm looking forward to having him come in studio
and and talk a little bit about his days at Cedarburg.
But for the first hour, I begged the head football
coach at Pewaukee. I said, justin, I live in Milwaukee,
I'm now in Pirate Country. Man, come in studio. He said, Look,

(01:16):
we're for a really good team in a really good conference.
And I said, I know, I'd come in studio. I
want you to bring a couple of seniors that have
stayed in the fight with you, stayed in the fight
all the way through. And you smiled and said, I
got some of those boys. Coach's good to see your brother.
You know, I've got just a ton of love and
respect for you as a coach, have for years, and

(01:36):
I appreciate you coming studio. Thanks for having us.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
I would question your choices and respect as a coach,
but uh, I do appreciate you having a publish a lot.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
And all those Bubba people are all Pewaukee kids. Man.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yeah, they're good kids. We have we have a great community,
great school, and uh, it's it's really a privilege to
be a part of it.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
I didn't know, coach. I didn't know what it was
to be in Pirate Country until I'm moved out there.
And I'm telling you, if I had a dollar for
every pirate bumper sticker I saw it in the cars
around me, I wouldn't have to work anymore because everybody.
And when we came out to the game the other
night on my twenty four, the crowd, it doesn't look

(02:16):
they know you guys are competing. This crowd knows you
guys are fighting and giving everything. I know for a fact,
and I've known for years. When you're in a conference
like you guys are in, if you have to two platoon,
it's not a recipe to win. It's not. You're going
against teams that have forty four guys and every practice

(02:37):
fully engaged because they two platoon, and you look at
the second half, especially the second half of the year,
and your guys get warned, you get worn down a
little bit.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yeah, And I would say this our conference is full
of not just really big schools, but elite football programs
at the Division one level, and so the challenge is double.
It's twofold. We've got great programs with really excellent coaches
and players, and they are legitimately two times larger than
we are on average. So the challenges are unique. The

(03:11):
challenges are pretty pretty expansive, and our kids continue to
fight like crazy.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
Coach I get asked this a lot because I coached basketball.
I coached at smaller private schools, right, and we would
compete with anybody. And people say, well, you know used
to say it doesn't matter if you're Division III. When
you're playing Division one kids. Basketball is totally different. Football
is a numbers game. And you taught me something a

(03:38):
few weeks ago. You said, look, our practices are different.
We have to practice different. Now we're learning a lot.
I think we're going to be a better staff next
year with all the lessons we've learned. But when I said,
what do you mean your practices are different, and you
explain that to me.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah, So if you're a two platoon team, your kids
are just practicing offense or defense, and then every one
of your starters has a chance to be on special teams. Yeah,
and so in a two hour timeframe, kids can practice
an hour and a half of just offense or just defense,
and then thirty minutes of special teams and they're on
and off the field in two hours. With our situation,
we have an hour of offense and then all those

(04:15):
kids turn around, they do an hour of defense, and
then we have to practice special teams on top of that,
and we have to find younger kids probably to kind
of substitute in on those special teams because we have
to give the kids a break that are playing both
ways on offense and defense. So in a week, our
kids get twice as much time on the field with
half as much practice. Wow.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
So when next year when you guys move out of
this conference and thank god, by the way, I'm not
this show. We highlight, promote and celebrate high school athletics. Yeah,
and you're not going to answer this, but I'm going
to throw the question, what was the WIA thinking. It's
not like they called you and said you weren't begging
to go in this conference. Did they do give you

(05:00):
a hedge up before it was coming or did you
did they just lay it on you.

Speaker 2 (05:04):
I was informed about the move by our conference commissioner,
Ken shimp. He actually came to me after the process
of all of the realignment had occurred. And during that
entire process, what happens is schools are asked to petition
for relief if they require it or if they think
they require it. At no time did we initiate conversations,

(05:27):
nor did we have any semblance of desire to move
from the league that we were in two years ago,
And by not communicating, we kind of insinuated that we
were very happy and very good where we were at.
Upon one appeal and then the second appeal, we were
then placed in the Classic eight with very little time

(05:49):
for recourse and no reason actually given. So we did
have our five minutes, and it was legitimately just five
minutes to go to the WIAA and plete our case
that it was a bad fit.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
And via zoomers you drive to Steven's Point for this.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
I was not a part of that meeting, but our
our superintendent and our athletic director drove to Stevens Point
and had to face to face fort for five minutes,
and it was subsequently dismissed as not being reason enough.
So then it became just a matter of all, right, well,
this is this is what we have to deal with,
so we have to go ahead and deal with it.

Speaker 1 (06:23):
Here's what I love about you and your staff and
the community. And again, because I live in the community,
if I'm at Pick and Save or I'm at the
Walgreens or I'm at Walmart and people recognize me. They'll
come up and say, hey, let me tell you what
this football program is going through. And I go, look,
I understand what they're going through. And they go, you don't.

(06:44):
You don't understand, and I go, no, I kind of
do because I coached for a while. And they go,
we didn't ask for this, and it's just it's not.
It's not they didn't ask for this. It's guys my
age going, we didn't ask for this. And I'm like,
are you on the staff? They're like, no, that's my team,
this is my community. I grew up here, I went
to school there, I go to every game home and away,

(07:05):
and so it's me, it's us. We didn't ask for this,
and I look, I love that, and I love the
fact that your staff and you have never said, here's
an excuse. What you've said is we're fighting through it.
We're gonna do our best to get wins. But the
lessons we're learning right now is gonna help us in
the future. We have to get through the root canal

(07:27):
and with no novacate, and that's what we're going through.
And the amount of love that you have for these
two guys that we're gonna get to next, and the
seniors and the guys who's stuck with it and said,
don't care, this is what This is my team, and
we're gonna compete and we're gonna go as hard as
we can. We're gonna try to get as many wins.
And the one kid, it might be your best player,

(07:48):
got hurt right away, who's sitting over here smiling. I
could finally beat him in a race, by the way,
because he's not crutches and it can't be more than
fifty yards. But I love and that comes from you,
the head of the program. And we're not going to
complain about this. We're not going to use as an excuse,
but trust me, we're going to learn a lot of
lessons from it.

Speaker 2 (08:07):
Yeah, and I think you know the hidden magic there
is that because we are playing these really elite football
teams and these programs with these great probable Hall of
Fame and current Hall of Fame coaches, if we are
not open to looking at how they set up their
blueprints and taking a long look at how they structure
their programs, where being fools. No matter what our scenario is,

(08:28):
we have to try to find the positives. And I
think one of the things that we can gain as
a staff and as a program is looking at these
others as models and saying, you know what, what can
we take from these elite programs and apply to our
program to help us be elite. And it's a mindset,
it's a mentality, it's a structure. And I will say this,
like no team in our league has underestimated us. I mean,

(08:52):
I feel like I feel like they certainly know the
score and that they have some baked in advantages in
terms of their depth that type of but we do
get I think everybody's best effort. And that's a tribute
to our kids, and it's really a tribute to the
class of our league in the sense of, like we
prepare every week for the very best that we can

(09:12):
give and the very best that we can get. And
so if nothing else, we've really learned how to prepare
over these last two years, and I'm very hopeful that
those lessons continue to really, you know, bear fruit for
us as we move forward.

Speaker 1 (09:25):
Coach, I've had coaches from the conference sitting where you're
sitting and either on the air or during the break,
I will ask I'll go, look, I live in Milwaukee.
I'm I'm kind of party pirate country. Now how are they?
And they say a lot of them say very similar things.
They look like a classic team, but they don't have

(09:46):
enough classicate players like they look when they come on
the field. They got size, they they're just not a
whole lot of them. And that's the difference. I sit
and watch this and I watch you guys competing at mcgwonago.
Who's really good And you competed really well the first
half and get a little worn down, and I'm watching

(10:07):
as they're putting in you know, guys are only playing offense,
and even then those guys are getting a break for
a series or two and your guys. Normally, when I'm
on the sidelines, what I'll do is the defense comes off,
and I'll sit and listen to defensive coaches as they
talk to their guys, and they'll have twenty two guys
watching the screen to say, look, we've got to do

(10:28):
this on your side. There were two or three because
those guys were playing out the other side, and by
the middle of the third quarter, you get a little
worn down. Look the game I was at one of
your defensive linemen turned his ankle coming into the building,
and I'm like, what what he said? I missed the

(10:49):
step and he had he was sitting there and he
had tears coming down. I go, does it hurt that bad?
And he goes, no, I can't be out there, Like
don't you get this? Like his ankle was up and
his ankle was about as big as a balloon. And
he goes, no, it doesn't hurt all that much. But
I'd like to be out with my guys. Yeah, And
I thought, man, these guys just can have the worst luck.

Speaker 2 (11:11):
Well what are you going to do? I mean, luck
is what it is, and so you make the bust
of it. And you know, we learned some lessons this week.
We watch a video as a team. I'm sure everyone's
seeing it now. Alan Stein, who spoke to the Penn
State football program, and you know his definition of toughness,
which was, you know, do the best you have with
what you have wherever you are. And that's what we're doing.

(11:32):
And in twenty one when we won the stay title
in Division three, our motto was tough guys win. And
I think ultimately, toughness is a mindset. Toughness is a
matter of handling adversity, and toughness is a matter of
taking on challenges in a way that's going to make
you better down the road. And so we just have
to continue to be tough, tough minded, tough in spirit.
And you know that's been it's been a challenge with

(11:55):
a young group because they haven't been through the battles right.
And it's why I really credit our seniors. We have
ten and you know, in a typical year, we're you know,
near twenty. And I think some of it is attrition,
just natural because it happens, but I think some of
it is too, Like the ten that stayed are the
ones that were willing to do the best they could

(12:18):
with what they had where they were, and they were
willing to see it through. And so to your point earlier,
you know, I have nothing but love and respect for
this group because they they stayed in it when other
people decided that it wasn't for them, and I just
know that this group will have great success in the
future as humans.

Speaker 1 (12:37):
Coach. I wonder if the ten that stayed understand that
the amount of love and respect that you have for them.
The phone call that we had where you laid that
out for me because I was like, I want you
to come a student, and you're like, hey man, have
one of those other teams come make because now we

(12:57):
don't have to talk about the record, coach, all the
conversations we've had, the lessons that you have been in
this game a long time, and the love you have
for these guys. I said, pick two to represent those
ten and this whole program, and you said, Okay, now
I know where you're going with this. Mcgiverren, I got it.
I'm in. I'll do that. Don't care that you got

(13:18):
beat last night. I care about about you and what
you're learning from this. And this has been painful two years.
You've had a lot of success as a coach. You've
always been able to figure out the pitfalls and make
everything better. What you couldn't figure out, and I never
was able to figure out, is how to talk kids
into that. Look. I know we've gotten beat a few times,

(13:39):
but we can only compete if we have these numbers, yeah,
and those kids, and that I don't I don't want
to be a team that loses a lot. Well, maybe
we won't lose a lot if you and all your
buddies come out and get after it.

Speaker 2 (13:50):
Well, that is certainly a part of it, you know,
And I send your frustration for me, so I appreciate that, but.

Speaker 1 (13:55):
Because I've been But you know the part coach before
you go on, do you know how many times I
have had guys over the years, thirty six years I coached,
and I've had guys now walk up to me at
a pick and Safe store with their kids and say
to me, Coach, biggest mistake I've made in my life
is not playing senior year, is not is quitting you

(14:18):
in this program. And I said, I told you that,
and when you were seventeen, you thought you knew better.
And they were like, Coach, I thought, if I wasn't
going to be in the top five, I'm not putting
in all that time inequity. And I went out and
my grades went down, you know, everything was I look
back at that and I go, what was I thinking?

(14:38):
And those ten whoever they are, are going to have
that conversation with you one day and it's not going
to make you feel better like I thought it'd make
me feel better. When that that guy came up and said, hey,
what I said and what I did was wrong. It
didn't I feel sad for them because they should have
been part of something bigger than themselves.

Speaker 2 (14:57):
Yeah, I think coaching ultimately is a job of making
memories for people. I think that's you know, in the
end of the day, what we're trying to do is
have an experience for people that they're going to hold
to their heart for the rest of their life. And
when someone walks away from that, they are they're short
changing themselves, their future self on the memories that they

(15:19):
could have, the experiences they could share, and also the
growth that they can experience in that process. Whether it's positive, negative,
et cetera. It's the memories with their teammates, it's the experiences,
it's the lessons learned. And you know, to be honest,
we've been hovering around five hundred the last two years
and one might say, Okay, that's pretty mediocre, and you know,

(15:41):
at its surface, sure it is. But if you look
a little deeper, we have an opportunity to be in
the playoffs two years in a row, coming out of
the Classic Gate. We have an opportunity still to have
a winning record this year right now. We got to
beat two really good teams to do it. But if
anyone was going to tell you two years ago that
Pewaukee was going to be able to watch out of
this two year experience and be able to say we

(16:04):
qualified for the playoffs twice, potentially an overall winning record
at the end of it. Man, I think you would
have to sit back and go, that's as good a
result as we may have been able to predict.

Speaker 1 (16:18):
When this is all done and the dust settles and
a year from now you're in a different conference, do
you think you personally would look back at the last
two years as maybe to the better years of your
coaching career, because, look, you want to stay a championship
for years. You guys are always at the top in
the conversation. When for years when I talk on this

(16:38):
show about some of the best high school football programs
in the state of Wisconsin, right, we go Franklin, we
go some Classic eate and before you got in the conference,
I would always bring up Pewaukee and you like, this
community loves it. The youth program is strong, kids are competitive,
they're tough, they play for each other, that kind of stuff.
Do you still do Taco Thursdays? By the way, because

(17:00):
I didn't get invited to.

Speaker 2 (17:01):
That yeah, we've moved in a little bit. But we
have our Friday Night fs is after the home game Friday,
and then we have our team dinners on Monday.

Speaker 1 (17:09):
But if I ask you a year from now to
reflect over the two years that you spent in this conference,
where you think that you and your staff this may
have been two of the best years of your coaching career.

Speaker 2 (17:21):
I think ultimately we can answer that in two more years. Yes,
if we take the lessons, we apply them and our
program grows because of it. But we have to be
the stewards of that. We have to make sure we
take the lessons. We have to do the things that
are required of us to make sure that our program
is in great standing, and then yeah, I think we

(17:43):
might see ourselves in a better spot. The other thing
I want to say is, you know, when you get
into a situation where you're challenged to win a lot
of football games, the mindset of a fourteen, fifteen, and
sixteen year old kid can be we are not elite,
We are just average. We are just maybe even below average.
And the mental gymnastics sometimes that you have to play

(18:05):
to convince kids that they truly are bigger and better
than what their record indicates. It has to come from
a lot more than just what you do on the
football field. And so one of the things that I've
also learned is that time off the field is as
critical or more critical than the time you spend on
the field from the context of belief and character and

(18:27):
developing all of that. And so that's another area we
have to go back and we have to be really
critical and say, how can we do a better job
of helping our kids grow that way so that in
the midst of adversity, in the midst of challenges, their
belief in themselves transcends whatever temporary situation they might be in.

Speaker 1 (18:48):
How much how much of a different coach are you
today through this experience than you were four years ago,
because it feels like I've had you in study before
and we have conversation stations. But the mindset of having
to almost be a counselor a sports psychologist in the
locker room rather than hey, we're Pewaukee. They're going to

(19:10):
fear us, We're going to be We're probably going to
be better than some teams in the conference. And I
don't have to convince these kids that they're elead and
now in this conference, you've got to convince these kids.
And I watched you play, coach, you're an lead to
the football program. I don't care what anybody says, don't
care about the record, but you have to convince these

(19:31):
kids that, Okay, we took one on the chin to
this team, but understand, ninety percent of the teams in
the state of Wisconsin, with this team we would beat.
And how different is it than just doing x's and
o's and going out and beating people. To now have
them to have those conversations with these kids.

Speaker 2 (19:51):
Well, the coin has certainly flipped a little bit.

Speaker 1 (19:53):
I think.

Speaker 2 (19:54):
You know, historically we've had to really be guarded against
overestimating our abilities and underestimating our opponents. Now we have
to overestimate our abilities and underestimate our opponents, but in
a very different light. I think really the key is
focusing on us because Mousqigo and Arrowhead and mcguanago and

(20:16):
O'connamwak and Kettle Moraine and all these teams are going
to come with who they are and they're not changing
for us.

Speaker 1 (20:22):
So nobody feels sorry for you, No, and nobody.

Speaker 2 (20:24):
And what I would say is, you know, one. Our
execution and our play has nothing to do with the opponent.
It has everything to do with how confident we are
in our preparation and how well we are prepared and
how much we trust our preparation. The disappointing thing and
the losses that we've had this year is that our
execution has been poor. And that's a mindset issue, and

(20:48):
that's a belief issue. And we've got to do better
as coaches to ingrain in our kids belief in what
we're doing and trust in what we're doing and trust
in one another.

Speaker 1 (20:57):
The game against mcguannago, there were some penalty and I'm
on the sidelines and I'm look, I'm watching you right
and the frustration and and the penalties that we were,
you know, before the snap and and you were like, man,
and I understand these kids got to get all geared up.
It's mcgwanago, but you got to take a breath and

(21:18):
play the way you've been practicing. And I could see
the frustration because look, you wanted a clean game and
mcgwanagall makes you do some things that you know they're
they're they're a really quality football team. And can Navox
not he didn't feel bad for anybody. No, he's a
heck of a football coach, really good. He's really good,
and there's a lot of really good coaches. So hey,

(21:39):
we got to get to a break. These two seniors
that are coming. This is the first week we're getting
back to our pick and save student athlete of the week,
and you got a couple of those. Both these guys
could be our student athlete of the week. We're gonna
pick one of them. But we're gonna talk to these
two seniors that are kind of representing not only the class,
but the program. And you said, look, they're gonna be

(21:59):
a great ambassadors for me, for our school, for our community,
and Pirate country. That's why I wanted these guys on.
So we're gonna get to them, and then I'm gonna
have you join us in that last segment. But we
will talk with Tucker and Samaj Samaji Samaji this is close,
rather than Sam, I'll just go Sam. He's got nickname. Nope,
Nopej's that's a little bit easier. We'll talk to these

(22:22):
two seniors representing the Pewaukee community and the Plwaukee football
program and this high school, and we'll get to them
on the other side of the break. This is the
Varsity Blitz High School Sports Show presented by your local
Picket Save and Metro Market stores, only on Fox Sports
nine twenty and your iHeart Radio app. I guess I
say Picket Save and Metro Market too much for Coach Risky,

(22:44):
too bad. Varsity Blitz High School Sports Show presented by
our friends at your local Pickets Save and Metro Market stores.
Coming from the Donovan to Jorgansen Heating and Coolia Studios,
talking Pewaukee football the first hour. And look, you've heard
me talk about Coach Risky and the job that him
and his staff do. And now that I'm in Pirate Country,

(23:06):
I get it. I understand it. And I asked him
to bring two seniors in to represent this program, and
he has done that. North Dakota State Kit is going
there and he is our picking Saves two nath the week.
And we'll get to a couple of questions we'll have
about his academics a little bit later. Tucker, how are you.

Speaker 3 (23:26):
I'm doing great this morning. How are you doing?

Speaker 1 (23:27):
I'm doing really good? Talk about why you're on crutches,
What happened?

Speaker 3 (23:31):
What game Week three this year against Muskego.

Speaker 4 (23:34):
I got side, so I took a hit, got rolled
up on, so I tore my moniscus and at the start,
you know, it was either a two to three week
recovery or three to four months, so you know, we
didn't really know had my MRI. And it came back.
It was a full tear. So I had to have
surgery a few weeks ago. So we're recovering.

Speaker 1 (23:51):
Now. How long you got on crutches for? Do you know?

Speaker 4 (23:53):
I got another four weeks of non weight bearing and
then two weeks and I can slowly start walking again.

Speaker 1 (23:58):
How are the guys at North Dakota State with what happened?

Speaker 4 (24:00):
No, probly fantastic. They've been nothing but help. You know,
if if you need anything, they're there for me. So
it was good to hear because I was a little
you know, nervous about scholarships or not.

Speaker 3 (24:08):
If anything was gonna happen with that. So it was
good to hear. First injury for you, first major injury, yes.

Speaker 1 (24:15):
Major one offensive line, defensive line. What what are you
going to North Dakota State to play hold on? Yeh?
Tackle guard there.

Speaker 4 (24:22):
From what they're talking about the first couple of years,
they're gonna move me to guard and then potentially junior
senior year, you know, as I'm mature physically and mentally whatnot,
they might move me out to tackle.

Speaker 3 (24:31):
So really, anywhere I'm needed.

Speaker 1 (24:33):
Man, you're you been on campus? I have great campus, right, amazing.
That facility is incredible. It's not FCS level at all. Man, Man,
good for you. That's a great place. How are you good?
How are you?

Speaker 3 (24:46):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (24:46):
Tight end, defensive ends? What what do you like better?

Speaker 3 (24:49):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (24:50):
Dan?

Speaker 5 (24:50):
And you know I like like getting the quarterbacks.

Speaker 1 (24:52):
Yeah you don't mind hitting people. But yeah, man, you're
getting here. Serious? You got good hands? Can you catch
the ball a little? Yeah? Yeah I can catch. You're
going to Winona State? Yes? How was the decision process
for you to pick state? Yeah?

Speaker 5 (25:07):
So I went there first on a visit and I
think it was August or something like that, and yeah,
it's campus was beautiful, coaches were amazing. It's like super
real with me, one hundred like no lies. Like I said,
coaching South was amazing. Felt like yeah, you felt felt
like home and yeah, there's no doubt. After that first visit,

(25:29):
I was like, yeah, it's my home. Hey do you
know are they well? And you'll know this are they did.
They recruit you on the defensive side of the offensive
on there, they crud me on the defensive side of ball.
So I'm going to play defensive end in college.

Speaker 1 (25:40):
So somebody's gonna let them know you played a little
tight end. Try over the exactly, maybe they'll try. Guys.
The reason I I I asked Coach Risky to bring
you guys in is to say thank you, to have
you guys understand the importance of being leaders on this
team through through a tough time. And what's going to
happen when you come back two three years you come

(26:02):
back to to a game, people are going to come
up to you and say, look, you guys, who's stuck
in with it and and led this program. That's the
reason we're having all this success. And you guys, as
as coach said, you know, you might think you look
at the record and say, look, we're middle of the pack.
You're not. You're the best football conference in the state

(26:22):
of Wisconsin. Barnett and I have I get calls from
guys up in the valley wanting to have that that
argument or discussion with me. And I'm telling you, you
play in this league you play in this conference and
there's there's not an easy put anywhere on that conference,
on that schedule. And I'll have that discussion, but people

(26:43):
are going to come up to you and go, hey man,
with what you did and how you hung in there.
That's the reason this program is where it said, do
you still go to practice all the time?

Speaker 4 (26:52):
Practice? Yes, sir, you don't miss Nope. I'm a little hand.
I'm sitting in a chair o practice. Oh.

Speaker 1 (26:57):
I bet they made funny to a little bit A
little bit right. You gots your own chair? Ye, how
yestera Fridays. It's amazing you still get to eat a lot?

Speaker 4 (27:08):
I do, yes, Obviously it's better after a win where
a little laxadaisical, you know, and they're caught up in
emotions and whatnot.

Speaker 3 (27:15):
But there it's a good time.

Speaker 1 (27:16):
How hard is it for you to be on the
sidelines when your brothers are out there.

Speaker 3 (27:20):
Face it's terrible.

Speaker 4 (27:21):
I mean, I've kind of embraced it now because it's
the reality, right, and that's my situation. But it pains
me to see everybody else out there and I can't
join them.

Speaker 1 (27:30):
But I don't know, I don't know if coach Christy
has had the conversations with you face to face that
he has with guys like me, where he says, look,
you guys understand these guys who have stuck with me
and are going to battle with me and going to
war with me, and they're putting all the time in
the amount of love and respect that I have for

(27:51):
these kids is off the charts. And I hope that
that you guys understand that this community is very thankful
for guys like you to to to hang in and
do this stuff you do. Tucker as our pick and
Safe student Athlete the Week's mind you you were right
there like you're a three five and you're a three nine.
I mean, you guys are are not neither one waxed

(28:13):
in the classroom. If he you know, if Jessin brought
to somebody who's a three four, you would have been
our Tucker as our pick and Safe student athlete of
the week. Your motivation for being such a good student athlete.
It's not your right to play in this football team, right,
It's a privilege you earned by taking care of business.

(28:34):
Where do you think the motivation for being such a
good student athlete came from?

Speaker 3 (28:39):
For you?

Speaker 4 (28:40):
I mean, I really like to saying it's a little cliche,
but how you do one thing is how you do everything,
Like you can't be great on the football field without
being great in the classroom. And I've I've heard that
from you know, countless trainers, coaches and everything like it
stems from the classroom.

Speaker 3 (28:53):
It also comes from my parents.

Speaker 4 (28:54):
You know, my parents have been on me from a
young age, like, you got to succeed in the classroom
in order to be successful anywhere else.

Speaker 1 (29:01):
What's your mom and dad's name?

Speaker 3 (29:02):
Andy and Kristin Theeneman Andy and Kristin, Yes, sir, you
know they got to be very proud at this point.

Speaker 1 (29:09):
They have to. And hopefully I'll get a chance to
meet them at our local pick and say over in
Pewaukee sometime next week. I'll get you my number, and
you'll let me know what evening works for you, and
and and I'll let Justin know and any teammates want
to come support you. Fifteen minutes, we give you a plaquet,
a bunch of pictures. You'll get sick and tired of
me taking pictures when you were playing. Who did you

(29:31):
hear more in the crowd? Andy or Christine? My dad,
my dad. You didn't even I barely got that question out.
He's got that loud, deep voice, coach, he's under they
I wonder where you got that from. You understand you
could take my job right now with that voice here,
I may have some commercial work for you. That whole
nil thing. They could probably figure that out.

Speaker 5 (29:51):
Yeah, he used to be an all line coach in youth,
so yeah, it's pretty loud to do.

Speaker 1 (29:55):
But yeah, did he play.

Speaker 4 (29:57):
He did not play in college. You had a season
ending your career injury in high school. But he was alignman,
offensive guard, big guy man.

Speaker 1 (30:04):
So you don't mess with him. I don't know you
could now though, right or not? You still don't know.
I mean, trust me. A year, a year justin shaking
his head. He didn't mess with him either. A year
in the weight room in North Dakota State. And how
they're gonna feed you. I'll take you a year from now, Andy,
you're going down Pale, You're going down so Midia. How
about you? As far as that student athlete and the

(30:26):
motivation you're in again, you're right there. And then you
got to get great grades. They don't give good grades
away at people walking because you look good and you
show up in class on time. You got to do
the work. And I'm wondering where that that motivation for
you came from.

Speaker 5 (30:40):
Yeah, honestly, I'm just my motivation to do anything, you know,
whether it's sports like Tyer said, or school, you know,
just being motivated to do do my best at everything.
And you know, I guess that comes to school and sports.
But I feel like if you're as motivated in school
as you are in sports, you know, that's gonna take
you a long way, and not just in school and sports,

(31:01):
but also in life because you're gonna take those traits
with you to be a better man, be a better husband.
And yeah, it's all just about getting into the real
world and having your trades from high school and using
those when you're older.

Speaker 1 (31:13):
So your mom and dad coming to every game, Yes,
what are their names? My mom's name is Kate and
my dad's name is John King and John, who do
you hear in the crowd? Who's louder?

Speaker 5 (31:22):
Honestly, my mom doesn't really know a whole lot about football. Yeah,
so she kind of sometimes doesn't know what's going on.

Speaker 1 (31:29):
But yeah, my dad's pretty loud.

Speaker 5 (31:31):
I mean sometimes I hear him, but he's gotten more
quiet over the years. I used to play basketball in
grade school and pretty loud, loudest doing they all the time. Yeah, yeah,
but i'd say my dad, but I mean, yeah, I
guess my mom sometimes doesn't know.

Speaker 1 (31:47):
Do you know what those guys, And I'm gonna ask
you this to Tucker, do you know what your parents
are going through right now? The year of last for them?
And I don't know if you guys understand how emotional
it is, you know, for for your mom and it's
the last homecoming for them, right. Do you have younger brothers, sisters?

Speaker 5 (32:04):
Yeah, I have a sister. She's a freshman exactly. Yeah,
she's six to one, so volleyball, basketball, both volleyball and basketball.

Speaker 1 (32:12):
Yeah, so they'll have that, but their boy will be
up at Wenona State and it'll be a little different
in the house. And I want you to give them
some graces as Look if if you feel like, why
are you yelling at me? There's so much going on
in their head. Had been through it with my own kids,
and I want you to to to kind of give
them a little bit of passion some of this stuff. Hey,

(32:34):
when when when you guys, made that decision. And I
don't look knowing you guys for the fifteen minutes i've
known you, I don't think there was a decision whether
you're going to come back and play football, be walking
for your senior year? Right? Was it hard for you
guys to know that there are some players in the programs,
juniors and seniors that made the decision not to come

(32:54):
back because maybe it was too hard? How hard was that?
And Tucker, I'll start with you, how hard zech for
you not to say, boys, what did we do? You've
been playing with youth football with me, come on, let's
go play.

Speaker 4 (33:06):
I just I don't think it makes a ton of sense,
right to to work so hard in youth and then
your first three years of high school just to not
finish it out for that last year, regardless of who
you're playing. I think it just comes down to you know,
having a good time and just just coming out and
and playing.

Speaker 3 (33:21):
Your senior year with your with your boys. That's a
that's a big deal.

Speaker 4 (33:25):
But I would agree a lot of people did get
you know, shied away from the challenge, you did not
want to attack it head on. And I think some
of them were, you know, maybe afraid of getting exposed
this year because they didn't prepare like they needed to.

Speaker 1 (33:36):
How foreign is that mindset to guys like you?

Speaker 3 (33:41):
Like right, I can't wrap my head around it. It
doesn't make sense.

Speaker 1 (33:45):
Now, I can tell you, and I've told you this
twice now that your staff and the guy that's sitting
over there in the corner a lot of respect and
love for you boys. Hey, so Miidier, what drill does?
Does this coach make you guys do weekly daily that
once you get to college you hope you never have
to do. Is there a couple that he does?

Speaker 5 (34:07):
I'd have to say, when when you do something wrong,
there's something called a pirate reminder, and basically that's you
go every five yards, you do up down all the
way down the field. Then you do bear calls all
the way down the field again. And uh that I mean,
I guess that just uh goes to like being disciplined
and you know, not doing dumb stuff. But yeah, no

(34:29):
one ever wants to do a pirate reminder.

Speaker 1 (34:31):
So you know when Tucker talked about you can't be undisciplined,
and then it's a Paul Waller Shims, who I coached
basketball for years and he's a DNA students, and he
would he would talk about, you cannot be undisciplined all
day in the classroom and then for an hour and
a half in the gym be disciplined. I can't do it.
And what you talked about, Tucker about look, you can't.

(34:54):
And I agree with that one hundred percent. One hundred percent.
Any drills that he made you do when you were
playing that you're hoping you never have to hear about
it again. That's a hard one. I'm a little closer
to make.

Speaker 4 (35:05):
If I would, I would agree with some part reminder,
but I mean that that is kind of just everyday
conditioning at college.

Speaker 3 (35:12):
Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. That's that's a
hard one.

Speaker 1 (35:16):
You're hoping never to have your own chair to practice it?

Speaker 3 (35:19):
Well?

Speaker 1 (35:20):
Yes, are you a multi sport athlete?

Speaker 3 (35:23):
I did track.

Speaker 4 (35:24):
I'm graduating early this actually this after first semester, so
I did my last year of track and field last year.

Speaker 1 (35:31):
There's our pick and tape student athlete right right? Is
homecoming already done for you guys?

Speaker 3 (35:37):
Yes? Tonight?

Speaker 1 (35:38):
Yeah? You both? Do you need me to callingbody gets
you a date? You're not gonna you do.

Speaker 3 (35:47):
Kennedy, Tuesday, Kennedy.

Speaker 1 (35:49):
That girl, Yeah, I don't call somebody for you.

Speaker 5 (35:53):
I'm fine, man, I'm going with my friends. I'm gonna
have a great time.

Speaker 1 (35:56):
Years ago that Greendale was in the studio, there's a
kid that go, yeah, yeah, why don't you call this
girl live on the air?

Speaker 4 (36:03):
Yeoh?

Speaker 1 (36:03):
And she goes no oh, And there was it was
a moment where time stopped and the kid looked, I'm
just kidding, what took you so long? And during the
breaking goes. My first reaction was I have to transfer school.
We can make that call. I've got Hey, he does

(36:25):
Kenny even know there's no disco dancing for you tonight,
even with two good wheels, you are disco dancing. Hey, guys,
we're gonna get to a break. Other side of the break,
we're gonna have Coach Firsky joined our conversation. But I'm
gonna ask you. I want you guys to give this
some thought. Your favorite memory so far being part of
this football program. It could be a practice, whatever it

(36:47):
is you guys come up with that, and and I
certainly Tucker, I congratulate you as as this year's first
pick and save a metro Market student Athlete of the Week,
and you let me know what day works for you.
And I got a beautiful plaque, and again get to
get the hair looking good because there's a lot of
pictures gonna be gonna be taken at our local Pick

(37:08):
and Save stores. All right, this is the Varsity Blitz again,
only on Fox Sports nine twenty in your iHeart Radio app.
Welcome back to the Varsity Blitz high school sports show
presented by your local Pick and Save and Metro Market stores.
Coming live from the Donovan to Jorgansinhiti and Cooley Studio.
Next hour, we're gonna talk to Brian Lear, former head
football coach at Ceedarburg High School. But for the first hour,

(37:31):
and I thank coach justin Frisky. We're coming in studio
from Milwaukee High School with two of his seniors. You
understand that that Tucker could take my job right now
if he wanted it.

Speaker 2 (37:42):
Right My phone has been blowing up actually in the
segment that I wasn't done with our coaching staff talking
about what a great job both these guys were doing.
But this baritone voice of talking, Oh my gosh, yeah,
just absolutely soothing over the ear drums.

Speaker 1 (37:55):
Well, the fact that he said, look, Andy, my dad's
got this deep voice. I see we're you got it
from right? Yeah, one hundred. There might be some radio
commercial work in his future. Kidding, I don't know what
the I don't know what the NCAA would say about
that or the well w I A Okay, they can't.
I'm not messing with them with Milwaukee at all.

Speaker 2 (38:15):
Let's just keep moving on.

Speaker 1 (38:16):
Let's just keep moving on. Hey, let's I love asking
this question, Tucker. I'm gonna start with you. Did you
play in youth football in Pelwaukee? I have you guys
played together since every year? Great or whatever? Sir? Your
favorite memory of being part of this football program throughout
all these years you got a lots of well, you
don't have much football left. The team does, though, your

(38:37):
class does. Your favorite memory being part of this program
so far? What would that be?

Speaker 4 (38:42):
My favorite memory would have to be freshman year, after
our season was over, we get we we had got
pulled up to varsity. I think there were eight of
us that year, and we took a bus up to Monroe.
I just thought that was a great time.

Speaker 1 (38:53):
You know.

Speaker 4 (38:54):
Now we didn't we didn't play that game, but just
just the experience of hanging out together, you know, the
late night ives to and from Monroe. It was just
a great time to be around such good players watch
good football that night. It was a good time.

Speaker 1 (39:08):
Hey, how much do you think you learned about being
a leader from some of the guys from that class
or when you came in and played as a sophomore
guys that led those did you learn and are you
more of a vocal leader or by example?

Speaker 4 (39:22):
I like to lead by example. Coaches challenged me this
year to try and lead with my voice a little
bit more. That just hasn't been somebody that I am.
So I've been working on that this year. But the
main guy that I have been looking up to the
past few years he graduated last year, Owen Doverstein.

Speaker 3 (39:38):
He was our quarterback.

Speaker 4 (39:39):
I just love the way that he was able to
get kids to buy in and you know, really just
just try their best and be the best version of
themselves that they could. So I I reach out to him,
you know, pretty frequently, just with questions. We talk a
lot about, you know, any help that I need with leading.
And I really really admire Owen man.

Speaker 1 (39:57):
That's that's that's awesome. Hey, let me ask you your
favorite memory being part of this program. You can pull
that mic over that one's good being part of this program.
What would that be?

Speaker 5 (40:08):
Oh, I'd have to say, you know, looking looking at
it all, especially like after my senior year and the
season's over, just like the the underclassman contribution, I mean,
it's a huge testament to their character. Honestly, Like in
a conference like the Classic Gate, you know, it's it's
it's rough. You know, there's all these other teams have

(40:28):
seniors starting, and you know, we we've got like on
offense and defense under half of our guys or seniors.
Like like we said, we have ten seniors on our team.
So you know, the underclassmen, you know, they do a
great job. I mean they were thrown into this obviously,
into the Classic Gate, with no expectations of you know,
starting or anything, and now here they are. So you know,

(40:50):
the fact the fact that they're you know, contributing at
the highest level and pretty much every single one of
them is doing an amazing job.

Speaker 1 (40:58):
So you know, so I listened the answers each week
when I have seniors in and there's no right or
wrong answer. What always comes back in my mind to
how the program is run the program. Now, did you
hear these guys say, hey, I had sixteen tackles and
two fumble recoveries. I caught two touchdown passes. They never

(41:19):
talked about themselves freshman year bus ride, underclassmen in this
program that I've been thrown in the fire. And he
has so much respect for how they're responding. That tells
me everything I need to know about the top of
the program, justin that. Those are incredible answers. And when
you said these two kids would be good ambassadors for
me in our program, that got that right. Now one time,

(41:44):
did they go look at me, look at me, Look
at how great I am. They're talking about freshman bus
rides and underclassmen. They're making this program go. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (41:53):
I mean, football is a game that is mostly practiced
and very little played. Even in the best game, in
the best season of your life, you'll get fourteen games,
but you'll have four practices every week for those fourteen
games plus two a days. Right, the memories of football
come more from the non game experiences than anything else.
And the games matter, and certainly we want to play

(42:15):
as well as we can and win as many as
we can. But if you're thinking about a football experience.
It's about all the other things that wrap up the
season and the experience. The games are such a small
part of what the football experience is about. And you know,
I've said it for a long time and I'll say
it again. I think there are kids who play football
and then there are football players, and those two things

(42:35):
are not always the same, yep. And for me, I
have nothing but respecting gratitude for guys who are truly
football players. I love the kids who play football.

Speaker 1 (42:44):
Because you got two here.

Speaker 2 (42:47):
We got two football players sitting in here right now, and.

Speaker 1 (42:49):
They represent a few more for sure.

Speaker 2 (42:51):
Without a doubt. And you know that, to me is
what we're about, is trying to create an experience that
gives kids the memories and also so kind of the
intangible qualities that make them football players. It's a different
game that requires a very different skill set emotionally and physically.

Speaker 1 (43:09):
I wanted I pushed hard to get Peewak on my
twenty four this year, and not because it's really short
drive for me and I can go to Aboves after
the game, right But I wanted to see this experiment
that WIA tried. I wanted to see if it affected
the community. Three years ago, we were out there and
you guys were rolling and the place was full, standing

(43:32):
room only, and I wanted to see if this community
is going to back a team that fights like crazy.
It might not get as many wins as some teams did,
and coach I was so pleased that the place was packed.
There were Pewaukee people standing room only parking lot. You
couldn't find a place to park. And this community loves

(43:54):
the job that you guys are doing, win or lose,
because they understand the sweat equity that these kids are.

Speaker 2 (44:00):
Well. We have been blessed in the last five to
seven years of having an incredible athletic department in terms
of success on the field. On the court, our basketball
programs our top flight. Yes, our baseball team has been incredible.
Our volleyball team has been great like We have had
an unprecedented run of success in Pewaukee's history. And credit
to all coaches and players in our community for the

(44:22):
amount of work and effort and time they put in.
But I tell our kids, and I mean this sincerely,
there's nothing like football in Pewaukee. And that is no
disrespect to anybody, but in our worst year. We have
standiarm only crowds and football Friday nights in Pelwaukee are
different in that regard, and we travel to other places.

(44:45):
Now in this league, it's different because it's football Friday
night everywhere, but big crowds. Yes, In previous leagues, we
would go on the road and we would have five
or six times the fans that the home team would have,
and you just start to learn and gain an appreciation
for what it means to our people. It's different in Pewaukee.

(45:07):
We love to support all of our programs, but we
get more people at a non conference game in August
than some schools get for a regional final or a
sexual game.

Speaker 1 (45:19):
Hey, when you go out to the Sunset Grill or
Cease Yours in Pewaukee you have dinner with your wife,
how many people come up to you from the community
and say, hey, coach, how you doing, how going? How
you gonna do this week? Do you end up end
up going to like, oh, you know, conn Walker O
Creek to get a nice quiet dinner with you and
your wife.

Speaker 2 (45:36):
The running joke with my kids, I have two d
autumns ones and college ones in high school. The running
joke is that I know somebody everywhere. Yes, And of
course I'm a guy that will chat with just about anyone,
so we typically will run into at least one to twenty.

Speaker 1 (45:50):
Don't go to bubbas now, right, don't go you send
Bubba's your first of all. Maybe you get free ice
cream though I don't know if they were.

Speaker 3 (45:57):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (45:58):
Never, I'll buy you in ice cream. Hey, Tucker, congratulations
are Pick and Save student athlete of the week. We
will meet next week. North Dakota State's getting a great one, Samaja,
you just missed out and a great student athlete. Winona
State getting a good one. I can tell you that
be good ambassadors. Would you do me one favor. You

(46:19):
guys are seniors leaders in this team. Don't let anybody
mess up anything now through the stretch. Right, they can
go to parties later. Don't do that. There's you know,
a lot of temptation out there and people will be like,
I'll just go ahead and do this, I won't get caught.
You're probably gonna get caught. Don't let anybody do that.
Keep up the good work in school, don't. I'll come

(46:41):
back and get the plaque. If after all of a sudden,
before you leave in January, you start not doing your homework.
Hell yeah, well Christine's not letting you do that, and
he's gonna yell at you all that kind of stuff. Guys.
Thank you. Nice to meet you. Guys. Coach, I get
it now, I get it. You told me who you
were bringing in and what they'd bring to it. You
didn't tell me that Tucker could take his my job

(47:03):
anytime he wanted.

Speaker 2 (47:04):
So, didn't realize that was a life goal about would
change our sides.

Speaker 1 (47:07):
Get the North Dakota State boy, I said, WHOA, don't
be stealing my job. We're gonna get to a break
O other side that break. Brian Leir, former head football
coach at Cedarberg, will join us in studio. This is
the Varsity Blitz High School Sports Show, presented by your
local Pick and Save and Metro Market stores, only on
Fox Sports ninety twenty and your iHeart Radio app. Welcome

(47:28):
back to the Varsity Blitz High School Sports Show, presented
as always by your local Pick and Save and Metro
Market stores. Coming live from the Donovan and Jorgans and
Heating and Cooling Studios. I want to thank coach Risky
from Pewaukee and the two seniors you brought in. I'm
a big fan of his. I think he does it
the correct way, and he teaches great lessons for these kids,

(47:50):
and he wants them to play hard and compete. And
I knew a lot about him, but I know a
lot more about him and this program now that my
wife and I live on in Pewaukee and the amount
of people that talk to me about this program. And
I just thank him for coming in studio and talking
a little bit about some of the things that they're doing.

(48:10):
And I want to thank Tucker and samaj for coming
in and Tucker being our first Pick and Save student
Athlete of the Week this year. Looking forward to meeting
him and his family next week. So I reached out
to Brian Leer and it's funny because Brian I don't
talk a lot, but when we do, it goes on
for hours. I was at I was in the Bronus

(48:32):
department at Pick and Save for about two hours to
one year. Brian, and I thank you for taking the
time to come in studio. Thirty two years at Ceedarberger,
I've been in This is my thirty third year teaching
coach football for thirty two years. I was the head
coach of twenty nine years. So what's it been like

(48:52):
for you? If I can ask, what was it like
in let's go to August. Did you feel like you
were supposed to be somewhere?

Speaker 6 (48:58):
Yes, definitely, definitely already already in the summer time because
you used to run your weight programs and seven on
sevens and so forth, and uh didn't really have that
going on, so focused on family time a lot, and uh,
August came and yeah, definitely it was.

Speaker 1 (49:14):
It was weird now have a place to go thirty
six years I coached basketball in that first year when
my wife said, I thought you'd be home more. Yeah,
I know, I'm still going out to different practice of
watching games. Have you been back to see a seedar
Brook football game yet? I have not? I have not.
Was that by design? Do you think just well, I've

(49:37):
been busy with other things.

Speaker 6 (49:39):
But you want to you want I want the head coach,
the head coach there now to you know, I've been there.
I was there for so long as head coach and
kind of built my way of doing things, and and
you know, I felt it right to you know, give
the new coach space to to build build his program
and come in and give him the respect and hit

(49:59):
the staff that the staff that he has, and there's
some carryover from from my staff that uh uh stayed on.
And you know, I see the kids in school, uh,
because you're still in the building. Yeah, I'm still in
the building. I'm still teaching them. Absolutely, absolutely, yes. I
mean you don't invest that much time into a school,

(50:20):
an athletic program, and a in a football program in particular,
you know, not to see them the you know, continue
to do well. So you know, if I'm ever asked
to contribute anything to the program, it certainly certainly would,
But I just you know, I felt give coach space
to do his job.

Speaker 1 (50:38):
Do you miss it? Yeah, I do you miss Yeah?
I missed football. Yeah I missed. Yeah. You can't help it,
miss it.

Speaker 6 (50:43):
I mean, it's in your blood and it's just such
a great experience with the kids and and your community
and and the program. And I I felt good about
when I stepped down and felt, you know, time and
it's been a long time and a long time in
one place. You know, we had had continued to be
successful on the field, and so I felt good with

(51:04):
where the program was at. Uh, with everything, but uh,
you know, stepping away. Uh, it's you know, it's it's
been Uh. I don't know if I call it hard.
It's just it's just been different, you know. It's just
a lot more free time. My days are the same.
I'm teaching. I really enjoyed my teaching assignments that I
have have this year and working with the kids and
that in that capacity. So I still get that interaction

(51:24):
with kids.

Speaker 1 (51:25):
Do you play golf or anything? No, No, I don't
do anything else.

Speaker 6 (51:28):
You know, golf still huddle. You gotta watch Uh, I'm
watching you every Friday. Oh, there you go, man, I
appreciate that. Hey, the the conference itself right when you
when and we're gonna have Dave Kill join us, and
and and and he said, look, we had some battles, man,

(51:50):
it is we had some battles and and a lot.
For years it was it was you know, wife me, Homestead,
Whitefish Bay and Cedarburg, and we were up there and
in Germantown and Germany.

Speaker 1 (52:01):
Oh yeah, sorry about that. He did mention Germantown we
were every year it was us competing and Homestead and
Cedar were pretty close.

Speaker 4 (52:10):
Oh.

Speaker 1 (52:10):
Absolutely. And you said, these kids all knew each other
and Uh, Dave said, I missed coaching against Bride. It
was always they do things the right way. We do
things the right way.

Speaker 6 (52:21):
And yeah, yeah, I mean we had we had a
lot of a lot of great games. You know, they
got us a few more times than we got them.
But when we were able to, you know, pulling out
against Homestead, it was a it was a it was
a big deal. But yeah, Dave had an incredible career,
did things the right way, ran this program the right way.

Speaker 1 (52:37):
UH coaches did a super job.

Speaker 6 (52:39):
And I mean it's it's telling, it's it's still continue
to continue on what he built, is you know, still
continuing around.

Speaker 1 (52:45):
Hey, if I had asked you in July and I said, hey, okay,
you've stepped down. Do you think coaching uh anywhere else
or anybody else it would be in your future? What
would you said in July? And what do you say now?
You know, I feel very attached to to see Ceedarburgh.
You know, that's the only place I've ever taught.

Speaker 6 (53:08):
I coached a year at Hartford, my alma mater, UH
as a student student teacher under Dan Brunner, and then
I went over to Ceedarburgh as an assistant and I
had been there all that time and going somewhere else,
would would would feel would feel different?

Speaker 1 (53:24):
If the situation was spot on, was perfect, would you
would you go back and coach? You think I would
consider it? Definitely would consider it.

Speaker 6 (53:32):
I don't feel myself sitting here right now, you know,
looking for a position you're not.

Speaker 1 (53:39):
Putting in your your resume.

Speaker 6 (53:41):
I mean, I you know, I I felt good about
when I when I when I stepped down what we
had accomplished there, and and uh I felt it, did
feel that the time was right. But now being away
from it, being away from it, really has kind of
drawn it back. And you know, I definitely if there
was a situation that would would be a good situation
for all parties involved. You know, I couldn't help, but

(54:04):
but think about it. I definitely mean what do you
teach at? I teach and health?

Speaker 1 (54:08):
Okay, so there you go, there there there it is. Hey,
what was it like being on the staff with Dan Brunner.
I didn't know that you're on the staff with Brunner?
Just yeah, oh there are some stories, yes, yeah, there's
lots of stories, but uh, it was I.

Speaker 6 (54:25):
Learned a lot, you know, and that was my one
experience besides playing there. I played for the great uh
Pete Hoffman who who he lost last year and passed away.
And he was really a mentor and he and coach
Hoffin was still coaching there with with Dan. Uh but
uh you're with you're with Dan, and and Harford was
really really strong, uh and competing at a high level,

(54:49):
making the playoffs when their conference and and uh, you know,
just learned a lot uh hard and mimic dance personality
and the way he.

Speaker 1 (54:57):
Uh does things.

Speaker 6 (54:59):
But uh uh Dan's great and he's done a great
job with the Coaches Association and just put his heart
and soul into Wisconsin football.

Speaker 1 (55:06):
He talked to some of the and you were young
back then. Oh yes, so I don't know if you
could go to any of the post game parties mind
shift you know, okay, yeah Dan, And he said, man,
we had some fun. The boys would get together a
little bit and have a pizza, have something neat, and
tip a few and just kind of either you know,

(55:29):
drawing our tears in the you know, or you know,
celebrate the wind. When I asked him what he missed most,
and he said, I missed practice. I miss hanging out
with coaches and I missed the walk down that hill. Yeah,
and I still reach out to him. I have the
on the show as much as I can, because he's
i mean, just a wealth of and he's not afraid
to tell you, look, if he made him look just

(55:51):
didn't work, Well, this wasn't the right move. But we
did it, we tried it, and then we went back
or whatever. He just kind of tells you. And he
still has his finger on the pulsehigh school football.

Speaker 6 (56:01):
St He's done some great things with the Coaches Association.
I mean he's he's still just a huge player in
it and has made as much of an impact in
that role as as he did as a long time
successful coach.

Speaker 1 (56:14):
Hey, coach, you guys had some some unbelievable teams over
the years. What was the family's name. I think three
brother running backs, two brothers, brothers, louder brother yea. You
know for seven years. They were there for seven years
and moment was better than the next. It seems like
you had one of those. They they were as good
a football players as have come through Cedarburgh. I think, right, yeah,

(56:37):
they they were. They were pretty special. Lee. Lee was
the oldest and we had him for for three years.

Speaker 6 (56:42):
A little bit smaller version of his brother came along
and the coaches are telling me about, oh, you know
the slogan. You know, we got to get him in
varsity right away. And I'm not playing a freshman running
back on varsity. There's no way.

Speaker 1 (56:53):
And uh uh.

Speaker 6 (56:54):
He came in and had his first first game before
he ever sat in the classroom. He rushed for over
twenty against Calambarine and then and then went on to
you know, I think he finished up as the third
leading ultimately in Russia in the history of state of Wisconsin.
So yeah, great great guys, just great, great competitors. Logan

(57:14):
just got inducted into our school's Hall of Fame two
years ago. I nominated him and introduced him, and so
that was just great experience. The great family, right yeah, yeah,
Lisa Lauder's his his their their mother. Uh, just heart
of gold and really supported me and was appreciative of
myself and my coaching staff and all the work that

(57:34):
we did.

Speaker 1 (57:35):
And hey, I told the story when Justin was in
and I think you were in the waiting room here
about the young man that was our pick and safe
student of the week. And when I asked him the question,
when you close your eyes at night, where do you
dream about playing college football? And he said Oshkosh? And
I really what? He goes, uw Oshkosh? And I'm like,
most of these guys say Alabama for Miami. You're not

(57:58):
in Alabama? Good? Yeah, Well I called. I called coach
Sarni on I think it was Sunday or even Monday,
and he picked up and I told him about this
kid and I was going to give this plaque away
and the kid gave me w oscotch and I thought
it was such a fun story. And he goes, hey,
I'm and the coaches me, would you tell that story again?

(58:20):
So I told the story again. Well, I go out
to the pike and shave in Grafton to give this.
He goes, can I ask you a question? And go yeah?
He goes did you call them? I go yeah, he
goes they called me like I think I'm going to
play football?

Speaker 6 (58:32):
What was his young Jason Schultz? Yes, Jason, what a
great kid. Yeah, he played. He played for a year there,
but he blowed his knee again and he blew yeah
because he had blown it out of playing playing with
U with us. But then he coached with me for
the last four years at Cedarburgh and he was a
great coach.

Speaker 1 (58:49):
What a sharp young man. He was a lot and
a lot of love for the programs in a game
and the kid that we had in for HWAUKEI asked
him his motivation for being such a good student a
plate and he said, look, I was told this early
on that you can't be on disciplined all day and
then be a good football player and try to be
disciplined at night. And I thought, man, this kid's seventeen

(59:11):
eighteen years old. Really sharp, it's really really sharp. And
that's similar to to the young man that you had.
Jason's great. Yeah, just a really good kid. Hey, how
are you. How's your family doing? Have family?

Speaker 6 (59:24):
Family is great? You know my wife. It's kind of
withdrawal for both of us. My wife was such a
major player.

Speaker 1 (59:31):
And I was going to ask you to bring her
in with you, and I don't know if she would
have camera. Oh what is her first name? Beth?

Speaker 3 (59:40):
Beth.

Speaker 1 (59:40):
I'm so sorry. I thought about it last night and
I thought, oh, I'm not going to bother what if?

Speaker 3 (59:45):
What if?

Speaker 1 (59:45):
He for either one of us? That's perfect yeah, I
gotta you know what, if I have a retired that's
a good idea for a show retired or coaches that
are I'm coaching right now, have their wives come in
and talk about some of the stuff that they're going through,
because you're right, it's not just us. When I could
stop coaching basketball, I was up and down with my emotion. Right,

(01:00:09):
we had want to stay championship and we're going to trigger.
They was like, we should run this thing back, and
I said, look, I made that decision before the year ended.
This would be my last year. And then I started
second guests and myself and she had to put up
with my roller coaster thought process.

Speaker 6 (01:00:26):
Yeah, it's uh, you know, she she actually follows the
scores more on Friday night than I than I do.
She's coming down and tell me to score and seedburg
game and and uh seeing on top of it. But uh,
just you know, she's an incredible woman, and she supported
me through all these years, and you know, had her
hands in in so much of what we did with

(01:00:47):
the kids, and and uh, you know, my my two
boys played for us, and so those were special times
for us, of course.

Speaker 1 (01:00:53):
But she she loved all the kids and supporting the kids.
And how did that go for you coaching your sons?
It went really well, It went really well.

Speaker 6 (01:01:01):
And I think both were respected and liked by by
their their teammates. And you know, they didn't get any
special treatment, that's for sure.

Speaker 1 (01:01:08):
Uh And uh, they both had you know, really good careers.

Speaker 6 (01:01:12):
I my son, Jake, you know, he was a two
time first team All conference quarterback and ended up being
leading pastor in the history of school and and and
Luke was was an all state tight end for US
and Luke Jake was Jake was always a really naturally
a pretty good athlete and Luke was not. Luke was

(01:01:35):
not He played football and just kind of waddled around
the field a lot and everything. And uh, but uh,
he's doing great. He's playing football, lacrosse and made the
team as freshman and so, uh he's doing really well.

Speaker 1 (01:01:46):
And and did he gets is he seeing the fielded
all yet?

Speaker 3 (01:01:49):
Not?

Speaker 1 (01:01:49):
No, not yet.

Speaker 6 (01:01:49):
I mean, they're they're they're it's going to be a
process for him.

Speaker 1 (01:01:53):
They're they're they're loaded. They're good.

Speaker 6 (01:01:54):
They had a big one against Whitewater to today and
and uh, but just to see him progress and just
get better and better. You just kept growing and growing,
and you know he's a six five, two hundred and
fifty pounds tight ends. So so what's Luke doing. Uh, Well,
Luke's at Jake Jake. Jake played at Ostosh and then
when Luke Vena got the head job at steven Stevens Point, Uh,

(01:02:18):
he recruited Jake over to Steven's Point. So Jake was
a starting quarterback at Steven's Point for the last two years.

Speaker 1 (01:02:24):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (01:02:25):
And now uh he's student teaching at Kimberly and and
helping out uh there Uh this fall. Uh, they had
a big game last night against against Nina. So how
they do They lost seven to nothing?

Speaker 1 (01:02:37):
So he is the deal. Yeah, they're pretty tough, they're
pretty good. They played the Classic Gate pretty tough. Yes
they did so A little surprised by that by the way. Yeah,
but I still think the Classics best football conference in
the state. I would agree, Thank you. Get calls from
the Boys of the Valley. Steve Jones called me all
the time. Yeah, hey go, I'll have that discussion with
you McGivern and I'm like, I'll just go to can Bok.

(01:02:58):
He's coached in Gould Conference. He'll let us know. Yeah,
I don't. All the class skates pretty pretty are I'll
tell you this. North Short's pretty good? Yeah, North Shore. Yeah,
definitely back in the day, man, you know, with with
some of the teams you had to coach against. Holy cow,
Hey what I liked. I remember the first game I
did for my twenty four I'll in see to bring.

(01:03:19):
It was early, like I'd been doing it fifteen years.
It was early, maybe even that first year, and you
guys had the shorts splits. I never knew had the ball.
I think, God, that was real color because I'm like, I,
why is he running down? Always got the ball? I
had no idea. But what was impressive to me is,
you know, as a basketball coach, sometimes we get stuck

(01:03:41):
in our waist. You run the swing, you're gonna run
the swing, You run the flex, you're gonna run. Yeah,
you run five out, You're gonna run five out. But
you adjusted and you made some adjustments and then kind
of went back to it a little bit depending on
your personnel and what you had in the building. And
that tells me that you're a true student of the game.

Speaker 6 (01:04:01):
Oh absolutely, I love love learning football, love seeing all
the new trends, and you have to look at what
what you what you have. And we got a lot
of miles out of the on the double wing, and I,
you know, I learned that from the originator of that
that offense. I I found a book on vacation in Arizona,
and I learned the bookstore and I found it. Found

(01:04:23):
found found a book, and I talked about this Don
Markham from from Los Angeles, and so I contacted him,
and I flew out to Los Angeles probably six or
seven different times, got to be really good friends with him,
and then and then hooked up with a guy up
in northern California and Tim Murphy who ran the change
it into a shotgun version of it, which we we

(01:04:44):
started doing. But you know, you have the Internet back
then to to get all this information, and you have
social media to see to see all the late latest trends.
So if I found a book and I found and
talked about Don markin whose team team averaged sixty eight
points a game, And so I called him and and
became great friends with him, and he helped me.

Speaker 1 (01:05:04):
Hey, Beth, if you're listening, there's a special place in
heaven for your vacation and your husband goes and buys
a boot on an offense and then reaches out to
this coach. I'm telling you, Beth, you are a saint.
We're gonna get to a break other side of the break.
It's so good to see you, coach. I'm just County.

(01:05:25):
I appreciate your willingness to come in and just talk
about high school football when you said I'll come in,
but I'm not coaching. What do you want to talk about?
This is what I want to talk about. I love
this kind of stuff where you get to a break.
Dave Kill is going to join us, and we could
tell Dave Kill stories behind his back of that. Yeah,
we'll just sometime we'll just talk about him right to

(01:05:46):
his face when he gives us a call. We'll have
Dave Dave Kiel, the former head football coach at Homestead.
These guys coach against each other. How many games do
you think?

Speaker 3 (01:05:55):
Thirty?

Speaker 6 (01:05:56):
Yeah? Yeah, between the playoffs and in the regular season.
Guys had seemed for a while there you were always
playing twice yep, yep.

Speaker 1 (01:06:03):
Yeah. It's always tough. And we'll talk to Dave on
the other side. He is Brian Leaire for former that
sounds weird to be former head football coach at Cedarburg
High School and just one of my favorite I enjoyed
talking to him. We talk about a lot of things,
but mostly about high school football, and it's a passion

(01:06:24):
that he has. You can tell because on vacation he
went and found a book about the offense he wanted
to run. I love that stuff. This is the Varsity
Blitz High School Sports Show presented by your local Pick
and Save and Metro Market stores, only at Fox Sports
on twenty and your iHeartRadio app. Welcome back to the
Varsity Blitz High School Sports Show presented by your local

(01:06:46):
Pick and Save and a Metro Market stores. Coming live
from the Donovan and Jorgens and Heating and Cooling Studios. Man,
I'm part of their maintenance program for under two hundred bucks.
They come out twice a year and make sure your
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find small issues before they become major problems. Forty years

(01:07:09):
they're celebrating their fortieth anniversary this year. Is the largest
employee owned HVAC company in the state of Wisconsin. Go
to Donovan Jorgensen dot com. We've reaching out right now
to Dave Keel to have him joined the show. I've
got Brian Lear, the former head football coach at Cedarburg
High School, in studio with me. What do you miss
most about it? It's a couple of different things.

Speaker 6 (01:07:34):
I miss working with the assistant coaches and having that
camaraderie with that group of people working with the kids.
Though I am lucky to still be teaching and being
able to interact with the kids. And there's often like
Friday night out the lights and competing and having a
big game and needed to win on a Friday and

(01:07:54):
getting one and feeling pretty good on a Saturday morning.

Speaker 1 (01:07:56):
So I missed that competition and different different walking through
the halls, especially in the beginning of this year on
a Friday, like Friday, it's game day, got big players
are in their jersey, different feeling for you. The butterflies
are not.

Speaker 6 (01:08:14):
It's it's different, but I still feel the energy that
the kids have and the school has for a big
game that's coming up as our homecoming. UH last last
night and UH we had a big pepper alley and
everything during the day and attended that and and you know,
still feel that. And there's some really good kids on
the on the team that I'd loved coaching and and
and you.

Speaker 1 (01:08:34):
Know, wanting to see them do well, so wishing them luck.

Speaker 6 (01:08:36):
And and uh so it's different, but still feel like, Hey,
do you have the same idea as every other football
coach I've ever talked to?

Speaker 1 (01:08:45):
Why don't you basketball coaches take homecoming for a week?
You guys, they're like, mad, it's horrible to get ready
for a game when they're worried about what pajamas they're
gonna wear on.

Speaker 3 (01:08:58):
Exactly.

Speaker 1 (01:08:59):
Yeah, you've football boys are like, hey, yeah, you think
it's all funny games you take home coming week? It's
an interesting week. Hey, we are now joined by the
former head football coach at Homestead. You know, when I
talked to Dave, he said, you want me on because
we crushed Cedarbrook all the No, he never said any
of that. I'm trying to cause some problems here, Coach

(01:09:20):
kil How you been brother outstanding?

Speaker 7 (01:09:24):
I had a ten year old girls beat lit softball
game in Carrollton, Georgia.

Speaker 1 (01:09:30):
Well we are talking, I can tell you this. We
spent half of the first segment talking about what a
great wife, Beth was, and how she's going to heaven
with all the equities she put in the program. Well,
you know that because your wife's there's a special place
in heaven for her too. Hey, the time that you
got to compete against Brian Leier, we you and I

(01:09:53):
had that conversation and you said, look, it didn't matter
what the what, what the records were. Anytime we had
a play against a Brian Lear coach team, it was
a difficult.

Speaker 7 (01:10:03):
Task exactly exactly, and if it was the playoffs, it
was even worse because his kids were always ready to
go once the postseason started. It was really really we
had some great, great matchups over the years, and he
did a great job with his kids and the kids
were always prepared. Where he goes, it was always enjoyable.
Predicted that we just talked about.

Speaker 1 (01:10:26):
I didn't realize he bought a book on vacation to
learn more about it and then went out to California
six times to do that. Hey, Brian, I can tell
you this that that when day a guy like Dave
Keel says to me, I have so much respect for
Brian Lear as a man and then as a coach man,

(01:10:46):
that says that that tells me all I need to
know about about you, because Dave, Dave Keel gets it
and he did it the right way, and you have
a lot of respect for him as well. Oh absolutely.

Speaker 6 (01:10:58):
You know, it started out as very young head coach,
and uh, at the time that I that I started
in that conference, you know, Dave was Dave was a
head coach, Kip Kramer was a head coach, El Ernest
was a head coach.

Speaker 1 (01:11:10):
Jim Jaskowitz was a head coach. You know. So it
was quite the lineup.

Speaker 6 (01:11:14):
And so I always always felt drawn to, you know,
not only do well with our program, but do it
the right way and getting the respect you know, and
and felt the great Phil Dacca of course, Uh, to
earn the respect of guys like Dave, Guys like Phil
for the way they were doing things, the way your
kids competed and and and you know, I didn't have

(01:11:36):
a big apprenticeship as as as an assistant coach, and
so you learned from you actually learned from your competitors,
and and they were a lot in a lot of
ways my mentor, you know, to do it the way
they were doing it. To wanted to be that successful
and reached their level of success, but do it in
the manner that they were doing it.

Speaker 1 (01:11:52):
You know when we met out a pick and Shave.

Speaker 6 (01:11:55):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:11:55):
You see, one of the things you said to me
is I cannot believe like I'm the elder statement. Yeah,
in this conference now with Keel decided to leave it homestead,
I'm like the other statement, I would say, young buck,
just like in films like two years ago, and now
I'm the guy. And you made that comment to me
about how much you've learned not only from talking with Dave,

(01:12:16):
sitting with Dave, but watching how Dave built a program
and said, look, that's what I wanted for Cedarberg.

Speaker 6 (01:12:22):
Absolutely, I mean, not only were they obviously highly successful
on the field, they did it. They did it with class, integrity.
They coach their kids hard. I know that they coached
their kids more than just football.

Speaker 1 (01:12:37):
Coach that service leadership part that Dave did way before
it was cool to do. Right.

Speaker 6 (01:12:44):
Absolutely, I mean that they were the only ones that
you heard, you know, doing that and you know now
it's pretty standard to have it in your program. But uh,
you could tell the difference that they made there. But
but I mean just the class act all the way around,
and you wanted to eat him as bad as you
know any anything, and you wanted it badly, and and
you were as in taxas heck. I know those Friday

(01:13:06):
nights when you played them, But uh uh, and when
when we were fortunate enough to get a few wins
against them, I mean, those are really really special experiences.

Speaker 1 (01:13:14):
Hey, hey, Dave, when when when you think about back
in the day, you know, Homestead against cedar Berg and
what that meant not only to the Homestead community, but
the Cedarburgh community and to you and to Brian. And
I know you guys talked. You guys were talking here
in the week. You'd be all right with that, but
you competed like crazy because you wanted both teams wanted

(01:13:36):
to get that winning staffs get to win. But after
the game, shaking hands and and you put your arm
around Brian or him putting his arm around you, those
days meant so much to you.

Speaker 7 (01:13:47):
But your respect tremendously, as Brian just said, you respect
the amount of commitment to his coaches, and Brian put
in expect the hard work that they put up, and
you know both teams are trying as hardest to be best.
Will score more for him points on Friday night. But
at the end of the day, you know one team's
going to score, one team's not going to score more.
It doesn't make anybody winn or loser. It just means

(01:14:09):
it was a hard fought contest and you worked like
the Dickens to get the w and and respect your opponents.
I mean we always respected Cedarburg. It was just since
I mean, they were always ready to go.

Speaker 1 (01:14:18):
So house was how sick and tired did you get
into the lotter kids? Man, they're in the backfield for
seventeen years and there's just two of them. But my goodness,
didn't seem like there was always one of those kids
in the backfield at Cedarburgh.

Speaker 7 (01:14:33):
Oh, let me say, and there's something you don't know.
His mother A lot of model worked at Homestead. But
I had it all week long. It was like, and
you know, dang well, when he had a great game,
what she always did. So I was gonna hear about
them Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday the next week.
So it wasn't just one night, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:14:52):
Now she worked at Cerberg Homestead. I mean she worked
at Homestead. Did you you know I know it's a
good w i's rules, But did you ever say why
don't you bring your boys this way?

Speaker 7 (01:15:05):
Uh, there was a few time they might have came up,
that might have came up.

Speaker 1 (01:15:08):
You guys aren't coaching anymore. You can't get in trouble
with the w I anymore. Trust me. Once I stopped coaching,
I could say anything I wanted for those boys over
and see Stevens points.

Speaker 7 (01:15:20):
I loved that a lot of money.

Speaker 1 (01:15:24):
Oh my goodness, Hey that the the conference guys is
still you know, right now, Homestead is looking really good
and we we have a flex game that that last
game four before my twenty four and we decided this
week we're going to do the Homestead at West Bend
West Camp, and you know it should be a really

(01:15:44):
good one. West Ben West is he's playing pretty well
this year. Ye, nice job there.

Speaker 7 (01:15:51):
Yeah, they struggling. Good to see them coming back.

Speaker 1 (01:15:53):
Yeah, really is. And I thought, you know what we
thought it was, Look, we there there are a couple
of the there a couple of games teams that we've
already had on that are playing, and it was like,
do we want to have Muskigo at Mcgwonago could be
a great. It's gonna be a great game, right But Homestead,
we haven't been in West Bend for years and their

(01:16:16):
West Bend West is competing like crazy. Homestead probably going
to win the conference and maybe go deep into the playoffs.
So this would be a great one for us to have.
And the West Bend people have been like, police, come
you know what, we will open the door for you,
will do whatever it takes to get you guys to
come out and highlight, promote and celebrate the West Bend
West football program, because you're right, this is a really

(01:16:38):
good year for us. And people have now asked me,
what game are you doing? And when I say it,
if they're just if they're just average fans, they're like,
you're doing a West Bend West game. Got to look
at their schedule and look at how they've been competing,
and look at Homestead is a really good football team
this year, and we'll go out and do that. Camp

(01:16:58):
West has come a long way.

Speaker 6 (01:16:59):
I mean, they've had they had some really lean years
and Taylor is there now, he's you know, stuck with it,
and you can tell last year already they were getting better.
They were a younger team, and this could be a
good year for him.

Speaker 1 (01:17:10):
That that whole West Bend thing is weird to me. Different,
It's just different. I you know, we would go out
there and play some basketball sectional Semis and I would
talk to kids to go to the school. And the
one kid I'll never forget he said, Look, I'm a
wrestler and the guy that I wrestle against that goes
to East sits next to me, right next to me

(01:17:31):
in two classes. We talk all the time except the
day that we're going to wrestle against each other, and
they go, ho have you done? He goes, I've beaten
him twice, but he's really good, and like we have
to compete. It's just kind of a whole odd thing.
And I keep hearing rumors that they're going to maybe
go to one high school.

Speaker 6 (01:17:49):
Or I mean, they've talked about that for years. I
mean I grew up with it. I grew up at
Hartford and they were in our conference. So just as
a kid, I kind of used to just having the
West Bend East West Bend West deal and them being
in the same building, and and uh, I keep hearing
it's going to change, but but it hasn't yet.

Speaker 1 (01:18:09):
Hey, Brian, I've when people hear that you were coming on.
And I'm gonna ask Dave Kiel the same question. I've
already asked him this a few years ago, but I'm
gonna ask you this. Young coaches that are assistant coaches
that have a dream of being the head of a program,
what advice would you give those guys that are right
now assistant coaches with an idea of one day I

(01:18:29):
want to be the head of a program. What advice
would you give those young guys?

Speaker 6 (01:18:34):
Do a great job on the on the staff that
you're on right now, Keep working, keep learning, keep expanding,
expanding your your not your knowledge base, but be a
be a great assistant, and be a loyal assistant.

Speaker 1 (01:18:47):
Thank you, there's the word for me.

Speaker 7 (01:18:51):
You know.

Speaker 6 (01:18:51):
I don't know that that's always, you know, always the case.
But the young guys that you know are coming up
now that are doing really well.

Speaker 1 (01:19:00):
I was head coaches.

Speaker 6 (01:19:01):
I know them to have been really loyal assistants and
and understood their place as as an assistant in a
in a program. And uh, you know, then take that
knowledge that you got and and.

Speaker 1 (01:19:12):
Don't forget, you know, I never forget.

Speaker 6 (01:19:15):
I still carrying my wallet card that Phil Datta gave
me saying that he gives out to all his UH athletes,
and so you know, I still remember and respect those
guys that were You know, I didn't I didn't have
that mentorship situation where I was a long time assistant coach.
But but to have that respect and then have that

(01:19:36):
loyalty the people that have put put the time and
effort in and done it the right way.

Speaker 1 (01:19:40):
Do you know the term preaching in the choir? You're
you are preaching to the choir, brother keep preaching. Hey, Dave,
you've got to be smiling right now with what what
Brian just talked about, because I know from talking to
you the loyalty side is very important to you. And
what what what would you say to young coaches maybe
in the market that you're in right now, that might

(01:20:02):
be assistant coaches at the high school level that have
the dream of running a program on the dos and
don'ts of running a good quality program. What would you
say to them? Dave?

Speaker 7 (01:20:13):
Well, I think Brian hits the nail on the head
with the loyalty to the program for the players. And
number two, I would say, volunteer for everything. You know
they need that guy I'm your guy. You need coming
to Scout, I'm your guy. Whatever you need to be,
volunteer for everything in a program to help out the program.
And then probably number three, and this I think might
be the most important, do it for the kids. Whatever

(01:20:37):
you do. You know, the kids come number one. You're
always treating them right, You're treating them great. You're helping
them to become better people in addition to becoming better players.
And the more you do that, you know things will
work out on the field. So if you continue to
keep those ideas in mind, be loyal to the programs,
to the coach, to the players, you know, volunteer for everything,

(01:20:57):
and then keep the kids number one no matter what,
and both lead you to success down the road.

Speaker 1 (01:21:04):
Dave, here's a question. All the time you and I
have spent, I've never asked you, but I've got to
ask you this. We're not born with that servant leadership Hart,
It's a learned behavior. Right somewhere along the line, we
learn it and it fits and then we start doing
it and giving back. Where do you think in your
life you learned that trait from?

Speaker 7 (01:21:28):
I think I give all of a sudden there to
our assistant coach Prince Rout, our decordinator for many, many years.
He went out to North Dakota State visited with Craig
Boll and his staff like two thousand and four, two
thousand and five, and he came back with a servant
leadership program which we just just really use and really
helped us totally and it changed my way of looking

(01:21:51):
at my way of coaching, and it's been so successful.
Wilson's very involved with a Positive Coaching Alliance which is
also big into servant leadership. So those things come and
really have helped define I think the philosophy and the
hard work and what our staff has done thanks to
coach Roll. He was he was spectacular and really really

(01:22:11):
did a great job with that.

Speaker 1 (01:22:13):
Hey, I'll ask you the same question, Brian, because I
don't know if you know this. When Joe Cook left
this area as a coach, he went to Texas and
all of a Suden's making one hundred and a half
or some crazy thing for being an assistant coach. So different. Yeah,
that five grand that you guys made, you're a super
head at home said you weren't doing it for the money,
and it's not like you were buying betha mansion with

(01:22:35):
all the money you were making coaching football. But I'm
wondering that servant leadership Hart, where do you think that
that learned behavior came from? For you? You know, for
me just early on as a young kid.

Speaker 6 (01:22:47):
You know, I grew up in a family without a father,
and so so having my coaches Pete Hoffman, Daurn Tim
or Dave Rush, guys that's been around for a long time.
Dave I love him, yes, and uh just had a
huge impact on me, you know. They they reached out
to me as a young man to pull me into.

Speaker 1 (01:23:08):
A good situation with with athletics.

Speaker 6 (01:23:11):
And like I said, I've always been been drawn to
those type of people and been lucky to have all
those type of people in my in my life, you know.
And even even going through up through my last year
as head coach, I had George Machatto. I hired h
him on my staff and so I always had had older,
experienced guys that did it the right way, understood loyalty,

(01:23:35):
understood you know, respect for others and most of all
cared about kids and trying to elevate them.

Speaker 1 (01:23:40):
I hope. But Chat is not mad at me anymore
that was years ago. That was years ago. That wasn't me,
Davis Man, rest his soul. But you took on the
wrong guy now, and that wasn't me. That was Sparky
the other guys at the other station. Hey, Dave, I
thank you so much for for a couple of minutes
your time. I'm yeah, Look, you and I get a

(01:24:02):
chance to talk quite a bit. Go enjoy girl softball?
Ten year old girls softball? How's they who's winning in
that game?

Speaker 7 (01:24:09):
By the way, well we won the first one, so
there's a couple more todays. So that's a good thing.

Speaker 1 (01:24:13):
Are you are you? Are you coaching or watching?

Speaker 7 (01:24:16):
Oh no, I'm just a spectator now. I just sit
and I kip it on the umpires and complain about
the bad calls.

Speaker 1 (01:24:23):
Yeah, man, I got to get somebody videotaping you in
the crowd and getting me to that because I'd sure
love to see you go. What kind of call was that?
Before you?

Speaker 3 (01:24:35):
Before you go?

Speaker 7 (01:24:36):
Mike Brian mentioned a man that was so special to
my career and to all of our career, and that's
Phill that cup. I had a semester where I got
or a season where I got the coach with Phil
his freshman be coaches and just I learned so much
from that man. It was incredible. He was truly a mentor.
UH as a young college kid just doing some student

(01:24:57):
teaching at his school, he was spectacular and he really
helped frame my entire philosophy as well.

Speaker 1 (01:25:03):
Hey guys, my brother Tim is seventy two years old,
still playing hardball in down to Florida. He went to
Francis Jordan, and Phil Dakka was driving up Burley or
Lisbon and saw sign that said looking for a football coach,
stopped in, got the job. He was his coach, and
my brother was in studio years ago crying about the

(01:25:24):
impact that Phil Dakka had in his life. And then
Dakka retires. I bring him in studio and do a
two hour kind of Phil Dakin retirement party. Halfway through
the show, we go to a break. He goes, hey,
by the way, I'm not really retiring. I'm going over
the first time and I go, why are we doing this?
He said, this is like by wake, I want to
know what guys are gonna say up And I laughed

(01:25:47):
so hard. I took my wife out to dinner one
night in Germantown to a playoff game, and I didn't
tell her. So we went to Germany to at a
little Mexican restaurant and I said, oh, look there's a
football game. Let's stop over. Dakka goes. He said to
my wife, did you know you were coming to this gime?
She goes, absolutely not. He hoodwinked. He said, I'm going
to take you to dinner, and Dakka goes. Man, he

(01:26:10):
gave me the line. He goes, you'll kick your coverage
by a mile, and how dare you bring her over
here on date night? I goes, She's not leaving now, coach,
come on, I got more DACA stories. Hey, Dave, thank
you so much for gott to get you a break.
Hey man, I miss you. I love talking to you.
Anything you need for me, let me know. And uh,
it's always good catching up brother.

Speaker 7 (01:26:32):
Keep up the great work, Mike. Congratulations Brian on retirement.

Speaker 1 (01:26:36):
Thank you so much, Dave. He might be pulling a
da guy, he told me. He said, Hey, he's not
quite sure. He'll find out if people start calling, so
he might call you to come back and be on
his staff. One day. Here we go an honor you
got it, Dave, thank you so much. He is Dave Keel.
We're you to get to a break on other side
of the break. Will continue our conversation with Brian learre Former.

(01:26:59):
It's just word for me to say that former head
football coach at Cedarburgh High School, the Mighty Bulldogs. Hey,
the other night when we were out there, I was
pulling in to do the Ceedarburgh game for my twenty
four send a text to both of my nieces Sarah
and Lizzie ashwa Ashingdon, both went alumni from Cedarburgh High School,
and said, I'm pulling in. When I walk into the school,

(01:27:20):
Will I see any posters of you being the greatest
student athletes ever? They're like, no, you will not, But
big fans of yours, coach, Big fans of yours. This
is the Varsity Blitz High School Sports Show, presented by
your local Picket Save and Metro Market stores, only on
Fox Sports nine twenty and your iHeartRadio app. Welcome back
to the Varsity Blitz High School Sports Show, presented as

(01:27:41):
always by our friends at your local Pick and Save
and Metro Market stores. Coming live from the Donovan and
Jorgensen Heating and Coolian studios. I'm telling you, man, I
Brian Lear, you can come anytime. You can come in
this studio any single day you want. Ryan McMillan, normally
my co host. Man, he would he would love some
of the things that that you know, we talk about

(01:28:03):
on and off the air, But on and off the air, Hey,
when when you get a chance you talk to Dave
much anymore?

Speaker 6 (01:28:10):
Dave Kiel, Well, I've had a chance to see him
at at the h the w C A, w f
C A stuff, and we had a chance to talk
last I didn't go last year, but the year before
for the Hall of Fame induction. Dave Rush and Tom
Dennig who was a roommate of mine, uh when I
first started coaching and helped me out a great deal.

Speaker 1 (01:28:32):
I got to see Dave and the lobby there and
we have talked for.

Speaker 6 (01:28:34):
About an hour or so, and and uh, you know,
talked about his career and all that he accomplished, and
and I asked him, you know, advice about being in
that stage of the career and knowing that you know,
it's gonna that there's a self life for everything, and
it's gonna come to an end. It's at some point
and you know how to handle it and and where
you were at with things.

Speaker 1 (01:28:52):
First year is the hardest. It is. It is It
is because you know what we when I was at
Martin Luther for the last four years, we want to
state championship. And they they they had some some coach
Wallace time had some players coming back and and it
was hard. He was like, are you going to get
to a game? And I'm like, I can't. You want
to come to a practice? I don't like. I just

(01:29:13):
I need to separate it and be away from it
for a while, because then when I came back, I
didn't really know a lot of the kids. But it's
different for you because you're in you're in the school.
How are the numbers out at Cedarburgh? Do you think
are numbers still pretty strong from from where they were.

Speaker 6 (01:29:31):
I don't know the exact numbers. I don't think they're
they're real strong, you know. I don't think that's a
reflection of anything really being wrong.

Speaker 1 (01:29:40):
I think everywhere take away Meskeigo and take away Arrowhead
and take away Timberly, take away Nina. Maybe I don't
know if anybody's numbers are where they used to be.
I think Yeah, no, I don't.

Speaker 6 (01:29:52):
I don't think there are you know, you know, the
key is your your youth program, and uh we did
a total overhaul of our program in Seedberg about seven
eight years ago, and I think that's going to pay
off for them. I think there would be some good
classes coming up. There's a couple classes where they have
two teams at a level and so that that bodes
well for the future with numbers. But you know, there's

(01:30:16):
always been an abb and flow. It was like that
over the course of twenty nine years. There's stretches where
we had a fair amount of players on stretches where
you know, I had one year we went ten and
two and we had nineteen players on the varsity and
that was early.

Speaker 1 (01:30:28):
That was the first year of the double wing actually.
But yeah, you know what, we only have a few
minutes and I've sort of put you on a spot
on this when you think back of your career. Look,
as coaches, we don't remember the wins very much, but
we sure remember some of the losses. If I asked you,
what was the toughest loss for you? If you could

(01:30:48):
get that one back and coach in that game one more,
I think he'll still not on the air because it
was against them. Twenty fourteen, we played them. We had
Jonathan Stever was on a Jonathan you know, ended up
playing with Shaw with White Sox and and was just
an incredible player for us. But we had a lot
of really.

Speaker 6 (01:31:05):
Good players that year and a great team, and uh.

Speaker 8 (01:31:10):
Looking up, I'm sure the regular the regular season, we
beat them and actually, yeah, we had a great game
against them, and uh, you know, uh, playoffs came and
we won our first two games.

Speaker 6 (01:31:23):
We had a great game against Germantown the week before,
and uh, that game was going back and forth the
whole game, and Jonathan got got hurt and he was
our punter, and we had a long stap go over
punter punter's head, the backup punter, and uh, the Homestead
got the ball and and scored a touchdown and then

(01:31:44):
they went they went for two and scored. And then
the next week the reason was so tough because we
had beat them earlier, but then had that that tough
game and we really I wouldn't say we controlled that
whole game, but we were leading, leading the whole game,
and they pulled it out at the end. But the
following week they went and played uh Nasha and they

(01:32:06):
ended up losing in the same fashions went for two
and and they got a two point conversion. And then
uh Nasha beat Walkshall West, and I thought that was
a year that that we had a chance.

Speaker 1 (01:32:17):
To go to state and and win state. And so
look at I was looking at the scoring sumwhere that game, coach,
I I feel like I control right now. I'm telling you,
you guys get up seven nothing, it's the fourth quarter.
They scored a tie it. You guys come back and
score to get up fourteen to seven. And then they
go and they go for two two or and they

(01:32:37):
went for two and ran on would they run that?
What they do?

Speaker 6 (01:32:39):
They ran the delay delay, passed to their tight end
from the from the from the backside, snucking across the
back of the end zone and he was all alone
and and uh coach, I know that was by far
the worst loss I've ever had.

Speaker 1 (01:32:53):
I'm telling you I used this line a lot, but
it's true. I don't remember my niece is a nephew's name,
but I know when we lost to Usburg coach in
overtime in the sectional semis, I can tell you from
most of the second half down the stretch. I can
tell you certain things that they ran and they did

(01:33:14):
that the ball hit the back iron and went straight
up and came straight down, things that you just don't
see very often.

Speaker 6 (01:33:22):
It was one of those games I remember remember at all.
I'd love to have that one back because I really
felt we had a chance to to take it take
it the distance. There big best best win man there were.
So there were so many big wins UH through through
the years, from from the first year on, we beat

(01:33:44):
the Menamie Falls team that was you know, Ceedburgh when
I took over, had had one winning season in twenty
five years leading up taking that over, and we had
to go on the road and I had one one assistant,
one varsity assistant. We played Minaini Falls, whos ranked number
one time and we faked a punt it near the
end and we scored and ended up winning that game.

Speaker 1 (01:34:05):
So that was huge.

Speaker 6 (01:34:06):
But I would have to say the biggest, biggest win
for us was we made it the state championship game
in twenty ten. We had a home game against Kimberly
who was defending state champion, and we beat them in overtime,
and just being at you know, and having Logan Lauders
was a senior that year and having that big win.

Speaker 1 (01:34:25):
Was that was that was that was probably the biggest
single win that we had that that year. And you
get up to State and want to cut loaded. They
were loaded. They coach Rice was loaded. Hey, it's so
good to see you. I really I appreciate your willingness coming.
You've always been very kind to me with your time,

(01:34:48):
and and I want to say thank you. Not not
everybody in your position would would have been like that,
and you always have been. And I just really enjoyed
the conversations we've had over the years and tell about
that I should think I will, I will.

Speaker 6 (01:35:01):
And I want to thank you. What will you do
for high school sports? The clear passion that you have
for it and the understanding of the history of it
and doing things the right way are incredible.

Speaker 1 (01:35:12):
You got coach. Thank you very much, Jeff. Great job.
This is the Varsity Blitz high school sports show coming
from the Fox Sports nine twenty and your iHeartRadio app