October 1, 2025 • 42 mins
A single visit changed everything. Jaleel Richardson walked Baldwin Wallace with his family on a bright day, talked wrestling with Coach Gibbs, spotted a comic shop across the street, and realized the fit was bigger than a roster spot. That decision took him from injured freshman to culture carrier, from athlete to advisor, and today he’s the first call for students trying to figure out where they belong.
We dive into the heart of BW wrestling’s rise and what Jacket Tough Mentality really means when the room is young and the scoreboard is brutal. Jaleel shares how a thin upperclass core, consistent standards, and shared ownership turned losses into leverage, ultimately fueling OAC titles and national relevance. He also breaks down D1 vs D2 vs D3 with blunt respect: Division I depth is real, but the gap between Divisions II and III is thinner than most think—passion, volume, and competition in DIII can match or surpass what people assume. There’s a great story about teammate-turned-pro fighter Blake Perry that shows what relentless work, humility, and quiet confidence look like day to day.
Away from the mat, the conversation shifts to life design. Jaleel explains admissions work from the ground level—college fairs, high school visits, and the steady guidance students and families need to turn options into clarity. He spotlights BW’s long-standing commitment to inclusion and belonging—Yellow Jacket for Life—plus outcomes that matter: high placement into jobs or grad school and a strong academic reputation built over decades. We talk about balancing a travel-heavy job with marriage and two small kids, relying on a strong partnership at home, and finishing a master’s degree with faith and focused effort. The throughline is simple and strong: culture beats slogans, consistency compounds, and belonging turns effort into growth.
If you’re choosing a college, building a team culture, or trying to juggle ambition with family, this conversation offers
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home
Rants Podcast.
This is your special guest hostFiddy, and today I'm filling in
with Mike Bono with a veryspecial young man coming to us
from Baldwin Wallace University.
We're going to dive into allthings about Jaleel here in a
second.
First, though, make sure youpeep all of our sponsors in the
pre-roll and the post-roll, asmost of these sponsors are small
(00:20):
business owners and very goodfriends of the show.
Make sure you're checking themout.
All of their information is inthe links for the show.
Check them out on social mediaas well.
There are a lot of greatsponsors, whether you're into
golf or energy drinks, uh,clothing and apparel.
So a lot of cool things to checkout.
But they're great, great uhsponsors of this show and great
friends of this show.
(00:40):
And make sure you keep all ofour shows from the past five
seasons of the beginning of RideHome Ransom till right now,
being in the middle of seasonfive and really finishing uh
this season up here relativelysoon.
So we're getting ready to launchseason six here after the new
year.
Uh today's guest is JaleelRichardson.
Uh, he comes to us from BallwanWallace University.
Jaleel, welcome to the show.
(01:02):
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
Happy to be here.
Yeah, absolutely.
So I know we had a couple oftimes we had to reschedule with
you, so we're glad to get you onum right now.
You know, third time is thecharm.
So um, Jaleel, tell all of ourlisteners out there just a
little bit about you.
Like where are you from?
Um, you know, where'd you go tohigh school at?
SPEAKER_01 (01:20):
Yeah, absolutely.
So uh born in Cleveland, Ohio,but grew up down in Akron, uh,
ultimately ended up graduatingfrom Copley High School, uh,
down in Akron, bounced around acouple times.
Um, my dad was a military guy,so he was used to just traveling
around.
So, you know, I've lived like Isaid, I was born here in
Cleveland and then moved down toAkron, lived in Chicago for a
(01:41):
little bit, then came back uphere and ultimately, like I
said, graduated from uh CopleyHigh School.
Um loved my loved my time there.
Um obviously went on to BaldwinWallace University after that.
But uh now as an admissioncounselor at BW, I actually have
Copley as one of my schools inmy territory.
So I'm really happy to actuallyget to go back uh as an alumni
(02:04):
and and hopefully get some ofthe Copley Indians in that brown
and gold here to be BW yellowjackets.
SPEAKER_00 (02:12):
So yeah.
That's uh that's awesome.
So what is it, what is it likebeing a uh child of a uh
military parent?
You know, you're um one of manypeople who have been on the
show, over 270 guests, but Ithink you might be the first one
whose um parents or parent wasin the military.
So what was what was that likegrowing up in that experience?
SPEAKER_01 (02:31):
Uh it was uh um man, it was my dad, he he taught us
discipline for sure.
Uh he taught us punctuality forsure.
Absolutely.
He uh he hated being lateplaces.
Um he instilled into us arespect for our armed services,
(02:52):
um, but really just a respectfor people in general.
Um, you know, I think thatthat's why I'm kind of the way
that I am, uh, in the sense thatI want to try to help out as
many possible people as I can.
Um and I think I get anopportunity to do that in my
role as an administrativecounselor at BW.
But in any role that I've had,I've always kind of gone at it
(03:14):
with the sense of how can I helpthe most people that I possibly
can.
And so I think I got that frommy dad.
Uh rest in peace.
He's been away for for six yearsnow.
Um, but uh a lot of a lot ofgreat lessons we learned from
from our dad with that militarybackground.
SPEAKER_00 (03:32):
Yeah, absolutely.
And um, you know, we we here atRide Home Rans are 110%, you
know, military supporters.
I know um Bono's family, he hassome family that um served, and
I had um four members of myfamily proudly serve in three
global conflicts in World WarII.
My grandfather served as anengineer in the army um in
(03:52):
Korea.
My other grandfather servedproudly um in the Air Force, um
in the cargo unit.
Um I had an uncle serve in theartillery unit in Vietnam, and
my um stepfather served in theNavy on a destroyer in Vietnam.
So um, you know, proud, proudmilitary family here.
Um so you know, you're atCopley, you're in your senior
(04:14):
year of high school, um, just afew years ago for yourself.
You're at Copley senior year ofhigh school, um, you know, and
you're thinking going on to umhigher education for yourself.
So um what schools were youlooking at?
You know, BW, of course, youended up going to, but what
other schools were you lookingat?
And what was that recruitingprocess like for you in
wrestling?
SPEAKER_01 (04:32):
For sure.
Well, I appreciate first andforemost you saying that it was
only a few years ago for mebecause when I'm talking to
these students now, and youknow, I say I'm 31, wow, whoa, I
don't act like I'm an agent.
So um I appreciate that.
Um going back to going back towhere I was in my senior year.
(04:54):
Um, to be honest, I wasn't evenquite sure if I wanted to
wrestle in college at thatpoint.
Um, my senior year was a littlebit tough with injuries.
Um, I ended up really messing upmy my back uh towards the end of
the senior year.
And then I was having kneeissues that didn't get addressed
(05:15):
until my freshman year ofcollege.
Um, and so when I got here tocollege to BW, um I was having
still those same knee issues andpain.
And ultimately the doctors foundI had a baker cyst in my knee
that they said was the size of agolf ball.
So I had to get that scraped outand ended up missing my freshman
year.
Um, but back to my senior year,again, I was going through all
(05:39):
those things.
I wasn't really quite sure if Ireally wanted to wrestle in
college.
Uh, one of my high schoolteammates, he had already
committed uh to BW, um, and hereally, really wanted me to take
a visit.
Um, in my mind, I kind of had BWwasn't even on my list.
Uh, I was visiting John Carroll,I was visiting Case, I was
(06:00):
visiting Miami, um, down inOxford, Ohio.
Um, I had taken uh wrestlingvisits to John Carroll and to
Case.
Um didn't ultimately, thosedidn't really feel like the
environments for me.
Uh Copley's colors are blue andgold.
(06:21):
Um, John Carroll's colors areblue and gold.
Um, you know, the visits didn'treally just it didn't really
just feel like like home for me.
Um and then I kind of say allthe time, I I asked what they
did for fun at John Carroll, andthey said go to BW.
So I said, okay, well I might aswell check out a visit at BW.
Um and when I came here, I metwith our coach, Coach Gibbs.
(06:44):
Um really felt what he wastrying to build here.
Uh Coach Gibbs, he came to BW mysenior year of high school, but
didn't start doing any of therecruiting until that summer.
So I was part of his firstrecruiting class.
And so I was seeing what he wastrying to build here at BW, and
(07:07):
I can I could feel his passionand excitement for it.
And then as I go back on therest of my vision, I'm walking
around campus.
It was a very beautiful day.
It was a very, very beautifulday.
I remember like it wasyesterday, and it was my I had
my mom with me and my youngersister with me.
And we're walking around campus,and my younger sister is just
(07:27):
loving everything about BW.
And then we went out and we wegot lunch at Mike's on Front
Street, and right across uhright across the street, there's
a comic book store called KidForce Collectibles.
So I met with the coach, wetalked wrestling, you know, I
learned I wanted to go to schoolfor business, so I learned that
(07:49):
BW was a great business school.
We had great food there.
There was a comic book storeright across the street, which
I'm a big comic book fan andnerd.
Um, and ultimately my sister waslike, look, if you don't come
here, I'm coming here.
So either way, and I was like,Yeah, this absolutely feels like
(08:11):
the environment for me.
Um, and also I learned during myvisit to BW about how strong the
theater program was as well too.
And ultimately, uh I really,really loved theater.
And so uh I started to do moreof that.
I I did theater all throughouthigh school and growing up, but
I really started to do more inmy high school, my senior year.
(08:34):
And so I kind of wanted toexplore that a little bit.
Uh ultimately, I was born in thegeneration where you know the
parents felt like, hey, that'snot a real job.
You know, you need to find areal job, you're not gonna make
money doing that.
And so I ultimately ended upswitching.
But, you know, when I saw thatBW had all of those different
opportunities that would allowme to explore all of my
(08:56):
different interests and wasn'tjust gonna lock me into one
thing, you know, I was like,yeah, this is this seems like
the school for me.
SPEAKER_00 (09:03):
Okay, no, that's definitely great.
Um, and for anybody who'sinterested who's a new listener,
we uh we've done a lot of movieum talks on here.
We actually did one of the umone of the shows was about TV
shows and movies.
So if anybody's interested in uhlistening to that, definitely
check that out.
Um, one of the upcoming showswe'll have this winter is all
things uh Sylvester Stallone.
(09:24):
So we talk about his uh hisendeavors in the movies as well.
So we're big movie fans um overhere.
So you come to BW, you're astudent, you're a wrestler,
you're enjoying life, doingthings with theater, and then
you actually meet a former guestof the show who ends up being
your teammate, uh, who's now aprofession or a pro MMA fighter
uh in Blake Perry.
(09:44):
So um, and uh, you know, he'sdefinitely been a great guest on
the show.
We loved him.
We had his mom on here as well.
Um, so can you talk about youknow your relationship with
Blake and what that was like asan older student versus like him
being a younger student, beingin the same you know, weight
class and and you know him beinga wrestler.
So, what was your relationshiprelationship with Blake like?
SPEAKER_01 (10:03):
Blake is a great guy, one of my favorite
teammates I've ever had.
Doesn't matter if it was middleschool, high school, college.
Um, Blake came in in the classright under me.
So he's uh a year younger than Iam.
And um I mean immediately youcould just there was nobody that
(10:27):
I've ever seen worked harderthan Blake in all aspects.
You could just tell that he justcared.
But what was even better aboutBlake was that he was just an
amazing human being, just agreat guy to be around.
Uh funny, quiet, quieter thanyou would than than you would
(10:47):
probably expect with somebodywith that background that you
just you know listed off, butum, you know, it extremely
confident and it was just reallyinspiring.
Um you know, me and Blake, uh,we wrestled his so again, he's a
year younger than I am.
So his freshman year uh was mysophomore year.
(11:08):
And like I stated, I had kneesurgery my freshman year.
So it was almost like, you know,it was almost like me being a
freshman as well, too.
And in the wrestling standpoint,um seeing his work ethic just
drove me even more, even more.
Um, what a competitor, what ascrapper, but a a great guy is
(11:30):
is the biggest takeaway forBlake.
SPEAKER_00 (11:32):
Yeah, for sure.
No, he was a great guest for theshow, and we're so happy we had
him on.
Um, I think that was back in umthe spring of 2022.
We had him on.
And uh, you know, for peoplethat don't know Blake, um, you
know, he was a high schoolwrestler, high school football
player.
I actually believe he playedguard on his high school
football team.
So it kind of tells you thesmaller guy, though.
He he was as tough as nails.
And um, you know, Blakefighting, you know, in the MMA
(11:56):
space and um, you know, makingsports center for smashing his
nose like literally in half umand wanting to continue the
fight, um, you know, talks aboutBlake's toughness.
And I I do believe he served inthe military as well, I think
after his time here, you know,at BW.
So um, you know, he had a lot ofexperience going into that.
SPEAKER_01 (12:15):
But um, I thought Blake had a at a good time where
I I think I I can say I maybegot the best of Blake at some
points in college.
I want no issues now at all.
At all.
Um, yeah, incredibly tough guy,way tougher than I am.
So yeah, good, good, good guy.
SPEAKER_00 (12:34):
Yeah, no, that's awesome.
So when when you came in and andduring your time here um, you
know, in the wrestling program,and then for people that don't
know, BW is a nationally knownprogram pretty much now, you
know, after all this time.
Um, could you see, you know,that and you I guess you had to
because you bought into the thestaff's you know vision, but can
(12:54):
you see the growth, you know,during your time here at that
four years to what that visionwas?
To then we'll get into a littlebit later, but when you were a
wrestling assistant to, youknow, now being I think they
took fourth at Nationals lastyear, could you see that
happening during your time here?
SPEAKER_01 (13:11):
Absolutely.
Maybe not, um maybe not to thelevel that we're at now, but
absolutely uh it really mirroreda lot of my high school
experience.
So um my freshman year here atBW, we had three upperclassmen,
(13:32):
if you want to call them that.
One junior, uh, his name wasAndrew Taylor, and then we had
uh three sophomores on the team.
And I think before we even madeit to our first tournament, two
of those sophomores quit.
So it was Andrew, uh, my guy KayHill, who was a sophomore, uh,
(13:52):
and then it was the rest of usfreshmen.
So we were getting smacked.
We were for sure getting smackedmy freshman year.
Um, but I just knew that withthat experience that we were, I
mean, that we were gettingfreshman year, that that would
just what what was that gonna dofor us by the time that we
(14:13):
became juniors and seniors oncewe got comfortable and once we
got ready, um, which ultimatelyended up showing as I think my
junior year, I believe that weplaced second in the OAC.
And then my senior year, we wonthe OAC for the first time in I
don't know how long.
And I don't think that we've letthat go.
(14:35):
I don't think that we've letthat go since.
Um again, I really mirrored myhigh school experience where uh
it was like that.
Our freshman, it was pretty muchlike that.
The majority of us in the lineupwere freshmen.
Um, and then we just keptbuilding every single year.
Um, and it was like that at BW.
But Coach Gibbs, he um hebrought to BW what we call JTM
(14:58):
Jacket Tough mentality.
Um, it was something that was soimpactful that uh those of us
that were remaining from myclass, uh, the majority of us
actually have that tattooed onus.
Uh JTM, I have it right over myheart.
Um, there are very few thingsthat I would say have impacted
me um more.
(15:19):
I would say uh pledging as amember of Cap Alpha Software
Incorporated, but then my timeas a BW wrestler and really
buying into Jack it toughmentality.
Um I think the reason of why oursuccess has continued is because
of that consistency from CoachGibbs and having that JTM.
(15:40):
Um just the other day, justyesterday, or maybe it was two
days ago now at this point, uh,I was in our Welcome Center
lobby speaking with a wrestlingrecruit and one of our new
assistant coaches, uh CoachPetrello, who just graduated
last year.
I want to say he was a two orthree-time national champion,
shattered every single record.
(16:00):
No way I or anybody else I knowis touching him when it comes to
the BW greatness.
Um but he mentioned JTM.
We started just talking aboutJTM in front of the recruit, and
the way that he would describewhat it means to be JTM is
exactly the same way that Iwould describe what it means to
(16:21):
be JTM.
Um, and that's in every aspect,every facet of our lives.
So that consistency, that visionthat Coach Gibbs uh brought here
to BW with JTM definitelychanged my life and I think
changed the culture of BWwrestling as a whole.
SPEAKER_00 (16:40):
No, that's incredible.
And and we've um, you know,we've had discussions on here
over numerous shows.
Um, in our greatest athleteshow, we really dove into the
the whole college wrestler andOlympic wrestler thing.
And um, you know, for a periodof time here, I believe it was
like three years um during yourtime at BW, right, you were a
part of the wrestling staff umas well.
(17:01):
So I kind of want to get youropinion on this as a former
college wrestler and a formercollege coach.
You know, do you think there isa big difference between guys
that wrestle at D3 versus D2versus D1?
Or is everyone very comparable,you know, as far as their
skills?
Maybe the D1s have a little bitmore depth and things like that.
But do you think, um, for themost part that, you know, it's
(17:24):
pretty even playing field, likeas far as your top guys across
all the divisions?
SPEAKER_01 (17:30):
Great question.
Um, I think that I'm gonna giverespect where it's due to
division one.
Um, I think that there is adifference between division one
um and divisions two and three.
I think when we get into two andthree, that's where the
conversation really shifts.
But I'm gonna give respect to uhto division to division one.
(17:54):
Um, one of our wrestlers that wehad just graduated not too long
ago, uh, the younger brother ofJosh Decatur, um he was actually
at Ohio State.
So Jordan and Jacob uh both wentto Ohio State.
Uh they both committed to OhioState out of high school.
(18:15):
Um Jacob ended up coming to BWbecause he wasn't.
Well, I'm not, I don't want tospeak for for the the the young
man.
Um great wrestler, great, greatindividual, great family.
Um but he ended up coming to BWfor whatever reasons while uh
(18:35):
Jacob ended up staying at OhioState.
And you could see thedifferences absolutely between
the the two in the in thecompetition levels.
Um, I think that that goes awayonce we start talking about
division two.
I think absolutely that goesaway once we start talking about
division two.
Um during my time as a BWwrestler, I wrestled against
(18:58):
Ohio State.
Um, I wrestled against CoachBrand's uh son.
During my my time here at OhioState, I've wrestled against
Michigan teams, we've wrestledagainst Division II teams,
Ashland, Lake Erie, Notre Dame.
Um I think that is where wecompete.
I think that's where we compete.
As a matter of fact, we we had aduel last year against Notre
(19:21):
Dame.
Notre Dame is Division II, we'reDivision III.
We beat them.
So I think that again, when itcomes to the competition level
of Division II and Division III,I would argue that the
competition level of DivisionIII is actually over that of
Division II.
I think that there's morestudent athletes in Division
III.
Um, I think that there's reallyno big, no, no major difference
(19:44):
between the athletes that yousee at Division I or I'm sorry,
at Division II and Division III.
And also at Division III, thereare no athletic scholarships.
So it's purely for the love ofthe sport.
So you have more competition ingeneral, and you have more
passionate students, morepassionate wrestlers in division
(20:05):
three.
So I'm gonna give respect todivision one and I'll put them
at number one, but then I wouldput division two or division
three and then division two.
SPEAKER_00 (20:15):
Okay, okay, no, definitely um understood that.
And um, I was just kind ofcurious, you know, from that
perspective, because um, youknow, I think in some of the
other sports, and you're talkingmore maybe team sports, not the
Olympic sports like swimming,wrestling, track and field,
things like that.
I mean, studs are gonna be studsin these sports, but I think
some of those team sports, likeI think if you look at it,
probably say the third string orthird team wide receiver at
(20:40):
Hawaii could be, you know, the astarter at Division III school,
say in football, right?
Or the 16th man on the bench atOhio University, for example,
could be a starter, you know, atDivision I or sorry, at Division
III school and and have somesuccess.
So, but I was just kind ofcurious on that.
So, um, you know, Julio, you areadmissions counselor at BW.
(21:01):
So can you kind of talk about umwhat you do here, you know, what
you do uh here at BW with youradmissions um job and and kind
of what that entails for all thelisteners out there?
SPEAKER_01 (21:12):
Absolutely.
So um what my primary role uh atBaldwin University as a first
year admission counselor isbeing the first stop, second
stop, third stop, fourth stop,whatever you need uh for our
incoming students or anybodythat's interested in coming to
(21:32):
BW as a first-year student.
So uh my areas uh that I coverwould be Garfield, Solon,
Trinity, Summit County, uhMahoney, Trimble, Stark State.
Uh, I'm getting ready to startmy travel season uh in the
actually, I'm getting ready tostart tomorrow uh with some
(21:53):
fairs.
Uh and that'll take me to bequite a bit.
So I'll be you know at collegefairs, uh engaging with
students.
I'll be at high school ofbusiness, engaging with
students, but just trying to getthem excited about coming to
college, coming to BW, informingthem about what we offer here
and how we can help them achievetheir goals.
SPEAKER_00 (22:14):
Okay, no, that's that's definitely great.
And how many years have you beenin admissions for two and a half
years, almost 20 years now?
Okay, okay.
And then you did coach wrestlingfor three years, right?
SPEAKER_01 (22:25):
Yes, I did.
Yep.
Okay.
Uh it's so you mentioned earlierabout three being uh the lucky
number.
Uh, three in my fraternity isactually our number, our lucky
number.
So it took three tries to gethere today.
I was a coach for three years,an admission counselor going on
almost three years as well.
So that's my number.
SPEAKER_00 (22:46):
Okay, that's very cool.
So, more than of course, workand being a former college
wrestler, you are a very prouddad and husband.
So, um, how do you balance, youknow, being a husband with two
small children at home andhaving those parental and spouse
responsibilities with being anadmissions counselor?
SPEAKER_01 (23:05):
Absolutely.
I mean, my wife is myfoundation.
Um, that's my rock.
Uh, we are in the midst ofplanning my son's third
birthday, going back to thenumber three.
Um, we're in the midst ofplaying that right now.
Um, she's my rock.
Uh sometimes, uh, you know, inthe past, I've had to be on the
(23:28):
road for weeks at a time.
Uh, previous territory of minewas Chicago, uh Cincinnati and
Dayton.
So I would be there for a weekplus uh while she was home with
the kids.
Um, and she was really, really,really holding down my
foundation.
And anytime that I've needed anyanything, my wife is always
(23:48):
there to lend a helping hand.
She'll let me know about it forsure.
Um, but she's always there tolend a helping hand.
And she knows at the end of theday, I'm passionate about what I
do, passionate about helpingpeople.
Um, even before I startedworking at BW, I was telling
everybody about why they shouldgo to BW.
(24:09):
Now I get paid to tell peoplewhy they should go to BW.
Um, and so she understands thatum and she's supportive of that.
Um, I've been I'm blessed thisyear, this go-around to where I
don't have uh any extendedtravel, any overnight travel, so
I can hit what I need to andthen still get back home uh to
(24:30):
help out with the little ones.
Um, but there's no way that Iwould be able to do this without
without my rock at all.
SPEAKER_00 (24:40):
No, for sure.
And and and I think um peopledon't realize sometimes when you
work like in the admission spaceor you coach and you're in a
relationship, right?
That can take a toll on arelationship, right?
Because you you kind of workunorthodox hours, you're on the
road and things like that.
And I think um, you know, agreat way to to find your way
(25:01):
through that is to have thatsupportive spouse or that
supportive partner um with youbecause you don't want to have
trouble at home because of thataffecting your trouble, you
know, potentially your troubleat work.
You want to have smooth sellingand in that person behind you.
So that's definitely awesome.
She's so supportive of you andhelps out with the kids and you
(25:21):
know, understands that.
So I I heard a long time agothat some of the biggest reasons
why um, and this is a coachingthing, but some of the biggest
reasons why coaches ultimatelyget divorced, unfortunately, is
just because the time they'reaway.
Um, and you know, I think whenyou're in a space, whether it's
coaching or big business orwhatever it is, you you have to
(25:42):
find within yourself thatbalance, right?
You can't have work bleed intofamily and and family bleed into
work.
You have to kind of keep themseparate and find a good 50-50
balance, if not shaded moretowards your family.
You know, I um I heard a greatquote um, you know, one time,
(26:02):
and I and I'll kind of give thesynopsis of it, but um a guy
that was speaking said, um, andhe was a successful businessman,
he's a little bit older, but hesaid, somebody on their deathbed
never said, Wow, I'm glad I sentthat email on six o'clock on a
Friday dinner with my wife.
No one has ever said that in thehistory of life, you know.
(26:22):
So I think when you can takethat quote and that synopsis of
what he said in the quote andlive that in life, you can
definitely find um a betterbalance.
So um, on top of that, though,you are currently getting your
master's degree as well.
So, how is that going for you?
SPEAKER_01 (26:39):
Man, it is uh it is going.
It is going, it is going greatso far.
It is challenging.
Um, but I again I keep goingback to it.
Uh I'm blessed.
Um, you know, in my family, weare very big in our faith.
(27:00):
Um, and so we lean a lot on thatand we understand that
sometimes, you know, things aregoing to be challenging.
Um, but with God, you know, allthings are possible.
Um, that also goes back to, youknow, every time I want to
complain, I feel the JTM on mychest start, you know, burning
or, you know, things of thatnature.
(27:20):
Um, but school is is great.
I'm on track to be completed inthe spring of this year.
Um, I'm taking classes that I'mpassionate about right now,
classes that um help meprofessionally, help me with
what I want to do um long termas well.
Uh very excited about uh aparticular class I'm in right
(27:45):
now doing project management.
Um that has helped metremendously, you know, in my
professional life.
So school has been good.
It was something that I made apromise to my dad uh before he
passed.
Uh, I had actually promised himthat I would get it before I had
kids.
Sorry, dad.
But um I I'm very, very happy tobe in this, and I can only
(28:09):
imagine, you know, what I'llfeel walking across that BW
stage again.
SPEAKER_00 (28:14):
Sure.
No, that's definitely awesome.
And that that swerved another umquote I heard one time, and um
it was that two men go out on alake fishing, okay, and a storm
comes out of nowhere.
Um, and one guy is praying only,and one guy is rowing only.
And then the guy that is rowinglooked to the man that was
(28:36):
praying and said, you know, youcan pray and row at the same
time.
He can hear you while you work.
So I think, you know, if peoplecan also realize that, right?
Um, you can have your your deepseated faith and and everyone's
believes in something.
If and if they don't, that'sokay too.
But it's okay to work hard andyou know, pray at the same time
(28:56):
and find that way for yourself.
SPEAKER_01 (28:58):
They say faith without works is dead.
You know, you can't just not,you know, do it.
God gives us the tools to beable to make stuff happen.
Um, and if he sees that you'reactually trying to make it
happen, then he's gonna do whathe can to make things a little
bit easier for you.
But um no, I I've never seen,you know, God be just like a
(29:19):
genie where I just, you know, Iwish, I wish, I wish, and then
it happens.
No, I don't know.
I don't think that's how thatworks.
SPEAKER_00 (29:24):
Right, right.
So um, Jaleel, you know, why ifyou're talking to a prospective
student and we have a lot oflisteners on here from a lot of
different ages, and some peoplehave college degrees and some
don't, and some people may belooking for uh a college to go
to.
So why BW?
What would make someone want tocome here?
What are some key things youwant to point out?
SPEAKER_01 (29:44):
Some key things that I would want to point out.
Um I think that at BW we focuson making sure that every
student that steps forward ontoour campus knows that they are
an individual, that they mayMatter.
A piece of information about BWis we were one of the first
(30:05):
schools in the Midwest, if notthe very first school in the
Midwest, to accept everybody,regardless of race, gender, or
anything else.
That was something that wasimportant to us back then, but
it's equally as important to usright now.
You know, our slogan,expression, motto, whatever you
want to call it, is YJ4L.
That means yellow jacket forlife.
So that means at the moment thata student decides that they want
(30:26):
to be a yellow jacket, they arepart of our family.
And for every student that stepsfoot onto our campus, not even
just students, but for everybodythat steps foot onto our campus,
whether they are part of ourdirect yellow jacket family or
not, we want them to feel likethey are included, like they're
respected, and like they matter.
Because we all absolutelymatter.
We're all going to be respectedwhile we're here.
(30:48):
And of course, we're going totry to include all of our
students in as many things as wecan as possible.
We understand that studentsmight come here to, you know, go
into a certain major.
Maybe they want to go intoperforming arts.
Maybe they want to go intoengineering.
Maybe they come here becausethey want to play a sport.
Maybe they play basketball orfootball or they wrestle.
Maybe they don't do any of thosethings.
(31:10):
Maybe they're involved in Greeklife, or maybe they're just a
student that just comes tocampus, right?
We want them to feel like theymatter.
We want them to feel like theyare respected and we want them
to feel like they're included.
And there are so many resourcesat our campus to make them feel
those ways and to encourage themto open up them themselves, open
(31:33):
up their ideas on some thingsthat they maybe thought, maybe
didn't think about before.
But we want them to come out ofhere as well-rounded as
possible.
I would also say 96% of BW gradsare either enrolled in grad
school or hired full-time withinsix months of graduation.
Employers love Baldwin Wallacebecause of the reputation that
(31:56):
we've put forth.
Over the past 30 years, BW hasbeen featured in the U.S.
News World Report as one of thebest schools in the Midwest.
Of course, you can go throughour report and break it down by
different majors and categoriesand things like that.
But as a whole, we have beenfeatured as one of the best
schools in the Midwest.
So because of that reputationover the past 30 years, that is
reflected in that 96% of BWstudents either being enrolled
(32:18):
in grad school or hiredfull-time within six months of
graduation.
So we're going to take care ofmaking sure that you become as
educated as possible and asready for whatever career field
you choose to enter as possible.
But we are also going to makesure that you are ready for
whatever the world looks likeonce you get out of BW as well.
SPEAKER_00 (32:37):
No, that's great.
Thank you for sharing that.
And to all the uh, you know,prospective students out there,
you know, definitely check outBW.
You know, get a hold of Jaleel.
Um, you know, they would behappy to speak to you a little
bit more.
So um, Jaleel, before we get tothe end of the show, we get into
my favorite segment, the FastFitty Five.
And that's five random questionsbrought to you by yours truly
(32:59):
that Mike and I came up withabout four years ago, um, in the
middle of season one.
And it is five random questionsthat will pop into my mind, and
we ask all the guests this onthe individual shows.
And for people that don't know,on our round tables, we usually
have the introductions and thenask two random questions.
So, Julielle, if you're readyfor the fast fitty five, we can
(33:19):
dive in.
Hit me.
Okay.
Question number one (33:22):
would you rather be an elephant or a polar
bear?
SPEAKER_01 (33:29):
Elephant.
For sure.
SPEAKER_00 (33:31):
Okay, okay.
Question number two.
What do you think is harder?
Being a Hall of Fame NFL punteror being a winning two-time gold
medalist and figure skating.
SPEAKER_01 (33:53):
You're gonna get a lot of hate if you miss a kick
as a kicker.
Because it should be so easy.
Oh, punter.
What's more difficult being aHall of Fame punter?
SPEAKER_00 (34:07):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (34:07):
Oh being a Hall of Fame punter, that's more
obscure.
There has to be that that has tobe so replaceable.
Uh, there has to be has to be somuch harder to be be a two-time
Olympic figure skater, anything,but absolutely it has to be
tough to be an Olympic figureskater.
But I have to feel like there isa lot more job security in that
(34:30):
than it is to be a punter.
So to really small fan, I'mgonna say that.
SPEAKER_00 (34:34):
Okay, okay.
What better fruit describes youas a person?
An apple or a tomato?
That's hilarious.
Uh we asked the tough questionshere on the ride.
Uh an apple.
Okay, okay.
Uh, question number four.
What are your thoughts on grapejelly?
SPEAKER_01 (34:55):
That's the only acceptable jelly.
That is the only acceptable.
Uh, strawberry is terrible.
It should not even be an option.
It is grape jelly or nothing.
SPEAKER_00 (35:07):
Wow, okay, grape jelly for life, right there.
Okay.
Um, question number five.
This is always the big debatewith people in Cleveland.
What is the best suburb ofCleveland, in your opinion?
SPEAKER_01 (35:19):
The best suburb of Cleveland.
My wife and I, before we gotmarried, we lived in Lakewood.
After we got married, we livedin Westlake.
We've lived downtown.
Um, I'm gonna say Lakewood.
I'm gonna say I'm gonna sayLakewood.
(35:39):
Lakewood is extremely diverse.
They have great food, but theyare also you can get everywhere
very quickly.
So if you want to go drivearound and be inspired by all of
the mansions over in Avon Lakeand all those things, you can
get there quickly.
If you want to, you know, have agood time on West 25th, you can,
(36:00):
you know, do that reallyquickly.
Of course, you can get all tothe sports games really quickly.
Um I really wanted to namesomewhere on the east side.
I really, really did.
Um, but I think I'll go withWest or with Lakewood right now.
SPEAKER_00 (36:14):
Okay.
And for anybody who's curioustoo a little bit more about
Cleveland, um, last summer wedidn't do an all things
Cleveland show, and you candefinitely check that out.
We had a lot of people on theretalking about the east side
versus west side and what's thebest side.
Um, so we had a lot of coolthings coming out from that.
Um, one of my favorite suburbsis, of course, Willoughby on the
east side, and we did a showabout all things Willoughby for
(36:35):
people that want to check thatout as well.
So people get very passionatehere in Cleveland about the best
suburb and all the cool thingsto do.
But that's gonna do it for thisweek's episode of the Ride Home
Rants podcast.
I would like to thank my guest,Jaleel Richardson, for coming on
and finding some time and a verybusy schedule for himself to uh
talk a little bit more about hisexperiences at BW and being a
(36:57):
husband and a dad and a formercollege wrestler and an overall
great guy.
As always, if you enjoyed theshow, be a friend and tell a
friend.
And if you didn't like it, tellthem anyways, because I bet they
like it just because you did it.
This is Fiddy signing off, andwe will see you next week.
Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home
Rants Podcast.
This is your special guest hostFiddy, and today I'm filling in
with Mike Bono with a veryspecial young man coming to us
from Baldwin Wallace University.
We're going to dive into allthings about Jaleel here in a
second.
First, though, make sure youpeep all of our sponsors in the
pre-roll and the post-roll, asmost of these sponsors are small
(00:20):
business owners and very goodfriends of the show.
Make sure you're checking themout.
All of their information is inthe links for the show.
Check them out on social mediaas well.
There are a lot of greatsponsors, whether you're into
golf or energy drinks, uh,clothing and apparel.
So a lot of cool things to checkout.
But they're great, great uhsponsors of this show and great
friends of this show.
(00:40):
And make sure you keep all ofour shows from the past five
seasons of the beginning of RideHome Ransom till right now,
being in the middle of seasonfive and really finishing uh
this season up here relativelysoon.
So we're getting ready to launchseason six here after the new
year.
Uh today's guest is JaleelRichardson.
Uh, he comes to us from BallwanWallace University.
Jaleel, welcome to the show.
(01:02):
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
Happy to be here.
Yeah, absolutely.
So I know we had a couple oftimes we had to reschedule with
you, so we're glad to get you onum right now.
You know, third time is thecharm.
So um, Jaleel, tell all of ourlisteners out there just a
little bit about you.
Like where are you from?
Um, you know, where'd you go tohigh school at?
SPEAKER_01 (01:20):
Yeah, absolutely.
So uh born in Cleveland, Ohio,but grew up down in Akron, uh,
ultimately ended up graduatingfrom Copley High School, uh,
down in Akron, bounced around acouple times.
Um, my dad was a military guy,so he was used to just traveling
around.
So, you know, I've lived like Isaid, I was born here in
Cleveland and then moved down toAkron, lived in Chicago for a
(01:41):
little bit, then came back uphere and ultimately, like I
said, graduated from uh CopleyHigh School.
Um loved my loved my time there.
Um obviously went on to BaldwinWallace University after that.
But uh now as an admissioncounselor at BW, I actually have
Copley as one of my schools inmy territory.
So I'm really happy to actuallyget to go back uh as an alumni
(02:04):
and and hopefully get some ofthe Copley Indians in that brown
and gold here to be BW yellowjackets.
SPEAKER_00 (02:12):
So yeah.
That's uh that's awesome.
So what is it, what is it likebeing a uh child of a uh
military parent?
You know, you're um one of manypeople who have been on the
show, over 270 guests, but Ithink you might be the first one
whose um parents or parent wasin the military.
So what was what was that likegrowing up in that experience?
SPEAKER_01 (02:31):
Uh it was uh um man, it was my dad, he he taught us
discipline for sure.
Uh he taught us punctuality forsure.
Absolutely.
He uh he hated being lateplaces.
Um he instilled into us arespect for our armed services,
(02:52):
um, but really just a respectfor people in general.
Um, you know, I think thatthat's why I'm kind of the way
that I am, uh, in the sense thatI want to try to help out as
many possible people as I can.
Um and I think I get anopportunity to do that in my
role as an administrativecounselor at BW.
But in any role that I've had,I've always kind of gone at it
(03:14):
with the sense of how can I helpthe most people that I possibly
can.
And so I think I got that frommy dad.
Uh rest in peace.
He's been away for for six yearsnow.
Um, but uh a lot of a lot ofgreat lessons we learned from
from our dad with that militarybackground.
SPEAKER_00 (03:32):
Yeah, absolutely.
And um, you know, we we here atRide Home Rans are 110%, you
know, military supporters.
I know um Bono's family, he hassome family that um served, and
I had um four members of myfamily proudly serve in three
global conflicts in World WarII.
My grandfather served as anengineer in the army um in
(03:52):
Korea.
My other grandfather servedproudly um in the Air Force, um
in the cargo unit.
Um I had an uncle serve in theartillery unit in Vietnam, and
my um stepfather served in theNavy on a destroyer in Vietnam.
So um, you know, proud, proudmilitary family here.
Um so you know, you're atCopley, you're in your senior
(04:14):
year of high school, um, just afew years ago for yourself.
You're at Copley senior year ofhigh school, um, you know, and
you're thinking going on to umhigher education for yourself.
So um what schools were youlooking at?
You know, BW, of course, youended up going to, but what
other schools were you lookingat?
And what was that recruitingprocess like for you in
wrestling?
SPEAKER_01 (04:32):
For sure.
Well, I appreciate first andforemost you saying that it was
only a few years ago for mebecause when I'm talking to
these students now, and youknow, I say I'm 31, wow, whoa, I
don't act like I'm an agent.
So um I appreciate that.
Um going back to going back towhere I was in my senior year.
(04:54):
Um, to be honest, I wasn't evenquite sure if I wanted to
wrestle in college at thatpoint.
Um, my senior year was a littlebit tough with injuries.
Um, I ended up really messing upmy my back uh towards the end of
the senior year.
And then I was having kneeissues that didn't get addressed
(05:15):
until my freshman year ofcollege.
Um, and so when I got here tocollege to BW, um I was having
still those same knee issues andpain.
And ultimately the doctors foundI had a baker cyst in my knee
that they said was the size of agolf ball.
So I had to get that scraped outand ended up missing my freshman
year.
Um, but back to my senior year,again, I was going through all
(05:39):
those things.
I wasn't really quite sure if Ireally wanted to wrestle in
college.
Uh, one of my high schoolteammates, he had already
committed uh to BW, um, and hereally, really wanted me to take
a visit.
Um, in my mind, I kind of had BWwasn't even on my list.
Uh, I was visiting John Carroll,I was visiting Case, I was
(06:00):
visiting Miami, um, down inOxford, Ohio.
Um, I had taken uh wrestlingvisits to John Carroll and to
Case.
Um didn't ultimately, thosedidn't really feel like the
environments for me.
Uh Copley's colors are blue andgold.
(06:21):
Um, John Carroll's colors areblue and gold.
Um, you know, the visits didn'treally just it didn't really
just feel like like home for me.
Um and then I kind of say allthe time, I I asked what they
did for fun at John Carroll, andthey said go to BW.
So I said, okay, well I might aswell check out a visit at BW.
Um and when I came here, I metwith our coach, Coach Gibbs.
(06:44):
Um really felt what he wastrying to build here.
Uh Coach Gibbs, he came to BW mysenior year of high school, but
didn't start doing any of therecruiting until that summer.
So I was part of his firstrecruiting class.
And so I was seeing what he wastrying to build here at BW, and
(07:07):
I can I could feel his passionand excitement for it.
And then as I go back on therest of my vision, I'm walking
around campus.
It was a very beautiful day.
It was a very, very beautifulday.
I remember like it wasyesterday, and it was my I had
my mom with me and my youngersister with me.
And we're walking around campus,and my younger sister is just
(07:27):
loving everything about BW.
And then we went out and we wegot lunch at Mike's on Front
Street, and right across uhright across the street, there's
a comic book store called KidForce Collectibles.
So I met with the coach, wetalked wrestling, you know, I
learned I wanted to go to schoolfor business, so I learned that
(07:49):
BW was a great business school.
We had great food there.
There was a comic book storeright across the street, which
I'm a big comic book fan andnerd.
Um, and ultimately my sister waslike, look, if you don't come
here, I'm coming here.
So either way, and I was like,Yeah, this absolutely feels like
(08:11):
the environment for me.
Um, and also I learned during myvisit to BW about how strong the
theater program was as well too.
And ultimately, uh I really,really loved theater.
And so uh I started to do moreof that.
I I did theater all throughouthigh school and growing up, but
I really started to do more inmy high school, my senior year.
(08:34):
And so I kind of wanted toexplore that a little bit.
Uh ultimately, I was born in thegeneration where you know the
parents felt like, hey, that'snot a real job.
You know, you need to find areal job, you're not gonna make
money doing that.
And so I ultimately ended upswitching.
But, you know, when I saw thatBW had all of those different
opportunities that would allowme to explore all of my
(08:56):
different interests and wasn'tjust gonna lock me into one
thing, you know, I was like,yeah, this is this seems like
the school for me.
SPEAKER_00 (09:03):
Okay, no, that's definitely great.
Um, and for anybody who'sinterested who's a new listener,
we uh we've done a lot of movieum talks on here.
We actually did one of the umone of the shows was about TV
shows and movies.
So if anybody's interested in uhlistening to that, definitely
check that out.
Um, one of the upcoming showswe'll have this winter is all
things uh Sylvester Stallone.
(09:24):
So we talk about his uh hisendeavors in the movies as well.
So we're big movie fans um overhere.
So you come to BW, you're astudent, you're a wrestler,
you're enjoying life, doingthings with theater, and then
you actually meet a former guestof the show who ends up being
your teammate, uh, who's now aprofession or a pro MMA fighter
uh in Blake Perry.
(09:44):
So um, and uh, you know, he'sdefinitely been a great guest on
the show.
We loved him.
We had his mom on here as well.
Um, so can you talk about youknow your relationship with
Blake and what that was like asan older student versus like him
being a younger student, beingin the same you know, weight
class and and you know him beinga wrestler.
So, what was your relationshiprelationship with Blake like?
SPEAKER_01 (10:03):
Blake is a great guy, one of my favorite
teammates I've ever had.
Doesn't matter if it was middleschool, high school, college.
Um, Blake came in in the classright under me.
So he's uh a year younger than Iam.
And um I mean immediately youcould just there was nobody that
(10:27):
I've ever seen worked harderthan Blake in all aspects.
You could just tell that he justcared.
But what was even better aboutBlake was that he was just an
amazing human being, just agreat guy to be around.
Uh funny, quiet, quieter thanyou would than than you would
(10:47):
probably expect with somebodywith that background that you
just you know listed off, butum, you know, it extremely
confident and it was just reallyinspiring.
Um you know, me and Blake, uh,we wrestled his so again, he's a
year younger than I am.
So his freshman year uh was mysophomore year.
(11:08):
And like I stated, I had kneesurgery my freshman year.
So it was almost like, you know,it was almost like me being a
freshman as well, too.
And in the wrestling standpoint,um seeing his work ethic just
drove me even more, even more.
Um, what a competitor, what ascrapper, but a a great guy is
(11:30):
is the biggest takeaway forBlake.
SPEAKER_00 (11:32):
Yeah, for sure.
No, he was a great guest for theshow, and we're so happy we had
him on.
Um, I think that was back in umthe spring of 2022.
We had him on.
And uh, you know, for peoplethat don't know Blake, um, you
know, he was a high schoolwrestler, high school football
player.
I actually believe he playedguard on his high school
football team.
So it kind of tells you thesmaller guy, though.
He he was as tough as nails.
And um, you know, Blakefighting, you know, in the MMA
(11:56):
space and um, you know, makingsports center for smashing his
nose like literally in half umand wanting to continue the
fight, um, you know, talks aboutBlake's toughness.
And I I do believe he served inthe military as well, I think
after his time here, you know,at BW.
So um, you know, he had a lot ofexperience going into that.
SPEAKER_01 (12:15):
But um, I thought Blake had a at a good time where
I I think I I can say I maybegot the best of Blake at some
points in college.
I want no issues now at all.
At all.
Um, yeah, incredibly tough guy,way tougher than I am.
So yeah, good, good, good guy.
SPEAKER_00 (12:34):
Yeah, no, that's awesome.
So when when you came in and andduring your time here um, you
know, in the wrestling program,and then for people that don't
know, BW is a nationally knownprogram pretty much now, you
know, after all this time.
Um, could you see, you know,that and you I guess you had to
because you bought into the thestaff's you know vision, but can
(12:54):
you see the growth, you know,during your time here at that
four years to what that visionwas?
To then we'll get into a littlebit later, but when you were a
wrestling assistant to, youknow, now being I think they
took fourth at Nationals lastyear, could you see that
happening during your time here?
SPEAKER_01 (13:11):
Absolutely.
Maybe not, um maybe not to thelevel that we're at now, but
absolutely uh it really mirroreda lot of my high school
experience.
So um my freshman year here atBW, we had three upperclassmen,
(13:32):
if you want to call them that.
One junior, uh, his name wasAndrew Taylor, and then we had
uh three sophomores on the team.
And I think before we even madeit to our first tournament, two
of those sophomores quit.
So it was Andrew, uh, my guy KayHill, who was a sophomore, uh,
(13:52):
and then it was the rest of usfreshmen.
So we were getting smacked.
We were for sure getting smackedmy freshman year.
Um, but I just knew that withthat experience that we were, I
mean, that we were gettingfreshman year, that that would
just what what was that gonna dofor us by the time that we
(14:13):
became juniors and seniors oncewe got comfortable and once we
got ready, um, which ultimatelyended up showing as I think my
junior year, I believe that weplaced second in the OAC.
And then my senior year, we wonthe OAC for the first time in I
don't know how long.
And I don't think that we've letthat go.
(14:35):
I don't think that we've letthat go since.
Um again, I really mirrored myhigh school experience where uh
it was like that.
Our freshman, it was pretty muchlike that.
The majority of us in the lineupwere freshmen.
Um, and then we just keptbuilding every single year.
Um, and it was like that at BW.
But Coach Gibbs, he um hebrought to BW what we call JTM
(14:58):
Jacket Tough mentality.
Um, it was something that was soimpactful that uh those of us
that were remaining from myclass, uh, the majority of us
actually have that tattooed onus.
Uh JTM, I have it right over myheart.
Um, there are very few thingsthat I would say have impacted
me um more.
(15:19):
I would say uh pledging as amember of Cap Alpha Software
Incorporated, but then my timeas a BW wrestler and really
buying into Jack it toughmentality.
Um I think the reason of why oursuccess has continued is because
of that consistency from CoachGibbs and having that JTM.
(15:40):
Um just the other day, justyesterday, or maybe it was two
days ago now at this point, uh,I was in our Welcome Center
lobby speaking with a wrestlingrecruit and one of our new
assistant coaches, uh CoachPetrello, who just graduated
last year.
I want to say he was a two orthree-time national champion,
shattered every single record.
(16:00):
No way I or anybody else I knowis touching him when it comes to
the BW greatness.
Um but he mentioned JTM.
We started just talking aboutJTM in front of the recruit, and
the way that he would describewhat it means to be JTM is
exactly the same way that Iwould describe what it means to
(16:21):
be JTM.
Um, and that's in every aspect,every facet of our lives.
So that consistency, that visionthat Coach Gibbs uh brought here
to BW with JTM definitelychanged my life and I think
changed the culture of BWwrestling as a whole.
SPEAKER_00 (16:40):
No, that's incredible.
And and we've um, you know,we've had discussions on here
over numerous shows.
Um, in our greatest athleteshow, we really dove into the
the whole college wrestler andOlympic wrestler thing.
And um, you know, for a periodof time here, I believe it was
like three years um during yourtime at BW, right, you were a
part of the wrestling staff umas well.
(17:01):
So I kind of want to get youropinion on this as a former
college wrestler and a formercollege coach.
You know, do you think there isa big difference between guys
that wrestle at D3 versus D2versus D1?
Or is everyone very comparable,you know, as far as their
skills?
Maybe the D1s have a little bitmore depth and things like that.
But do you think, um, for themost part that, you know, it's
(17:24):
pretty even playing field, likeas far as your top guys across
all the divisions?
SPEAKER_01 (17:30):
Great question.
Um, I think that I'm gonna giverespect where it's due to
division one.
Um, I think that there is adifference between division one
um and divisions two and three.
I think when we get into two andthree, that's where the
conversation really shifts.
But I'm gonna give respect to uhto division to division one.
(17:54):
Um, one of our wrestlers that wehad just graduated not too long
ago, uh, the younger brother ofJosh Decatur, um he was actually
at Ohio State.
So Jordan and Jacob uh both wentto Ohio State.
Uh they both committed to OhioState out of high school.
(18:15):
Um Jacob ended up coming to BWbecause he wasn't.
Well, I'm not, I don't want tospeak for for the the the young
man.
Um great wrestler, great, greatindividual, great family.
Um but he ended up coming to BWfor whatever reasons while uh
(18:35):
Jacob ended up staying at OhioState.
And you could see thedifferences absolutely between
the the two in the in thecompetition levels.
Um, I think that that goes awayonce we start talking about
division two.
I think absolutely that goesaway once we start talking about
division two.
Um during my time as a BWwrestler, I wrestled against
(18:58):
Ohio State.
Um, I wrestled against CoachBrand's uh son.
During my my time here at OhioState, I've wrestled against
Michigan teams, we've wrestledagainst Division II teams,
Ashland, Lake Erie, Notre Dame.
Um I think that is where wecompete.
I think that's where we compete.
As a matter of fact, we we had aduel last year against Notre
(19:21):
Dame.
Notre Dame is Division II, we'reDivision III.
We beat them.
So I think that again, when itcomes to the competition level
of Division II and Division III,I would argue that the
competition level of DivisionIII is actually over that of
Division II.
I think that there's morestudent athletes in Division
III.
Um, I think that there's reallyno big, no, no major difference
(19:44):
between the athletes that yousee at Division I or I'm sorry,
at Division II and Division III.
And also at Division III, thereare no athletic scholarships.
So it's purely for the love ofthe sport.
So you have more competition ingeneral, and you have more
passionate students, morepassionate wrestlers in division
(20:05):
three.
So I'm gonna give respect todivision one and I'll put them
at number one, but then I wouldput division two or division
three and then division two.
SPEAKER_00 (20:15):
Okay, okay, no, definitely um understood that.
And um, I was just kind ofcurious, you know, from that
perspective, because um, youknow, I think in some of the
other sports, and you're talkingmore maybe team sports, not the
Olympic sports like swimming,wrestling, track and field,
things like that.
I mean, studs are gonna be studsin these sports, but I think
some of those team sports, likeI think if you look at it,
probably say the third string orthird team wide receiver at
(20:40):
Hawaii could be, you know, the astarter at Division III school,
say in football, right?
Or the 16th man on the bench atOhio University, for example,
could be a starter, you know, atDivision I or sorry, at Division
III school and and have somesuccess.
So, but I was just kind ofcurious on that.
So, um, you know, Julio, you areadmissions counselor at BW.
(21:01):
So can you kind of talk about umwhat you do here, you know, what
you do uh here at BW with youradmissions um job and and kind
of what that entails for all thelisteners out there?
SPEAKER_01 (21:12):
Absolutely.
So um what my primary role uh atBaldwin University as a first
year admission counselor isbeing the first stop, second
stop, third stop, fourth stop,whatever you need uh for our
incoming students or anybodythat's interested in coming to
(21:32):
BW as a first-year student.
So uh my areas uh that I coverwould be Garfield, Solon,
Trinity, Summit County, uhMahoney, Trimble, Stark State.
Uh, I'm getting ready to startmy travel season uh in the
actually, I'm getting ready tostart tomorrow uh with some
(21:53):
fairs.
Uh and that'll take me to bequite a bit.
So I'll be you know at collegefairs, uh engaging with
students.
I'll be at high school ofbusiness, engaging with
students, but just trying to getthem excited about coming to
college, coming to BW, informingthem about what we offer here
and how we can help them achievetheir goals.
SPEAKER_00 (22:14):
Okay, no, that's that's definitely great.
And how many years have you beenin admissions for two and a half
years, almost 20 years now?
Okay, okay.
And then you did coach wrestlingfor three years, right?
SPEAKER_01 (22:25):
Yes, I did.
Yep.
Okay.
Uh it's so you mentioned earlierabout three being uh the lucky
number.
Uh, three in my fraternity isactually our number, our lucky
number.
So it took three tries to gethere today.
I was a coach for three years,an admission counselor going on
almost three years as well.
So that's my number.
SPEAKER_00 (22:46):
Okay, that's very cool.
So, more than of course, workand being a former college
wrestler, you are a very prouddad and husband.
So, um, how do you balance, youknow, being a husband with two
small children at home andhaving those parental and spouse
responsibilities with being anadmissions counselor?
SPEAKER_01 (23:05):
Absolutely.
I mean, my wife is myfoundation.
Um, that's my rock.
Uh, we are in the midst ofplanning my son's third
birthday, going back to thenumber three.
Um, we're in the midst ofplaying that right now.
Um, she's my rock.
Uh sometimes, uh, you know, inthe past, I've had to be on the
(23:28):
road for weeks at a time.
Uh, previous territory of minewas Chicago, uh Cincinnati and
Dayton.
So I would be there for a weekplus uh while she was home with
the kids.
Um, and she was really, really,really holding down my
foundation.
And anytime that I've needed anyanything, my wife is always
(23:48):
there to lend a helping hand.
She'll let me know about it forsure.
Um, but she's always there tolend a helping hand.
And she knows at the end of theday, I'm passionate about what I
do, passionate about helpingpeople.
Um, even before I startedworking at BW, I was telling
everybody about why they shouldgo to BW.
(24:09):
Now I get paid to tell peoplewhy they should go to BW.
Um, and so she understands thatum and she's supportive of that.
Um, I've been I'm blessed thisyear, this go-around to where I
don't have uh any extendedtravel, any overnight travel, so
I can hit what I need to andthen still get back home uh to
(24:30):
help out with the little ones.
Um, but there's no way that Iwould be able to do this without
without my rock at all.
SPEAKER_00 (24:40):
No, for sure.
And and and I think um peopledon't realize sometimes when you
work like in the admission spaceor you coach and you're in a
relationship, right?
That can take a toll on arelationship, right?
Because you you kind of workunorthodox hours, you're on the
road and things like that.
And I think um, you know, agreat way to to find your way
(25:01):
through that is to have thatsupportive spouse or that
supportive partner um with youbecause you don't want to have
trouble at home because of thataffecting your trouble, you
know, potentially your troubleat work.
You want to have smooth sellingand in that person behind you.
So that's definitely awesome.
She's so supportive of you andhelps out with the kids and you
(25:21):
know, understands that.
So I I heard a long time agothat some of the biggest reasons
why um, and this is a coachingthing, but some of the biggest
reasons why coaches ultimatelyget divorced, unfortunately, is
just because the time they'reaway.
Um, and you know, I think whenyou're in a space, whether it's
coaching or big business orwhatever it is, you you have to
(25:42):
find within yourself thatbalance, right?
You can't have work bleed intofamily and and family bleed into
work.
You have to kind of keep themseparate and find a good 50-50
balance, if not shaded moretowards your family.
You know, I um I heard a greatquote um, you know, one time,
(26:02):
and I and I'll kind of give thesynopsis of it, but um a guy
that was speaking said, um, andhe was a successful businessman,
he's a little bit older, but hesaid, somebody on their deathbed
never said, Wow, I'm glad I sentthat email on six o'clock on a
Friday dinner with my wife.
No one has ever said that in thehistory of life, you know.
(26:22):
So I think when you can takethat quote and that synopsis of
what he said in the quote andlive that in life, you can
definitely find um a betterbalance.
So um, on top of that, though,you are currently getting your
master's degree as well.
So, how is that going for you?
SPEAKER_01 (26:39):
Man, it is uh it is going.
It is going, it is going greatso far.
It is challenging.
Um, but I again I keep goingback to it.
Uh I'm blessed.
Um, you know, in my family, weare very big in our faith.
(27:00):
Um, and so we lean a lot on thatand we understand that
sometimes, you know, things aregoing to be challenging.
Um, but with God, you know, allthings are possible.
Um, that also goes back to, youknow, every time I want to
complain, I feel the JTM on mychest start, you know, burning
or, you know, things of thatnature.
(27:20):
Um, but school is is great.
I'm on track to be completed inthe spring of this year.
Um, I'm taking classes that I'mpassionate about right now,
classes that um help meprofessionally, help me with
what I want to do um long termas well.
Uh very excited about uh aparticular class I'm in right
(27:45):
now doing project management.
Um that has helped metremendously, you know, in my
professional life.
So school has been good.
It was something that I made apromise to my dad uh before he
passed.
Uh, I had actually promised himthat I would get it before I had
kids.
Sorry, dad.
But um I I'm very, very happy tobe in this, and I can only
(28:09):
imagine, you know, what I'llfeel walking across that BW
stage again.
SPEAKER_00 (28:14):
Sure.
No, that's definitely awesome.
And that that swerved another umquote I heard one time, and um
it was that two men go out on alake fishing, okay, and a storm
comes out of nowhere.
Um, and one guy is praying only,and one guy is rowing only.
And then the guy that is rowinglooked to the man that was
(28:36):
praying and said, you know, youcan pray and row at the same
time.
He can hear you while you work.
So I think, you know, if peoplecan also realize that, right?
Um, you can have your your deepseated faith and and everyone's
believes in something.
If and if they don't, that'sokay too.
But it's okay to work hard andyou know, pray at the same time
(28:56):
and find that way for yourself.
SPEAKER_01 (28:58):
They say faith without works is dead.
You know, you can't just not,you know, do it.
God gives us the tools to beable to make stuff happen.
Um, and if he sees that you'reactually trying to make it
happen, then he's gonna do whathe can to make things a little
bit easier for you.
But um no, I I've never seen,you know, God be just like a
(29:19):
genie where I just, you know, Iwish, I wish, I wish, and then
it happens.
No, I don't know.
I don't think that's how thatworks.
SPEAKER_00 (29:24):
Right, right.
So um, Jaleel, you know, why ifyou're talking to a prospective
student and we have a lot oflisteners on here from a lot of
different ages, and some peoplehave college degrees and some
don't, and some people may belooking for uh a college to go
to.
So why BW?
What would make someone want tocome here?
What are some key things youwant to point out?
SPEAKER_01 (29:44):
Some key things that I would want to point out.
Um I think that at BW we focuson making sure that every
student that steps forward ontoour campus knows that they are
an individual, that they mayMatter.
A piece of information about BWis we were one of the first
(30:05):
schools in the Midwest, if notthe very first school in the
Midwest, to accept everybody,regardless of race, gender, or
anything else.
That was something that wasimportant to us back then, but
it's equally as important to usright now.
You know, our slogan,expression, motto, whatever you
want to call it, is YJ4L.
That means yellow jacket forlife.
So that means at the moment thata student decides that they want
(30:26):
to be a yellow jacket, they arepart of our family.
And for every student that stepsfoot onto our campus, not even
just students, but for everybodythat steps foot onto our campus,
whether they are part of ourdirect yellow jacket family or
not, we want them to feel likethey are included, like they're
respected, and like they matter.
Because we all absolutelymatter.
We're all going to be respectedwhile we're here.
(30:48):
And of course, we're going totry to include all of our
students in as many things as wecan as possible.
We understand that studentsmight come here to, you know, go
into a certain major.
Maybe they want to go intoperforming arts.
Maybe they want to go intoengineering.
Maybe they come here becausethey want to play a sport.
Maybe they play basketball orfootball or they wrestle.
Maybe they don't do any of thosethings.
(31:10):
Maybe they're involved in Greeklife, or maybe they're just a
student that just comes tocampus, right?
We want them to feel like theymatter.
We want them to feel like theyare respected and we want them
to feel like they're included.
And there are so many resourcesat our campus to make them feel
those ways and to encourage themto open up them themselves, open
(31:33):
up their ideas on some thingsthat they maybe thought, maybe
didn't think about before.
But we want them to come out ofhere as well-rounded as
possible.
I would also say 96% of BW gradsare either enrolled in grad
school or hired full-time withinsix months of graduation.
Employers love Baldwin Wallacebecause of the reputation that
(31:56):
we've put forth.
Over the past 30 years, BW hasbeen featured in the U.S.
News World Report as one of thebest schools in the Midwest.
Of course, you can go throughour report and break it down by
different majors and categoriesand things like that.
But as a whole, we have beenfeatured as one of the best
schools in the Midwest.
So because of that reputationover the past 30 years, that is
reflected in that 96% of BWstudents either being enrolled
(32:18):
in grad school or hiredfull-time within six months of
graduation.
So we're going to take care ofmaking sure that you become as
educated as possible and asready for whatever career field
you choose to enter as possible.
But we are also going to makesure that you are ready for
whatever the world looks likeonce you get out of BW as well.
SPEAKER_00 (32:37):
No, that's great.
Thank you for sharing that.
And to all the uh, you know,prospective students out there,
you know, definitely check outBW.
You know, get a hold of Jaleel.
Um, you know, they would behappy to speak to you a little
bit more.
So um, Jaleel, before we get tothe end of the show, we get into
my favorite segment, the FastFitty Five.
And that's five random questionsbrought to you by yours truly
(32:59):
that Mike and I came up withabout four years ago, um, in the
middle of season one.
And it is five random questionsthat will pop into my mind, and
we ask all the guests this onthe individual shows.
And for people that don't know,on our round tables, we usually
have the introductions and thenask two random questions.
So, Julielle, if you're readyfor the fast fitty five, we can
(33:19):
dive in.
Hit me.
Okay.
Question number one (33:22):
would you rather be an elephant or a polar
bear?
SPEAKER_01 (33:29):
Elephant.
For sure.
SPEAKER_00 (33:31):
Okay, okay.
Question number two.
What do you think is harder?
Being a Hall of Fame NFL punteror being a winning two-time gold
medalist and figure skating.
SPEAKER_01 (33:53):
You're gonna get a lot of hate if you miss a kick
as a kicker.
Because it should be so easy.
Oh, punter.
What's more difficult being aHall of Fame punter?
SPEAKER_00 (34:07):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (34:07):
Oh being a Hall of Fame punter, that's more
obscure.
There has to be that that has tobe so replaceable.
Uh, there has to be has to be somuch harder to be be a two-time
Olympic figure skater, anything,but absolutely it has to be
tough to be an Olympic figureskater.
But I have to feel like there isa lot more job security in that
(34:30):
than it is to be a punter.
So to really small fan, I'mgonna say that.
SPEAKER_00 (34:34):
Okay, okay.
What better fruit describes youas a person?
An apple or a tomato?
That's hilarious.
Uh we asked the tough questionshere on the ride.
Uh an apple.
Okay, okay.
Uh, question number four.
What are your thoughts on grapejelly?
SPEAKER_01 (34:55):
That's the only acceptable jelly.
That is the only acceptable.
Uh, strawberry is terrible.
It should not even be an option.
It is grape jelly or nothing.
SPEAKER_00 (35:07):
Wow, okay, grape jelly for life, right there.
Okay.
Um, question number five.
This is always the big debatewith people in Cleveland.
What is the best suburb ofCleveland, in your opinion?
SPEAKER_01 (35:19):
The best suburb of Cleveland.
My wife and I, before we gotmarried, we lived in Lakewood.
After we got married, we livedin Westlake.
We've lived downtown.
Um, I'm gonna say Lakewood.
I'm gonna say I'm gonna sayLakewood.
(35:39):
Lakewood is extremely diverse.
They have great food, but theyare also you can get everywhere
very quickly.
So if you want to go drivearound and be inspired by all of
the mansions over in Avon Lakeand all those things, you can
get there quickly.
If you want to, you know, have agood time on West 25th, you can,
(36:00):
you know, do that reallyquickly.
Of course, you can get all tothe sports games really quickly.
Um I really wanted to namesomewhere on the east side.
I really, really did.
Um, but I think I'll go withWest or with Lakewood right now.
SPEAKER_00 (36:14):
Okay.
And for anybody who's curioustoo a little bit more about
Cleveland, um, last summer wedidn't do an all things
Cleveland show, and you candefinitely check that out.
We had a lot of people on theretalking about the east side
versus west side and what's thebest side.
Um, so we had a lot of coolthings coming out from that.
Um, one of my favorite suburbsis, of course, Willoughby on the
east side, and we did a showabout all things Willoughby for
(36:35):
people that want to check thatout as well.
So people get very passionatehere in Cleveland about the best
suburb and all the cool thingsto do.
But that's gonna do it for thisweek's episode of the Ride Home
Rants podcast.
I would like to thank my guest,Jaleel Richardson, for coming on
and finding some time and a verybusy schedule for himself to uh
talk a little bit more about hisexperiences at BW and being a
(36:57):
husband and a dad and a formercollege wrestler and an overall
great guy.
As always, if you enjoyed theshow, be a friend and tell a
friend.
And if you didn't like it, tellthem anyways, because I bet they
like it just because you did it.
This is Fiddy signing off, andwe will see you next week.
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