July 18, 2025 • 31 mins
In this episode, we talk to Tony Kunczewski, the Head Football Coach at Berry College, about his career, advice for those wanting to coach in college, and his advice for high school coaches on recruiting.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 3 (01:01):
Everybody, Welcome back to the Parker Resources Podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
I am Michael Parker.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
I'm joined us always by Chris Parker and doctor Chad Flatt. Well,
not always again and not even anytime, so you even
dropped the ball.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Look you always were on here, but this summer you.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Haven't even been on. I've had to do it myself.
You stood me up one time. I just sat here
in silent and.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
I was tired of made all the introducers myself.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
So but we're back and we had some new hires
over the summer went over. But now we're back in
our regular schedule. We got a treat tonight coach Tony Kincheske.
Can you say that name?
Speaker 3 (01:39):
I don't think, so that's why I let you do it.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
That's the head coach at Barry College. You know that
I did. Yeah, he's a good one. Now he goes
way back. He knows Blair Ravot, but he goes way back.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
So he was at Lagrange and that's where I met him,
and then he became the head coach at Barry and
he's been the only coach at Barry entered his fourteenth year.
I mean, they've had a lot of success. I mean
he's really done a good job there. He's one of
the best coach arounds. So I'm really excited to talk
to him, see what he has to say, talk a
little bit about him and his career, because you know,
(02:13):
everybody wants to be a college coach and we always
know what it is. We're going to talk a little
bit about that, and we're gonna talk a little bit
about his advice and recruiting, you know, because recruiting team
trickles down and even at Barry College was Division III.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Make no mistake about it. You got to be a.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Prettydamn good football player to go there, and there is
an understanding the coaches need on what they need to
do to help their kids go there. So excited to
talk to coach a treat, A true Georgia guy. Now
it's been a while now, he's not from Georgia now,
but he we embracing now.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
He's one of them.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Yeah, he's been there long enough.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
So coaching Chefsky Barry College coming at.
Speaker 4 (02:52):
You, all right, I'm very pleased we've got a treat today.
I'm pleased to be joined by one of the best
coaches in the whole United States.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
And I mean that. I'm telling you there's people listening
from Georgia and they know this, but the people maybe
outside may not. Barry College head football coach, coach K.
I'm not even gonna butcher his name.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
Yeah, that's not Southern. So I'll say it once. Ess
I can say, well, you can just go Chuch K
because it's as I tell everybody in recruiting, is like
when I open up my mouth, you can tell I'm
not from the South. And then you see my last name,
you know I'm not from the South. But I've been
here for since two thousand and five.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
So it's twenty years.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Now, twenty years New La Grange. You're in as Could
College and then you got the job at Barry.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
It's hard to believe, coach, I believe this is your
fourteenth year at Barry. Is that right?
Speaker 5 (03:48):
Uhh, yep, we're starting my fourteenth year and we're starting
our thirteenth season.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
Yeah, and the only coach the place has had, right,
you were the first coach and would.
Speaker 5 (03:56):
I described myself as the all time winging winning is
coach and Barry College football history, we're.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
Going to be them all time when it's coach for
a long time coach and you're humble, but I'm telling you,
you guys have done a phenomenal job. You know, you're
winning seventy five eighty percent of your games there for
the last several years.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
And this is a place.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
If you don't know where Barry College is and you're
listening from Texas or Florida or Wisconsin.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Or wherever, you need to look it up.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
Some one of the most beautiful campus in the country,
Roam Georgia Barry College.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
But it wasn't really a football place.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
I don't know that they ever thought about football for
probably one hundred years.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
And what got you? What got you that job? And
then what drew you to that job? Because it is a.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
Tough sale, right, Division III football place is super high academics,
beautiful place, not really a football place.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
You're coming there in your career on the line, it's
obviously been successful. Now what's going through your mind when
you started that process.
Speaker 5 (04:55):
Well, just to take aback, my whole career was spent
at the Division three or life.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
You know, I grew up in the Pittsburgh area.
Speaker 5 (05:03):
I went to Grove City College, which is a Division
three school, which they're a phenomenal program. Now we're pretty
decent when I was there, so I knew Division three
and you know, my first job was at Alleghany, also
in western Pennsylvania. You know, was there for three years
as an assistant coach. Went to Bowden up in Maine
(05:23):
for a year. Because my wife's actually from Foxboro, Massachusetts.
So we met at Grove City and we got married.
We're having our first kids, so we wanted to get
up closer to her family. Was there for a season
and then was looking to become a coordinator. Like most
of us, we'd look to advance our careers, and applied
for four defensive coordinator jobs. I think that that spring
(05:47):
of two thousand and four ended up getting two didn't
get two of them. And I just knew the South.
I knew nothing about Georgia than that had great football.
And you know, we can't control where we're born. And
I love Pittsburgh, will always be home to me, and
it's great football up there, but I wanted to get
down south, and you know, the Lagrange job opened up.
(06:11):
I actually interviewed for Todd Mooney, who's the ad at
Saint Pias. He was the first head coach at Lagrange.
I didn't know him, but I actually interviewed for his
old job at Rhodes College in Memphis, and that was
one of the jobs I didn't get, but the head
coach there thought I did a really good job. They
ended up hiring Alam who actually is a really good
(06:32):
coach and a good friend of mine, Terry Urson. But
then didn't get that job. With the head coach at
Rhodes at the time Joe White recommended me to Todd
Mooney at Lagrange and interviewed for the defensive coordinator job.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Got it.
Speaker 5 (06:46):
Fell in love with the state of Georgia, fell in
love with football here, fell in love with the environment
of Georgia. I think in a lot of ways other
than the heat. I think Western Pa like the type
of people that are there, and the type of people
that are in the state of Georgia. I think a
lot of a lot of cases are pretty similar.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Let me let me interrupt you for just seconds.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
I want to highlight something and I want to go
There's a lot of people listening to podcasts, mostly high
school coaches, uh some a lot of different experience levels, right.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
A lot of them, of course want to be the
head coach. They want to be the coordinator. Maybe they've
never been. I think, what's something I want to highlight that.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
If anybody didn't hear that you went an interview for
a job, you didn't get it, but you impressed a
guy that helped you get the next job, which ironically
is how I got my first head job as well.
So that happens so often, So every interview is an
opportunity to kill it and then make an impression, and
I mean, I don't you don't have to expand on
that for long if you don't want, but I just
want to kind of highlight that.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
And that really got you to where you are today.
Speaker 4 (07:42):
So the interview you didn't get really helped you get
to where you are today.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Now keep going, I'm sorry, I want to, well, no,
do that.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Stop yeah, stop me any time.
Speaker 5 (07:51):
I kind of go on just uh, I can go
on automode here and just start talking forever. But it
actually happened again. I was at Lagrange for said years
and I was naive back then. It's like, okay, I'm
going to be at Lagrange for three four five years
be the defensive coordinator that I'm going to get a
head job somewhere. Well that was my plan. That wasn't
necessarily God's plan. But I want to say year six
(08:15):
of my time at Lagrange was the same time that
Reinhart was starting up football and was a finalist for
the job there. It was it was me, Danny Chronic
and who got the job the first job there.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Then it was it was Bill Stewart. So it was
the three of us.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
So here was Danny who's been coaching for forty years,
maybe even more than that coached Stuart who would I
think he was the head coach at Edawa at the time.
I'm not sure, but you know he was, you know whatever,
forty five years old and then here's some thirty three
year old And I went up there for the interview
at Reinhart and I thought, man, I just killed this interview.
(08:55):
I came home, my wife was like, how did it go?
As like, oh, I dominated this interview, like I'm getting
this job. Well I didn't get the job there, And
in my mind it's like, okay, well, this was supposed
to be part of the script, like you know, I'm
going to be five years be the defense coordinator and
I'm going to get the head job. And it ended
up being a blessing for me because a year later,
(09:16):
Barry ended up deciding they're going to start up football.
And I knew of Barry just from recruiting in Rome.
I remember driving past at once and it was a
great school, beautiful campus as you mentioned before, but you know,
I didn't know much else about it. But when that
job opened up, I knew I was going to go
after it because I felt like it was a good
(09:37):
fit for me and my family, but to kind of
to give a little bit of antidote to that whole
process talking about preparing for your next job. So the
VP at Lagrange at the time, this is a year
before Barry started up football. The AD and the Vice
president of Barry were coming through Lagrange and touring Lagrange
(09:59):
and talking about you know, Lagrange had just started up
their football program five or six years before. To talk
to the administration and just walk around and kind of see
their process that they didn't start the program.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
But the VP at Lagrange at the time had me.
Speaker 5 (10:15):
Take the VP of Barry and the AD around the
athletic facilities in the hopes that if they did start
up football, they would be able to put a face
with a name.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
So I actually got in front of.
Speaker 5 (10:27):
Wida, the vice president at the time, and Todd Brooks,
the AD at the time, and I was one of
two hundred and sixty eight applicants for the Barry job.
And you know, we had yeah, and we had some
good years at Lagrange. We started out zhen twenty our
first two years, then year three we ended up being
nine to one, going to the playoffs, completing the largest
(10:48):
turnaround in the NCAA Division III history, but then after
that the next three years we were around five hundred.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
So it's not like I had this great resume.
Speaker 5 (10:58):
I mean, we played good defense, you know, but the
record kind of didn't didn't match, and through the grace
of God.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
I still don't.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
That's the only way that I got this job that
I can figure, because I couldn't have been I wouldn't
have been the first pick if I was the AD
or the president and the vice president Barry. But I
think I know that I benefited from the fact that
I was a Division three coach, you know, successful on
defense at another Division III school in the state, knew
(11:29):
the state and recruiting that and was a part of
another startup program. That's what helped me get the job here.
And you know, and again it's it's you know, it's
it's funny how you look back in your career and
you see how things kind of kind of go into place.
So I think that's one of the things that I
learned through experience that it's not it's not always going
(11:51):
to be on your time. You could do all the
right things, but the doors have to open. And being
strong in my faith looking back on it now. I mean,
you know, God open up those doors, and somehow I
got the job, and somehow, fourteen years later, I'm still here.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
There's just so many good lessons there, coach, and one
is just proving people right. When somebody did go to
when you did get a job, you've proved them right.
Fourteenth year at Barry winning. You know, you guys have
had unprecedent and the success, and I just think it's.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Important people to hear that one. Even when you don't get.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
A job, that may be okay, you may be impressing
the person that down the road's get I think there's
a lesson there about the best way to improve your
career is to do a great job where you are
right now, no doubt about that. The best way to
be better at your career is to do well right now.
So if you're the ninth grade coach, if you're the
head coach at Barry, if you're the assist superintendent like me,
it doesn't matter what your job is. You do a
(12:44):
great job where you are and it's okay. Other things
may come around.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
It's okay. Look, but I do see a shift.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
And of course now we're the old guys you know,
you and I are, so I do see a shift
where it does. Maybe it's just because we're old and
it's not different, but we feel like is different where
people just everybody, we wanted to be coordinators at young ages.
We wanted head coaching job. Young people lie when they
say they didn't. But there is a little bit of
maybe not quite understanding to first do great where you
(13:12):
are now, seek out.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Those other things. That's fine? Is that? Do you see that?
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (13:19):
I do.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
I mean we talk to our assistants all the time.
I'm in the best.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
The best thing you do you can do is do
a great job where you're at right now, and then
the jobs find you. I mean, I really believe that
nobody wants to have a guy in their staff that,
you know, every five minutes they're looking on football scoop
or whatever.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
You know.
Speaker 5 (13:37):
I'm sure there's other websites in high school where you're
just hunting the next job. If you do a great
job at the job that you're at right now, you
got to have faith that people will find you. And
you know, I needed those other experiences that I had
to prepare me for the job that I had right now,
because yeah, we all want to move up and move
(13:57):
up the ladder fast. But if you're not prepared, never
going to be fully prepared, let's put it that way.
But you know, you've got to go through the you
got to go through the fires first. And there's so
many things that I learned from working with a startup
program in Lagrange and going through the tough times.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
As I said, we're owing twenty our first two years.
Speaker 5 (14:18):
You know, that's you know, if you're able to rebound
from that, then you can I mean, can you imagine
going through two seasons and not having a win. So
not only were the players tough, but as coaches we
had to be tough too. So I think that definitely
prepared me for the experience. And you mentioned starting up
a program is difficult. Now hopefully my my bosses aren't
(14:41):
listening to this, and hopefully they're not. I know, but
what I was going to say is, I think, looking
back on it now, it's almost I would say it's
maybe more difficult to take over a program that has
a bad culture than to start a program. I agree
with that, because we set the culture. You know, we
(15:01):
can establish the culture.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Now. I'm not saying it was easy, but.
Speaker 5 (15:06):
I would take starting up a program from scratch as
long as you have the stuff in place to be successful,
which fortunately we do we have had here at Barry.
But I think it's easier to start up something from
scratch where there is no bad habits to get rid of,
there is no bad attitudes to get rid of, rather
than getting into a program where you got to change
(15:28):
everybody's mindset.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Coach, I want to ask you two more things, and
I'll let you go even but I want to ask
you about recruiting and advice you have.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
For high school coaches, because I know they're listening and
they want to know.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
But also a lot of these HeiG school coaches want
to be a college coach, right, I mean, there is
a little bit of a cachet there and whatever. So
what advice would you ever somebody that I guess regardless
of age, but maybe a young guy that wants to
be a college coach. Maybe they're high school coach now
or listen to this, theyre in another state, whatever, but
they aspire to be a college coach. What advice does
(15:59):
the head college coach have for that person.
Speaker 5 (16:02):
I think the one thing that's challenging going from high
school to college, and you know, we run into that.
We don't have a ton of guys here that end
up getting into coaching, but we do have some. You know,
the one challenge is when you're in high school and
you're already making some money and then you try to
transition to college. Now, there's going to be there's always
(16:24):
exceptions to the rule. Like I was just down at
at Georgia Tech a couple of days ago and Jess Simpsons,
the defensive line coach probably arguably the best defensive line
coach in the country. Now, he came from Beuford, so
he's certainly had a great resume. So I don't know
if you necessarily that that's probably a bad example. But
for most guys, you're going to have to take a
(16:44):
step back financially, which is tough.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
I think it is a younger person's thing, right, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (16:50):
I mean there's not all the Jess Simpsons or I'm
sure there's other examples of you know, the high school
guys that have that have gone into into college. But
as a young coach, I think you got to really
get the mindset like, hey, I'm going to take a
step back financially if I already have a family as
my wife on board. You know, if you have kids,
that's an issue too. Can I take that step back
(17:13):
financially to get into the college game, because it's not
like you're going to step into college right away and
become maybe not even a full time coach. You might
have to be a GA, you might have to be
a part time guy or whatever, and to work your
way up through the system. So I think you got
to have the mindset that I really wanted for me.
I felt like this was the best fit for me.
(17:33):
I mean a kid, I kind of half joke and
I'm kind of half serious. You know, I tell our
freshmen all the time it was like, you know, the
best thing about freshman is to become a sophomore in
a year.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Well, I'm not really.
Speaker 5 (17:44):
My skill set really wasn't necessarily fourteen to eighteen year olds.
My skill set maybe not be even be eighteen year olds.
It's probably nineteen to twenty two to twenty three year olds.
But that was my skill set. So yeah, I think
you got to have the mindset of like, hey, do
I really want to do this, because oftentimes you got
to take a step back before you take a step forward.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
It's actually a really good advice because you you know,
I think sometimes that maybe sounds good in theory or
you know, like it's cooler to be a college coach
maybe in their head.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
But there's a lot of real practical things that come
into play. And one is the teaching salary versus college stuff.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
And I know people know that, but they don't always
think through that because because they want something so bad.
You know.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
I don't know if that's as big of a thing now,
but that was a big thing a few years ago.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Sure, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
What so when we were when I was coaching and
you were coaching, and we would recruit, you would recruit
our guys. That's like night and day from today in recruiting, Like,
I know nothing about recruiting.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
I sit on here and talk to people about leadership.
I hope. I'm really good at organization.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
I'm really good at if you get to offense and
defense and special teams. I hope I'm still pretty decent
at it. But I'm telling you, when we talk about recruiting,
I kind of shut up because I don't feel like
I can offer much of the conversation.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
It's changed that much. Yeah, you know, and you know,
five or six years.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
So I guess my first question just for my personal
interest is how much has that changed with you at
the division three level versus what we know is changed
at some of the other levels. And then what advice
do you have for guys to help them get their
guys recruited to bury your other places.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Well, luckily at our level it hasn't changed as much.
Speaker 5 (19:25):
I mean, it's changed so rapidly in the last two
or three years at the at the you know, the
Power four level with the transfer portal and Nil, we
don't really you know, we don't deal with Nil really
at all. With the transfer portal, we don't really deal
with it much because Barry is such a tough school
to get into academically, it's just tough for us to
get those transfer portal guys. So it's really remained, i
(19:49):
would say, more pure at the Division two Division three
NAI level. So I don't know if it's changed much
from that. The biggest thing that I found out over
the years is, you know, especially in Georgia, you're like, okay,
you know when I first started Lagrange or when I
got the job at Berry, but I kind of knew
about it before.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
I got the job at Berry.
Speaker 5 (20:09):
I'm thinking when I first got to Lagrange, Georgia, I
was like, man, we're the only Division three in the state.
Like if they're not a major college or a scholarship
football player, and they still want to play, like we're
going to win a national championship in three or four
years because we're the only one in the state.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
There's no Division three in Florida.
Speaker 5 (20:26):
There's was only two, you know, one at the time
in Alabama and only three in Tennessee. You kind of
got to fight the stigma of well, if I'm not
going to the SEC or if I'm not going to
me play major college football, do I really want to
do it?
Speaker 3 (20:42):
And I think you got to.
Speaker 5 (20:45):
What we had to do at Lagrange and we've you know,
I've gotten much better at it through the years as
qualifying guys as okay, how bad did they want to
play at the next level? And I think we can all,
you know, think of examples of why playing college football
is important.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
But do they want to play it or do they
need to play it?
Speaker 5 (21:04):
And I think there's a big difference between the two.
And there's a big difference between Division three and top
twenty five. Division three like for us, for us to
stay in the top twenty five, for us to win
a national championship, I'm not looking for the Division three player.
You know, when I go in to talk to head coaches,
(21:24):
and I still do and I still try to get
out every spring.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
You know, when I talk to head coaches, I.
Speaker 5 (21:28):
Asked them, was like, Hey, who are guys that are
going to be FCS level, maybe academy level, guys that
you know, maybe it just might fall through the cracks
that are that type of talent that may be able
to fall to our level. Because for us to continue
to be successful, we need to recruit that type of kid.
And you know, our best players through the years, and
(21:50):
we've had, fortunately, we've had plenty, and we've been fortunate
to win a lot of games and win a bunch
of conference championships and go to the nca playoffs. Our
best players are guys that have passed up opportunities at
higher levels to come to Barry because of not just
the four year experience they're going to get here, but
then the forty year experience they're going to get afterwards.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Out in the out in life, out in the game
of life, because this place is going to prepare you
for that. So it's really.
Speaker 5 (22:22):
We're looking at we're looking at a small number of
guys because who fits that mold. But I kind of
like that because you know, the guys that we're recruiting, yes,
are good football players, but they have to be great
academically and honestly, for us, we don't bring anybody on
campus unless we've talked to the high school head coach
and talked about them from a character standpoint. So nobody
(22:43):
comes on campus unless we can vet them academically. Obviously
we're looking at their film and we're talking to their high.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
School head coach. That's good for people to hear. I mean,
coaches want to hear that. But I think one of
the things that I heard you say putting words in
your mouth here.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
But the advice for the high school coach is if
I'm saying, Okay, I'm a high school coach, I want
my kids to go to Bury, and I just don't
feel like I'm getting my message across or I don't
feel like and I feel like coaches feel this about everywhere,
not Bury, but everywhere. They feel like I want to
get my kids recruited, and I feel like they're good enough,
but nobody's listening. But I do think one of the
(23:18):
things that they need to be doing, like your advice
to them, sounded to me like they need to be
educating their kids on their real options too, Like you
can really do a good job even at that henth
grade kid starting like, hey man, you're awesome.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
You're the all region tight in. That's great.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
Maybe you can get in the Air Force Academy, that'd
be awesome. But if for some reason you can't, here's
some options for you.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
I feel like it's a two way street.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
We want you guys to take our kids, but we
need to do a good good job of educating them
on what their option is. So when they get that
Barry talk, that's a good thing for them, you know,
instead of being almost insulted until then it's too late.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
And that what you're is that what you're kind of saying.
Speaker 5 (23:56):
Yeah, And I don't mean to come across the wrong way,
but I think sometimes I run into high school coaches say, oh, well, hey,
you guys are non scholarship so this guy's a solid
high school football player, Like why can't you just take
them at Berry Well, because we're trying to win national championships.
You know, we're you know, to go back to hey,
(24:16):
we don't necessarily want to recruit the Division three kid.
We want to recruit the kid at a higher level,
and then it's our job after that to get them
on campus and tell them why, like, hey, you know,
maybe you might pay a little bit more money to
go here, but you're going to have a great experience
out in the football field.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
You're going to win a lot of games for four years.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
More importantly than that, you're going to have a great
experience in the classroom too. So I think it's not
shutting the door on some guys that they think might
get to a higher level. But also in the same time,
I don't want to offend guys for saying, hey, he's
a good player, but we're not going to recruit him
here because we're looking for a certain type of player
that's going to like I said that, it's going to
(24:56):
wins the national championship, and like I said, a top
twenty five at Division three type of player is a
different player than the other. You know, there's two hundred
and fifty Division three schools in the country. The top
twenty five, top forty kid is going to be different
than you know, the bottom two hundred of the Division three.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
It's so and it's and.
Speaker 5 (25:16):
It's our job to to communicate that in a way, right,
it doesn't offend the high school coach, but at the
same time getting to our point across and I think
everybody kind of understands that once you explain it, like, hey,
we're you know, I've been here for fourteen years.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
If we start losing, I ain't going.
Speaker 5 (25:31):
To be here for twenty you know, so you know
we're gonna put on the table on Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
One of the reason you've been there fourteen years is
your relationships with coaches.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
So I do feel like you're a good person to
talk to about this because I feel like most people
probably do feel like you're honest with them. Yes, telling
them what they can that's what the high school coach
usually want, so they say they want it's just for
you to be honest with them and tell me. And
then I do think it's really difficult for the high
school coach to educate their players because until they get
like halfway through their senior year, they're all going Division one,
right or they feel like they are, And it's really
(26:02):
hard to crush that dream, you know, and so they
got to find ways to massage that to make sure
that we're looking at our other options earlier, because sometimes
we've had kids that would have been academy type kids
that it didn't work out for them. The next level
is somewhere like Barry, but Berry only's taking one tight
end and they just it's not going to work out
(26:24):
now because they kind of were off of it too early.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
So I think both sides there's communication.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
The frustration with Tichsloo coaches has a lot more to
do with the Division one and two levels. But we
got to make people understand how important and how significant
that Division III offer is because I know it's not
in scholarship, but you only got so many people you
can put on the football team and definitely only somebody
you can really rep in and practice with. So you know,
(26:50):
it's a coveted spot when you say we want you
to come play tight end.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
For Barry right right.
Speaker 5 (26:56):
Well, in two things that I would say in response
to that number one, like, there's ways from a financial
aid perspective.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
That we can help. You know, we can't necessarily give them.
Speaker 5 (27:07):
We have institutional scholarships for example, at our place, I
can't necessarily pick it because that would be against the rules.
Pick the people to get those scholarships for. But I
can certainly move people in that direction. And through the years,
if you look at a lot of our you know,
all Americans, a lot of those guys got institutional scholarships
where they're paying the same amount here as they're paying it,
you know, scholarships. So understanding how the financial aid works
(27:31):
and then the other the flip side of it. And
I hesitate kind of saying this, but I think, you know,
to educate some coaches. And I don't hear this very often,
but sometimes I hear from coaches like, well, hey, this
guy can play for you. And I'm usually I usually
you know, don't know this route, but but part of
(27:52):
me once says like, hey, have you ever seen enough play?
And my point to that is is that six and
a half percent of high school football players playing college.
So there's good football players all over the place. So
I think you've got to be careful. And that's a
two way street. Like they need to educate their kids,
but I think also it falls on us too to
(28:13):
educate the coaches on like, hey, this is the level
of football that we're playing at right now, and like
you mentioned, like for the past three or four years,
we've been only able to take one quarterback because we
only want.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
You know, five total in our system.
Speaker 5 (28:28):
So we you know, for example, in that position, we've
got to be really stringing on who we're taking because
they got to be at a certain level. Why would
you take him if we don't feel like he can
beat out the guys that we already have. So and
every place is different on that. Some are driven by
tuition revenue, where you'll see rosters sometimes at the Division two,
Division three and AI level of two hundred and fifty
(28:50):
kids on the roster. You know, Barry's not that way.
So I think it's difficult for high school coaches because
every schools so different tovigate the small schools.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
It's a constant moving target for these.
Speaker 3 (29:03):
Well, you just can't put them all in one box.
I guess that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
It's a constant moving target.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
But most people I talk to, you know, what's interesting
from this role is most people I talked to a
college coach down high s coach, you're pretty good.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Guys want to do the right thing, want to help.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
Each other, out.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
There is a disconnect sometimes and it's accidental. You know,
when you're my role and you don't really have a side,
you can see it. You know that it's just accidental.
But I'm telling anybody listening, Barry's a good option for
him if you've got kids.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
So, and I don't say I don't bring everybody on
here and say that, so coach, because very coach K
is the man, and I appreciate your friendship. Coach. I
appreciate all you do.
Speaker 4 (29:41):
And fourteen years and this day, I don't care what
school is at fourteen years prety impressive, man.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
I hope you appreciate that.
Speaker 4 (29:47):
Take a minute to appreciate it, and then forget it,
because you know you're only as good as the next game.
Speaker 5 (29:51):
Right. I was gonna say, I would love to that's
something I'm not good at. I would love to appreciate it,
but I don't. I don't spend I don't spend any
time doing that. It's what have you done for me lately?
And that's not a pressure necessary from the school. That's
an internal pressure. That's why you've been put on ourselves
and that's why you've been successful. And I'm always here
to help if I can. I don't know what I
(30:11):
can do, but I'm a fan. Appreciate you, and I
appreciate taking some.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Time to talk to me. I know you guys are busy,
busy time of the year, so thanks talking to me.
If I can never help you out, let me know.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
All right.
Speaker 5 (30:20):
Well, hey, you've done enough to just let me on
this on this podcast, so I appreciate that and enjoyed
speaking with Thanks.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
Coaching, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
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Speaker 3 (01:01):
Everybody, Welcome back to the Parker Resources Podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
I am Michael Parker.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
I'm joined us always by Chris Parker and doctor Chad Flatt. Well,
not always again and not even anytime, so you even
dropped the ball.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Look you always were on here, but this summer you.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Haven't even been on. I've had to do it myself.
You stood me up one time. I just sat here
in silent and.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
I was tired of made all the introducers myself.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
So but we're back and we had some new hires
over the summer went over. But now we're back in
our regular schedule. We got a treat tonight coach Tony Kincheske.
Can you say that name?
Speaker 3 (01:39):
I don't think, so that's why I let you do it.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
That's the head coach at Barry College. You know that
I did. Yeah, he's a good one. Now he goes
way back. He knows Blair Ravot, but he goes way back.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
So he was at Lagrange and that's where I met him,
and then he became the head coach at Barry and
he's been the only coach at Barry entered his fourteenth year.
I mean, they've had a lot of success. I mean
he's really done a good job there. He's one of
the best coach arounds. So I'm really excited to talk
to him, see what he has to say, talk a
little bit about him and his career, because you know,
(02:13):
everybody wants to be a college coach and we always
know what it is. We're going to talk a little
bit about that, and we're gonna talk a little bit
about his advice and recruiting, you know, because recruiting team
trickles down and even at Barry College was Division III.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Make no mistake about it. You got to be a.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Prettydamn good football player to go there, and there is
an understanding the coaches need on what they need to
do to help their kids go there. So excited to
talk to coach a treat, A true Georgia guy. Now
it's been a while now, he's not from Georgia now,
but he we embracing now.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
He's one of them.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Yeah, he's been there long enough.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
So coaching Chefsky Barry College coming at.
Speaker 4 (02:52):
You, all right, I'm very pleased we've got a treat today.
I'm pleased to be joined by one of the best
coaches in the whole United States.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
And I mean that. I'm telling you there's people listening
from Georgia and they know this, but the people maybe
outside may not. Barry College head football coach, coach K.
I'm not even gonna butcher his name.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
Yeah, that's not Southern. So I'll say it once. Ess
I can say, well, you can just go Chuch K
because it's as I tell everybody in recruiting, is like
when I open up my mouth, you can tell I'm
not from the South. And then you see my last name,
you know I'm not from the South. But I've been
here for since two thousand and five.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
So it's twenty years.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Now, twenty years New La Grange. You're in as Could
College and then you got the job at Barry.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
It's hard to believe, coach, I believe this is your
fourteenth year at Barry. Is that right?
Speaker 5 (03:48):
Uhh, yep, we're starting my fourteenth year and we're starting
our thirteenth season.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
Yeah, and the only coach the place has had, right,
you were the first coach and would.
Speaker 5 (03:56):
I described myself as the all time winging winning is
coach and Barry College football history, we're.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
Going to be them all time when it's coach for
a long time coach and you're humble, but I'm telling you,
you guys have done a phenomenal job. You know, you're
winning seventy five eighty percent of your games there for
the last several years.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
And this is a place.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
If you don't know where Barry College is and you're
listening from Texas or Florida or Wisconsin.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Or wherever, you need to look it up.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
Some one of the most beautiful campus in the country,
Roam Georgia Barry College.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
But it wasn't really a football place.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
I don't know that they ever thought about football for
probably one hundred years.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
And what got you? What got you that job? And
then what drew you to that job? Because it is a.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
Tough sale, right, Division III football place is super high academics,
beautiful place, not really a football place.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
You're coming there in your career on the line, it's
obviously been successful. Now what's going through your mind when
you started that process.
Speaker 5 (04:55):
Well, just to take aback, my whole career was spent
at the Division three or life.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
You know, I grew up in the Pittsburgh area.
Speaker 5 (05:03):
I went to Grove City College, which is a Division
three school, which they're a phenomenal program. Now we're pretty
decent when I was there, so I knew Division three
and you know, my first job was at Alleghany, also
in western Pennsylvania. You know, was there for three years
as an assistant coach. Went to Bowden up in Maine
(05:23):
for a year. Because my wife's actually from Foxboro, Massachusetts.
So we met at Grove City and we got married.
We're having our first kids, so we wanted to get
up closer to her family. Was there for a season
and then was looking to become a coordinator. Like most
of us, we'd look to advance our careers, and applied
for four defensive coordinator jobs. I think that that spring
(05:47):
of two thousand and four ended up getting two didn't
get two of them. And I just knew the South.
I knew nothing about Georgia than that had great football.
And you know, we can't control where we're born. And
I love Pittsburgh, will always be home to me, and
it's great football up there, but I wanted to get
down south, and you know, the Lagrange job opened up.
(06:11):
I actually interviewed for Todd Mooney, who's the ad at
Saint Pias. He was the first head coach at Lagrange.
I didn't know him, but I actually interviewed for his
old job at Rhodes College in Memphis, and that was
one of the jobs I didn't get, but the head
coach there thought I did a really good job. They
ended up hiring Alam who actually is a really good
(06:32):
coach and a good friend of mine, Terry Urson. But
then didn't get that job. With the head coach at
Rhodes at the time Joe White recommended me to Todd
Mooney at Lagrange and interviewed for the defensive coordinator job.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Got it.
Speaker 5 (06:46):
Fell in love with the state of Georgia, fell in
love with football here, fell in love with the environment
of Georgia. I think in a lot of ways other
than the heat. I think Western Pa like the type
of people that are there, and the type of people
that are in the state of Georgia. I think a
lot of a lot of cases are pretty similar.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Let me let me interrupt you for just seconds.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
I want to highlight something and I want to go
There's a lot of people listening to podcasts, mostly high
school coaches, uh some a lot of different experience levels, right.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
A lot of them, of course want to be the
head coach. They want to be the coordinator. Maybe they've
never been. I think, what's something I want to highlight that.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
If anybody didn't hear that you went an interview for
a job, you didn't get it, but you impressed a
guy that helped you get the next job, which ironically
is how I got my first head job as well.
So that happens so often, So every interview is an
opportunity to kill it and then make an impression, and
I mean, I don't you don't have to expand on
that for long if you don't want, but I just
want to kind of highlight that.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
And that really got you to where you are today.
Speaker 4 (07:42):
So the interview you didn't get really helped you get
to where you are today.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Now keep going, I'm sorry, I want to, well, no,
do that.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Stop yeah, stop me any time.
Speaker 5 (07:51):
I kind of go on just uh, I can go
on automode here and just start talking forever. But it
actually happened again. I was at Lagrange for said years
and I was naive back then. It's like, okay, I'm
going to be at Lagrange for three four five years
be the defensive coordinator that I'm going to get a
head job somewhere. Well that was my plan. That wasn't
necessarily God's plan. But I want to say year six
(08:15):
of my time at Lagrange was the same time that
Reinhart was starting up football and was a finalist for
the job there. It was it was me, Danny Chronic
and who got the job the first job there.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Then it was it was Bill Stewart. So it was
the three of us.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
So here was Danny who's been coaching for forty years,
maybe even more than that coached Stuart who would I
think he was the head coach at Edawa at the time.
I'm not sure, but you know he was, you know whatever,
forty five years old and then here's some thirty three
year old And I went up there for the interview
at Reinhart and I thought, man, I just killed this interview.
(08:55):
I came home, my wife was like, how did it go?
As like, oh, I dominated this interview, like I'm getting
this job. Well I didn't get the job there, And
in my mind it's like, okay, well, this was supposed
to be part of the script, like you know, I'm
going to be five years be the defense coordinator and
I'm going to get the head job. And it ended
up being a blessing for me because a year later,
(09:16):
Barry ended up deciding they're going to start up football.
And I knew of Barry just from recruiting in Rome.
I remember driving past at once and it was a
great school, beautiful campus as you mentioned before, but you know,
I didn't know much else about it. But when that
job opened up, I knew I was going to go
after it because I felt like it was a good
(09:37):
fit for me and my family, but to kind of
to give a little bit of antidote to that whole
process talking about preparing for your next job. So the
VP at Lagrange at the time, this is a year
before Barry started up football. The AD and the Vice
president of Barry were coming through Lagrange and touring Lagrange
(09:59):
and talking about you know, Lagrange had just started up
their football program five or six years before. To talk
to the administration and just walk around and kind of see
their process that they didn't start the program.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
But the VP at Lagrange at the time had me.
Speaker 5 (10:15):
Take the VP of Barry and the AD around the
athletic facilities in the hopes that if they did start
up football, they would be able to put a face
with a name.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
So I actually got in front of.
Speaker 5 (10:27):
Wida, the vice president at the time, and Todd Brooks,
the AD at the time, and I was one of
two hundred and sixty eight applicants for the Barry job.
And you know, we had yeah, and we had some
good years at Lagrange. We started out zhen twenty our
first two years, then year three we ended up being
nine to one, going to the playoffs, completing the largest
(10:48):
turnaround in the NCAA Division III history, but then after
that the next three years we were around five hundred.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
So it's not like I had this great resume.
Speaker 5 (10:58):
I mean, we played good defense, you know, but the
record kind of didn't didn't match, and through the grace
of God.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
I still don't.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
That's the only way that I got this job that
I can figure, because I couldn't have been I wouldn't
have been the first pick if I was the AD
or the president and the vice president Barry. But I
think I know that I benefited from the fact that
I was a Division three coach, you know, successful on
defense at another Division III school in the state, knew
(11:29):
the state and recruiting that and was a part of
another startup program. That's what helped me get the job here.
And you know, and again it's it's you know, it's
it's funny how you look back in your career and
you see how things kind of kind of go into place.
So I think that's one of the things that I
learned through experience that it's not it's not always going
(11:51):
to be on your time. You could do all the
right things, but the doors have to open. And being
strong in my faith looking back on it now. I mean,
you know, God open up those doors, and somehow I
got the job, and somehow, fourteen years later, I'm still here.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
There's just so many good lessons there, coach, and one
is just proving people right. When somebody did go to
when you did get a job, you've proved them right.
Fourteenth year at Barry winning. You know, you guys have
had unprecedent and the success, and I just think it's.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Important people to hear that one. Even when you don't get.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
A job, that may be okay, you may be impressing
the person that down the road's get I think there's
a lesson there about the best way to improve your
career is to do a great job where you are
right now, no doubt about that. The best way to
be better at your career is to do well right now.
So if you're the ninth grade coach, if you're the
head coach at Barry, if you're the assist superintendent like me,
it doesn't matter what your job is. You do a
(12:44):
great job where you are and it's okay. Other things
may come around.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
It's okay. Look, but I do see a shift.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
And of course now we're the old guys you know,
you and I are, so I do see a shift
where it does. Maybe it's just because we're old and
it's not different, but we feel like is different where
people just everybody, we wanted to be coordinators at young ages.
We wanted head coaching job. Young people lie when they
say they didn't. But there is a little bit of
maybe not quite understanding to first do great where you
(13:12):
are now, seek out.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Those other things. That's fine? Is that? Do you see that?
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (13:19):
I do.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
I mean we talk to our assistants all the time.
I'm in the best.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
The best thing you do you can do is do
a great job where you're at right now, and then
the jobs find you. I mean, I really believe that
nobody wants to have a guy in their staff that,
you know, every five minutes they're looking on football scoop
or whatever.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
You know.
Speaker 5 (13:37):
I'm sure there's other websites in high school where you're
just hunting the next job. If you do a great
job at the job that you're at right now, you
got to have faith that people will find you. And
you know, I needed those other experiences that I had
to prepare me for the job that I had right now,
because yeah, we all want to move up and move
(13:57):
up the ladder fast. But if you're not prepared, never
going to be fully prepared, let's put it that way.
But you know, you've got to go through the you
got to go through the fires first. And there's so
many things that I learned from working with a startup
program in Lagrange and going through the tough times.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
As I said, we're owing twenty our first two years.
Speaker 5 (14:18):
You know, that's you know, if you're able to rebound
from that, then you can I mean, can you imagine
going through two seasons and not having a win. So
not only were the players tough, but as coaches we
had to be tough too. So I think that definitely
prepared me for the experience. And you mentioned starting up
a program is difficult. Now hopefully my my bosses aren't
(14:41):
listening to this, and hopefully they're not. I know, but
what I was going to say is, I think, looking
back on it now, it's almost I would say it's
maybe more difficult to take over a program that has
a bad culture than to start a program. I agree
with that, because we set the culture. You know, we
(15:01):
can establish the culture.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Now. I'm not saying it was easy, but.
Speaker 5 (15:06):
I would take starting up a program from scratch as
long as you have the stuff in place to be successful,
which fortunately we do we have had here at Barry.
But I think it's easier to start up something from
scratch where there is no bad habits to get rid of,
there is no bad attitudes to get rid of, rather
than getting into a program where you got to change
(15:28):
everybody's mindset.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Coach, I want to ask you two more things, and
I'll let you go even but I want to ask
you about recruiting and advice you have.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
For high school coaches, because I know they're listening and
they want to know.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
But also a lot of these HeiG school coaches want
to be a college coach, right, I mean, there is
a little bit of a cachet there and whatever. So
what advice would you ever somebody that I guess regardless
of age, but maybe a young guy that wants to
be a college coach. Maybe they're high school coach now
or listen to this, theyre in another state, whatever, but
they aspire to be a college coach. What advice does
(15:59):
the head college coach have for that person.
Speaker 5 (16:02):
I think the one thing that's challenging going from high
school to college, and you know, we run into that.
We don't have a ton of guys here that end
up getting into coaching, but we do have some. You know,
the one challenge is when you're in high school and
you're already making some money and then you try to
transition to college. Now, there's going to be there's always
(16:24):
exceptions to the rule. Like I was just down at
at Georgia Tech a couple of days ago and Jess Simpsons,
the defensive line coach probably arguably the best defensive line
coach in the country. Now, he came from Beuford, so
he's certainly had a great resume. So I don't know
if you necessarily that that's probably a bad example. But
for most guys, you're going to have to take a
(16:44):
step back financially, which is tough.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
I think it is a younger person's thing, right, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (16:50):
I mean there's not all the Jess Simpsons or I'm
sure there's other examples of you know, the high school
guys that have that have gone into into college. But
as a young coach, I think you got to really
get the mindset like, hey, I'm going to take a
step back financially if I already have a family as
my wife on board. You know, if you have kids,
that's an issue too. Can I take that step back
(17:13):
financially to get into the college game, because it's not
like you're going to step into college right away and
become maybe not even a full time coach. You might
have to be a GA, you might have to be
a part time guy or whatever, and to work your
way up through the system. So I think you got
to have the mindset that I really wanted for me.
I felt like this was the best fit for me.
(17:33):
I mean a kid, I kind of half joke and
I'm kind of half serious. You know, I tell our
freshmen all the time it was like, you know, the
best thing about freshman is to become a sophomore in
a year.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Well, I'm not really.
Speaker 5 (17:44):
My skill set really wasn't necessarily fourteen to eighteen year olds.
My skill set maybe not be even be eighteen year olds.
It's probably nineteen to twenty two to twenty three year olds.
But that was my skill set. So yeah, I think
you got to have the mindset of like, hey, do
I really want to do this, because oftentimes you got
to take a step back before you take a step forward.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
It's actually a really good advice because you you know,
I think sometimes that maybe sounds good in theory or
you know, like it's cooler to be a college coach
maybe in their head.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
But there's a lot of real practical things that come
into play. And one is the teaching salary versus college stuff.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
And I know people know that, but they don't always
think through that because because they want something so bad.
You know.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
I don't know if that's as big of a thing now,
but that was a big thing a few years ago.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Sure, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
What so when we were when I was coaching and
you were coaching, and we would recruit, you would recruit
our guys. That's like night and day from today in recruiting, Like,
I know nothing about recruiting.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
I sit on here and talk to people about leadership.
I hope. I'm really good at organization.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
I'm really good at if you get to offense and
defense and special teams. I hope I'm still pretty decent
at it. But I'm telling you, when we talk about recruiting,
I kind of shut up because I don't feel like
I can offer much of the conversation.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
It's changed that much. Yeah, you know, and you know,
five or six years.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
So I guess my first question just for my personal
interest is how much has that changed with you at
the division three level versus what we know is changed
at some of the other levels. And then what advice
do you have for guys to help them get their
guys recruited to bury your other places.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Well, luckily at our level it hasn't changed as much.
Speaker 5 (19:25):
I mean, it's changed so rapidly in the last two
or three years at the at the you know, the
Power four level with the transfer portal and Nil, we
don't really you know, we don't deal with Nil really
at all. With the transfer portal, we don't really deal
with it much because Barry is such a tough school
to get into academically, it's just tough for us to
get those transfer portal guys. So it's really remained, i
(19:49):
would say, more pure at the Division two Division three
NAI level. So I don't know if it's changed much
from that. The biggest thing that I found out over
the years is, you know, especially in Georgia, you're like, okay,
you know when I first started Lagrange or when I
got the job at Berry, but I kind of knew
about it before.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
I got the job at Berry.
Speaker 5 (20:09):
I'm thinking when I first got to Lagrange, Georgia, I
was like, man, we're the only Division three in the state.
Like if they're not a major college or a scholarship
football player, and they still want to play, like we're
going to win a national championship in three or four
years because we're the only one in the state.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
There's no Division three in Florida.
Speaker 5 (20:26):
There's was only two, you know, one at the time
in Alabama and only three in Tennessee. You kind of
got to fight the stigma of well, if I'm not
going to the SEC or if I'm not going to
me play major college football, do I really want to
do it?
Speaker 3 (20:42):
And I think you got to.
Speaker 5 (20:45):
What we had to do at Lagrange and we've you know,
I've gotten much better at it through the years as
qualifying guys as okay, how bad did they want to
play at the next level? And I think we can all,
you know, think of examples of why playing college football
is important.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
But do they want to play it or do they
need to play it?
Speaker 5 (21:04):
And I think there's a big difference between the two.
And there's a big difference between Division three and top
twenty five. Division three like for us, for us to
stay in the top twenty five, for us to win
a national championship, I'm not looking for the Division three player.
You know, when I go in to talk to head coaches,
(21:24):
and I still do and I still try to get
out every spring.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
You know, when I talk to head coaches, I.
Speaker 5 (21:28):
Asked them, was like, Hey, who are guys that are
going to be FCS level, maybe academy level, guys that
you know, maybe it just might fall through the cracks
that are that type of talent that may be able
to fall to our level. Because for us to continue
to be successful, we need to recruit that type of kid.
And you know, our best players through the years, and
(21:50):
we've had, fortunately, we've had plenty, and we've been fortunate
to win a lot of games and win a bunch
of conference championships and go to the nca playoffs. Our
best players are guys that have passed up opportunities at
higher levels to come to Barry because of not just
the four year experience they're going to get here, but
then the forty year experience they're going to get afterwards.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Out in the out in life, out in the game
of life, because this place is going to prepare you
for that. So it's really.
Speaker 5 (22:22):
We're looking at we're looking at a small number of
guys because who fits that mold. But I kind of
like that because you know, the guys that we're recruiting, yes,
are good football players, but they have to be great
academically and honestly, for us, we don't bring anybody on
campus unless we've talked to the high school head coach
and talked about them from a character standpoint. So nobody
(22:43):
comes on campus unless we can vet them academically. Obviously
we're looking at their film and we're talking to their high.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
School head coach. That's good for people to hear. I mean,
coaches want to hear that. But I think one of
the things that I heard you say putting words in
your mouth here.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
But the advice for the high school coach is if
I'm saying, Okay, I'm a high school coach, I want
my kids to go to Bury, and I just don't
feel like I'm getting my message across or I don't
feel like and I feel like coaches feel this about everywhere,
not Bury, but everywhere. They feel like I want to
get my kids recruited, and I feel like they're good enough,
but nobody's listening. But I do think one of the
(23:18):
things that they need to be doing, like your advice
to them, sounded to me like they need to be
educating their kids on their real options too, Like you
can really do a good job even at that henth
grade kid starting like, hey man, you're awesome.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
You're the all region tight in. That's great.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
Maybe you can get in the Air Force Academy, that'd
be awesome. But if for some reason you can't, here's
some options for you.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
I feel like it's a two way street.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
We want you guys to take our kids, but we
need to do a good good job of educating them
on what their option is. So when they get that
Barry talk, that's a good thing for them, you know,
instead of being almost insulted until then it's too late.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
And that what you're is that what you're kind of saying.
Speaker 5 (23:56):
Yeah, And I don't mean to come across the wrong way,
but I think sometimes I run into high school coaches say, oh, well, hey,
you guys are non scholarship so this guy's a solid
high school football player, Like why can't you just take
them at Berry Well, because we're trying to win national championships.
You know, we're you know, to go back to hey,
(24:16):
we don't necessarily want to recruit the Division three kid.
We want to recruit the kid at a higher level,
and then it's our job after that to get them
on campus and tell them why, like, hey, you know,
maybe you might pay a little bit more money to
go here, but you're going to have a great experience
out in the football field.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
You're going to win a lot of games for four years.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
More importantly than that, you're going to have a great
experience in the classroom too. So I think it's not
shutting the door on some guys that they think might
get to a higher level. But also in the same time,
I don't want to offend guys for saying, hey, he's
a good player, but we're not going to recruit him
here because we're looking for a certain type of player
that's going to like I said that, it's going to
(24:56):
wins the national championship, and like I said, a top
twenty five at Division three type of player is a
different player than the other. You know, there's two hundred
and fifty Division three schools in the country. The top
twenty five, top forty kid is going to be different
than you know, the bottom two hundred of the Division three.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
It's so and it's and.
Speaker 5 (25:16):
It's our job to to communicate that in a way, right,
it doesn't offend the high school coach, but at the
same time getting to our point across and I think
everybody kind of understands that once you explain it, like, hey,
we're you know, I've been here for fourteen years.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
If we start losing, I ain't going.
Speaker 5 (25:31):
To be here for twenty you know, so you know
we're gonna put on the table on Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
One of the reason you've been there fourteen years is
your relationships with coaches.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
So I do feel like you're a good person to
talk to about this because I feel like most people
probably do feel like you're honest with them. Yes, telling
them what they can that's what the high school coach
usually want, so they say they want it's just for
you to be honest with them and tell me. And
then I do think it's really difficult for the high
school coach to educate their players because until they get
like halfway through their senior year, they're all going Division one,
right or they feel like they are, And it's really
(26:02):
hard to crush that dream, you know, and so they
got to find ways to massage that to make sure
that we're looking at our other options earlier, because sometimes
we've had kids that would have been academy type kids
that it didn't work out for them. The next level
is somewhere like Barry, but Berry only's taking one tight
end and they just it's not going to work out
(26:24):
now because they kind of were off of it too early.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
So I think both sides there's communication.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
The frustration with Tichsloo coaches has a lot more to
do with the Division one and two levels. But we
got to make people understand how important and how significant
that Division III offer is because I know it's not
in scholarship, but you only got so many people you
can put on the football team and definitely only somebody
you can really rep in and practice with. So you know,
(26:50):
it's a coveted spot when you say we want you
to come play tight end.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
For Barry right right.
Speaker 5 (26:56):
Well, in two things that I would say in response
to that number one, like, there's ways from a financial
aid perspective.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
That we can help. You know, we can't necessarily give them.
Speaker 5 (27:07):
We have institutional scholarships for example, at our place, I
can't necessarily pick it because that would be against the rules.
Pick the people to get those scholarships for. But I
can certainly move people in that direction. And through the years,
if you look at a lot of our you know,
all Americans, a lot of those guys got institutional scholarships
where they're paying the same amount here as they're paying it,
you know, scholarships. So understanding how the financial aid works
(27:31):
and then the other the flip side of it. And
I hesitate kind of saying this, but I think, you know,
to educate some coaches. And I don't hear this very often,
but sometimes I hear from coaches like, well, hey, this
guy can play for you. And I'm usually I usually
you know, don't know this route, but but part of
(27:52):
me once says like, hey, have you ever seen enough play?
And my point to that is is that six and
a half percent of high school football players playing college.
So there's good football players all over the place. So
I think you've got to be careful. And that's a
two way street. Like they need to educate their kids,
but I think also it falls on us too to
(28:13):
educate the coaches on like, hey, this is the level
of football that we're playing at right now, and like
you mentioned, like for the past three or four years,
we've been only able to take one quarterback because we
only want.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
You know, five total in our system.
Speaker 5 (28:28):
So we you know, for example, in that position, we've
got to be really stringing on who we're taking because
they got to be at a certain level. Why would
you take him if we don't feel like he can
beat out the guys that we already have. So and
every place is different on that. Some are driven by
tuition revenue, where you'll see rosters sometimes at the Division two,
Division three and AI level of two hundred and fifty
(28:50):
kids on the roster. You know, Barry's not that way.
So I think it's difficult for high school coaches because
every schools so different tovigate the small schools.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
It's a constant moving target for these.
Speaker 3 (29:03):
Well, you just can't put them all in one box.
I guess that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
It's a constant moving target.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
But most people I talk to, you know, what's interesting
from this role is most people I talked to a
college coach down high s coach, you're pretty good.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Guys want to do the right thing, want to help.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
Each other, out.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
There is a disconnect sometimes and it's accidental. You know,
when you're my role and you don't really have a side,
you can see it. You know that it's just accidental.
But I'm telling anybody listening, Barry's a good option for
him if you've got kids.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
So, and I don't say I don't bring everybody on
here and say that, so coach, because very coach K
is the man, and I appreciate your friendship. Coach. I
appreciate all you do.
Speaker 4 (29:41):
And fourteen years and this day, I don't care what
school is at fourteen years prety impressive, man.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
I hope you appreciate that.
Speaker 4 (29:47):
Take a minute to appreciate it, and then forget it,
because you know you're only as good as the next game.
Speaker 5 (29:51):
Right. I was gonna say, I would love to that's
something I'm not good at. I would love to appreciate it,
but I don't. I don't spend I don't spend any
time doing that. It's what have you done for me lately?
And that's not a pressure necessary from the school. That's
an internal pressure. That's why you've been put on ourselves
and that's why you've been successful. And I'm always here
to help if I can. I don't know what I
(30:11):
can do, but I'm a fan. Appreciate you, and I
appreciate taking some.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Time to talk to me. I know you guys are busy,
busy time of the year, so thanks talking to me.
If I can never help you out, let me know.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
All right.
Speaker 5 (30:20):
Well, hey, you've done enough to just let me on
this on this podcast, so I appreciate that and enjoyed
speaking with Thanks.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
Coaching, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
The Parker Resource Podcast is brought to you by Coastal
Sports Turf. Coastal Sports Turf mission is to provide beautiful,
healthy and safe natural turf grass playing surfaces for athletes
and coaches in Georgia. Many school systems cannot afford a
licensed professional turf grass manager. They have over twenty five
years of experience in turf grass management and are licensing
bonded in Georgia, providing weed and insect control plus third
(30:54):
fertility programs designed to fit your expectations for a quality
athletic turf surface, you can have the field of your
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to maintain their fields and they desire to have dependable
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other turf equipment. You can email Coastal Sports Turf LLC
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