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Okay, welcome everybody. My name is Paul Rieger. I'm from St. Gertrude's Parish in Madeira. I want to welcome you all to the Youth Breakout. We are twice blessed to have Coach Speck build on some of the words from earlier and tailor it to the young folks who came, those folks from high school and college. And he's going to tailor those remarks for a little bit and he's going to open it up to questions. So we have a few of these mics that will walk around and be thinking of your questions that you want to ask. And dads and granddads, you can ask Coach Speck the tough questions, okay? The logistics are, we'll be done by 1230, so all those folks fighting out there for lunches right now will be cleared out. We'll be able to go right out the lobby, outside, to grab your lunches. So you'll be able to do that and there should be some time if you want to go to confessions or up to the exhibit hall. The next speaker, Curtis Martin, starts at 110. So we're going to try to fit it all in. So with that, let me turn it over to Coach Speck again. Let's give him a warm welcome. Thank you, appreciate that. Obviously before when I had the opportunity to speak, the entire group focus was on the future. And it's exciting to see right now all the young faces right here and the challenges that lie before you. I think the old school, like myself and the other fathers here, I think we get it. That's why we're here. And it's neat to see the young guys that are challenged every single day. I look at, or you listen to some of the speakers and you think about the challenges that the young folks, the young guys are confronted with today compared to what we were confronted with 20, 30, 40 years ago. It's unbelievable. It's frightening to say the least. And I think the Christian leadership is one thing that's lacking in this world. I think we need to build on that. One thing I always try to hammer with young guys or kids is the fact that every single day you're building your life. Every single day you have an opportunity to make a difference. I keep a tally myself after every game. My coaching staff doesn't even know this. But I keep a tally of mad plays make a difference, plays that make a difference. And it doesn't have to be a touchdown run. It doesn't have to be a game-saving tackle. It's any little thing that happens during the week in practice, in the game. If I see a young guy go up and help one of his fellow teammates in any capacity. I see one of our players sit down at lunch with somebody new. The opportunity to just say hello and make a difference in somebody else. Those are mad plays. Those are plays that make a difference. And you have an opportunity every single day, young guys, to make those plays. I listened to Sam Weiss talk a while back. And Sam Weiss who used to be the coach of the Cincinnati Bengals. And he played for the Bengals, I think it was back in 1968. He tells a story that he was in Wilmington, Ohio trying out for the Bengals. Paul Brown, legendary Paul Brown was the coach at the time. And Paul Brown, he was pretty sure Paul was going to cut him. That he wasn't going to make the team. So the last day of practice or the last day of tryouts, everybody was either shipped home or sent back from Wilmington to Cincinnati for practice. They made the team. They were going to go back to Cincinnati. Well, he made the team. He was shocked. He didn't think he was going to make the team. So he didn't have a ride back. Everybody left. He was all alone. He didn't know how to get back to Cincinnati. Paul Brown was the only one left. And he had to go and ask Paul Brown to give him a ride back to Cincinnati. The owner, the coach. So he was a little bit nervous about this. He goes and he asks him to give him a ride home. He says, sure. He gets in the car. They have to stop for gas. So they get to a gas station. A little old guy comes walking real slow to the car. It was a full service station back then. Guys, we don't have those anymore. Paul Brown rolls down the window. The guy didn't say hello. The guy didn't even look at him. He just stared at the ground and waited for him to tell him exactly what he wanted. Well, he told him, fill it up. Check the oil. So as the guy leaves to do that, Paul Brown looks at Sam Weiss and says, he can never play for me. Sam Weiss, of course, looks at the little guy, probably 5'7", 130 pounds. He said, well, heck no, he can't play for you. My God, he's not a professional football player. And then Paul Brown followed up with, look at how he carries himself. He's wearing a marathon oil shirt. And he didn't say hello. He didn't smile. He didn't look me in the eye. He didn't do anything to earn the right to be a part of my organization. That's what was stuck with me. Every single day, you have a chance to make a difference. You have a chance, crazy enough, you have one opportunity to make a first impression. I know, that's a pretty powerful statement, isn't it? One opportunity. What's that impression going to be? Shoot, for all Paul Brown knew, that guy wearing the marathon oil was marathon oil. That was what was being represented by marathon oil. Wherever you go to school, whatever you choose to take part in on any team, any organization, if you're going to wear that shirt, how do you want to represent that institution? How do you want to represent your family? How do you want to represent your friends? Because that's what you do every single day. So the challenge to the young guys right now is to represent with class, to represent with integrity and to represent with pride. And that's hard to do in today's day and age. These venues are not cool, whoever determines what cool is. I think it's incredibly cool. I think this place should be packed with young people. You guys can make a difference. Christian leadership. You're the future. You're the guys that can establish the fact that what you do, the testament to your faith, is cool. Maybe they think they're going out on Fridays and Saturdays and partying. Maybe that's what they believe is cool. Gentlemen, you're doing what is cool. Spread that word. Live your faith. Somebody tells you it's not cool. You heard one of the speakers earlier today talk about the fact that he hid and kind of played Nicodemus in Hidden Shadows when he went to the prayer service because he didn't want to look uncool. I don't know what's so uncool about this. And I think you have an opportunity to wear that brand, to wear that shirt with pride, to represent and let people know this is what I stand for. Let your friends know this is what I stand for because the numbers will grow. If you have the courage to do that, if you have the courage to live your life as a man of God, as a man of faith, of strong faith, the future looks very bright and you guys are the future. At this point, we're open to questions, Paul. Does anyone have a question they'd like to ask Coach? Just raise your hand. Any of you dads? Anybody? Got any hands going up? I've got one to get them rolling, okay? My question was, Coach, at what age did faith start becoming important to you and what role did sports play in that? Wow. I guess I grew up with a punishing God. I went to church on Sundays because I was afraid not to go to church on Sundays. I tried to choose the right thing because I was of the health that if I chose the wrong thing, I would be punished by God. I think that was a, now that I look back, that was a disappointing view for me. I don't think it was until probably when I went into the business world and I spent two years in the business world and I had an opportunity to reflect. I just wasn't happy. I bought a house. I was single. I was making more money than I knew what to do with. I filled the house. I bought a pool table. I always wanted a pool table. I bought all these things. And I was, the more I bought, the unhappier I became. And I guess it was when I finally decided, I hit rock bottom, decided I was going to go back into teaching, and I met my wife. I think that's really when my spiritual journey took off. As I started to see things in a totally different light, I started to find the things that made me happy were very simple things, working with young people like yourselves, being a part of an organization that built things. I never felt that I was building anything. And there's a place, I've seen a lot of great things happen in the business world. It just wasn't who I was. I was able to get in touch with more who I was, the mission that God had in front of me, and fortunately I was able to find my ways. I don't think the spiritual journey ever ends. I think we're constantly changing. I think we undergo change on a daily basis. I hope that God, that He's going to have me following a different spiritual journey ten years from where I am now. And I'm quite convinced if I stay on this path, it'll be a much stronger journey. I'll be a much more spiritual man. I don't think it ever ends. My question is, what do you find the most difficult about bringing your faith into sports and how do you pass that on to your athletes? That's a great question. I think you have to live it. I don't find it very difficult, but at the same time, I'm in an institution that expects me to live the mission of the school. I think that if you're involved in a parochial school, in a Catholic school system, in a Christian setting, that it's expected. I think the hard part would come into play in a public school. They don't want you to say, use the word God in a public school. Separation of church and state. That's where I believe it would become difficult. Kids buy in. I think kids are looking for strong leadership. I think it's important that my coaches model the vision. All I can do is establish a vision. Shoot, I'm dumb enough to know I'm pretty dumb that I need to hire people that are a lot smarter than me and that are really good at what they do. That's what I've done. We have to have individuals, strong coaches, strong leaders that are going to model the vision, the Christian vision for the kids. Once kids buy in, you talk about strength in numbers. I think we had 357 kids involved in the program last year, living the same vision, living the same mission. It's not about wins and losses. That's about the faith journey. That's pretty exciting. We have another question here. I've got a couple kids that are not in sports. How would you address that with the idea that most of your comments are about playing football, being the athlete, being the star athlete, being the leader? A lot of the kids that are out there in the world are the ones who read, the ones who are considered, you know, not the cream of the crop. Sure. I think that's a great question. Now, when I say we had 357 kids in the program, they weren't all players. We had kids that got involved as managers. We had kids that were involved in the film crew. We had kids that did editing. But what we do is indigenous to what I'm hired to do as a coach. I think that Michelle Mastry, who is the director of Theater Xavier, does an unbelievable job with the theater program. It's all faith-based. She preaches. I'll tell you, the mission, I've learned things from Michelle. I've gone and watched what they do as far as community and how she takes different elements with the theater kids. And what's neat is it's not just the St. X kids. There are kids, girls, schools from all over. And she really embodies that journey. The spiritual, really the faith focus of Theater Xavier is pretty impressive. So, I don't think it's just indigenous to a sports program. I think it's important for the teacher in the classroom, if it's an English teacher, to really model what the expectations are in the mission of the school. So, is it doable? Yeah. It takes leadership. People at the top have to take an interest in wanting to get that done. And it can be done. I've seen it done on a lot of different levels. Coach, I think the gentleman in the front row, if you can lend him your mic for a minute. I'm a youth leader. I have eight high school gentlemen that I administer to on a weekly basis. And I'm just curious, is there any particular scripture or verse that you find inspiration in that you share with your young men on a regular basis? I love the story about the house. I can't wait to share that tomorrow. But is there any particular verse that you would share with us? Well, I think the verse from Matthew is big for me. It always has been on the parable of the talents. I think it's important for everybody to understand and getting back to your point before, does it just have to be in an athletic setting? Absolutely not. I think there are kids who are incredibly talented in the arts. There are kids who are incredibly talented academically, in math, in English, in science. There are kids who are incredibly talented as evangelists in their own right. There are kids who are incredibly talented as athletes. And I think that's what needs to be pushed. Challenge kids to rise above. I like to call it the glass ceiling. Kids think that they're working hard. And one of the things we talk about, and when I meet with kids I'll pull them aside and say, you might think you're working hard. Now you need to learn what hard work is. And you need to challenge them. And we talk about breaking the glass ceiling. They may think they're at the top. Hey, that ceiling's made of glass. Break it. And let's go to the next level. Let's get better. So I hammer that until I'm blue in the face. That's a big one for me. We've got two more here. You as a coach, husband, father, Christian, has a lot of pressure on you. And my question is, do you ever feel overwhelmed where you just want to quit, take a break, and kind of escape from it all? I feel overwhelmed every day. I think most of us do. I've never felt that. Quit has never come into my vocabulary. I've never felt that. I love what I do. I look forward. I wake up every single day with an excitement about the opportunities that lie ahead for me. I can't say I did that when I was 24, 25 in the business. I woke up dreading going to work. And that was sad. And when I would wake up, it would take energy. I'd stretch to get out of bed sometimes. And then I'd struggle to get to the shower. I wake up every day with a sense of purpose, with a sense of urgency that I know I have an opportunity. I'm doing God's work. It's more of a calling. Now, my paycheck, I love my wife. When she met me, I made a lot of money. And then she pushed me to get back into teaching. And then she saw the first paycheck, and she wondered why she did that. But it's more of a calling. I've never felt that way. I think if you love what you do, young guys, find what you love and do it. And don't let anybody tell you you can't do it. If you do that, you'll never work a day in your life. I haven't worked, shoot, for the past 13 years now. I don't feel like I've ever worked a day in my life. Is it challenging? Yes. I think the biggest challenge that I face day in and day out is not spending enough time at home. I always feel that my daughter and my two younger boys are cheated. And I try to find a way to balance what I do for a living, how much time I spend with the kids at St. Axe, the kids in the school, with how much time I'm not staying at home. I think a story that really tugs at my heartstrings is it was 2007, and we had a very talented group of players. And we made it to the state finals. And during the state final week, I don't think I got home before 11 o'clock on any night. It was a lot of late nights. And I got home one night, and at the time, my first grader, Cameron, had written a note on the garage door. It said, wake me up when you get home. And so I went straight up to his room, woke him up, and he said, can we eat dinner together? And that was, boy, you talk about a gut check. I'm thinking, wow. So we went downstairs, and he asked me what I was going to eat and his favorite cereal. He loves Lucky Charms, but he knows he's not allowed to eat them except at breakfast. So we sat down, and we had a bowl of Lucky Charms. And I think that point was a revelation for me that I needed to start figuring out how to do a better job of balancing work, mission, family. I'm not good at it. I'm getting better at it, and I'm going to continue to work at it. Coach, question. If you had the right, I know you deal with your own coaching staff, et cetera, that supports you and what your mission is with the team. But as parents, and I know you deal with some broken homes, different things, but if you had the right combination of what kind of support you look for from the parents of these kids, what would you want to tell them that they need to make sure that they focused on, other than the Christ and your faith? The parents? The parents. Well, I think the first thing that any coach, shoot, anybody that gets involved with kids has to remember one thing, and you're dealing with the most important thing in their lives. I know my son's baseball coach right now, he listens to him more than he listens to me. And I take that seriously, and I've told Mark, who's a great friend of mine, I said, Mark, that's the most important thing in my life. Take care of it for me. So the first thing is the coaching staff has to understand that, and the parents need to understand that we get that, that we are dealing with the most important things in their lives. But at the same time, I like to use the symbol of the pyramid. When parents watch a game, they're going to watch the tip of the pyramid. Who's at the tip of the pyramid? Their kid, their son, their daughter. That's who we see. When I go to my kids' games, I'm watching my son. I'm watching my daughter. The goal is to understand that as a team, we need to rotate the pyramid. And we need to try to look at the pyramid from the bottom up, as opposed to the tip down. That we have to see every single player on that team has an important role to play within the team concept, and we are going to do everything we can to get the most out of that player, for him to be the best he can be. Is it easy? No, it's not. Do parents always look at it that way? Never. But you try to get them to see that, because the bottom line is you're going to have your stars, you're going to have the kids that have the most talents, and you're going to have role players. And you're going to have some kids that never see the field. But they'll have a role, and they're important. And the challenge is to get better. And if those kids can get better, a bigger challenge is to make sure that you're noticing each and every one of those kids and how they're growing. I think a perfect way of looking at it is, when I was an assistant coach, I had my guys, just my position guys. And I loved my guys, and I was territorial. We all are. If somebody, let me take him, no, he's my guy. He's not playing, I don't care, he's my guy. I'm going to love my guy up. And then I became a coordinator, and all of a sudden, I didn't just have my position guys, I had all these defensive guys. And then if Coach Rasmussen wanted to move on to offense, wait a second, that's my guy. You can't take my guy. You become territorial because you love your guys. And then when I became the head coach, I had all, I didn't have just varsity guys, I had the JV guys, I had the freshman guys, I had the JV coaches, the vars, there were a lot of people. And what you try to do is get everybody to buy into a mission, and it isn't about winning, losing, games, shoot, it's about competing. These young guys get to compete. Boy, what a great opportunity to compete, to go out every single day, and do the best you can in a competitive nature. You know what? God sorts it all out, and it isn't about winning and losing, it's about competing to the best of your ability. Usually the most talented team wins if they compete harder. Occasionally, the lesser talented team will win because the more talented team does the wrong thing. It's a game. And I think we all need to understand that, and if we do, I think great things can happen for our young men. Okay, I think we have a question up here. I used to play football in high school, and was okay at it. Now I've got four daughters, and you've got an older daughter. So how do you reinforce theology of the body with your football players? You have a puzzle look on your face. Theology of the body, as far as your young men doing the right things, not getting to the parties, and it's all about who's the hottest cheerleader and those kinds of things. Well, I think when you look at whatever you're doing, the whole concept of winning being what's important now, we tell the kids, when you're in math class, that's the most important thing. I want you in the front of the class. I want you paying attention, listening. Because if you do that, and your peers see you do that, they fall asleep. When you're in the lunchroom, when you're finished eating, clean up your mess and throw it away. When mom asks you to make your bed, get up and make it right away, because that's what's important now. When they get into the weight room, we're going to push them in the weight room. Mind, spirit, body, the whole nine yards. Ultimately, they have to make the right choices. They know right from wrong, and that's the biggest frustration I have with my own kids, the frustration I have with the kids that I teach and the kids I coach. You know what right is and you know what wrong is. There's nobody that's trying to disguise that. Cowards, and I hammer our kids about it, cowardice is simply knowing the right thing to do but choosing the wrong thing. That's what a coward is. It has nothing to do with physical strength, size, or speed. It's simply put, you know what the right thing to do is. If you're out on a weekend at a party and there's drinking going on, you choose to drink, you're a coward because you know it's the wrong thing to do. And that's the best way you can teach kids. Ultimately, they have to make choices. And the best thing we can do as parents is just tell them, hey, you're going to have choices and you're going to screw up. I think the bottom line, you heard Father talk about it. Things are going to break, guys. You're going to make mistakes. Things are going to break. You're going to make stupid decisions. You'll choose wrong. Don't hide it. Bounce back. You're going to fail more than you succeed. I told you, I won six college football games. We were bad. We were really bad and it was painful. But you know what? We kept coming back every week and working hard. I look back on those days, those broken days, and it was as broken as it could get. We never went defeated in a year. We always won at least one game. So that was painful but we learned a lot from it. I learned a lot about adversity and dealing with those problems. And I think that's how you have to challenge kids. Choose. Choose right. Actually, more or less, an affirmation for you, Coach Speck. But for those of us that mentor, you know, I'm watching your presentation today and I just want to affirm that, you know, all of our children, basically, we have to look and certainly you would have some children that are at risk in your program. And while you may not be seeing the fruits of your labor now, certainly, you know, down the road, they'll come back and they'll tell you. So I just wanted to say thank you for what you're doing out there. I know you're doing a great job. I've heard about it. And good job, Coach, and just keep up the great work. Well, thank you. Wonderful. And thanks to everybody that's here today. I think, as I stated before, this is where the applause belongs. The fact that you came out here to do this with your sons is pretty tremendous. That's a testament to the faith and where you want to lead. So I appreciate that. Thank you very much. Great. Thank you all very much.
