On the football field, reacting is the name of the game. Players caught thinking, caught choosing, are toast.
Really, it’s not so different than it is in everyday life.
Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti once said (apologies for some slight paraphrasing): “Choice is an illusion. Do I do this or do I do that? All of this is confusion. I can only choose when I’m confused. And if I am not confused, there is no choice.”
Confused?
The newest member of one of the newest Division III college coaching staffs in the country, former Forest Grove head man Mike McCabe, seems to have a good bead on clearing up confusion. He knows he made the right choice.
“I’m only 55. I still have a lot of coaching, a lot of excitement and a lot of fun left,” said McCabe, who signed on to join the staff at Pacific University next fall when the Boxers return to the gridiron for the first time since 1991.
“I’ve still got a love for the game and for the kids. I thought this might be a good opportunity.”
The opportunity arose in July when Keith Buckley, then one of five head coaching candidates, came to town to give a presentation on his vision for the Pacific football program. McCabe, on his son’s advice, drove home from an RV trip at the coast just to listen to what Buckley had to say.
Recalls McCabe: “My son said to me, ‘If you go and like what they say, you might get involved. If you go and don’t like what they say, you’ll stay retired.’”
McCabe liked what Buckley had to say. And in the end, there was no choice.
“It was a case of perfect timing,” McCabe said. “It’s one of those things where I couldn’t have planned that better if I tried. I liked what he said and agreed with his philosophies. And it’s perfect for me right now to be retired, but still coaching.”
McCabe’s current responsibilities revolve around recruiting. Starting a new football program, he said, is like building a house – all of the right materials mean nothing if he doesn’t recruit the right people to help the Boxers build something great.
Right now, a little less than a year before Pacific takes the football field for the first time in 18 years, the team features only a handful of walk-ons already at the campus.
“But I’ve got a bunch of e-mails right now,” McCabe said with a grin.
Buckley, who spent four seasons as an assistant coach at UC Davis, said that McCabe is ideal for the job.
“College coaching is very much centered around your ability to recruit. What Mike brings to the table is instant credibility when meeting with kids and coaches,” Buckley said. “I [had] some background information on Mike. His players cared a great deal about him. He is more than just an X’s and O’s guy. He is respected by the community.”
Buckley explained that recruitment at the Division III level is about showcasing academics equally with athletics – not exactly a philosophy that’s mirrored at the Division I level. It’s even more difficult for the coaches at Pacific because there is no single “pitch” they can offer every student.
“There is no one pitch for these kids,” Buckley said. “You’ve got to present the school and present the program. It’s a multifaceted approach.
“At Division I, [the pitch is], ‘Come play for me, come play and win. We’ll pay for you.’ At a lot of schools the academia side is secondary. At Division III, you’re selling the full student-athlete experience. These kids recognize that their schooling is the key to their future success.”
McCabe has already talked with local prep coaches about the return of Pacific football, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
“The [local] coaches are happy that Pacific is bringing football back,” he said. “They are also excited about the prospect of it all and enlightening their kids to some more opportunities out there. And they know me. They know I’m going to be involved with something that is pretty good.”
McCabe said he plans to connect with prospective athletes by utilizing his 32 years of experience as a high school teacher and football coach. His strong suit, he said, is connecting with the kids.
“I enjoy being around the kids, I have fun with them,” McCabe said. “I will [tell the recruits] about the school itself. This school is well-known academically. The education is the primary part. They are here as students, then as athletes. Here, they just may see the field a bit sooner.
“We aren’t planning on grabbing 40 junior college transfers. There may be a few but we are planning on a lot of local kids. We want the kids that are the 3.5 GPA guys. We are going to start young and get guys that want to be here and want to put in the work.”
Buckley and McCabe have chosen to recruit a team of mostly freshmen and build the program around a core group of young players.
“The bottom line is we are going to have to find a way to measure success outside of wins and losses,” Buckley said. “We also understand we are going to have 18- and 19-year-olds instead of 21- and 23-year-olds. So we are going to have to continually set new goals to achieve.
“Right now, we can’t possibly know what those are. Not until [next] August when we get our team together.”
For McCabe, success has the same measuring stick, he’ll just be using a different side. His ultimate goal is still to help guide students down the right path, and he’s still focusing on one student at a time.
He chose to come back to coaching because it was such a perfect fit.
“This is another chapter,” McCabe said. “Will this replace my previous 32 years of coaching and teaching? No. This is just turning the page. It’s just a new chapter.”
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