A Blueprint for Upcoming Seniors

How two-time Illinois State Champion
Wheaton Warrenville South gets their players
ready for both their senior year and their future.

Ron Muhitch spent 22 years as a defensive coordinator preparing to be a head football coach. When he finally got his chance, he had a problem. “I didn’t know my players,” admits Muhitch, who now is headed into his tenth season as head coach at Wheaton-Warrenville South High School (IL). “I knew half of them, because I coached that half. But when I went to the offensive side, I realized that as a head coach I needed to know a little bit more about what my kids were looking for and who they were.”

     Muhitch went to work, sacrificing personal and Xs and Os time in his first season in exchange for learning about his student-athletes and their parents. The immediate goal was to learn what they wanted from football, now and in the future. His ultimate goal was to get more kids into college.

    Nine years and three Illinois state titles later, Muhitch not only knows how to make his players perform at a championship level, but he also knows firsthand what each of his seniors’ kitchens look like. Muhitch dedicates countless hours visiting each future senior’s house during the spring of their junior year. These unique in-home visits, which set the foundation for the season, are beneficial for both sides of the kitchen table.

Meetings With Seniors-To-Be

    Senior conferences began as voluntary meetings between Muhitch, his future seniors and their parents. Approximately 10 to 15 players signed up for the in-home visits the first year Muhitch offered them.

    In preparation, Muhitch scoured through countless college admissions manuals, picked the brains of guidance counselors for tips on helping kids make decisions about college and developed an extensive packet of information designed to guide his players and families through the recruiting process. He calls it his script and features it in his 10-screen PowerPoint presentation he uses at coaching clinics.

    “I realized after sitting with my families for the first time that they didn’t understand the recruiting process,” said Muhitch. “I don’t think anybody does at times. It is even confusing to coaches, at times. So I try to take them through a script of what is going to happen.”

    The only problem in the early going was the timing. “I scheduled it at 6 p.m. and, guess what – everyone wanted to feed me,” said Muhitch with a chuckle. “So for the first year I put on 20 pounds. I realized the moms were talking about what meals they cooked, trying to top the other moms. I thought, this isn’t going to work nor did my wife like the 20 pounds, so I had to put an end to that.” The following year every rising senior signed up for the conferences, which now began at 7 p.m.

Player Responsibility

    It is the player’s responsibility to set up his senior conference. They come to Muhitch with a couple of dates in mind and arrange the visit. Muhitch spends two nights a week during the off-season from February through June, traveling around the community and spending hours at his players’ homes. He comes prepared with a briefcase filled with his script, easy-to-understand charts and a list of to-the-point questions.

    He begins every conference by speaking directly to the parents and defining the purpose of the meeting: “We are trying to get to know each other and learn how to make a plan for your son’s future,” he says. He takes them through what to expect in the coming months and through next season. He encourages them to make visits to prospective colleges as soon as possible and shows them evidence why certain schools or levels would be the best fit for their son.

    Nose guard Spartacus Chino remembers well when Muhitch visited his home. “Remember it? It was three hours long,” Chino said with a chuckle. “But it was really eye-opening, talking with coach on a more personal level. We talked about what I wanted to accomplish, what I can do to help the defense and the special teams, and how I wanted to pursue college.”

    For Chino, a 165-pound starting nose tackle, wrestling in college was more likely his path. “He talked to me about my options in football and wrestling,” Chino remembered. “He had one diagram for football and one for wrestling. We talked about which would be the best fit for me.”

    Each player receives a sheet of recruiting guidelines that includes the minimum and preferred height and weight for each position for FBS, FCS, D-II and down the list. It helps players get an honest feel for their future in football, he says. “I preach to my kids all the time that we’re all going to have to hang up our cleats sometime,” Muhitch said. “And I’m a straight-shooter, so sometimes laying it out on paper- the size, speed and position-skill colleges are looking for – makes the kids get an honest feel for what level is the best fit.”

    The entire visit isn’t dedicated to college talk, though. Muhitch makes a point to talk about the upcoming season and broaches any subjects of position changes or areas that are in need of improvement. It benefited starting wide receiver Ryan Crowe, who moved from back-up quarterback to receiver his senior season.

    “With Reilly [O’Toole], I knew I wasn’t going to be playing quarterback, so it was good to talk about it during the senior conference,” said Crowe. After spending the first hour of Crowe’s senior conference focusing on college, Muhitch began to lay out what Crowe would have to do to be successful making the move to receiver. He pointed out what his 40-yard dash time needed to be and how much he needed to bench press. He showed him the wide receiver’s stats from past seasons and asked him about his own statistical goals.

     “Ryan enjoyed his senior season more because he was successful, and the senior conference put him in position to be successful” said Steve Crowe, Ryan’s father. “Coach laid it out all for him, identified his goals and told him what he needed to do to reach them. Ryan walked out of that conference highly motivated and we were bought into the program because Coach Muhitch showed that he truly cared about our son’s future.” 

Communication

    The in-home visits not only open communication lines with players, but also – and in some ways more importantly – with parents, too. “I felt the difference-maker was coming to their house,” emphasized Muhitch. “I sat at their dining room table or in their living room, and it bridged what I would think every coach hates in a season is that communication gap between parents and coaches. It helps clear up ‘why isn’t Johnny playing? Or why is Johnny playing that position and not this position? Or ‘Coach, why are you calling that play?’ I think the approach of coming to their houses and sitting at their tables broke those barriers down.”

    Muhitch runs a very parent-friendly program and relies heavily on parents for some administrative duties and projects that enhance the high school football experience. He holds an additional parent conference, during which he outlines what areas he needs their help and forms committees to be responsible for things like team dinners, decorating lockers and travel arrangements.

    “The parents organize themselves, and I’m telling you it went further than I ever expected it to,” said Muhitch. “When you think about a head football coach, you don’t want to be dealing with these kinds of committee ventures and whether the lockers are decorated and whether the pasta dinners are completed. You don’t have time to do those things.  But when I entrusted those parents to those venues of the program, it made us a better program.”

    Along with the student-athletes and parents, Muhitch benefits greatly from the senior conferences. He uses them to learn about the chemistry of his team and to find his captains. Who are the leaders? What are the issues? Who’s friends with whom? He wants to know it all and believes the home setting produces more an environment more conducive to honest answers.

    “I find my captains in that process,” said Muhitch, who believes strongly that his players don’t pick out leaders based on popularity contests or by last year’s accomplishments. “I say leadership, and the same names come right off their tongue. What a great way to find out what the heartbeat of your team is through who the players think are the leaders.”

    After asking about who the leaders of the team are, Muhitch then pries to see where issues exist. He asks for pros and cons of the team’s chemistry. “I ask them to tell me who needs help. Who’s not following our philosophy,” Muhitch said. “They’ll usually respond with something like ‘we listen to this kid’ or, ‘we don’t listen to this kid.’”

    The key ingredient to a successful season though – according to Muhitch – is communication. More specifically, communication to the players as well as their parents. That clearly is enhanced by his winter home visits to his upcoming seniors.