Frank Lenti Q & A

© More from this issue

          
Q.Is "pride" a word you would use to describe how you feel when you see a former player like Donovan McNabb or Simeon Rice selected in the first round of the NFL draft?

A.I guess pride is an acceptable term. More than pride, I'm probably just happy for them. There's a saying, "When the sun shines on one, it shines on all of us,"...at Mount Carmel, we helped develop their value system, their work ethic and we helped develop their athleticism. We spent a great deal of time not just working to make them better football players but working to make them better athletes. Those guys have heeded the word of their parents; heeded the word of their teachers and coaches at Mount Carmel and gone on and have been successful in college. And, of course, that's paid off for them and they go on to have successful professional careers.

Q. What is your proudest moment - not accomplishment, but moment thus far in coaching?

A. Probably one of our proudest moments was winning the 1988 (Illinois) Class 6A state championship. What made it such a great moment was that it was a great high school football team. We did not have a single member of that team's senior class receive a visit to any major Division I college. Two of our best kids went on and played at Yale University, but we didn't have any senior that year that any Division I school considered good enough to receive a visit, let alone a scholarship. They were the epitome of a great high school team. No one worried about who got the credit. All they wanted to do was be successful as a team.

Q. Just how close have you come to taking one of the college jobs that have been put before you?

A.That would probably be back in 1989-90 when I talked with Coach Holtz at Notre Dame. I very seriously considered working for Coach Holtz. I've known him ever since I was a young coach, and the opportunity to work for the University of Notre Dame and the opportunity to work for Coach Holtz really intrigued me. But I felt like Mount Carmel was the place where I belonged. For our own family and for the Mount Carmel family, we felt we would be better served and we would serve more people by staying at Mount Carmel. And we've been very fortunate that that decision ended up being a good one. You just can't replace the memories and you just can't replace the young people that we've had an opportunity to have an impact on.

Q. It's not an unusual occurrence when a high school coach gets the chance to coach his son or daughter in a sport. Do you look forward to that experience and why?

A. Oh, definitely. Frankie is on the freshman team right now. I won't ever coach him on a day-to-day basis, because I coach our offensive linemen and he plays wide receiver. He's grown up around Mount Carmel football. He started out as a water boy and a ball boy, and it will be a lot of fun to have him out there and continue to be a part of the program. After all, we've spent a lot of years coaching a lot of other folks' sons, now it will be a great opportunity to coach one of our own.

Q. When I say the word "coach," what does that mean to you?

A. Teacher. Without a doubt, when I think of someone who is a coach, I think of them as a teacher. In fact, I used to talk to some of our older faculty members and tell them that we simply view the football field as "a larger classroom." I used to tell one of our older teachers that when he and I would do a poor job in the classroom, he and I and 30 students would know about it. (But) if we did a poor job on the football field, come Sunday morning, everybody in Chicago would know it.

Q. What coaching figure or figures have you looked up to the most or do you consider a mentor?

A. I've been so fortunate to have learned and been around some great ones. But, definitely, at the head of the list would be Coach Holtz. Bo Schembechler - I took a lot of what I've learned in teaching and coaching from them. Other people that I've had a chance to go and listen to at clinics over the years were people like Ara Parsegian, Woody Hayes, Coach Bear Bryant...those are some of the people that I've tried to learn from - not necessarily on the Xs and Os of the game, but how to teach, how to coach, how to develop people into responsible individuals, how to emulate programs that are already a success.

I've tried to do as much reading over the years as I could on John Wooden, because I felt he was a tremendous teacher of the game of basketball - and the game of life through the game of basketball. Listening to and reading about people like Bobby Knight - I know some people disagree with some of the things he does, but I think he's a great teacher of the game of basketball.

Q. What are your personal ideas as far as motivating your team when you are a favorite, an underdogs, etc.?

A. When it comes to game-to-game, week-to-week motivation, we never look down the road, at a calendar or at a schedule and say, "This is a key game or that is a key game." To us, it's a week-by-week thing. The game we're preparing for is the most important game of the season. Our goal is to play well. We talk very little to the players about actually winning football games. We talk to them about respecting every opponent; fearing none, but most importantly, preparing to play well. If we play well and do the things we're taught, we have a better than average chance of being a success. We tell them that the best team doesn't always win, but the team that plays the best will win the game.

Q. How do you want your players to perceive you: as a friend, a father-figure, an authoritative figure to be feared?

A.Probably a combination of the above. Number one, we teach our kids to have respect for adults; I don't think there's enough of that going on today. Far too many parents worry about being their child's friend, rather than being their father or mother. For us, we're not necessarily interested in running a popularity contest. We're more interested in teaching youngsters and forcing them - if you want to used that word - to measure up as individuals; forcing them to use the potential that the good Lord gave them when it comes to being a good person, a good student and a good athlete. I'm sure a lot of our players would tell you that we run a very disciplined, structured program. We're hard on them when we need to be, but we also know how to give them a pat on the back and hug them when they need that, as well. We've had youngsters come to a lot of our coaches over the years with family problems—things they didn't want to discuss with Mom and Dad. So there's a great trust factor there. One of the things people are just awed by is when our players come back. When they (Simeon Rice, Donovan McNabb) come back over Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter, they don't just come and shake hands with you as a coach; they give you a hug. I think that tells you something about the type of relationship we have with our present and former players.

Q.What is your personal philosophy in dealing with assistants? Are you hands-on or do you give them autonomy? How do you personally view the role of head coach?

A. Every summer when we get together, I start our lectures with our coaches the same way: I'm not any smarter than any of our coaches, but I'm fortunate enough to be the guy out in front. So, the No. 1 concern for myself is to coach our coaches, and then our coaches and I coach the players. Once we've talked about things that we have as far as expectations in the program, then I turn the coaches loose and let them do their thing. We talk about the drills, the fundamentals, things that need to be accomplished, but again you've got to remember some of my guys have been with me since 1984, so we have a pretty good handle as far as what the expectations are. The two youngest coaches we have on our varsity actually played for me. So they have a very good handle on what the expectations are, as well.

NEW BOOK!

Digital Download - 304 Pages of Football Forms for the Winning Coach