By Whitney Bermes, McMinnville News-Register, 10/16/2010
Most college football coaches can’t return to their alma maters to take part in homecoming festivities. No pep rallies. No parades. No reliving tradition.
At Linfield College, 12 coaches get to celebrate homecoming every time they step onto Maxwell Field on Saturday afternoons.
The 2010 homecoming game at 1:30 p.m. today vs. Pacific is but one more example.
Of the 17 coaches manning Linfield’s staff, 12 donned the WIldcat uniforms themselves.
“Coming from Linfield, everyone’s been there, done that,” said wide receivers coach James Yen, a 2002 graduate. “It’s a tradition passed down from the coaches we had before in Coach (Ed) Langsdorf and Coach (Jay) Locey and now into Coach (Joseph) Smith.”
Smith, the head coach, is the first to come to mind. A 1993 graduate, he was an All-American cornerback for the ’Cats and kick-started his coaching career with his alma mater.
“Linfield has its own way of doing things,” Smith said, “so by hiring a player that’s gone through our system, they know the expectations. They know how to do things. They know how to teach the game and they know how to do it within the value system we want to keep perpetuating.”
Doug Hire, an offensive guard on the 1986 NAIA national championship team, is in his 11th year on the staff, the fifth as assistant head coach.
Defensive coordinator Jackson Vaughan is a ’97 grad. Playing only one year because of a career-ending injury, Vaughn started his Wildcat coaching career as a college junior.
Phil Romach, in his fourth year coaching linebackers, was part of four consecutive Northwest Conference championship teams, including the 2004 NCAA Division III group that won the national title.
Brandon Hazenberg oversees tight ends and special teams in his fifth year on staff. As a Wildcat, Hazenberg earned a spot in the record books. He ranks fourth all-time in all-purpose yards (3,767), receiving yards (2,165) and receiving touchdowns (22).
The illustrious Ad Rutschman assists with kickoff returns. The 24-year football coach was a 12-time letter winner as a Linfield athlete in football, basketball and baseball from 1950 to 1954. Rutschman coached Linfield to three NAIA Division II national championships and 15 NWC titles.
Rutschman, who retired as head coach in 1991, is in his 10th year helping with special teams.
Quarterbacks coach Brett Elliott has been on staff for three years. As quarterback for the 2004 NCAA Division III national championship team, Elliott broke both Linfield and conference records for single game, single season and career passing.
Fifth-year chaplain Tyler Matthews, a 2003 graduate, quarterbacked the Wildcats and ranks second behind Elliott in Linfield history in passing yards, touchdown passes and passing efficiency.
Ryan Devlin, a 2005 Linfield grad, is in his fifth year on staff. Kyle Otineru, a three-year starter on the offensive line, comes off his senior season in 2010 to be a part of the staff.
Graduate assistant Jared Hinkle, in his second year, played offensive tackle through 2008.
Gabe Haberly, also in his second year, was a ’Cat cornerback through 2008. And 2001 grad and ex-Linfield kicker Scott Cannon is in his second year on staff.
It’s not unique for a school in Division III football to have players transition into coaches at their alma mater.
Take the Northwest Conference, for example. Willamette boasts six alums on its 13-man staff. Pacific Lutheran also has six.
That’s the closest to the Linfield dozen anyone in the NWC comes.
Three ex-Loggers made their way onto Puget Sound’s staff. Whitworth has two alums, Pacific and Lewis & Clark one each.
No program can hold a candle to Linfield’s 54 consecutive winning seasons, a national record. The benefits of having homemade coaches is apparent in the Streak.
The tradition, the expectations, the preparation it takes to win have all been passed down year to year, coach to coach, player to player.
“There’s such loyalty to the program because, hopefully, because of how the program’s being run and the experience kids have,” Smith said. “They’re so loyal to it, they’re willing to come back and do a tremendous amount of work for very little pay.”
Yen said that when recruiting the newest generation of Wildcats, coaches emphasize the family atmosphere this coaching tradition has created as one of the pillars of Linfield’s success.
“You kind of bond and you become family and that’s kind of the mentality here,” Yen said. “It’s a family-oriented coaching staff here. It’s really hard to leave sometimes and I think our coaching staff feels the same way.
“When winning comes, it’s nice and granted it’s a good benefit. But the relationships that you form are probably the best experiences we do have.”
