A Hire calling: From Linfield to the NFL and back
By Rusty
Rae, McMinnville N-R/News-Register 10/23/2020
Part of ‘Linfield
Football: Remembrance of Games Past’ series
If football’s your game, statistics indicate a
narrow path to the heights of NFL fame. Those numbers indicate it’s a 1000 to
one shot to make an NFL team out of high school. From an NCAA DI school, it’s
one out of 50 and from a DIII school like Linfield, decidedly less.
In fact today, depending on the latest cuts,
there are likely around a dozen professional football players from DIII schools
– 12 out of 1,760 rostered athletes.
The proverbial four-leaf clover in a field of
dandelions.
As narrow as those odds appear, through the
years Linfield’s football team has supplied an infusion of talent to the NFL.
More than 40 ‘Cats were called to pro football since 1954. Most only had a cup
of coffee in the big show, but these five: Doug
Hire, Jim Massey, Randy Marshall, Paul Dombroski and Fred Von Appen relate
a unique story in the Wildcat football tradition.
Hire, Linfield’s Senior Associate Director of
Athletics for Facilities, Operations and Events and the NCAA Inclusion
Designee, holds a title nearly as long as his NFL career. Formerly, he was the
associate head football coach and line coach for 20 seasons after moving to
McMinnville from Hawaii.
His initial dream? To play in the NFL.
A DI prospect until a bout with leukemia
curtailed big school offers, Hire was recruited by Linfield head coach Ad
Rutschman. After doing some research on the school, he found himself a freshman
on the oak-lined campus in 1983.
Hire went to regular chemotherapy for the last
two years of his high school career and first three seasons at Linfield. The
late Joan Rutschman, Ad’s wife and administrator made arrangements for someone
to drive Hire from McMinnville to Ft. Lewis for treatments, which essentially
sucked the life out of him.
He’d crawl into the back seat after treatment
and sleep all the way home – but never missed a practice or a game. “Doug never
complained and never missed any significant practice or a game. He was as
mentally strong as his character was large,” said Rutschman.
Regarding his desire to join the Wildcats, Hire
noted, “They’d just come off winning the national championship and I thought
this was the best place for me to reach my dream.”
However, in his first year, he saw little action
and considered transferring to the University of Hawaii. That is, until a
senior on the team, Tom Vincent, persuaded him to stay.
“He told me I had potential to be a top lineman.
Of course I heard that from coaches, but when it comes from a peer it carries a
bit more weight — particularly as a freshman,” he said.
Hire remained and next season started on the
‘Cats’ second NAIA national championship. This was perhaps his earliest lesson
about the value of the culture of a program and how relationships among coaches
and players are key elements in the success of a program.
In his senior year, 1986, he started and was not
only all–conference but also an all-America selection on Rutschman’s third
national title team. Later, as the Linfield ‘Cats’ line coach, he earned
another national championship ring with the 2004 program as a coach, one of a
few with three championship rings.
Noted Rutschman, “Doug became a dominant
lineman. I learned pretty quickly, if we needed one yard, the ball was coming
to Doug’s side.”
After graduation, he was offered a free-agent
tryout with the Jets. During rookie camp, he survived the week competing
against a bevy of DI players. Although expecting to be called back to New York
for training camp that summer, he was released during the summer via a letter.
Hire suspected his aspirations for the NFL were
over. He returned to Linfield to pursue his master’s degree in Education while
simultaneously working for Rutschman and his O-line coach, the late Ted Henry.
When the NFL strike of 1987 occurred, Hire
received the call from former Linfield QB Randy Mueller, now in the player
personnel department of the Seahawks. Hire earned a roster spot as a center
with Seattle, responsible for making the line calls.
“It was the experience of a lifetime,” he
remembers, adding, “Life in the NFL is pretty easy compared to playing for a DIII
team. The weight room was right across the hall from the lockers and the little
things are pretty much all taken care of — like the pop machine didn’t take
money — just press the button and out popped a can,” he said.
His NFL experience was equivalent to a masters’
degree in coaching. “I knew I was going into coaching, so I approached this not
only as an opportunity to play football in the NFL, but to develop my library
of coaching skills,” he said.
Hire played in three NFL games, both as an
interior offensive lineman and on special teams. The Seahawks went 2-1 during
the strike period, which helped them become eligible for the playoffs.
Notes Muller, “I remember Doug blocking and
competing against an NFL defensive end from Detroit who had crossed the picket
line in our third strike game. He held his own — got big props from all of us.
The moment was not too big for him and I was like a proud papa.”
Seattle won that game 37-14 on the road in the
Silverdome. Several of the Hawk starters crossed the picket line, including
center Blair Bush, who played in place of Hire. Hire did his job on special
teams and as tight end on the PAT team and had an opportunity to snag a pass on
a botched snap — but the ball zipped well over his head.
He remembered linebacker Fred Young taking the
members of the strike team out for dinner, thanking them for helping the
Seahawks become eligible for the playoffs. He also recalled chatting casually
with the great Seattle wide receiver Steve Largent on one of the bus rides.
Following his pro experience, Hire received a
call from the Phoenix Cardinals, who had incurred numerous injuries to their
offensive line. He flew in on a Friday, reviewed offensive schemes with a coach
and by Saturday was making line calls in practice.
Suddenly, the future intersected with the
present.
He had applied for several teaching jobs; his
fiancée informed him he had several calls for interviews. He realized teaching
and coaching were his future and asked to be released, which the team granted,
allowing him to keep his signing bonus.
Hire landed at Sprague High School teaching math
and weight training and coaching football. He spent 11 years with the
Olympians.
He next interviewed for a job at Linfield, but
the position went to another candidate. Hire spent two years coaching the
offensive line at Willamette before finally returning to Linfield in 2000.
Hire spent 20 seasons coaching the Linfield line
before his latest promotion last spring to associate athletic director, when he
retired from coaching. However, his impact on the program and trench play
remains.
He combined the detailed approach of his first
mentor Henry, a math teacher at Linfield, with the tools he learned in the NFL
and his decade of coaching high school football.
“Ted broke line play down to the base elements
and taught them so you understood them and to use technique to be a better
football player and I tried to incorporate that into my coaching style,” he
explained.
But while technique is important, Hire added,
“Coaching is really about relationships. When kids know you love them like your
own, they’ll run through a wall for you.”
Reflecting on his former line coach, current
Linfield head football coach Joseph Smith said, “Doug was an incredibly intense
player — I really enjoyed getting to play against him in some of the alumni
games. He was the perfect offensive lineman — that combination of intelligence,
physicality and desire and it was fun to watch him compete.
“He harnessed those same attributes of passion,
intelligence and attention to detail — a true master offensive line coach,” he
said.
Today, Hire carries that same intensity and
passion to his leadership role with the university.
“We, as an athletic department and as a
university, are concerned with retention. We have to understand why we are
losing students and then change. To make a change, we have to start the
change,” he said.
Hire, that Hawaiian four-leaf clover, hopes to
see many more lucky talismans populating not only the football squad, but the
many sports Linfield supports.
Note:
Last week, an article titled, “Smith family rooted in ‘Cats’ football success,”
stated the 1991 National championship game was played at Memorial Coliseum. The
title match was actually played at Portland Civic Stadium, now known as
Providence Park
