The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page C4

Page 4C Des Moines Register Drake Bulldogs Football: An Uncommon Coach signs to notice and are about Bulldog foot- all even if for a fleet- i ng second. The metric or success on this day is easured in honking orns. he yelling is for the layers, not the drivers. reighton wants to make i fun, make it matter i each and every way he ontrols. he man who enforces a no-profanity rule, low- rs plastic spiders on ishing line to scare 300- ound linemen, holds ontests where a player aised on a ranch at- empts to lasso assistant oaches during practice, a nd wills 65 players to he summit of ount Kilimanjaro is the ost uncommon of oaches.

or a player who de- ides to play non-schol- a rship football at Drake an expensive proposi- ion at the well-regarded niversity the experi- nce becomes a wild undle and blur of acc ountability, commit- ent, laughs, growth and inning. I 16 seasons as a head oach, a Creighton- oached team has yet to inish with a losing rec- rd. The work to make it he best it can be con- inues, always on the ield, a mountainside or A cold, concrete bridge. It can be a bummer come out of the tunnel, ee my wife in her blue ig that she wears on ame days, and be able to ell, be- ause there are 14 people Creighton said as layers coax another car orn to life. I want these guys to valued.

The kinds of eople they are, they eserve to be cared a Marriage Chris The best way to hear a interesting Chris reighton story is to ask a bout anyone ever et him. tart with the one a bout how he connected ith his wife, Heather. hen asked, Chris ehle laughed. He was unning an inner-city inistry in Kansas City a nd had become friends ith Creighton, the foot- all coach at nearby ttawa The foot- all bachelor sometimes ould visit Jehle and tay overnight as the two atched plans to help isadvantaged residents ealize dreams of some- hing more. At the minis- ry, there were photos on he wall of volunteers ho helped the program.

This is too ehle said. room- ate was out of town. He as dating Heather and hey were very serious. Chris) looked at her hoto on the wall and aid, going to marry er someday. Let me now when they break he audaciousness of he idea was lost on reighton, who learned he couple had split and imply picked up the elephone.

I ended up cold-call- i ng he said. not idding. It was 20 min- tes. We had a mutual riend, so I almost did it ike a reference check. I aid, know Chris (Jehl e) if you want to talk to im to make sure this i too trange? Sure.

Suc- essful, too. I had no idea who he as. I was sitting at my ouse and I got this call, Hi, you know me, ut my Chris she said. as two weeks from oving back to Houston rom Kansas City. I was eady to head back south, I interested in a ate or meeting anyone.

A year later, we were arried. In a way, it was ery Chris Creighton- I the frenetic mind of reighton, no goal seems nattainable or possibil- i ty too absurd. rake has won a share the Pioneer Football eague championship ach of the past two seas ons. The team carves ut success with firm xpectations about how dress on the road a nd words that match ardrobes. reighton cursed a until a mission rip to Haiti at age16 rovided perspective.

or the coach, avoiding rofanity is just one acet of being disciplined the field in ways that in football games. The neat thing is that ou hear about it on your isit said Brandon oleman, a fifth-year enior from Cary, Ill. ot the first day of camp. ou know it the first day ou sign up to be a Bull- og we use pro- anity of the field or a nywhere, even off the he rule there to stuffy. a puzzle iece one thing that i nterlocks with another, hen another and another.

The cool thing he reaches is that the game football and the char- a cter of a man go so well Coleman said. such a tough, phys- i cal, grueling game that i brings out who you eally are. He does a good job of ying those two things ogether. Hey, mak- i ng you a better football layer and by doing that, hrough the process he hooses, he also makes ou a better Adream unlocks a world of ossibilities Ahand-written letter itting on esk randomly placed ecause recent, rath- than a conversations tarting prop comes rom a traveler who met he team at the Charlotte, airport. The man rote, based on the expe- ience, that be hon- red for a son to play for he Bulldogs.

andy Hatfield Clubb, athletic director, i hardly surprised by tories like those regard- i ng the players Creighton as helped shape. A dream in the night aused Creighton to atch a plan to play the irst organized, Ameri can-rules football game the continent of Afric a. The logistical hurdles learly would be enor- ous the financial bstacles even more aunting. etting the team to enya would cost 350,000. The largest onation during the camp aign: $15,000.

I May 2011, though, he team from a mid- ized city in the heart- and of the United States as hiking up Mount ilimanjaro. Hatfield lubb marvels at the layers her family grew know so much better a ar-flung continent away. There were 16 of us rouped together on the ountain, my husband, hildren and nine players for six days on the she said. These were very stress- ul situations. We liter- a lly ate, slept and went to he bathroom together.

You could hear eve rything in their tent and hey could hear every- hing in yours. Not one ime did my children ear a cuss word. Not one ime, with 18- to 22-year- lds in stressful situa- ions. It was he family became so lose with Dan Clinton, a 6 -foot-7, 320-pound line- an, that he later be- ame a family babysitter. If you ask my child ren for their best memo ries of Africa, this one i recited at our house Hatfield Clubb aid.

were climbing he mountain at 13,000 eet, making our way to 1 5,000 feet. Brett Park, a big old lineman, he usts out (Queen song) Bohemian in his high-pitched voice. The whole group tarts singing. Every- ody picks a part. iking along, our heads a re down, bopping a long, tired, ard to breathe.

Then all a sudden, Brett starts inging. No one looks a round or bats an eye, veryone just jumps in. I was one of the most riceless moments of the hole The guys were just un. just high- haracter guys who emu late their wenty minutes into a nswering questions a bout her husband, eather Creighton turns he tables and asks one of er own. Who takes their team Africa? I mean, give a she said.

the king of doing a ot with very A Division III Wab ash College, Creighton urned the program into a national championship ontender. At Drake, the ecruiting impediment is he absence of schol- a rships. At Wabash, it as breaking the news to eenagers that it was an a ll-male college. Trying telling an 1 8-year-old, we ant you to play football a our school, but guess hat? We have any said Heather reighton, breaking into a laugh as she considers he line to come. ecruiting challenges ave been there, no matt er where been.

ither no money or no Presidents, lay-callers, uncher i nspire team The man who mans he main whistle and lipboard at Drake moti- ates and inspires as aturally as most change ocks. reighton develops hemes for each season, ecruiting a celestial ange of people the play- rs know to reinforce hem. camp us office includes let- ers from former college ead coaches Tom Os- orne, Bobby Bowden, im Tressel and Lou oltz. corre- pondence from NFL ead coaches Marvin ewis, John Harbaugh a nd Sean Payton and rom NBA coach Tom hibodeau. here are letters from residents George Bush a nd Gerald Ford, along ith boxer Muhammad A li and the Sisters of other Theresa.

The ideo platform Skype has a llowed players to speak ith former NFL quart erback Jim Zorn and ressel, live from the iving room of the former hio State coach. office i ncludes his of a hodge- odge collection of foot- all items, photos of his edding day and items ike a photo of actor Mel ibson from the movie and an neaten Snickers bar he treat he vowed not to at in 2002 until a team of is won a national champ ionship. Creighton, each oment is a chance to do omething, add some- hing or shape something someone. a constant ener- said Brad McCaslin, he defensive oordinator. son was i a few weekends ago on a game day.

Coach alked in, and he was igning a song loud and roud. My son said, he ike that all time I aid, basically, cCaslin explained ow GrahmButler, the anch-raised wide receive from Nebraska, tried rope a few assistant oaches the day before. smiles broadly as he ecalled the fake spider hat sent offensive line- an Phil Hespen scram- ling. ho came up with hose ideas? Take one uess. We ever wonder a bout McCaslin aid.

he assistant coach coffed at the idea of reighton working a 9 -to-5 job in a quiet office ubicle. I even think consider walking in he McCaslin aid. even think hat would register with im as a life A a recent practice, a wing pass falls incom- lete on 3rd-and-6 during a live drill. The players 20 hitting he cold, wet field and ouncing back up again a nd again. ne of the first on the round is Creighton, a long with other offen- ive coaches who pay he price alongside the layers they lead.

reighton used to iscipline players with omething called at a 5-mile run at 5 in the orning before 6a.m. ffseason workouts. He ined up and ran along, ntil NCAA rules tight- ned up the amount of ime coaches could work ith players in those ettings. tough, but what an a guy say if jog- ing right along with Creighton rea- oned. looked at that as a 45-minute or 60-minute pportunity to get to now guys better and let hem know all in his odd Frakes, the wide receivers oach and recruiting oordinator, said the nergy exits in all ways a all times.

That there, a ll the time, every said. we get the anner made for the ootball team, he has as uch passion for the anner as he does for the ame. all-encompass- i ng. Normal people look a it and go, does hat come Creighton is beacon light for Bulldogs When the recent prac- ice ends, a cooler of opsicles from Heather reighton are delivered i a cooler for all to grab. layers and coaches reak into smaller hud- les according to position roup.

reighton steps in ith the quarterbacks as ne daughter in a bright ink coat steps in the iddle to listen to the Xs a nd Os conversation appening above her ead. is son, Luke, hugs he leg of the coach like a ackler straining to pre- ent extra yardage. A the practice ends, reighton leans down to iss each of his children. hen he walks over to a layer who has been unning around much of ractice for disciplinary easons, puts a hand on ach side of his shoulder ads and has a deep, yes-locked-on-eyes onversation for a few, uiet minutes. here is one award at postseason ban- uet that receives a tanding ovation and i not the one that rec- gnizes the most aluable player.

the Beare said Creight- modeled after some- hing in a letter from ressel. talk to the uys about, you know I ndiana Jones carrying he torch through the ave? It takes courage to the one up front, lead- i ng. But the light also i lluminates the rest of he people with you and i lluminates those rela- I that moment, reighton finally encoun- ers a moment of failure. has no idea that alking about himself. Bryce Miller can be reached at 5 15-284-8288 or Follow him Twitter: Drake players, from left, Taylor Coleman, Caz Zyks, Derek Temple and Ryan McKeever hold up signs on a pedestrian bridge overlooking Interstate 235, trying to drum up support for the program.

BRYON PHOTOS Chris Creighton reads from some letters he has bound at his office in Des Moines. The coach focuses on building character as much as winning football games. VIDEO: DRAKE AKES FOOTBALL I MPRESSION ITHOUT PADS Listen to Drake football coach Chris Creighton read a etter from a man who felt i nspired to write after meeting the team at the a irport during a recent oadtrip. Watch it with this story on esMoinesRegister.com MILLER Continued from Page 1C AWINNER ON MULTIPLE CONTINENTS In 1993, Chris Creighton was offered a chance to play uarterback for Limhamn Griffins. Job hunting had yet to produce a firm opportunity, so boarded a plane.

When he arrived, Creighton was i nformed that he also would be the head coach. Afew months later, the team won the Swedish national hampionship at the national stadium in Stockholm. That was quite an said Creighton, who won on a third continent when Drake beat a Mexican a ll-star team during the first organized football game on A frican soil in 2011. had a deal for meals with a local Pizza Hut, so I walked to the buffet there and ate salad a nd pizza Monday through Friday, for four Miller.