Chapter 5: Lighten Up, Francis

Saturday February 4
Cassidy and I met J.D. first thing because I had a busy day planned. J.D. had us meet her at the park near my house.

“Morning. What are we learning today?” I asked.

“In the movie, you’ll need to act stealthily when breaking into different places. Chubby wants you to look as natural as possible when you’re doing it. The first thing I need to teach you is how to walk quietly,” J.D. shared.

I perked up.

“Finally! Fritz has been doing that ninja routine where he sneaks up on me. It might be time for payback,” I said, rubbing my hands together.

“I’m glad you’re enthusiastic.”

When I glanced over at Cassidy, her expression told me my plan to sneak up on Fritz had zero chance of success. I loved a challenge.

We hiked to a wooded area with a lot of leaves and twigs on the ground to learn our craft. J.D. had both Cassidy and me try to walk quietly, but we failed miserably. I didn’t see any way we could cover that ground without being heard. When you stepped on a dried leaf, it crackled.

“Most people, when they walk, don’t stride with their feet exactly straight,” J.D. explained. Then she demonstrated, first with an exaggerated toe-out style, and then with toes pointed in as she walked.

The point was that because you weren’t walking with your feet straight forward, there tended to be a slight twisting motion, which caused noise. J.D. brought to our attention that if we went home, got an old pair of shoes out, and looked at soles, we’d see they didn’t wear evenly.

“In martial arts, they teach you to use the toe-first method. Imagine putting your foot forward and slipping your toe under a rug,” she said, then demonstrated.

When I tried, I almost fell down, losing my balance.

“Bend your knees and crouch down slightly to maintain your center of gravity,” Cassidy suggested.

I should have known that. When I tried it again, it was much quieter.

“I prefer what’s called ‘fox walking.’ Native American lore talks about how they can move through a forest quietly. They studied animals and mimicked their movements. A stalking fox takes slow, careful, exact steps. When a fox runs, it makes precisely the same motion.

“A fox’s feet touch the ground in a straight line. Let me use a football field to visualize. Imagine walking on a sideline. You have to keep your feet straight so you don’t step off the white line,” she explained.

She took her shoe off to show us how foot should touch the ground.

“When you stride, the lead foot contacts the ground with the front outside of the foot. Your foot will then naturally roll across the ball of your foot towards the big toe. Then your heel will come down to stabilize you and give you a good base to take the next step,” J.D. said as she demonstrated with the shoe.

Cassidy and I practiced sneaking around. Cassidy was a natural. I contended that was because she weighed a hundred pounds less than I did, so she had an unfair advantage.

We arrived home to find the core group assembled that had kicked off the culture change at Lincoln High. Two people I wasn’t sure would make it were also there, Tom and Tracy Dole. Tom now spent most of his time in Chicago, working at Dixon and Dixon. Tracy had graduated and was now taking classes at State. It told me the level of commitment they had, that they would come back to help like this. I hoped I would be as dedicated once I went off to college.

Besides my dad, Coach Hope, and Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan, we were also joined by Tim, Wolf, and their dads. When I arrived, Dad got us started.

“When we first got together, Coach Hope had just taken the job as head coach. David had gone to Wesleyan and toured their field house and wanted to do something similar here. His goal was that Lincoln High would become the best sports program in the state. At the time, we brainstormed to come up with how we could turn the school into something special, and not just athletically. From that came what we have now.

“I talked to David, and he wanted to touch base and make sure we’re still on the right path now that his senior year is almost over. He also has some ideas on how to continue our success,” Dad said.

It was my turn.

“Tim, Wolf, and I saw some of the best college football programs in the country on our recruiting trips. We found there was a variety of approaches to success. It showed me that there isn’t any one hard and fast way to build a winning team. However, I did notice some things they all had in common, and a few I felt made some of their programs stand out.”

“David’s right. The good news is that we now have in place a lot of what makes a successful program,” Tim assured everyone.

“Thanks to the community and the Booster Club, we have the facilities,” Wolf added. “They’ve provided us with superior coaching and training to help us prepare. I think that we also cut down on injuries by staying in shape and doing things right. If I remember correctly, David got his shot at playing varsity freshman year because the players in front of him were hurt.”

“It wasn’t just sports. The study groups have raised my grades, and I know that without that, I might not have qualified to play ball at Michigan,” Tim said.

“That all sounds good, and I agree we’ve put a sound program in place. What do you think we need to add or change, based on your travels?” Coach Hope asked.

“Two things jumped out at me,” I said. “When we went to Alabama, they had a system in place that developed players at each position. They start working with the freshmen on day one to begin to replace their seniors. Just look at how they’ve transformed Jim Ball. He’s a beast now. At Alabama, when someone’s injured or graduates, there isn’t a falloff in talent. They simply reload. I contend it’s the system they have that creates the players that replace the starters.”

“That’s easy for them to do. They won’t have a falloff of talent like we will when you ... uh ... I mean ... the three of you graduate,” Mr. Sullivan said.

“Nice save,” Dad quipped.

“I hear you, and that worries me too,” I admitted. “Then I looked at Alabama. They had standouts graduate, and it didn’t seem to hurt them. Yes, there was a drop-off in talent at some positions, but the system they have creates the next quarterback ... or linebacker ... or tight end,” I said as I pointed at Tim and Wolf in turn.

“We don’t have the staff that Alabama does,” Coach Hope pointed out.

“Let me come back to that,” I said to acknowledge that he was right.

I turned to Wolf and Tim.

“What impressed you about Clemson?” I asked.

“The whole place was football-crazy,” Tim said. “Not that other schools didn’t have passionate fan bases; they just took it to another level. They talked in terms of the players being their guys.”

“Their culture was different, as well,” Wolf said. “It was like you were part of a family. Don’t get me wrong, it felt like you were part of something at other schools, too. But at Clemson, you felt like you mattered. It didn’t feel like if you got beat out or hurt that they would just plug in the next guy and forget about you. You might not be starting, but they had your best interests in mind.”

“You obviously have some ideas. What are they?” Coach Hope asked.

“Over the last few years, I’ve made some mistakes. Some have just taken me longer to recognize than others. I look back and play the ‘what if?’ game. What if I’d not focused so much on my own preparation and had instead helped others more? What if I’d shared the leadership role with some of the younger guys? Would we almost have lost the Lakeview game last year when I lost focus? Or would others have stepped up?” I asked.

“But you had an all-team meeting and made everyone responsible for their own success,” Tim said to defend me.

“I still remind myself what you shared with us in that quote: ‘If it is to be, it is up to me,’” Wolf said. “I’m sure when I look back at my high school days and think about what made a difference, that would be on the list. I remind myself of that whenever I can’t decide what to do about something. It helps me take charge and move forward.

I nodded to my friends and looked them in the eyes. While I was happy to hear I’d made a difference, I wondered if others had learned from my example.

“What if you both had worked more with the younger guys? Would we have freshmen or sophomores ready to move up to varsity? Think in terms of Alabama. Would sharing what you’ve learned over the last four years have helped to jump-start the younger players?” I asked.

“Isn’t that my problem?” Coach Hope asked.

“Didn’t you just say that you were understaffed?” Mr. Tams asked.

“What David is suggesting is something similar to what we had at my fraternity in college: big and little brothers. My big brother helped me get acclimated to not only the fraternity but to college life as a whole. If it hadn’t been for him, I probably wouldn’t have a liver now, and I would surely have flunked out,” Dad shared.

I mentally marked that down for someday when Dad made a comment about my drinking.

“I’m not sure what we call it,” I admitted. “I owe my success to mentors. Not just sports, either. Most everything I’ve done; I’ve sought out an expert and asked them to guide me. Some have been formal, like when I hired Bo Harrington. Others have been more informal. I asked one of the actors in LA to help me understand the Japanese culture so I could do a better job with my performance.”

“So, you’re suggesting that older guys act as big brothers for younger teammates?” Tracy asked.

“I want it to be more than just sports-related, and I want it for more than just the football team. Some of the seniors took the time to teach me stuff my freshman year that I had no clue about. I was lucky to have my actual big brother. Not all kids have the benefit of an older brother who would tolerate their freshman sibling, let alone hold their hand and help them grow up. With that in mind, I was hoping we would build more of a family-like atmosphere,” I said.

“I want you to be careful when we define anything as a ‘family’ type of dynamic,” Coach Hope said. “When I was in the military, we were taught different leadership styles. A family style does encourage personal relationships, a sense of community, and a feeling of security. But it may also discourage competition, lower expectations, or struggle with accountability for the simple reason that we don’t hold family as accountable as we sometimes should. I’m sure we can all think of someone in our family who, if they weren’t a part of it, we would vote out because they don’t carry their weight.”

“How is Brad, by the way?” I asked.

I’d forgotten that Cassidy was sitting quietly in the back of the room until she dissolved in laughter. Coach gave us both a look that promised pain later.

“Coach is right,” Dad said to get us back on track. “There has to be some accountability on all sides, or this won’t work. I think what David was getting at was that it must be about more than just football or baseball. Some of my best memories were just hanging out with my big brother from my frat. It reminds me of when we went to Oklahoma, and our guide talked about how the teammates hung out in the locker room.”

“Why would you want to hang out in a locker room?” Tom Dole asked.

“It was a nice locker room. They had big-screen TVs, leather couches, pool tables ... think of your best concept of a man cave, and you start to see what they have,” Dad said.

“So, it was a sausage fest?” Tom asked.

That made us all laugh. He had a point. Then again, it was a place you could go and just be a guy.

“What do you hope to accomplish at the team meeting?” Mrs. Sullivan asked to get us back on topic.

Poor Tom was reminded that she was in the room and that his “sausage fest” comment might not go over well in mixed company.

“I want to see if the seniors are willing to help start this or if they just want to enjoy the rest of the year,” I said.

“Trust me. Just tell them, and they’ll do it because you said so,” Wolf said. “I also think they want to leave a legacy as badly as you do. I don’t want to see our success end just because we graduate.”

“That’s something we need to fix. We need leaders to step up. While I don’t think we want a bunch of chiefs running around, we do need more than one. We also have to train the new chiefs,” I said.

“Didn’t you do that last fall when you made the younger guys lead the team?” Tim asked.

“To an extent. There’s more to it than leading the team in warm-ups or doing the coin toss,” I reminded them.

“I thought he was just sick of doing it,” Tracy said.

I bit my tongue before I said what I thought of her smart comment.

Once we were done with the mentor idea, Mrs. Sullivan was ready with a new topic.

“I just got a call saying that the school district plans to build a new middle school where the football practice field is.”

“Where are we supposed to practice?” Coach Hope asked, apparently hearing this for the first time.

“The city has a park three blocks from the high school.”

“Why not build the middle school there?” Dad asked.

“They have all the infrastructure in place for the school as far as roads and utilities go. The park is in the middle of residential streets.”

The biggest issue I saw right off the bat was how they planned to get the players to and from the new location. Back in the day, my dad said that he and Uncle John had either been dropped off by the bus or walked home. Now, they had ridiculous rules. The new one was that the bus driver wouldn’t let you off if your parent or a designated guardian wasn’t waiting at the stop for you. How would the little darlings survive walking three blocks in a residential neighborhood?

The real issue should have been, what would the neighbors do when a pack of unruly football players cut through their yard and trampled their prized rosebushes?

Then I remembered that Polish saying: ‘Not my circus, not my monkeys.’ If the school board created this mess, it wasn’t my worry how it got fixed. “I take it you want me to write you a check for something,” I said to cut to the chase.

Mrs. Sullivan just smiled. She knew to call my office.

I was suspicious when Cassidy handed me the keys to the Demon for the drive to the Lincoln Field House. While I drove, she gave me the latest news from Brook.

“There was a big scandal at her school. There was a picture of a girl’s ... uhm ... you know ... between her legs,” Cassidy stammered.

“Okay.”

“Someone printed it off and put it up all over the halls to shame some poor girl. Everyone was sure the culprit was Kaia Chamberlin because it is the kind of thing she’d do.”

I thought Kaia was your typical caricature of a villain in most teen movies, but that sounded like a bridge too far. This was something Alan might do because of his lack of impulse control. Kaia didn’t strike me as someone who would risk getting herself in trouble. I took her more for the sort who would spread rumors or try to intimidate. More of a Destiny Crown type, but at Brook’s school.

“They had a class assembly because of what the headmistress called ‘shocking behavior,’” Cassidy said.

When Cassidy didn’t add anything, I glanced over and saw her smiling like she’d stolen the last slice of pizza from me and was waiting for me to realize the theft.

“Don’t leave me hanging.”

“Turns out the hairy pic was of Kaia, and her evil minion Sabrina had done it. I guess Sabrina had finally had enough of Kaia’s cutting remarks and had gotten her revenge. She got expelled for her efforts. Brook said Kaia disappeared for a few days, and when she came back, she was meaner than ever.”

“So, it was hairy?” I asked, crinkling my nose.

Of course, I was just giving Cassidy grief.

“You’re such a guy. There’s nothing wrong with hair down there,” she chided.

“I guess if you’re watching vintage porn, it’s okay,” I conceded.

My odds of getting hit were fifty-fifty. I was happy when Cassidy decided to laugh at my rude comment.

“Or married,” I added. “I hear that once a girl gets a guy to submit, she lets herself go.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have shared that last one. Cassidy had a real gift of always being able to precisely find the right spot to jab me for maximum discomfort.

I walked into the Lincoln Field House and found we had more people than I expected. I’d asked for all the senior and junior football players to attend. What I was greeted by were all the upperclassmen from all sports, including the cheerleaders. I saw that the coaches for the different squads were also there.

As I walked in front of the stands they were seated in, I didn’t say a word. I was impressed when they went quiet to hear what I had to say. On his best day, I doubted Coach Hope could have gotten them to be silent without either yelling or blowing his whistle.

“I’m truly humbled that you would all show up. It tells me that our goal of leaving a legacy for success will happen with all your help. I know that you took time out of your Saturday to be here, so I want to respect that and keep this meeting short,” I said.

“I was contemplating a serious nap,” one of the wrestlers joked.

“I almost had high score on my video game. This better be good, Dawson.”

Both those activities made me jealous. I never seemed to have time for stuff like that.

“I’m going to have Tim and Wolf share with you some of what we learned when we went on recruiting trips that might help us here at Lincoln High,” I shared.

They repeated a lot of what they said at the first meeting and then added a few more insights they’d thought of since then. When they were done, I stepped back up and continued.

“In college football, they only have 85 scholarships to fill 25 or so positions if you consider kickers and long snappers. Ideally, you would want twenty-five seniors ready to play each year. Unfortunately, the numbers don’t work that way, and you need underclassmen to step up and fill roles. We need a way to accelerate the development of our underclassmen, so we don’t have down years if a large class graduates.

“Earlier today, Coach Hope pointed out that it was the coach’s job to make sure that didn’t happen. His issue is that he doesn’t have enough coaches. I’ll use the quarterback position as an example. In college ball, they have a coach dedicated to quarterbacks. From what I understand, practice time goes mainly to the starter. When I walk onto campus, there might be as many as five other guys wanting to play my position.

“Yes, at Lincoln, we have freshman and junior varsity teams. The problem is that you only have a couple of coaches to instruct all the positions,” I said.

I looked in the stands and could see agreement with my assessment.

“Can I share a funny story?” I asked. “When I first started to play football my freshman year, I’d never played before. I didn’t play any ball in middle school. So, on the first day of practice, I was sent in to play fullback. I had to have the quarterback tell me what I should do. I’d never run the option.”

That made them laugh.

“I was told to just run into the line and keep running until I scored. Fortunately for me, that’s exactly what I did. I don’t want to take anything away from the coaches. When you have a freshman coach and a couple of volunteers, they’re not going to have time to individually coach-up 35 freshmen.

“Here is where you come in. Each of you has been part of your respective program for three to four years. I want you to seek out a couple of underclassmen that play your position and be a mentor to them. In my case, I’m going to work with Trent Buchannan, who’s a junior, and Phil Prince, who’s a sophomore. My hope is that Trent will pick another sophomore and a freshman quarterback and work with them. Then Phil will work with a freshman and pick up another newbie next year to continue the process.

“My dad had a good idea. When he was in college, his fraternity assigned him a big brother. The way he explained it to me was that his big brother oversaw teaching him about the fraternity. He said it ended up being more than that, his big brother became a true friend, someone he could look up to and confide in. When I hear my dad talk about his big brother, I can tell that he learned a lot from the guy.

“I know fraternities are big on brotherhood, just as sororities are big on sisterhood. You heard Tim and Wolf talk about the schools that stood out. You were made to feel that you were part of something bigger. That you mattered, and someone had your back.

“A quote I heard the other day seems fitting: ‘You have no idea what challenges someone faces just by looking at them.’ I guess what I’m saying is that it’s all tied together. I know my performance on the field is influenced by what’s happening off it. If I didn’t have people I could talk to, I’m sure my game would have suffered a lot. Think about it. Remember what a complete dumbass you were as a freshman?” I asked.

That got chuckles because it was true.

“Remember how there were times you could have used someone older, who was not an adult, to talk to? I was lucky because my big brother sort of liked me and I could go to him. Not many of you had that luxury,” I reminded them.

I could see the wheels turning. I was encouraged when I didn’t hear any smart comments.

“Here’s the deal. There are two things we need to do to make this work. The first is you must take this seriously. You set the tone, and don’t make it just a bullshit session. You need to make sure your charges are putting in the work, showing up to sixty minutes of hell, and doing everything else we know will work, even if we hate to do them.

“The second is, one size doesn’t fit all. What works for the football team probably won’t work for wrestlers. I want you to get with your coaches and figure out how you’re going to accomplish this,” I said, and then looked at the coaches. “And the coaches need to make sure everyone gets a big brother or sister or mentor or whatever you want to call them.”

“And there should be plenty of bullshit sessions,” Wolf added.

I rolled my eyes at him.

“There’s a final piece to this. Our successes aren’t just defined by how well we do in a sport. The same mentoring helped me be a success academically as well. Now, some of us may be great big brothers in football or big sisters in cross-country but would make lousy tutors. But if we do it right, then as big brothers and sisters, we can see if our charges are having a hard time academically and can steer them to people who can help them.

“Hopefully, the coaches can talk with the school administration and figure out ways to make sure academic and even life help is available. And that big brothers and sisters know how to access it,” I concluded.

At that, we split up to talk to our coaches.

I was a little surprised that everyone was so enthusiastic. When we were done, Tim, Wolf, and I found a moment to talk about it. I shared my misgivings.

“You forget that you are David Fricking Dawson. Of course they’re going to follow your lead and be happy doing it. It’s one of the perks of leading us to three state championships and being named the top recruit in the country,” Wolf reminded me.

I shook my head, not wanting to believe him.

“Just accept it,” Tim said, staring me down, then giving me an unreadable look. “You need to take your own advice.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“When we were in LA, I heard you say you wanted to enjoy the rest of your senior year. I’ve seen you cut back on stuff, but we still never see you. What’s your current time-eater after school?” Tim asked.

I bit my lower lip. He was right. I’d focused on getting my instrument rating for flying. It was all part of the pattern. Every time I gained some freedom, I found something to fill my time. And now, of course, the Academy Awards were coming up, with the potential to blow my ‘enjoy a normal senior year’ idea completely out of the water.

“What were you planning to do tonight?” Wolf asked.

“Fuck you,” I said as I chuckled.

“Let me guess. You’re reading ahead in your classes or something else just as stupid,” Wolf predicted.

“So, who are you going out with tonight?” Tim asked to pile on.

“Oh, guys. The burden of being David Dawson is that there is only one of me for all my lady admirers. Maybe one day, you’ll understand.”

“You can’t find a date, can you?” Wolf asked.

“Not even if I paid cash,” I admitted.

“More like, you aren’t even trying. No one said you had to fall in love between now and graduation. You need to let go, have some fun, and maybe get laid,” Tim advised.

“I know, call that crazy chick from LA. I bet if you reached out, she would slip out of the loony bin and be here in a jiffy,” Wolf suggested.

“She was hot. I could actually get past the crazy part to spend some time with her,” Tim joked.

I flipped them both off.

“Just saying, Dude. Something must give, and you only have one senior year. I think you were the one that reminded me of that. Once you graduate, it’s off to the salt mines, and you’ll look back and regret not going a little crazy. Plus, I think one of your life goals is ‘no regrets,’” Wolf said, not playing fair.

“Maybe you just do baby steps and go out with us tonight?” Tim offered.

“I am not going to be a fifth wheel and watch you two make out with your girlfriends,” I said.

“Then find a girl, or go to a party, or something. Just don’t sit at home tonight,” Tim coached.

“Alright,” I said as I dismissed the idea.

What could I do at the last minute? I would think about what they said—for next week.

When I got home, the plan was to have an evening in, order some pizza, and get ahead in my classes. I know it sounded totally lame, but I wanted to be ready when baseball practice started. With that in mind, I told Cassidy and Paul they had the night off.

“David? Can you come down to the house?” Mom asked over the intercom.

“Sure, no problem,” I said and bounded down the stairs.

Mom wasn’t around to yell at me for running in my apartment.

When I made it to the driveway, Cassidy was there waiting for me.

“Give me money,” she ordered and stuck her hand out.

I peeled off a large bill and handed it to her.

“You’re not going to ask me why I need it?” she asked, looking disappointed.

“Nope.”

“It’s because we have to take Dare and Chrissy with us to dinner and a movie tonight. If I have to babysit those two, I’m getting compensated,” she said as she crossed her arms and stuck her chin out.

“I’ll bet you that Dare gets further with Chrissy tonight than you do with Don.”

“That’s easy money. How much can you afford?” Cassidy asked.

“How about I double what I gave you if you win and you owe me a favor if I do,” I suggested.

“Deal!” she said as we shook.

Then Cassidy blinked because this seemed too easy. I knew that she and Don had done the deed and that Dare was a virgin. She squinted at me as I rubbed my hands together and did my mad scientist laugh.

“Muwahahahahaha!”

“Two things,” I said, holding up two fingers. “First, Greg has been coaching Darius on the finer points of wooing women.”

She still didn’t seem nervous, even though Greg was a legend. We were talking about Dare, after all.

“Second, if you go parking, you’ll be doing it in front of Dare,” I said and then paused for effect. “And you have to tell Brook that you corrupted him.”

“I hate you!” she barked as she marched off.

I knew that would be in the back of her mind all night. But when she twirled around, I hesitated. Ruh-roh!

“I don’t even feel bad about what I told your parents,” she said mysteriously, then spun back around and stomped off towards home.

That couldn’t be good.

I went into the house.

“David, get in here and have a seat. We need to talk,” Mom said.

“I didn’t do it!”

“Crud! I owe you a dollar,” Mom said to my dad.

I hate that my parents bet on what I’ll do. Clearly, I was too predictable. Plus, that particular line hadn’t worked since I was ten.

“Ms. Dixon called me, and she has some interesting news from Mr. Morris,” Dad said.

Internally, I cringed. What did the NCAA need now?

“Stewart Chadwick resigned yesterday,” Dad shared.

That put a smile on my face. He shouldn’t have pushed so hard to get me to try to get the goods on Southwest Central State. Everyone could see he’d crossed the line when he tried to interfere in my eligibility. I was sure that his goose was cooked as soon as the FBI agent showed up at the NCAA meeting with us.

“But that’s not why we need to talk to you,” Mom said to steal the joy I’d just experienced.

“What did I do?” I asked as I flopped down in my chair with my best put-out teen persona.

“Lighten up, Francis! We have a report from Scarlet about the problems with your house,” Dad said.