In two weeks I will have concluded my 13th season as a football coach. During that span I have worked with 5 different teams and have had the pleasure of coaching several players during this team. As with other coaches, I've had players of all kinds of ability. So I was thinking, who are some of the players that I consider the "best" I have coached? Here it is, my list of some of the best players I've ever had the chance to coach by position.
Quarterback: Jeff Donovan--Wauwatosa East High School.
Jeff is and probably will be the best quarterback that I will have the chance to coach. He was 2 time All-State and Player of the Year in Wisconsin. Jeff would go on to a great career in both football and baseball, winning a National Championship as the starting quarterback at UW-Whitewater.
Running Back: Eric Walton--Kaiserslautern Pikes, German Football League
Eric is my current running back and has been outstanding. I've only had him for 8 games thus far but I'm comfortable putting him on this list. In 8 games Eric has accumulated over 2100 yards and 23 TD, which is impressive in any league.
Wide Receiver: D.J. Cupertino--Wauwatosa East High School
Tosa East was one of my most successful stops. We had a influx of talent during my 4 years there, including a very good receiving corp my last year. D.J. was a terrific player, who also played DB for us. One of my favorite moments from his Senior season was in our opening round playoff game and the team went for a surprise onside kick, only kicked it 8 yards but didn't touch it. D.J. being both intelligent and sneaky swooped in, picked up the ball and returned to the 2 or 3. To this day D.J. remains one of my favorite players of all time.
Offensive Line: Nico Dohring--Kaiserslautern Pikes, Kai Lehmann--Kaiserslautern Pikes, Ryan Stasinski--Wauwatosa East, Alex Alzade--Wauwatosa East, Greg Kowalski--Milwaukee Pius
Nico and Kai are the two linemen who have helped Eric achieve his great success. I'm a firm believer that if these guys were placed in a United States youth program both would have gotten scholarships to NCAA schools. Ryan and Alex were two classes apart both were expected to make an impact. Alex was part of one of the best Tosa East squads in school history, one that should have went to the State Finals instead of losing in the 1st round of the playoffs. Ryan anchor another good offensive line 3 years later that ended up being one of the best offensives in school history. Greg, unfortunately never experienced such team success. Our teams at Pius were challenging for a variety of reason on and off the field. The thing about Greg was that he never complained. He wanted to get better, and he did claiming all-conference honors his senior year.
That's my list. For the record I've been a offensive guy the vast majority of my 13 seasons. I have witnessed some really good defensive players during this time as well. But I'm sure I would miss a guy that should of been on the list.
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