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First-year DePauw boss dealing well with coaching in a pandemic
Brett Dietz is in the same situation as all college football coaches right now, with the COVID-19 outbreak putting question marks on the starting date or whether there will be a season at all.
He’s a little more behind than most coaches, though, having taken over from Bill Lynch after last season in his first head coaching job.
“It’s been very unique, but it’s all I’ve known,” Dietz said Wednesday. “What has really helped me is that I have been at DePauw for 10 seasons [nine as an assistant], so I know the place and I know the kids. What has kind of given me peace of mind is that there’s not a playbook for these veteran coaches to use going through COVID-19. It kind of evens out the playing field a little bit.”
The Tigers are currently scheduled to kick off their season on Sept. 12 by hosting Butler.
Whenever Dietz’s first game takes place, he’s looking forward to having 30 seniors ready to get the team back over .500 after last year’s 4-6 campaign.
“Having their leadership in these uncertain times is also very helpful,” he said.
The team did miss out this spring on having the NCAA-permitted total of 16 practices spread out over five weeks. In a “normal” year, Dietz said the practices normally begin right after spring break and take up the month of April for meetings, weight training and practice.
“There’s just not any equipment allowed for safety issues,” he said. “I would have loved to have had that time to put in my philosophies, but we wouldn’t have had a full staff. We’ve had some coaches get some other great opportunities, and the COVID-19 stuff will actually give us some time to all get on the page so the next time I see them we’re ready to go.”
The normal calendar for Division III football actually won’t cause the team to miss anything in the summer. DePauw does not have summer classes, and there are not football activities.
Players normally either go home, serve in internships or travel abroad for course credit.
“We give them workout plans to do on their own,” Dietz said. “They do a good job of getting together on their own. From the standpoint of the calendar, things won’t look any different after graduation this year until they report on August 16.”
Dietz noted that schools in larger divisions have said they need six weeks to get ready for the upcoming season.
“We’ve never had six weeks,” he said. “We just get 23 practices before out first game. Our guys are used to doing it like that, while the Division I guys are not used to that.”
A graduate of Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky, Dietz graduated from Hanover College in 2004 and was the starting quarterback for two seasons. He led Division III in total offense in 2003 with 380.5 yards per game, and was inducted into the Hanover Hall of Fame in 2014..
Dietz played professionally in Finland before competing in the National Indoor Football League and Arena Football League for a year each.
In 2007, he was named the Arena Football League Co-Rookie of the Year after leading the Tampa Bay Storm to an 8-2 record as its starting quarterback. Dietz was a second-team all-Arena Football League selection in 2010 after directing the Storm to an Arena Bowl appearance and throwing 107 touchdown passes during the regular season.
Like almost all organizations, Dietz has been having virtual group meetings online — although not all of them have revolved around football.
“We’ve been doing a lot of that,” he said. “We’ve done Netflix nights and trivia parties, and to be honest it’s been very little football. It’s been more about coming together as a team.”
Dietz said the gatherings have not been mandatory, and some Zoom meetings have taken place within positional groupings.
He knows he can’t command all of their time in this unusual period.
“They have schoolwork, and some of them have obligations at home that they don’t normally have,” Dietz said. “They are still juggling a lot of things, and for some guys online work has been more challenging. Everybody’s situation has been different, and their academics are first for sure.”
Besides his returners, Dietz is excited at his first recruiting class. He is very appreciative that his staff got most recruiting done before mid-March when things were shut down.
“We were able to get a full incoming class, and our staff busted their butts to get things done,” he said. “We have a talented class, and one of the most diverse classes we’ve brought in since I’ve been at DePauw. We have guys coming in from 12 different states, so it’s not just all Indiana guys.”
Dietz admits having the same amount of knowledge on when or if a season will be played as everyone else — none.
“What I’m trying to tell our guys and the administration is that we are still more than three months away from reporting to campus, and a lot is going to change between now and then,” he said. “I’m telling my players is that the teams who handle this adversity well are the ones who are going to win in the fall. The ones who make excuses during this time are the ones who are going to lose this fall.
“We talk a lot about overcoming adversity, and this has definitely been that.”
Dietz noted that Division III schools like DePauw don’t have limitless budgets like the major FBS schools do, and he has to watch every dollar in deciding what to do for his player.
“Even bringing in some players a week early before the start of school is expensive, because you have to feed them,” he said. “When you’re on campus early, their meal plans haven’t started. It’s not just as simple as having people show up early. It’s much different than high school, where they’re living at home and just come in for practice.
“Being a first-year head coach, I want to maximize the time I have with them, but it’s just not feasible,” Dietz added. “We are trying to do the best we can, but our top priority is health and safety — for myself, our players and for DePauw. I’m sure there are going to be things we’re going to have to do that we haven’t determined yet.”