On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Micah Lowe from the Purdue University Northwest Flag Football program in Hammond, Indiana. We discuss how he is building a brand-new program through local recruiting, club connections, camps, and social media while identifying athletes from both flag football and other sports. Coach also shares what he looks for in recruits, why player development and confidence are at the center of his coaching philosophy, and how Purdue Northwest supports student-athletes both academically and professionally. Lastly, we talk about the advantages of earning a Purdue degree, the opportunities that come with being just outside Chicago, and his vision for the future of one of college flag football’s newest programs.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi, everybody. Welcome to Discover College Flag. I’m lucky enough today to be joined by Coach Lowe at Purdue Northwest. Welcome, Coach.
Coach: How we doing, man?
Matt: Doing well. Doing well. Now, uh, welcome to the inaugural episode, uh, of Discover College Flag. Um, we were lucky enough to meet in person all the way in Amsterdam- Yes, sir
uh, a couple months ago, because you are not only the Purdue Northwest head coach, but the Swedish national team head coach, so.
Coach: No, assistant head coach.
Matt: Assistant head coach. I’m sorry. Yeah. My, my apologies.
Coach: Shout out Coach Purvis.
Matt: Okay. All right. All right. Yes, sir. You know, y- you, you, you did beat my, my Irish girls the first time, but we got the better of you round two- Got you the better of me the second time
round two. So, yeah. Yeah. So it was a good- Yeah … good match up. We got to find a rubber match in there sometime maybe- Mm-hmm … maybe when you guys meet in Prague. But, uh-
Coach: Yeah …
Matt: the best news was, you know, we’re two Columbus, Ohio guys, so- Yes, sir … so we were able to get along right away- Mm-hmm … uh, even though we were on opposite sidelines.[00:01:00]
Mm-hmm. Yep,
Coach: yep.
Matt: So I appreciate you jumping on to, to do this. Uh- Mm-hmm … for, for folks that don’t know, I also have a podcast called Discover College Soccer- Okay … uh, which I started maybe, I don’t know, four years ago at this point. But, uh, the whole pur- purpose of that, and now this, is to just, uh, interview college coaches to, to, so people can learn about recruiting, learn about schools they may not know about- Mm-hmm
learn about the teams a- and that sort of stuff. So we’re gonna kick it off today with you, Coach Micah, and I appreciate you. Um,
Coach: so- I appreciate you, Matt. This is really, this is really, like, helpful, and I think it’s gonna, um, be a huge re- re- you know, recruiting resource for, uh, coaches.
Matt: Yeah, let’s hope so, right?
Mm-hmm. I want, I want, I want this to be good for coaches. I want this to be good for parents and players. Um, so having said that, let’s talk about r- recruiting. Um, I believe this past spring was Purdue Northwest first season, right?
Coach: Yes,
Matt: sir. Uh, first official season. So how, how did you go about filling the roster for this past [00:02:00] spring, and, and kind of what are, what are you doing right now to get, get the roster set for next spring?
Coach: Okay. So, you know, I got the job, I think April 3rd, 2025, and so right when I got there, I had to jump right into recruiting. I think, uh, my second day, I had three girls on, on campus. Now, I will say, uh, I am blessed to have my own, um, club team, uh, called HTA, and we were the first, uh, girls travel team, uh, in Chicago.
Um, and so right now the, uh, the two best, um, you know, Chicago flag teams are made up of mostly HTA girls that we originally had that first year. Um, and so I’ve had a pretty large pool of girls that I can recruit from. Um, so that first season, I think I got four… One, two, three. I got four girls from HTA on my team.
Um, then the other girls I kind of got based off of, I really recruited Chicagoan very hard. I mean, it was [00:03:00] just right in my backyard. Um, and so there was girls I had trained before that were, you know, kind of looking for a good school. And so the good thing, Purdue Northwest, you know, we have a, a, a very inexpensive degree.
It only costs 22,000. And so a lot of the flag schools, at least last year, were private NAIA schools that, you know, cost 46, 45, $50,000. And so we were able to be really competitive. We were able to, uh, flip girls, uh, that were going to those private schools, uh, kind of late. Um, and so, you know, we- Got about 18 girls.
I would say also we had five girls who never played flag. So we had girls that were from, you know, different sports. We had a soccer girl, we had a volleyball girl, we had a softball girl, we had a boxer. And so we kind of just said like, “Hey, look, if you come here and you really want to, uh, you know, commit yourself to this, you will be a better flag player, uh, by the time the season came.”
And the girls that stayed, uh, only one left and that was because of scholarship situation. But, um, the girls that [00:04:00] stayed, they got better and they played. Um, and so yeah, we were able to get 18 girls, uh, this first year. Um, and then recently I would say we’re now at 24. Uh, I think we did a really good job recruiting-wise.
We lost two seniors. Um, and I would say like I had, I would say nine commits up until February. So I was basically done with my recruiting. Uh, but some, since there has been some Division I schools to pop up, uh, you know, girls wanna go to the highest level. And so I had, uh, the number one quarterback in Illinois, she decommitted and went to a Division I school.
I was not upset about that. Uh, we had a girl that had got a, a, a late basketball offer. Couldn’t, couldn’t be upset with that. So everybody that basically left, they went to a situation where they’re either getting 80% or a full ride. And so, you know, right now in flag, it’s gonna be really hard to cover girls at, uh, full tuition and room and board with an athletic scholarship.
So again, lost some girls. [00:05:00] And I’ve recently, man, uh, some of those states that play in the spring, I was able to see some film of some seniors that were like kinda like late bloomers, and I would say we stacked up pr- We, we got some really good girls recently. So the last couple days I would say we’ve had, uh, three commits.
Uh, and they were girls who, again, late bloomers. And so we’re pretty happy with our recruiting class and how we’ve been doing things. And I think in the future, um, those girls that are 2028s, 2027s, they are gonna understand the recruiting process way more than the ’25s and ’26 just because they have so many friends and there’s so many resources out there for them to get educated that it’s gonna make it a lot easier.
Matt: Yeah. I, I mean, it, it is kind of, uh… Well, you know, it’s early days, right? We’re, we’re, we’re, we’re the, we’re the- Gold rush, uh, you know, just setting, setting things up for everybody else, so-
Coach: Yeah, we’re the pioneers. This is-
Matt: Exactly. There, thank you, that was the word I was
Coach: looking for. What we, what we, what we say all the time is this is the NBA in 1950.
That’s how we look at it. Oh, [00:06:00] yeah, yeah. So, like, like, it could be whatever. Like, there’s gonna be girls that are gonna be, like, they’re gonna be the name of trophies, you know, for 20 years from now. You know, like, there’s gonna be stadiums, flag stadiums with these girls’ names on them. It’s gonna be amazing, and so I think it’s, it’s really cool to be a part of this.
Matt: Well, one thing you just mentioned there was, uh, y- you know, high school spring folks, right, that, that were late bloomers, but then you also mentioned the, the club team, uh, situation, uh, there in Illinois. So, you know, a- and then the last, I think the third component there you mentioned was girls that are coming from other sports as well, right?
Yeah. ‘Cause, ’cause it is… I mean, I know my daughter’s flag team, the, the head coach did an amazing job of recruiting basketball, volleyball, soccer- Mm-hmm … and getting those girls to then play in their off-season, right? And- Mm-hmm … and, and some girls have, have really shined because of that. Yeah. So, you know, talk to me about the, the difference between [00:07:00] recruiting from club, because if you’re playing club, that’s ha- to me, that’s, you know, that’s your, you’re, you’re f- you’re focused or maybe that’s just you’re doing that in a different off-season or something, depending on- Mm-hmm
on when it all is. So what, what’s the difference between recruiting club versus, versus high school? And then on the club scene is it’s, ’cause college is sevens, right?
Coach: Yes.
Matt: So college is sevens, internationals is fives. Uh, you know-
Coach: Mm-hmm.
Matt: And club is both five or sevens … club, right, and club can be both, right, depending on whatever tournament you enter.
So, so how- Yeah … is it different recruiting club, because it could be five or sevens, versus high school? Like, just talk to me about that mix.
Coach: Uh, so I would say recruiting club The girls know what’s up. I don’t know how to explain. Like, so the, like, the top club teams, most of them are getting recruited. Most of them have multiple offers.
Most of them, uh, like the, either the, the director of the program or the head coach understands how stuff works and they’re, they’re, they’re actively trying to get the, uh, players out. [00:08:00] And they’ve seen, they have a, they have a frame of reference. They’ve seen the best talent. And so if they tell me that their girl is really good, more than not, I’m gonna believe it.
You get what I’m saying? So, but on the high school level, some of these, uh, coaches, um, no disrespect at all, are just, were just teachers, and they just became coaches. And you know how many times I get, “Oh, my girl’s the best in the state, the best in the state”? And I’m like, “All right.” Like, like, so, uh, I kind of take what, what they say with a grain of salt.
I will say, too, though, head coaches are making it, um, they make it pretty easy by, you know, sending out stuff. Like, they are working hi- there are some high school coaches that really know what they’re doing, and they are about the girls. Um, but I would say now when it comes to just recruiting the player that has not played club, like girls that are from, like, states where f- flag isn’t just there yet, uh, the hardest, not the hardest thing is, I would say the, the, the easiest thing is getting the parents on board.
Once you explain to them how fast [00:09:00] flag really is growing and all the different things that I’ve been, you know, blessed to be a part of, they’re like, “Oh, shoot.” Like, “It’s not just some little game,” you know? It’s not some just little NFL flag game anymore. Like, this is legit, and, like, they’re a really good girl.
So it’s really been a great experience, or it’s really been a great op- I’ve had a great opportunity to, like, you know, be that, that first person to, like, show them, you know, really, like, real flag, um, and g- you know, broaden their, their, their view on it. So that’s what I would say is the difference.
Matt: Okay.
Well, in- Y- well, at least in soccer, uh, ID camps, uh, are, are always a big thing. Um, and if you’re, if you’re scrolling on Instagram or, or, or Twitter these days looking at anything flag related, there’s these combines and camps popping up all, all over the place, right? Yeah. Everybody and their sister seems to be offering one of these things.
Do you, do you go to those? Do you work those? Are those an important part of the [00:10:00] recruiting process at all at this point?
Coach: Yeah, so just, just so you know, like growing up in Ohio, I think my coaches did a great job of explaining how important camps are. Going to like exposure camps, going to, uh, college camps and so on.
High school, I went to 35 camps, and camps is what got me to get more exposure. So I was also a late bloomer. My senior year I did very well, but I only got on people’s radar because I went to camps my junior year. I went to like 14. And so, yes, I go to so many camps. I try to work as many camps. I try to get my girls to work camps.
It’s a great networking tool, um, you know, just to talk to different coaches, uh, ’cause this stuff, this flag stuff is so new. And, uh, so there’s not like, it’s not just about what, looking at talent, right? You’re, you’re trying to meet these coaches you’re gonna be coaching against and, you know, and just seeing what their situation is.
Um, but you know, camps are really great. Uh, I would say I’ve already been to- Maybe 10 or 12 camps so far. Um, [00:11:00] and, uh, I would say that we are preparing to have a string of camps, uh, in the wintertime, uh, in December, uh, this upcoming year. A lot of people, you know, had camps or like their own college camp this summer.
Um, I think that a lot of people wanna go other places besides Hammond, Indiana in the summertime. You get what I’m saying? So, uh, but I do think that in the wintertime we do have the, the ability to, um, you know, have a camp in a controlled temperature, uh, like just at an indoor facility, and I think that we are gonna put on some of the best camps in the wintertime that are probably, you know, not gonna be rivaled by too many, too many things, like, so I’m really excited about that.
Matt: What… Okay, so we talked about camps, we talked about club and high school. What about social media, right? Everybody likes to, you know, looks… I’ve seen all the, all the kids throwing up their Instagram pages with, with highlights or fancy graphics or, uh, uh, that sort of thing. Do, do [00:12:00] you as a coach care at all about a kid’s social media presence?
Are you finding a kid because they posted a clip or, or anything else like that?
Coach: So I would say right now, that is the, the best way, like, to, like, if you have a good social media, I’ve seen girls who are not good who have 30 offers just because they’re posting every day. And so, you know, again, right now at, at this time, um, flag is so new that, like, a lot of schools just use it as, um, a way to boost enrollment.
So they’re not really trying to get the best player. They’re trying to get the most players. So a lot of ADs right now want you to have 25 to 30 girls on the team. If you’re a D III, they want more. So these coaches have to just cast a wide net. And so the girls who have, like, the social media presence, they’re, they’re the ones that are gonna get more offers.
Now for me, like, I really actually take the time to look at the highlight tape, uh, that you have. Um, you know, uh, a lot of the… Sometimes, like, [00:13:00] with, uh, h- since high school flag is so not, is, is not there yet on all, at all the st- in all the states- Um, the high school film is really ugly and it’s just like either it’s on the ground on my, on my iPhone or like it’s like in s- like out of space because it’s on the top of a, of a, of a, of a press box and like no one’s really working it.
You get what I’m saying? So, uh, I really try to look for the film on Instagram, um, the high quality film that lets me see like the full rep. Um, and you know, again, with the club, the club, the club teams, like they have like professional photographers at these places, um, where you can see some really good film.
Um, so yeah, I would say, yeah, film is definitely, on your, on your social media is definitely important and it definitely separates the girls who, you know, might just have one post. And you know, there’s some girls that, you know, don’t, don’t show their face and they just have one post and then you don’t know what they do.
They wanna be mysterious or whatever. Uh, so this, [00:14:00] uh, the girls, like I said, the girls that really post a lot, um, and send their film out, those are the ones that I think are gonna give theirselves the, give them the best opportunities to get to college.
Matt: When, when it comes to film, does it have to be game film?
Do you… Or, or like, is just like, you know, you’re in the backyard training and, and catching balls or running routes or, or- I do- … workout stuff, is that okay too? Like-
Coach: I, I do like seeing game film, but I have, like my best player last year, or my, uh, my best, my most valuable player last year who, you know, was a beast at rusher, I saw her game film, but like I said, some coaches just have it on the iPhone and it’s kind of far away.
I couldn’t tell really how good she was, but like when she was rushing, she would run past the quarterback, and the way she would stop looked like the fast girls I watched when I watched track. And I was like, “Just that movement alone, I know what that looks like.” Like I know those are, are superior athletes.
And so, uh, [00:15:00] took a chance on just that. Okay. And she was a beast. So I would say that there are, you know, um, you know, some states that, uh, again, don’t have, you know, sanctioned flag. And so if they have a, a receiver trainer or just any type of trainer and, and their trainer’s posting videos of them, if I can see the movement and, and, and see the potential, I can work with that.
Matt: Okay. Awesome. All right. Well, besides all the stuff on the field, talk to me, what are you looking for in a player off the field?
Coach: Obviously we gotta have a good person. You know, I, I, I really not try to really recruit bad people, but, um, it’s really about the culture fit. Um, I’m looking for someone who loves flag.
Not only loves flag, but loves- The, the, the process of being great and, and being their best self. Um, if I can, I mean, I feel like that’s like kind of like what I am, and I wanna be around those type of people. Um, and, you know, you don’t have to be the best flag [00:16:00] player. Like, you don’t have to go be a pro.
You don’t have to be on USA Flag, right? But like, if your role is to be a screener, do you take ownership of that and make sure, oh, your quarterback does not get her flag pulled? Does that make sense? Like, I want, I want a girl that will, will commit to the, to the, to their role. Um, you know, I love leaders, but I told someone this before, I’m looking for really good followers as well.
I don’t need 20 leaders. You get what I’m saying? I think you will be developed into your own leader once you leave our program, but I don’t need 20 people to have to try to step up and be the girl. You get what I’m saying? So I just need people that, um, you know, can kind of fill in, you know, don’t have to be…
Like I said, just be a good, a good follower, you know, and I think we’ll be good.
Matt: Okay. Well, let’s, uh, let’s talk a little bit more about the school. I’m sure there’s some people out there not familiar with Purdue Northwest, right? Mm-hmm. So you’ve, you’ve been there a little bit now, uh, over a year. Yeah. So what, what are some of the awesome [00:17:00] things that you love about the school?
Maybe some things we wouldn’t even know if we went to the website.
Coach: Okay. So Purdue University Northwest is a part of the Purdue system, and so we are about an hour and a half away from, you know, big main campus Purdue. Um, but the great thing about our school is you do graduate with a Purdue degree. Um, and so, you know, last year for sure, uh, I think we were the best, uh, that was the best degree you could get while getting a scholarship for flag football.
Now, obviously, there’s s- more schools have like popped up, right? But like, uh, again, our engineering program is really great. So, um, I think we are 46th in the country in, uh, engineering alone, Purdue Northwest. And so like we have, um, like our engineering club just went around and I think they beat, I think they won like the national championship or something.
Don’t quote me on– I think it was a regional championship, I apologize. Um, but, uh, our school is right outside Chicago, so we’re 30 minutes from, you know, Chicago. If you take a train that’s two minutes away from campus, [00:18:00] um, you’ll be in downtown Chicago in 39 minutes. Uh, so I mean, as far as internships, um, you know, just opportunities just to like have a good, um, a good, uh, you know, college experience, you’re right by, you know, a world-class city.
Um- Let’s see, what else can I say about our school? Um, I mean, we have 9,000 students, so a lot of D2 schools are pretty small, you know? But, uh, you know, around that 3 to 5,000 range, I think that we have a, um, you know, a, a, a healthy, um, you know, student population. Uh, we’re also in the GLIAC. So the GLIAC, for people that don’t understand or that don’t know, um, the GLIAC is like the Big Ten of Division II.
Um, the national champion for, you know, college football has come from the GLIAC the last two years. Uh, women’s basketball national champion came from the GLIAC, so, uh, we are a very, um, um… We are, I think, really the best [00:19:00] sports conference in Division II. Um, and so I think, you know, with us about to– we’re about to have our first, you know, GLIAC season, I think that we’re probably gonna be one of the best GLI- uh, one of the best overall conferences in the country.
Matt: Yeah, for sure. No, the GLIAC, the GLIAC is tough. Um, well, you know, one of the, the hard parts about becoming a college athlete and going to college is balancing school plus your sport, right? So how do your players specifically, you know, balance the demands of being a college athlete and a college student, and maybe what support systems does the school offer to help them be successful
Coach: in both?
Oh, man, so that’s, that’s one thing I think that we are That separates us. So we have a very special person. Her name is, uh, Natalie Jarrett. She is the, uh, assistant athletic director in charge of student athlete success. And so she’s the, she’s the reason why we’ve had 10 straight [00:20:00] years where our whole athletic department has averaged over a 3.0 GPA.
And so, you know, if you are late to class, if you’ve missed a class, the teacher, the professor will communicate with Nat or her GA, and I’ll know. I’ll know by the end of the day. And so, like, you know, we, we, we, we know what’s up. You know, I think they, um, uh, I think that there’s just a lot of resources that we do have on campus.
So like, you know, if you, um, need accommodations, they are very, very accommodating at Purdue Northwest. Um, I do think that the professors are tough. I think that, you know, they, they demand a lot out of you. But again, there’s so many different resources. A- a- just for the athletic department alone, um, every team is required to have three hours of mandatory study hall.
Ours is proctored. Uh-huh. So, uh, some people don’t, don’t have that luxury, but no, ours is proctored. We wanna make sure. I think that, um, last year ours was proctored because we had, I [00:21:00] think 85% of our team was freshmen. And so that’s not normal, you know, for a college team. And so, you know, it can get kind of high school-ish, right?
So then when you proctor it, right, uh, I think that our, our team GPA went up, uh, .2 once we did that. So really happy with that. But I can, I can’t say enough about, you know, Coach Natalie Jarrett. She is, um, an amazing person for us. Um, she’s an advocate for our student athletes. Um, and, uh, I would just say that, um We would not be where we w- where we’re at right now without Natalie Jarrett, so that’s what I would say.
Matt: Okay, awesome. Well, let’s rewind a little bit, take me back to the spring season. Um, walk me through what’s a typical week look like for a player in terms of when is, you know, classes, meals, practices, game cadence, all that kind of, like what’s its typical week look like?
Coach: Okay, so, uh, let’s go, let’s say, let’s go January.
Came [00:22:00] back January 12th, uh, the girls had lifting from 7 to 7:4- no, no, no, 6 to 6:45. Uh, then they had class or whatever, then we had meetings, uh, probably from 1 to about 1:50. We’re on the field 2 to 4, and then Monday and Tuesday they would have mandatory study hall from 5:30, either 5 to 6:30 or 5:30 to 7, one of those two.
Um, and so you had to have both of those in by Wednesday, uh, or you’d have to have your three hours in by Wednesday. Um, our, our games, uh, at the beginning of the season were typically, like, once a week. Uh, since we had a lighter team and I only had one quarterback, I didn’t want to chance my quarterback getting hurt, so I didn’t want to schedule so many games early on.
But more teams do schedule in February. Um, you know, February, early March, they want to get the kinks out earlier. Um, but ours is kind of flipped. We had more games towards the end of [00:23:00] the year. Uh, but mostly our games were on Saturdays and, Saturdays, Fridays, and the occasional Thursday
Matt: Okay. All right. Well, in terms of the team, you know, we talked a little- well, you mentioned how many were on your roster.
What, what is your kind of roster size, like when it’s… I know you’re in year two, so you’re still building and, and you’re heavy freshman/sophomore ’cause it’s early. Like- Mm-hmm … when it’s all said and done and, and, and things are rocking and rolling, what, what do you feel is the right roster size for you?
Coach: We’ll see. We’ll see. I think that we, I think that 19 or 20 could have worked if I had two quarterbacks last year, you know? Uh, this year I think we’ll have 24, 25. I could see us having up to 28. Um, but with one assistant coach, I wanna see how that works. So we’ll, we’ll play around with it and see what, what it looks like.
Um, eventually, though, I think [00:24:00] I would love to have, um, you know, a pretty big squad. I would like to have 30 girls. Like, if I had, you know, if I was in a perfect world, uh, 30 girls with, like, three or four coaches, I think that… And, and you play 22 games in a, in a season, I think that that gives everyone a fair opportunity, uh, to really get better.
Um, and I feel like you’ll always keep people in, you always have people fresh, ready to play. Um, and, um, yeah. So, and you, you, with people leaving left and right, I think that 30 gives you a chance to, you know, unless you’re a terrible coach, you know, keep a good chunk of your team, um, with, you know, you losing people to the transfer portal.
Matt: You mentioned assistant coach. So I, yeah, just talk to me about, you know, what does the staff look like? Not only on the, on the coaching side, but maybe support staff, trainers, anybody else who kind of helps out with the team.
Coach: Oh, so yeah, we have, we had, uh, we have one trainer that’s assigned to our team. Uh, we will have one GA this [00:25:00] year.
Uh, and we have, I have a personal assistant that does, like, a lot of the administration, a lot of administrative stuff. They do, you know, like, scheduling our, when we do, like, uh, get buses, hotels, stuff like that, travel. Um- And yeah, so it’s just two coaches, you know. Uh, I handle, uh, the offense and the, like, the actual skill development.
Uh, that’s one thing that I am very big on these first couple years is getting short, getting ready, getting us ready for that. So, like, I think that X’s and O’s these first couple years, or I would say the first year, was kinda secondary. I just want us to be confident in, um, just playing the game, right?
You know, without even thinking about it, just being confident in, in our ability. Uh, and I think I was successful. Uh, I think, you know, more so this year we’ll do a little bit more X’s and O’s, but again, these first couple years are just big on X, or big on development. And so the other, my GA, uh, will [00:26:00] be helping out in that area as well.
Um, but I’m looking, man, the GA that we’re about to- So my, my assistant coach this past year became a head coach at Knox College. Shout out to Knox College and Coach Kaya Baker. Uh, she w- she came in in January and had not played flag, had not played football since eighth grade. She had just graduated college, and she was great for us.
And anyway, got a, got a head coaching job after three months of being in the game. I, I, I loved that. Um, and so, you know, the, the, the coach that I bring in next, preparing to be a head coach, you know? So they’re gonna be helping out with basically everything, you know? So, you know, um, but you, our team has two very dedicated- We’ll have two very dedicated, um, coaches.
Um, and I think that’s, that’s gonna help us out a lot.
Matt: Okay. Well, talk to me a little bit about, y- you mentioned a little bit, but, but dive into your, your coaching style, you know, what you’re [00:27:00] trying to do there, you know, as, with you as the h- as the head coach, kind of what are you doing with the girls and, and trying to put your stamp on things?
Coach: Okay. So, um, I’m big on building confidence, like I kind of mentioned. Uh, I think building confidence is, if you can, if you’re confident, that will translate to all areas of life. Um, and that’s what I’m really big on. Um, I am a teacher, so I am going to ch- teach you how to think. I’m a te- I don’t wanna just teach you to be a robot and just do what I say, right?
Uh, I try to teach you how to think. I think that’s what helped me out as a player. I wasn’t the tallest, wasn’t the fastest, um, but I think that I was very smart, and I understood the game, uh, very well when I played tackle football. Um, and I think that the same thing could happen right now with girls flag football.
Girls that can think for themselves and don’t have to just be told what to do, those girls are gonna be the ones that, that, that excel. Um, but, uh, development-wise, like I [00:28:00] mentioned, that’s, that’s, that’s key for me, and I think that that’s why I was brought on to the Swedish national team was because, you know, in the Nordic, uh, countries, you know, football in itself is not a big sport, but flag is definitely not big.
And so, um, you know, we’re able to, you know, I was able to teach them some things that, you know, I’ve learned. Um, and I think that, you know, that definitely helps out. But, so the same thing for the PNW team, we’re at it every single day. Um, and I believe that, you know, if I can get you more flexible, uh, more explosive, uh, better IQ, more confidence, oh, that’s really all we need, right?
Um, another thing I’m really big on is hands. So I was a catch specialist for, uh, my business, HTA, which stands for Hands Team Academy. Um, I believe that catching the ball is, to me, the number one thing in flag football. Uh, some people might say, “Oh,” uh, some people might differ, but I, I definitely think, man, if you [00:29:00] have a team that catches 95% of the balls or more, you’re not gonna lose the game.
Uh, and uh, so that’s, that’s one of the huge things. So, you know, everyone knows at PNW, you know, if you don’t catch the ball, we’re doing push-ups. So over the whole entire year last year, we did 5,000 push-ups. Um, you know, we, we had names for them all, like, you know, we have a, a Dirty 30, drop down, do me a, give me a Dirty 30, or a Nifty 50, or a Hundo Bundo.
Um, so, you know, that’s what I would say. Um, our girls got a lot better catching-wise. The girls who, like, h- came from, like, volleyball, softball, soccer, their hands got- Oh, 10 times better, uh, from August to May when we ended. Uh, and they actually thanked me for that.
Matt: Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Awesome. Well- What about the off-season, right?
You play in the spring, so what’s happening in the fall with your girls? What are they working on? What are they doing? Um, you know, especially I guess this [00:30:00] fall will probably be kind of your, your biggest one, right? ‘Cause you got a full team coming back, new kids coming in. What’s that gonna look like?
Coach: So the cool thing is, uh, we go back, uh, late, actually the first day of school is, I’ll be flying back from Prague.
So, um, but we’ll start that late, uh, like that last weekend, uh, that last week of August. Um, and we will be going three days a week. We’re in the weight room three days a week as well. It’s a lot of film. Uh, this year I’m going to install the offense a little bit earlier. Uh, but I think that in the fall this year, what I’m gonna try to do is I’m gonna try to give all, everybody a chance to play something different, right?
Um, and, you know, ’cause a lot of girls, you know, exit meetings they’re talking about, “Hey, Coach, I think I could’ve been used here.” That’s your chance. That’s your chance to really show me what you can do. By the time we hit, you know, uh, the latter half of the semester, um, you know, I plan to have some scrimmages.
Uh, [00:31:00] we, I, you know, the luxury of being able to play my travel team, my travel team is very good. Um, you know, I think, um, playing and then playing a couple other schools, uh, gives us, um, you know, a pretty good semester of prep going into the season. Um, but, you know, we’re trying to implement 100 balls a day.
So, you know, if you’re not doing 100 catches at practice, you’re expected to get them in with either your roommate, you know, teammate, whatever. But that’s gonna be a huge thing for us. Um, and then but a lot of people don’t, don’t think about this, but, uh, we do interview prep. So we get ready for, um, like jobs.
So, you know, last year I had all the girls, uh, go to like, um, uh, we had a job fair. Even though we had freshmen, right? We had to get them, you know, business attire, all that stuff. We’re trying to prep you for the, for the real life. So, uh, you know, we’ll try to do like one trip to Chicago, um, and, uh, one trip to Chicago and [00:32:00] just like go experience the city.
Go experience being out there. Um, but then also, like I said, we prep for interviews. We’re gonna go to one, um, we’re gonna go to one, um, uh, job fair. Uh, and you know, the goal is for everyone to lock down an internship or a job. We don’t want people going, you know, leaving college, you know, and waiting and waiting to get a job, right?
No, we, we trying, we wanna lock that in now. And so we try to do the, the necessary work to, you know, secure that.
Matt: No, I love that. Well, Coach, uh, you’ve given us an awful lot of information. This has been an amazing, uh, conversation. I’m gonna just leave you with one last question, and that is what didn’t we talk about?
What did, what did we miss? What is it that you wanna make sure folks know, whether that’s about, uh, recruiting, about- Uh, Purdue Northwest, about offsea- a- anything, what did we miss? What else do we need to make sure people know?
Coach: Uh, so I just had a girl on campus the other day, and, um, you know, she [00:33:00] was just kind of telling me, like, she was kind of, like, nervous about reaching out to coaches.
Um, and I just want girls, you know, and families to know that, like, um, you’re gonna have to step out your comfort zone and reach out to coaches. Uh, again, like I said earlier in the, in the interview, um, the girls that do do that are going to get opportunities. It’s very simple. You know, uh, you know, there’s thousands of girls out there, and, uh, there’s only, like, maybe 200 coaches that can give, maybe 150 coaches that can give out scholarships.
You know, so, like, there’s, there, you know, you’re gonna have endless opportunities, and you’re gonna have a better opportunity at getting a, um, an opport- uh, uh, an, an opportunity in college if you reach out, and I just want girls to understand that. Um, and families, um, if you invest in this, like, you know, get them on a club team, get them in training, it can really change their life.
You know, right now flag football is, [00:34:00] you know, so young, and these girls that are playing right now are gonna be the next, next wave of coaches. They’re gonna be running camps. They’re gonna be having products for flag. It’s gonna be something, it’s gonna be something so amazing. It’s like this next boom.
Like you said earlier, uh, it’s like the gold rush. And so, um, I do feel like if you just put a little bit of an investment right now, uh, into your girls, um, you know, it’ll definitely pay off or has the opportunity to pay off in the future. But, um, but Matt, I just wanna say again, thank you for inviting me on here.
I really had a great time talking to you, talking to you out there in, uh, Amsterdam. Um, man, and I hope to see you, man. I hope to see you at s- at something, you know? Yeah,
Matt: we’ll, we’ll, we’ll run into each other again. I, I know that’s gonna happen, uh, for sure. So especially, well, I mean, what? All the big tournaments are down here in Tampa, man.
I’m just down the road. Gotcha. So, uh, I’m sure, I’m sure we’ll see each other, but hey, I appreciate the time, and I look forward to, to speaking with you again, all right?
Coach: For sure, man. Thank you so much.
Matt: Thank you.