Campbell football coach Dale Steele reflects on how his 30 seniors, the success of the 2011 season and his coaching career.
Q: What made you want to go into coaching?
Steele: My dad was a high school coach and I had an uncle who was a coach, so I grew up a gym rat. I was always around busses, football practice and basketball practice ever since I can remember. On Saturday mornings we'd get the key to the gym and go shoot baskets. I guess I always knew that I wanted to be a coach.
Q: What football players did you idolize or look up to growing up?
Steele: A lot of times it was the players that my dad coached. I can remember the first football game that my mom and dad took me to see at Auburn. It was with a player that played for my dad who is now the head coach at Troy, Larry Blakeney. I idolized those guys that played for my dad like Larry Blakeney and Don Randolph, who also played at Auburn. Those were always guys that we'd go and watch in college too. I grew up in Alabama where the University of Alabama was such a big part of football, and I had an uncle who played at Alabama. My dad played college football. He played at Florida State, and in his last two years he played at what is now West Alabama. Those were the people that influenced me to want to play football. They weren't stars, but the people I was around.
Q: What coaches have influenced you the most in your career?
Steele: There have been a lot. I've learned from everyone I've ever been with, right from the first guy I ever worked for, Dave McLean. He was passionate about players and he really cared about his players. I worked for Bill Lewis, who was probably one of the most organized people I've ever been around. He understood what it took to win. I worked for Vince Gibson. Vince was just a street fighter. He believed in toughness and getting after it. Paul Hamilton taught me a lot about football at the I-AA, FCS level. I worked for my brother (Kevin Steele), and I learned a lot about defense from him. Steve Logan was one of the best play callers and game day people you could ever want to be around. He and I took a trip one time and visited with Bill Walsh. He was a very interesting person to be around and to get to know. I tried to learn from everybody that I've been around.
Q: How would you describe you coaching philosophy?
Steele: We run an organized program here. Bill Snyder, who I never had the opportunity to work for, but had a brother who did at Kansas State, has 16 commandments in his program and we've modeled ourselves after him. We also have 16 commandments about never giving up, persevering and doing the little things right. If we can mold the players on our team to be good at those things then teaching them how to be a good football player is easy. So I think that my philosophy is that we work on our players being the best people that they can be. If they can be a good person, a good student, then we can teach them how to be a good football player. It's teaching them to do all the little things right; how to be accountable and responsible, to be a good teammate. All of those things that will make them better people once they leave here will make them better football players while they are here.
Q: What are your general impressions of this season so far?
Steele: I think that our football team has progressed as time has gone on. Every team is different, as far as the chemistry and the makeup of that team. This team is mature, and that's something we've never had before. It's new to us. This group is easier to coach. They work very hard and they do what you ask them to do because they know what's important and they've seen the difference that it has made over time. We believe in the process here, and we've had to because we didn't come out of the box ready made. We had to bake the cake. We still believe in the process. This is a team that has embraced that philosophy and when they go to practice or when they go to prepare for a game they try to do those things because they know that the end result is going to be what they want it to be. They have been a joy to be around and a joy to coach. I'm so proud of them. I'm happy that they are starting to see how that process yields the result that they want.
Q: This team definitely seems really be hitting its stride. What does the team need to do in order to remain consistent and finish out the year strong?
Steele: We need to be our best very week. It's not about the other team, it's about us, and it's about us playing the very best we can. Human nature is when you make an A in a class, then you can sleep in one day or you can make a B on the next test and still get a good grade in the class. What our football team has to understand is that we have to go get an A every week. We have to strive to be the best we can every week. We talked a lot about what causes upsets, and what causes them is complacency. With complacency, you can be unaware that your attitude will affect the outcome and what happens to you. We can't be satisfied. We have to continue to take every week as an individual building block and be the best we can when we take that test that week. That's what we're trying to do. We're taking it one game at a time and one week at a time to be the best that we can.
Q: Looking back, what has been Campbell football's highlight, or flagship moment so far?
Steele: There have been a lot of those if you look back over the last four years. Going and winning at Carthage was really big for this program in its first year. That was a bunch of freshmen on the road for the first time and they found a way to win. The process of winning the first conference game. Then just the improvement in their strength and ability to do things. Playing against a football team that was one of the best in this conference (Nov. 22 vs. San Diego) on homecoming this year. I told them a long time ago that if you want to be the best, then you have to beat the best. The first game and the first road win; those are all things that are a part of the process of this program being what it needs to be and what it's going to be that are important moments.
Q: One of the main aspects of this team that has stayed consistent over the last four years is the running game. What has been the key to success on the ground?
Steele: I think it all starts with a group of offensive linemen that have been here and have dedicated themselves to being tough and physical. They've stayed here over the summer and bonded together. Coach Olejniczak has done a great job with them. Sam Issermoyer and Branden Burt have played next to each other for four years. Troy Horan has started every game but one at center. Jeremy Hill didn't start his first year but has started the last three. Andy Johnson, who's been hurt this year, and Daniel Ritter. Then Mike Stryffeler, who's now been replaced by Alex Green. Those guys took an attitude of toughness. They were going to get as strong as they could get, and (Campbell Director of Strength & Conditioning) Andrew Carter has done a great job with them. We knew that the best way for us to get good in a hurry offensively was to control the football and to make first downs. I think the key to that success was the players. They wanted to be physical. Each one of our backs has brought a different quality to our team. Rashaun Brown and Carl Smith are such tough inside runners. Kurt Odom and C.J. Oates are good outside runners. We have a fullback in Jordan Cramer who runs the ball inside the tackles extremely well.
Q: When you took this job, there was no football program to build on. You went from the ground up. What was your vision then, and how does that compare to now?
Steele: My vision then was that we build a solid FCS program that could win year in and year out, and could win the right way. I envisioned the stadium and the stadium, but more than anything else I envisioned a football team that would go each Saturday and represent this University, strive to be the best they can be and win on a consistent basis. That process started with nothing except that vision. These seniors and this coaching staff have hung in there through it all. Our administration has been terrific. Is it where we want it to be? No. This will always be a work in progress, but I think we've made tremendous strides. Our players are good people that represent this University the right way. My vision for this program includes us winning a conference championship. I told the players that have already graduated that when we do win a championship, they will be a part of that because they started the process to get it there. We're certainly headed in the right direction.
Q: What was the biggest challenge in getting this program started up?
Steele: Trying to get the right people in place. That was a growing process and we all had to grow together. I think one of the most challenging aspects was that we didn't have any player leadership. One thing, especially over the first two years, was continuing to hold the line with the plan that was there and developing that inner leadership within the program.
Q: How do you think the community surrounding Campbell has adapted to football on Saturdays in Buies Creek?
Steele: I think it's been really good. That's a process too, just like building a football program. We're still building that fan base and that student base. There is a lot of enthusiasm about our program. We have a core group that has been here every Saturday since we've started, but it has to grow and winning will do that. I'm happy for the people that have been here every game for four years when they get to experience wins like the Butler and San Diego games. Now they're getting to enjoy it.
Q: After the Barker-Lane Stadium project is completed, what is the game day experience here going to be like?
Steele: Well it will obviously enhance that experience. We'll be able to put that home crowd all on one side, all together, rather than being spread out so much. I think that will be a tremendous environment. It will also help the players. Saturday (vs. San Diego) was so important for us because we had so many people here cheering. Fans don't realize how important it is for when something bad happens, you still have that crowd on your side, encouraging you to overcome that. When people drive by, that completed stadium will also say that Campbell football is successful.
Q: This is the first group of seniors that have played four years of football at Campbell. What has it been like to see the turnaround with this bunch and witness their growth?
Steele: I look at the growth that these kids have had after going through some hard times together here. Guys like Jeremiah Robinson, who had to sit out a year and came back. He's having a great year. He interviewed for a job last week and thinks he's going to get it. I've just watched him grow. He's a quality young man now, as well as a good football player that I will always love. Jeremy Hill has made himself into a football player. Branden Burt has just matured. He did an internship this summer at a bank. Ted Moore walked on here and has become a first class punter. Ted did an internship in Winston-Salem with a bank. All of these guys have grown and matured. They're quality young men now. They're good football players, but they are good people. You start off talking to high school seniors and you wind up talking to young men who you'd trust with your money. Troy Horan wants to be a doctor, and I'd trust him with anything. Jordan Cramer has been hurt, and now he's just doing great things for us. I remember the first game C.J. Oates played at running back here. We moved him there for the Carthage game and he rushed for 140 yards. Carl Smith, who's had some rough times, is going to graduate with a degree in social work. He's having a great year, and I've watched him grow from a high school senior who was a knot head to a young man that you enjoy being around. Freddie Shine has been through two knee surgeries and has come back to play. Andy Johnson has had three knee surgeries and is still around the program this year, even though he can't play. Sam Issermoyer has become one of the best players in this league. Our receivers Paul Constantine and Harrison Jordan have been great. Harrison started out as a quarterback and had never played receiver before. He's just hung in there and done everything we've asked him to do. Four years ago Milton Brown intercepts a ball at Carthage to win the game. He's playing his best football now. Austin Tart, who we recruited out of high school, went to East Carolina and came back here. We couldn't play without him. Adam Willetts has had a great career here. Randel Herring is one of the best leaders we've had on this football team. Steven Goldsmith and Todd Davis have always been there. Carl Blain has played a lot for us. Jared Hart, who's been hurt this year but has just done a lot. Brandon Chandler was ineligible academically for a year, and every summer he's back here working to be the best football player he can be, and he's making good grades now. Kelvin Murphy has played a lot here. Preston Dodson has come in and molded himself into a really good football player. Eric Feliciano is so steady for us. He's there every Saturday. He just plays, and that's who we are. We're blue collar. We don't have any stars, we're just bring your lunch pail, punch the clock, go to work kind of guys. That's what I wanted them to be, and that's what they are. Most importantly, they're just good people. We recruited Chris Smith along with Burt, but he wanted to play basketball. He went and played basketball, remembered us and came back. He's just a hard worker, a good person that's fun to be around. I've watch them all grow. They're good people and good football players and these guys are going to be successful when they leave here. They're winners not just on the field but they're winners in life and they've meant a lot to this program.
Q: What do you hope these seniors pass on to the underclassmen on this team?
Steele: They've already done it. They have been tremendous leaders this year. They've already told them the things and taught them the things that they needed to, and they've done it as much by their actions as they have any other way. They've been tremendous leaders on this football team. When things didn't go well early in the year, they decided what kind of football team we were going to have. They didn't have the good fortune of having a Randel Herring to teach them how to work. There wasn't a Jeremy Hill in front of Jeremy Hill to teach him how to do things or a Carl Smith. They did that on their own and they did it without the help of anyone in front of them. I'm so proud of this group.
Q: You obviously had a very young team that has grown a tremendous amount over the years. You also had a young coaching staff. Can you talk about how they have grown over the last 4-5 years?
Steele: When we started I stayed involved in everything. They now know how to do things. They have bought into those same 16 core values that we teach our team and by them using those and living those, the players see that and follow. They taught these kids how to be leaders and I can't say enough about their growth. They're good football coaches with bright futures in this business, and I'm just excited that they've stayed here and stayed with these kids. Their association with these kids has been a great benefit, and as coaches, that's what we always want people to say about us. We want our players to become better people because they were around us. Without a doubt I can tell you that our players became better people because they were around these coaches.
