It's been decades since Todd Dodge played quarterback, but he recently recorded a perfect completion percentage in name learning.
Since coming out of retirement to become Lovejoy's new football coach in January, the “Nick Saban of Texas high school football” has spent time flipping through flashcards. Dodge, 60, wanted to keep his promise to name every rising senior who will join the program within Lovejoy's first two weeks on the job.
“I've done it. Just about two weeks since I've been here, I had a meeting with some of our seniors who are growing up, and we won 42 of 42,” Dodge said. “It means a lot to people when you know their name.”
Prioritizing the details helped Dodge win seven state titles. He led Southlake Carroll to four state championships in the 2000s and three consecutive state championships at Austin-Westlake before retiring as coach in 2021.
The legendary coach is now at the helm of a program competing for four rounds in the 2023 Class 5A Division II playoffs.
“I hope all of us here at Lovejoy have a great time and do right by our children,” Dodge said. “And hopefully we can win a lot of games.”
Dodge is one of several Texas high school football coaches to recently come out of retirement. Highland Park football coach Randy Allen came out of retirement in 2018. Tim Buchanan has retired as Aledo's coach twice. The first time was after Aledo won the state title in 2013, and the other time was after Aledo won the state title in 2022.
By not retiring, they share traits with some of the best athletes to play professional sports, such as Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. It means you have a hard time giving up things you love.
Experts say coaches often find purpose in sports. They enjoy the camaraderie of working in a team and the thrill of competition. When they leave, the transition becomes difficult and can cause an identity crisis.
“Even if you don't like every aspect of your job or career, you know that that's what you've been through,” says Aaron, a psychologist and clinical professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Lochlen says. “For a lot of people, change and not knowing what you're doing is new territory. People often say, 'I'm going to do something new in a different direction,' but we're out of habit. It’s a living thing.”
soccer life
After Dodge's initial retirement, he and his wife, Elizabeth, remained at their home in Horseshoe Bay, about 83 miles northwest of Austin in the Hill Country. When Dodge wasn't on the golf course, he ran football camps and traveled around the country to watch former players compete in college. He also traveled to North Texas to watch Southlake Carroll football. The football program is still coached by his son, Riley, and remains a prominent program.
Midway through last football season, Dodge realized how much younger he had become. He reflected on his past successes and thought about how he would improve if he was given the opportunity to coach again. After that, work on Lovejoy began.
“I've tried to be unselfish with Elizabeth, but she's Coach's kid. I don't know who's happier going back to Coach, me or her,” Dodge said. “Please quit this job.” [mistake] For that matter, it was perfect for me. ”
Since Buchanan, 63, retires in 2023, he has struggled to remain just a fan.
He took over at Aledo in 1993 and built a dynastic program that boasted a record 12 UIL state titles. For more than 20 years, Buchanan has had a direct impact on the game. After winning the state championship in 2013, he remained Aledo ISD's athletic director after taking a break from coaching for five seasons. Now Buchanan is just watching.
Well, most of the time. At the 2023 state championship game in Aledo, Buchanan said instinct took over and he started talking to the players on the sideline.
“I’m having a really hard time on that front,” Buchanan said. “But as far as being off the sideline, I’ve been doing pretty well.”
It took about a year for Buchanan and Dodge to retire from coaching. When Allen retired as Highland Park's head football coach after the 2017 season, his tenure lasted about three weeks.
Allen, 68 at the time, had been coaching football for 16 weeks in two consecutive seasons as Highland Park led to back-to-back state championships.
“I think the biggest problem was that I didn't realize how tired I was,” he said.
As the fatigue wore off, Allen felt miserable.
“I missed the call,” he said. “I forgot that God created me to do this. And it's the same for young people. [make] Have a positive impact on them. ”
The coach pondered the questions he was asked while using his time away from games to visit his family. “One was, 'How does it feel to have no purpose?'” Allen said. “And the other one was, 'Are you happy that you called the last play?'”
He knew the answer was no.
One day, he was sitting in his car outside Highland Park's indoor facility, watching the players leave the building. Allen greeted them, but was overcome with grief and asked his leaders for support.
“They said, 'If you feel like it, we want your job back,'” Allen said. “So I got out of the car, walked to the superintendent's office and told him how I felt. [that] I wanted my job back. ”
when to move on
However, no one can lead forever. Anthony Morgan, who won a 6A state basketball title with Plano West in 2015 and retired in 2021, accepted.
After hanging up the whistle after 33 years as a high school coach, Morgan stepped away from basketball. He currently teaches online classes at Arizona State Prep Digital, a K-12 school run by the university.
“it's not [miss coaching]. Now I love seeing the other side of things, being able to enjoy high school basketball and football and watch my students compete,” Morgan said. “I don’t necessarily miss the hard work of preparation or the work you have to do throughout the year to make something good.”
Buchanan, who started working for a company that builds outdoor sports facilities after retiring, misses working with kids, but knows he made the right decision to quit coaching.
“During practice, I just happened to look at the clock,” Buchanan said. “I was one of those guys who loved practicing as a player and loved practicing as a coach, so that really triggered it.” . “I always knew when I started looking at the clock.”
When Dodge became president of Westlake in 2014, he and Elizabeth decided to retire after six years and full retirement benefits.
After back-to-back losses in the 2015 state championship game and the 2017 and 2018 state semifinals, Dodge led Westlake to a state championship in 2019, the school's only since 1996. Become.
Despite being in his sixth year, Dodges decided to stay. The coach couldn't walk away knowing he had a talented quarterback in Cade Klubnik, who currently plays at Clemson, and wanted to see more kids join the program. The senior, who Dodge won in 2021 to give Westlake its third straight title, was a fifth-grader when he first came to Austin.
Dodge announced ahead of the 2021 season that it will be its last season. He wasn't tired of coaching. His long season brought fatigue and stress, but he always recovered by February.
“For me, it wasn't so much burnout,” Dodge said. “I had a plan.”
Lochlen, a professor at the University of Texas, said retirement can be an opportunity to rediscover your passion.
“When someone leaves a job or career, [they should consider] “What other jobs, responsibilities, hobbies and jobs share the same passion?” he said.
Buchanan has tried to satisfy his competitive spirit by playing golf and archery hunting. He said coaches need to see if they are truly ready to leave the profession. Lochlen recommends taking a vacation to rest before making any big decisions.
Rather, coaches need to have a solid plan in place for their retirement. Being prepared can make life after coaching a little more bearable, Buchanan said.
“You can't quit your job until you've already found a job, so you better have a job or something that's going to keep you busy, or you won't be able to enjoy retirement,” Buchanan said. Ta. “Have a plan. Especially as coaches, we always have a plan.”
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