Coach Interview - Jim Sutrick, Foster High School

   One of the joys of writing this blog is the opportunity it gives us to interview coaches, particularly special coaches.  Last Thursday, Jim and I traveled down I-5 to the Tukwila area to speak with Foster High Head Coach Jim Sutrick.  We had learned about Coach Sutrick and the job he was doing at Foster from Chelan coach Darren Talley.  Chelan played at Foster last September and the glowing report that Coach Talley wrote depicting the uniqueness of that experience told us that we had to speak with him.  To read Coach Talley’s account of theirtreatment at Foster, click here.

   It was well worth the trip.  As you will see from the interview below, Coach Sutrick has the same love for the game and the same desire to help his players grow into men by teaching them the value of hard work and dedication that we’ve found in most, if not all, the coaches that we have picked to interview.  They all do it a little differently, but the bottom line is that kids who buy into their systems come away learning the same core values that the game teaches – values that will help them tremendously as they grow into adulthood.  Certainly these things can be taught in other ways.  Parents can and should determine the path their children take; but, unfortunately, for many the football field will be their only opportunity to learn the life lessons that being a part of a team and working together to improve provides.  Such things as work ethic, perseverance, following instructions and working toward a goal are taught on the gridiron.  At a school like Foster that is in an urban area but has an inner-city like student body, men like Coach Sutrick play an important role in the lives of their athletes.

   We started out the interview by discussing the game with Chelan that set this all in motion.  Coach Sutrick spoke glowingly about that contest and his gratefulness to Coach Talley for his willingness to travel all the way from Chelan to plug an opening in the Foster schedule.  He then waxed poetically about the benefits that it gave his players to experience and interact with players who come from an entirely different environment.  We followed with a series of standard questions we’ve developed when we do these interviews to try to accurately portray each coach.  Those efforts went something like this:

Coach Jim Sutrick

High School Cover 2:  Where did you grow up and go to school?

Coach Sutrick:  I was born in Elkhurst, Illinois and went to school in Streamwood, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.  After High School, I attended Emory-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida.  I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree after four years and joined the FAA.  I requested an assignment to the Seattle area and was posted here in 1991.  I had always wanted to be a pilot.  I just loved flying – had the sheets, pillow cases, etc. with aircraft themes when I was a kid.  Then when I was in the eighth-grade I decided that I wanted to be an air traffic controller.  I’ve worked at it ever since.

High School Cover 2:  When were you introduced to football and what were your first impressions of the game?

Coach Sutrick:  I was first introduced to football when I was five or six years old.  It was my neighbor, Johnny DiNardo, who got me started.  He got into Streamwood junior football and I remember seeing him outside in his front yard wearing his uniform and I thought, “Wow, that’s cool.  Dad, I want to do that.”  I was very small and my mom was against it, but eventually my dad talked my mom into it.  Not only that, but they fudged my birth date and I was able to play an extra year in the 6 to 11 year old league.  I just loved it.  I loved the camaraderie, the work ethic and everything else about it.  I’m the kind of guy who isn’t bothered when people holler at me.  That just motivates me to do my best and try to prove them wrong.  I was able to play right away against bigger kids and I loved the hitting.  That was my first exposure to the game and I’ve loved it ever since.

High School Cover 2:  Did you ever suffer any serious injuries while playing football?

Coach Sutrick:  No, the only real injury that I had was when I was 13 years old and I was running down on kickoff coverage and one of my teammates blocked someone into me.  His foot and leg came up and hit me in the ribs and I couldn’t breathe.  It was the worst pain I had ever experienced.  I lay down and the coach came out on the field and told me I was okay.  I came off the field for a play and then went back out on the field and played the rest of the first half.  At halftime I keeled over and couldn’t breathe anymore.  They took me to the hospital where the discovered I had two badly bruised ribs.  I was held out of practice for a few days and the first three quarters of the next game.  Finally, in the fourth quarter, the coach let me go in and the first time I carried the ball I ran 93 yards for a touchdown.  Those are the stories that stick with you.

High School Cover 2:  While you were growing up did you have a football role model?

Coach Sutrick:  Oh yes.  Tony Dorsett.  Being from Chicago I loved the Bears, the Monsters of the Midway, Walter Peyton and all those guys, but I really loved Tony Dorsett.  I was a running back until I got to high school and I wanted to be just like Tony Dorsett.

High School Cover 2:  Are there any special challenges to coaching at Foster?

Coach Sutrick:  This is an area where most kids aren’t from privileged homes.  This is a low income area.  A couple of examples: I had a kid who had to miss school and practice because he had to translate at an immigration hearing for his uncle.  I have kids who have to bring their brothers and sisters with them to practice in the summer because it’s their responsibility to watch them during the day.  A lot of my players have to work because they are a part of their family’s income.

High School Cover 2:  What kind of support do you get from school administration?

Coach Sutrick:  They are very supportive of me.   In particular, I feel I have a good relationship with the Athletic Director and Superintendent.  Football isn’t the first priority of the other school administrators.  The low test scores in this area are a priority, I understand that.  English is not a first language for a lot of our kids and not understanding the questions on tests is a big problem.  That’s the main reason for the low test scores.  We have kids from 65 different countries attending Foster and they speak 45 different languages.  In a New York Times article last year, we were named the most diverse high school in the country.  So, while I’d like a little more support from time to time, I understand that the focus must be on  raising the test scores.

High School Cover 2:  Do you have play-for-pay here at Foster?

Coach Sutrick:  The only requirement to play sports is that you purchase an ASB card which, I believe, costs $30.00 this year.  Other than that there are no other fees to play here.  We have a very active Gridiron Club that raises money to help out the football program.  I was able to purchase new uniforms for the team when I first arrived without using district money.

High School Cover 2:  What kind of attendance to you get at home games?

Coach Sutrick:  When I first got here we’d have maybe 20 people in the stands.  We’ve worked very hard to change that and I think we probably averaged close to 1,000 this past season.  One thing we are planning to start next year to get more people involved is an alumni/community/student pep band.  There is currently no band at our games.  We feel a band will help bring in more members of the community.

High School Cover 2:  Do you have any interest in coaching at a higher level someday?

Coach Sutrick:  Most definitely.  But I won’t entertain that idea until my three boys graduate.  It would have been one thing if I had gotten into this profession before I was married and had a family.  But, someday…  I have an incredible wife and family and they said they would support me if I wanted to try coaching at the college level, but I have a great job and I love coaching high school players so it would be stupid of me to do anything now.  Maybe after my youngest son graduates from high school, though.

High School Cover 2:  What do you like to do outside coaching?

Coach Sutrick:  There is nothing.  I just love football.  Right now I play one game on X-BOX, it’s called Head Coach 09.  My wife asks, “Don’t you get enough coaching football?”  In the game I get to draft the players and direct what they do.  It’s great.  I don’t do anything else but work, play with my kids and go with them to their sporting events.  My extra time is with my family.

High School Cover 2:  Can you explain your offensive and defensive philosophies?

Coach Sutrick:  Basically, we run the I-formation.  We do have some multiple formations, but I believe in power football and that you have to run the ball.  I believe in the quick passing game and getting the running backs out in the flat, but I’m a power running I-formation guy.  Defensively, I think you’ve got to stop the run first.  When I was the defensive coordinator at Kentwood and we played spread teams that tried to spread us all over hell, I just played man defense and kept six or seven guys in the box.  We were rushing and you’d better get that ball out quick.

High School Cover 2:  What made you go into coaching?

Coach Sutrick:  When I made the decision to be an air traffic controller I didn’t realize how much I also loved coaching.  I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I had gotten into it at a younger age, but I do love both coaching and the job I do as an air traffic controller.

High School Cover 2:  What level did you play the game?

Coach Sutrick:  I played in High School and then a year with the Federal Way Jets semi-pro team here locally.  I loved my time playing for the Jets, but it got too hard to balance my job and playing and I gave it up to coach.

High School Cover 2:  Can you tell us about your coaching experience before becoming the Head Coach at Foster?

Coach Sutrick:  This was my 14^th year of coaching at the high school level.  Before I came to Foster I first coached at the Junior Football level (community football) in the Auburn area.  When I disagreed with some of the methods that were being implemented, I decided to try to coach at the high school level.  A friend told me about a high school clinic that was being held at SEATAC and I attended a couple of sessions.  From that I met Coach Tom Ingles who interviewed me and offered me a coaching position.  I also was an assistant coach at Puyallup and Kent-Meridian before interviewing for the job here at Foster.  Coach Ingles was my coaching mentor.  He is now coaching in California, but I still communicate with him regularly.

High School Cover 2:  How long have you been coaching at Foster?

Coach Sutrick:  I’ve been the head coach here for three years.

High School Cover 2:  You’ve explained to us about how many of the kids who go to Foster come from low-income homes and never leave there neighborhoods.  Have you done anything to help expand their horizons?

Coach Sutrick:  Coach Jeff Johnson at Rainier High School and I coached together in the past and we have developed a 7 on 7 camp during spring football practice.  Our kids go there one year and Rainier travels here to Foster the next.  It’s really been great for our kids, many of whom had never seen a farm and seemingly didn’t have any idea where food came from or what a cow is.  To travel somewhere a little outside their backyards and see something different is really a neat thing.  It’s fantastic to look into their eyes and watch them see something new for the first time.  That’s better than anything they might have gained doing the football drills.

At this point in the interview we noticed the board on Coach Sutrick’s wall listing each position and coach and every player and how they rank against their teammates.  Coach Sutrick then spent a little time explaining the board to us.

High School Cover 2:   Can you explain to us how you use the board?

Coach Sutrick:  I bought it as a way to demonstrate to our players where they were in their growth as a player.  It gives them something to work toward.  If there is someone ahead of them on the board it instills competition.  Players can move up or down depending upon how they perform.  The position coaches decide on the order.

High School Cover 2:  Speaking of position coaches.  How many assistants do you have here at Foster?

Coach Sutrick:  Last year we had 13 assistant coaches.  When I was first hired there were only four.  I felt that was unacceptable and there is no way you can effectively touch kids with so few.  You have kids standing around lost in the transition so I immediately talked with the athletic director and began interviewing assistants.  I wanted coaches who had a similar philosophy about treating kids and spending time with them.  It wasn’t so much about the X’s and O’s as it was about picking the right temperament.   Unfortunately, the school can only pay for four stipends for coaches so we all split our pay to make it work.

High School Cover 2:  We notice on your board you have the initials RAW.  Can you explain what that’s about?

Coach Sutrick:  I started using that acronym when I first got here.  I told the kids that’s what I stand for.   We even got some stickers and put it on the back of our helmets this past season.  The R stands for Responsibility – the responsibility that you take for being a part of Foster football.  You’re responsible for five things: 1) yourself, 2) your teammates, 3) your coaches, 4) your  school and 5) your community.  If you don’t handle those responsibilities like you should there are Accountabilities.

The A in RAW stands for Accountability.  Kids have to be accountable for themselves and for doing the things they need to be able to play.  That has a lot to do with attendance.  When I first arrived kids weren’t accountable.  They could show up to school and practice any time they wanted.  They were tardy all the time.  I changed that culture.  I check the tardy list daily and kids don’t play if they don’t go to school unless, of course, they have a valid excuse.  We have a whole list of what actions bring penalties that they have to be accountable for.

Finally, there is W for Work Ethic.  When you commit to something it takes work.  It’s not easy.  We write down for the kids what’s expected of them.  They know what is expected on the field, in the weight room, etc.  If they don’t do what is required, there are penalties.  They aren’t, for example, allowed to play varsity football until they have the required number of weight lifting sessions recorded.  They can still play football but not with the varsity until they make the work ethic commitment to the team.

   We thoroughly enjoyed our time spent with Coach Sutrick and look forward to watching the Foster Bulldogs next season.