Old Dominion running backs coach and special teams coordinator Michael Zyskowski enters his eighth season with the Monarchs. ODUSports.com recently sat down with Zyskowski to discuss his coaching career, the state of the Monarchs and more.
Q: What got you into college coaching?
MZ: I was at the University of Maine; I played for Coach Wilder there. I played two years of college baseball and then I went to Maine to further my education. I tried to get a medical redshirt at Maine, but that didn’t go through, so the coaches at Maine kept me on scholarship and I became a student assistant, got my foot in the door. I was helping out, our running backs coach who had cancer and they needed extra help. The next spring, the baseball coach asked me to be the third assistant for him and I was working for them when they asked me to be the running backs coach for the football team.
Q: You have coached multiple positions, how has that helped your development as a coach?
MZ: There are certain techniques that can carry over to different positions; it all kind of coincides with one another. Being able to learn new techniques, that has helped me a lot. There are certain things that I use now with the running backs that we developed with the offensive line. And special teams is across the board, there is blocking, running, protection, moving in space, that has been able to help me out a lot.
Q: How different is it coaching special teams than a specific position?
MZ: I love what I do from the standpoint I have access to every kid on the team, every position on the team. I have interaction with every kid on the team. It can be time consuming, it’s a lot of work because you only get those 10-15 minutes a day to work on things, so that has to be perfect. The detail and organization to have zero mistakes in that time frame is a lot of work.
Q: How to you balance your work and home life, with your wife and kids?
MZ: I think the best thing we’ve done is going to the morning practices. It allows you to get up, get here and get your stuff done during the day and get home. I think last year I was home for all but three dinners as a family, which is really nice. Coach Wilder is a family man, he always preaches family he wants to get in, get our work done and see our family. He wants us to have a well-balanced life as well.
Q: You are from Michigan, will the opener at Eastern Michigan be a homecoming of sorts for you?
MZ: I was just home and we’re going to have a very large contingent there, I can promise you that. There’s going to be at least 50-100 of my family members there.
Q: What is your recruiting philosophy?
MZ: I think the first three things are just what Coach Wilder always says; good people, good students and good athletes. There are certain characteristics of a running back that I look for, or in a kicker. But if the kid can’t do the right things in the classroom he’s probably not going to do the right things on the field and vice versa. I do not want kids that you have to babysit, I want kids that are going to go to class and want to earn a degree.
Q: There is not a lot of staff turnover here, can you explain the staff continuity?
MZ: The administration from the top on down, from President Broderick to Dr. Selig and Coach Wilder. It’s a phenomenal University to work at, the staff and administration is supportive, and the fan base is awesome. It means a lot for us to coach in front of a sell out crowd every game, and the location. There are not many places in the country to coach in, in regards to what’s around, things to do for the family, the beach, you have everything right here.
Q: Talk about the running back group and what they bring?
MZ: I think we finally have the identity that we can run the ball. When Thomas DeMarco was here we knew we could get a first down, with Taylor we always thought he could get a first down, some how some way. I think we have the confidence in the guys that run the football that can be physical, we can catch the football and protect the quarterback in the pass game. There is a confidence to the kids in our position right now. Ray Lawry is a tough, physical kid with speed. He has a physical element, but he can run by you. We’re excited to see what Jeremy Cox can do in the fall. We always thought Ray was a big back, now we have Cox who is 6-1, 210, he’s an even bigger back. We really like the steps he took this spring, the confidence he got with the reps he received. Then Vincent Lowe, he’s not the big physical guy but we’re hoping he’s our home run guy. There is confidence there, what I like about them, they are tough, physical, quiet and they work hard. They are low maintenance, which is great.
Q: What do you look for from Ray this year and what are some things to improve on?
MZ: I want to see more of a leadership role from Ray. If you look at our running backs from last year, Cam Boyd and Gerard Johnson were are only upper classmen and they are both gone, so if you look at our roster we have nine running backs and all are sophomores are below, and almost all of them are freshmen or redshirt freshmen. We are very young at that position so I would like to see him lead, he’s not always going to be a vocal guy yet, but I would like to see him lead by example. He needs to, and I think he will, improve on pass protection and catching the ball out of the backfield.
Q: What has the move to Conference USA done for the football program as a whole?
MZ: It truly has become a national brand, before we were on TV a couple times a year and it was more regional, now we’re more national, which is huge for us. More so then anything, that has really helped us. From the recruiting standpoint it helps out. We’re on a bigger stage, playing Power Five teams at home (this year vs. NC State) and tough competition. That’s big for recruiting that we don’t have to travel all over, we have seven home games, which is huge.