ODUSports.com is working on a variety of ways to continue to give Monarch Nation informative and creative content during this pandemic. The latest is a series of Q&A's with the football coaching staff. Today's Q&A is with offensive recruiting. coordinator and running backs coach, Tony Lucas.
Q: What have the last few months been like coaching through Zoom?
A: It's been fun and interesting; definitely an adjustment. You appreciate having the technology and resources to teach concepts and some of the things we would have introduced in spring ball. Also, we're still getting to know each other better. They're getting to know me and my personality, as well as me getting to know their personalities.
Q: Are there things you've been able to do over the last three months that wouldn't have been done during a normal year?
TL: The biggest thing really has been getting to know them. The urgency to install the new offense wasn't the same, so it allowed me time to get into things that I would have done over the summer months. We were able to slow the game down and look at it from different perspectives. I've always had the mindset, if you know how your piece fits into the bigger puzzle, you can play faster and more effective. I think they welcomed that different perspective.
Q: When you first got into coaching you were on the defensive side of the ball, and then moved to offense. How did that change occur?
TL: It worked out better than I thought it would at the time. I played safety at Columbia and I started coaching on the defensive side. When I got to Georgetown the offensive coordinator was a former coach of mine and I made the switch to coaching running backs and I've been here ever since. I think having that experience on defense has made me a more effective coach on offense because I understand what the defense is trying to accomplish from their perspective. It just helps me teach better knowing what the guys on the other side of the ball are doing.
Q: You didn't start coaching until about five years after graduating from Columbia. What were you doing?
TL: For me, you make that investment to go to an Ivy League school, it's like you have to go make some money and get a financial return on that investment. I worked at a law firm for five years and I thought I was going to go to go to law school and become a corporate attorney. Two years after graduation I realized it wasn't the path for me. One day I sat down and I couldn't foresee myself doing that much longer. I reevaluated some things and it kind of turned back to football.
Why did you get into coaching?
TL: I had the day job and was making good money. However, I felt unfulfilled. My original plan was to coach part-time at the high school level but it really didn't fit my work schedule. What really did it was I playing weekend 7 on 7 ball in an adult league, and it just got the competitive juices going and I found myself coaching our team and got the itch for it. I decided to go all in and have enjoyed making that decision.
Q: What was your time like at Columbia?
TL: I loved being in New York City and the opportunity to play Division I football. Being a competitor and wanting to win games football was very frustrating. You learn a lot from the losses probably more so than the wins. I met great people, got a great education and enjoyed the experience overall.
What was it like living in New York City?
TL: It's everything you want and expect it to be. Having access to so many different cultures and opportunities. Being able to take my growth and development and education to expand outside the classroom to spill into New York City was great.
When you were at Temple and Delaware you coached guys that made it to the next level. What does that do for your current players that see that and on the recruiting trail?
TL: It brings credibility. For a guy like me that's had some 'lower level' stops in my career, you don't always know the guys I've coached that have done well because you can't always see it. Then you see a guy like Ryquell Armstead who gets drafted in the fifth round or Wes Hills who has worked his tail off to chase his dreams, it brings instant credibility, that hey, I know what I'm doing and here is proof. Now you have a more willing audience that says hey, if you did it for these guys, there's a good chance he can do it for me as well.
Q: ODU has the youngest coaching staff in the country, and you're the oldest assistant coach at 39. Does that mean anything to you?
TL: It does but it doesn't. I don't look at myself as an old guy. I still look at myself as a young coach, especially since I didn't get into coaching right out of college, I had life experiences and then shifted gears. But also, I am the old guy, I'm a little older in age and I've had a little more life experience. When these guys are leaning on me for wisdom and advice if you will, that is kind of a role I'm in.
Q: What is your recruiting philosophy?
TL: Lets' build a deeper connection than you'll build with anyone else. I think persistence is key, being consistent and just having the patience, especially as your recruiting some of the higher profile prospects. It's understanding the pressures that's on these guys as young adults trying to make informed decisions on where they're going to spend 4-5 years of their life that will ultimately impact the next 40- years of their lives. To meet each kid and family at their respective level and not having a cookie cutter approach
Q: You're a new Dad and just celebrated your first Father's Day. What's it been like?
TL: This has been a blessing, it's been surreal. My daughter is six weeks old now and it still doesn't seem like it's real. I'm just grateful and appreciative that I have a child. I'm on my second wife and technically this would be my second daughter. My first wife passed and she was six months pregnant with our first child. September will be six years since I lost them both due to a pregnancy complication. I have a different outlook and appreciation for being a dad that supersedes what it would of have been and what it already was. If there has been a silver lining with the pandemic it is that I have been able to be here for every moment over the first six weeks of her life. It would normally be hit or miss that I would have been able to make it to the hospital in time and see her delivered, and I was right there when it happened. I'm soaking in all of this daddy time.
From the Sidelines: Tony Lucas Q&A
