Corvallis High's second-year football coach philosophizes about athletics, motivation

An interview with Chris McGowan

Corvallis High football coach and father to Jessica, 11, and McKenna, 7, as told to Steve Gress

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We talked about how we had a chance to (reach the playoffs) this year. We as coaches talked about how it was important to do it this year. Then we found out we had three playoff spots and that would be tough. We thought with the fourth playoff spot we would probably sneak in there somewhere with a 6-3, 5-4 record. We thought we could do it.

It has been great. It's kind of what we'd hoped for so to achieve that goal feels pretty good for our coaching staff but mainly for the kids because they will always remember making the playoffs this year and going as far as we go. It was a real achievement.

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I may come across as being easy-going but I'm pretty competitive. I like to figure out how to do things better all the time.

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I think I am a players' coach. I listen to the players and I want them to communicate well with me and I want to communicate well with them. That is a huge part and that goes for my coaching staff as well. I'm not a real dictatorial type of person but I try to get them to believe in something to bring it out of them. You get them to try to do something not because I said so but because you want to do it for yourself.

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When we started to screw up or guys would start to come out late for practice, I asked them what kind of team do you want to be, what do you want for your teammates. I'll go either way, because I'm going to lead from in front and push you from behind. If you don't want it, I'll do what you want to do. I try to get into their head a little bit and figure out how far they want to go with it.

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It's a challenge. My wife, Eden, is very supportive, fortunately, and she likes to be involved. She's excited and understands what it takes, the time commitments and the things you do. I'm just happy she wants to be involved and she loves to go to the games and is enjoying the success. Of course she hasn't been around a losing season yet. My kids love it as well. To watch them come to the games, get into the games and come to practice and know who the players are and interact with the players is satisfying to me and is another reminder of how important sports are to our community and kids.

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Just being a part of a team and doing something special you will remember the rest of your life. Achieving goals as a group and going through the good times and the bad times together. Just having fun doing it.

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Work real hard and try to pursue a goal and the achievement along the way is fun. I think it is an essential component of the high school experience. Even if you are on a losing team, there are a lot of great things that go on and you make friendships that last the rest of your life and you have memories that last the rest of your life.

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I enjoyed the day-to-day life of being an athlete at CHS. Looking forward to the next competition and being around my friends. I got to experience both the team aspect of it and the individual aspect of it. Boy, Friday nights were just fun. I could not wait to play. I really dreamed of playing football and savored every minute out on the field. We were fortunate enough to be a pretty good team.

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I think back (when I was playing) kids would do things because they were told to and because the coach said so. These days, it seems like you have to convince them that it's the right thing to do. I think it takes a little more savvy to coach today's kid because the respect doesn't come with the territory. They have to want to play for you because of who you are and how you treat them.

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I got into teaching when Measure 5 kicked in and I saw the downhill slope begin and it's never picked up since then. Things have gotten progressively worse. Every year, you have one or two more kids in your class. Every year, it's gotten a little more tougher for sports. I think it would be bad economics or a bad idea to get rid of them. The way we are funded is based on enrollment and I think sports promotes enrollment.

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Sports represents, from my understanding, less than one percent of the total budget. If you try to balance the budget on the back of sports, I think that is the wrong place to go, especially with the impact it has on high school kids and the trickle down to the grade schools.

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That has been one of the best things I've seen all year, the community and student involvement. You don't have to be an athlete to appreciate athletics. It's a festival, a celebration of your school. Sports, if done right, can be a really positive thing for your school. I've seen that happen at CHS. It's rewarding to know that I have been a part of that.

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The same things I enjoy about being a coach, I enjoy about being a dad. I really love to watch my kids develop and grow. I have fun with them and just watching them kind of go through life and figure things out and try to be a part of that and help them out is the best part of it. I think parenting and coaching are kind of related in that regard.

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Success is finding something you like to do and doing it the best that you can. Being fulfilled in what you do. The most meaningful kind of success is doing something you like to do and getting better at it and doing it the right way.

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I think it was very valuable, almost crucial to see some other coaches and see how they do things. You pick up a little bit from each one. I've been around some really good football coaches and some really good wrestling coaches. I could observe their blunders and their successes and I think I've taken a little bit from each one.

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It was awkward at times because under the circumstances under which all that took place was just a strange thing (replacing Gary Beck). It's hard to deal with a friend, a mentor and my coach and also to deal with those issues was difficult. But he made it a lot easier for me by being supportive of me. He's helped and been an immense help the last few years. There's not too many people who could go and do that for a new coach under those circumstances so I have the highest respect for him.

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I think it was frustrating because I could see where our administration was headed. I don't think they knew me as a coach, really. I think I had been at other places where what I did was seen more and valued more. I think at the time they wanted a clean break, somebody new to revitalize the program and I can understand that. I knew that at the time but I also felt like, given the shot, I had the confidence of what I could do.

It was kind of a long haul there for a while, but it's worked out really well and I think the relationship I have with our administration and athletic department is a good one. It takes that kind of a team to build anything and they've been very supportive.

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I don't know who told me as a coach don't get too up when you win and don't get too down when you lose. Try to maintain a balance and a perspective on the whole situation. Sports are all about dealing with adversity and trying to figure out how to get better even when the odds are stacked against you.

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I love to watch my daughter (Jessica) on the sideline. To watch the little kids get into it and look forward to it and hopefully have the opportunity to play. To have that glimmer in their eye when they talk about it. I try to maintain a little bit of distance there but to see her so involved and coming to practices and watching what's going on, reminds me of myself when I was a kid. That's a great feeling to know we're doing something that kids love to admire and watch.