Family of Linemen Produce Great Results

Read this story about Portland, Oregon Native Stan Brock and his Family. If you ever get a chance to meet any of them do so! Oregon's First Football Family.

Subject: Stan is the man
Times Herald-Record, Middletown, NY, Aug. 31, 2007

By Sal Interdonato

West Point — Stan Brock pulled aside Army fullback Mike Viti after practice Wednesday.

Brock, in his first season as Army's head coach, and Viti might have been chatting about the team's pulse before their opener tomorrow in Cleveland against Akron.

Or about the team's relationship with the Corps of Cadets. Maybe some talk about academics and family was sprinkled in.

Viti says Brock is a players' coach.

"He understands the needs of a football player and how daunting this place can get," said Viti, a senior captain. "He cares about all the players."

It's not an act. Brock went through Beast Barracks, Army's grueling summer training for incoming cadets, when he was offensive line coach.

"The players must have been thinking, 'This guy is a little different,' " said Pete Brock, the oldest of four Brock brothers to play in the NFL. "How many college head coaches would do that? He wanted to make sure the kids knew he appreciated what they are going through and their challenges."

Poll Brock's family, former teammates and coaches and they all say Brock, who played tackle for 16 seasons in the NFL, is as real as they come.

"He's just a good guy," said Jim Mora, Brock's former coach in New Orleans. "Players love him. He's a good family man and one of the most popular players on the team. He was loyal to me. I never had to worry about him being a locker-room lawyer. He knows what it takes to be successful."

SOME ARMY ALUMNI think Brock isn't the man to resurrect Army football and post the academy's first winning season since 1996. He hasn't been a head coach at the college or NFL level, they bark.

Brock has the chance to prove them wrong. And he's changing Army's culture on and off the field.

Players are talking more confidently in the preseason. Practices ended with a team chant of "1-0."

Brock is building a family atmosphere at West Point. He regularly has the coaching staff to his home for barbecues.

Tim Walsh left his head coaching position at Division I-AA Portland State to be Army's offensive coordinator.

Robert Lyles, a former NFL linebacker for the Oilers and Falcons who was Brock's defensive coordinator at two AFL stops, is the linebacker coach.

John Tice, who lined up alongside Brock as a tight end at New Orleans, is the offensive line coach.

"We're all in this together. That's how I was raised," Brock said. "We can sit around and laugh and you get to know who you are going to battle with."

FAMILY IS BIG to Brock. He is the third of eight children (five boys and three girls). Jean Brock made sure her children never ate leftovers. Mom had a hot dinner ready for every sibling despite varying schedules.

The Brocks attended Jesuit High School in Portland, Ore., an all-boys school at the time. They worked landscaping and washed dishes to help pay the tuition.

Len Brock, a Portland police officer, instilled in his sons, "Show up and do it. Let's be the best. I don't care if you are oversized and overmatched."

Stan, like all Brock boys, didn't play football until high school because he was too big to play Pop Warner.

It didn't matter. After high school, one by one, the Brocks had great college careers. Pete, Stan and Willie played at Colorado. Ray went to LSU.

They all made it to the NFL. Pete played center 12 years for the Patriots (1976-87). Willie was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1978 and played his rookie season for the Detroit Lions. Ray went to two training camps with the Chiefs.

When Len Brock was asked how he trained his sons to be competitive, he said, "There were eight kids. We set the table for seven and rang the dinner bell."

And the Brocks loved hunting and fishing as much as football, growing up in Oregon. Stan is an avid fisherman.

Walk into his office and it's hard to miss the 62-pound King Salmon he caught in Alaska, mounted behind his desk.

Brock's office also has a great view of Michie Stadium, Army's home. Sometimes, Brock, 49, wants to strap on the helmet again.

"I still have that blood flowing to go out there, but I'm smart enough to know that I can't," Brock said.
He might not be able to join the huddle, but his voice is heard inside it.
What they say about Stan Brock
"Whatever he tells you he's going to do, that's what he's going to do. He's a man of his word. He's not going to recruit somebody on false pretenses. The team always came first with Stan and it still does." - Bum Phillips, Brock's former coach with the New Orleans Saints from 1981-1985.

"If I was in a situation where I was backed into an alley and a bunch of guys were coming at me, and I could pick any player I coached to help me, Stan would be the guy I'd pick to help me out. Stan was tough as nails and I don't know anybody tougher." - Jim Mora, Brock's former coach with the Saints from 1986-92.

"Everything he does is with enormous passion and a big smile. He can step outside of the box. I don't think I've ever had a bad time being around the guy." - Tim Walsh, Army offensive coordinator

"Coach Brock came in fired up and it spread throughout the players. He actually really believes in us." - Army senior safety Caleb Campbell

"I think it is Stan's job to take it to the next level and I think he has put together a great coaching staff and has more talent than we had when we played. Hopefully, this all leads to more victories. I can tell the commitment is there." - Jim Cantelupe, captain of Army's 1995 team

"Stan is the same guy that I knew in New Orleans. He's a no-nonsense guy and a little old-fashioned. You have to respect a guy who cares for people and whose interest is true and there's no BS." - John Tice, Brock's teammate in New Orleans and Army's offensive line coach

"He treats the superintendent and the director of athletics the same as he treats the janitor." - John Brock, Brock's nephew and Army's director of player personnel

James Craig Flowers
LTC US Army
Director, Cadet Activities
845 938 2715

All for the Corps