Portland Oregon's Ethan Johnson Selects Notre dame

Chad Carlson expected a quiet night at home on Wednesday.
document.write(insertImage('/IMAGES/PROSPECT/PHOTO/ETHANJOHNSON9_20150.JPG', '', 0, 220, 150, 1, 'Johnson felt very comfortable on the Notre Dame campus.', 'Rivals.com', 1183066981000, '', 961, 'Align=Left'));
Johnson felt very comfortable on the Notre Dame campus.What the head coach at Lincoln High School in Portland, Ore., got was a non-stop stream of phone calls about his standout defensive end Ethan Johnson. The 6-foot-4, 266-pound athlete was fresh off a camp stop at Notre Dame that finished with a verbal commitment to the Irish, but Johnson immediately left South Bend for vacation with little confirmation coming directly from the nation's No. 48 overall prospect.That all changed on Thursday morning when Carlson caught up with Johnson about the four-star prospect's decision to choose Notre Dame over USC and Michigan. Johnson, who'll line up as a defensive end in Corwin Brown's 3-4 scheme, is the 17th verbal commitment in Notre Dame's next recruiting class and the fifth from a defensive lineman."Ethan had a good idea about Notre Dame for a long time," Carlson said. "Ethan is the kind of guy who's going to really think about all his decisions. He wanted to make sure that he felt comfortable at Notre Dame with the campus and the type of people there."Johnson met with several of his future teammates during the camp trip but it was the contact with Charlie Weis, Corwin Brown and Jappy Oliver that really kept the ball rolling for Notre Dame. Earlier this year Weis made a spring trip to Portland to meet with Carlson, a sit down that helped convince the high school coach that Notre Dame might be the perfect fit for his star."Coach Weis was unbelievable," Carlson said. "The straight-forwardness and the genuineness of Coach Weis, he'll look you in the eye and you believe what he's telling you. A few other coaches did that, a few didn't. Coach Weis was very impressive. He's more than a football coach and that's important."And for Johnson, Notre Dame offered more than a chance at early playing time. Carlson said every school that courted the defensive end told him he could get on the field quickly, but Notre Dame's academic reputation was what helped push the Irish over the top. Johnson plans to enroll in Notre Dame's business a school."He really liked the academic side and being accepted into the business school where he can focus on that right away," Carlson said. "Ethan thought about academics more than he did about football because that's great at other places too like Michigan, USC, Oregon, Boise State and most every other school in the nation that was looking at him."Carlson said he wasn't surprised by Johnson's ultimate decision or by its timing.In fact, Weis told Carlson that Johnson would get a gut feeling on Notre Dame almost immediately during his camp visit."Weis was right," Carlson said. "From the get-go I felt that Notre Dame was the right place for him to be. He's the right kind of person, a very good person inside. I'm not saying that other teams don't have good people, I just think Notre Dame overall makes the most sense for him."

Getting Recruited: Advise from the Experts

MARKET YOURSELF TO GET RECRUITED


We first need to put the importance of marketing yourself t into perspective. According to NCAA statistics, the probabilities of high school senior athletes going on to play in any NCAA Division, by sport are:

• 3% or less than 1 in 35 boy's basketball players.
• 3.3% or 3 in 100 girls' basketball players.
• 5.7% or 1 in 17 football players.
• 6.1% or 3 in 50 baseball players.
• 11% of boy's ice hockey players.
• 5.5% or less than 3 in 50 of boy's soccer players.
• Statistics on other sports are not available.
  

So what do these numbers mean? First, they demonstrate just how competitive it is to play in the NCAA (and we haven't even started talking about scholarships). Second, unless you are a blue chip athlete, and by that I mean a nationally ranked athlete, you will not have college coaches knocking down your door with offers. From the coach's perspective, it's a buyer's market - there are more athletes than available roster spots.

Now here is the million dollar question; what do many of the athletes that got recruited have in common? Several things. First, they positioned themselves by having the grades to meet NCAA standards. Second, they made a commitment to train and bring their game to the next level. Finally, unless they were a blue chip athlete, they aggressively promoted their abilities to college coaches. In other words, instead of waiting to be recruited, they recruited the coach.

How to Recruit the Coach
The first thing to understand is that college sports is a business and recruiting is part of that business. Once you think of it in business terms you can begin to realize the importance of marketing yourself to college coaches. When you get right down to it, your athletic ability is a product and what is at stake is a full or partial scholarship potentially worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Getting recruited requires a lot of work on the part of athletes and their parents. Understanding the process and rules will help you save time and money and is critical to running an effective recruiting campaign. Here are ways to effectively promote yourself to college coaches:

• Communicate at all levels of the organization. It is important to establish a relationship with the head coach as well as the recruiting coordinator and assistant coaches. Coaching positions change often and you want to maintain continuity.
  
  
• Use email to communicate. Coaches prefer to communicate with recruits and prospects via email. It is one of the best ways for underclassmen to communicate with the coaching staff as it is convenient for everyone and coaches can reply to your email. While underclassmen are free to call coaches, coaches cannot return phone calls to prospects or their parents. They can, however, reply to email.
  
  
• Maintain frequent communication with your target coaches. Had a great game against a tough opponent? Won an academic award or had a great academic quarter? Received athletic recognition? Make sure you keep your coaches up to date with an email or copy of a news article.
  
  
• Maintain your electronic profile/website. Provide coaches with a single point of reference to get information about you and stay up to date with your season.
  
  
• Send your video. Coaches are most interested in athleticism and mechanics and a skills video is the best way for coaches to assess your ability. Keep your video to 3 minutes, and highlight your best stuff within the first 30 - 60 seconds. Make sure to edit out misses cues, providing coaches with a quick pace of information. Forget the flash, fancy graphics and music - just keep it simple. Game footage is ok as long as it is done professionally and limited to a few edited highlights. Start by sending a skills video and then follow up with game highlights during your season.
  
  
• Send coaches your schedule. Coaches can't see you if they don't know where and when you'll be competing.
  
  
• Go where the coaches are. Get to combines, tournaments and showcases where coaches will be instructing or observing. Click here for a list of camps and showcases.
  
  
• Pre-sell yourself. If you are participating in an event that college coaches attend, get a list of coaches that attended in the past and email them a copy of your profile/weblink and let them know you will be there competing. Why go to an event hoping to get noticed? Get noticed before you get there.
  
  
• Get coaches to your events. Let's say you live in Ohio and you will be competing in an event in North Carolina. Find out what colleges are in the area (within 2 hours), provide them with your information and let them know you'll be there. If you are going to be there for several days, arrange for a college visit and meet the coaching staff.
  
  
• Don't be afraid to pick up the phone and call the coach. Rule #1, coaches want to talk with recruits, not their parents. Rule #2, if the parent must call, avoid the temptation of telling the coach what a great athlete your son or daughter is. Instead, focus on the intangibles: committed, great work ethic, disiplined, etc. Their athleticism will speak for itself.
  
  
• Respond quickly to requests for more information and follow up. As obvious as that sounds, coaches have complained to me about the lack of follow through by recruits. It gives the impression that you are not interested and coaches will move quickly on to the next prospect.
  
  
• Have your coach follow up with colleges. If you get a letter of interest from college coaches, have your coach follow up with a phone call to the head coach. Additionally, ask your coach if he has any college contacts and if so could he help you. Your coach is a vital component of your recruiting campaign and can be a great resource.

Creating Excellence: Don't Set the Bar...Be the Bar!!

Life is not an accident. We are a creation of what we know and what we see. We tend to emulate those around us don't we? Those we admire and think highly of. Even more so we tend to rise to the level of the people around us. It really does not matter if it is Football or Family......Career or Academics....Charitable or Entertainment....we all live what we see and become what we know.

If you are a kid and grow up around crime and brutality.... history tells us you may reflect that in your life. If you are rich and grow up with lavish excess and everything you want... history tells us that you are going to expect the world to be dished up to you on a platter.

We become what we see and what we are taught. We will behave like that which is around us and we will only rise as high as the competition we see. To a great extent this is true with all of us.

While it will never define us... it can shape us. It can influence the decisions we make...the dreams we dream....the expectations we have in our lives. It can put limits on us and blinders too. This must never be allowed to happen!

If you can make the difference in one young persons life you must. If you can teach one person that they can do anything they desire...you must. Call it Pay It Forward or what ever you want...but you owe it to yourself and to the world to do just that!

Don't make it about money, or personal glory, or Fame, or anything else. Make it about one special young person or more than one if you can. I promise you if you do this it will be revisited upon you 100 times over. Put your heart and your soul into it. Take the time to help. Give advice, Give money if you feel the need, Give your time...must mostly give of yourself.

Give You...the real you...the you that had the dreams when you were young...the you that looked out at a thousand stars on a perfect night and said "what if?". Give that You to somebody in need.

Build the Dream in somebody else. Never say "NO!". Never say "You Can't" or "You Won't". Say rather "Yes!", "You Can!" and "You Will!". Light the flame in another and by doing so rekindle your own.

To those that would crush the Dream or put limits on the young....well... be aware. Some of us out here are watching. We see you. We watch you. And someday we are coming for you. Coming to stop you from causing anymore damage to our future! Bide your time if you will...but cherish it because that is a fleeting thing indeed.

To those that are with us....Set the standard. Not only Set the bar...but strive to be the Bar. Be excellent with all you do. Encourage and expect excellence in those around you.

Love.
Protect.
Build up those around you.
Work hard.
Be diligent.

D R E A M!

If this little guy grows up knowing what others have done to make it.....knowing what it takes to achieve..... expecting to be like those around him... Giving himself to others.... he can and will soar with the Eagles.

So can all of them.... They can all be Eagles!

Create Something good today.

And if you ever loose perspective...Remember these Guys:

<http://www.youtube.com/v/ervaMPt4Ha0&autoplay=1> &autoplay=1

NIKE COMBINE COMING JUNE 8th to Hillsboro Stadium

You are invited!
NIKE Combine
Portland, Oregon

Dear Athletes:

Congratulations! You are invited to a premier high school football event, the NIKE Combine in Oregon produced by Student Sports. Student Sports has introduced Clinton Portis, Phillip Buchanan and Andre Johnson, to name a few, to the national recruiting scene after Student Sports saw them at the NIKE Football Training Camps. These combines will give you an opportunity to showcase your skills for possible selection for the NIKE Football Training Camps held later in the spring.

WHAT: The NIKE Combine at Hillsboro Stadium is an exclusive event and an opportunity to get SPARQ tested in a professional setting. These combines are FREE of charge.

WHO CAN COME: Top rising seniors to be (Class of 2008) and all underclassmen looking to showcase their skills for possible selection for the NIKE Football Training Camps held later in the spring.

WHEN AND WHERE: Friday, June 8th, 2007 at Hillsboro Stadium in Hillsboro Oregon.

WHAT TO BRING: Bring appropriate workout gear: Shorts, sweats, football cleats and training shoes. You will receive a NIKE Pro participant’s shirt.

COMBINE FORMAT: After a proper, supervised “dynamic warm-up”, you will be tested in the 40-yard dash, vertical jump, the bench press (max reps of 185 pounds) and the 20-yard shuttle. With these testing results you will be able to calculate your SPARQ Rating at www.sparqtraining.com to see where you stand with the best in the country.

WHAT IS A SPARQ RATING?: SPARQ stands for Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction and Quickness, the essential tools for superior athletic performance. SPARQ Training is the dynamic training method used at the NIKE Football Training Camps. The SPARQ Rating is a number that identifies overall athletic ability and is used by top coaches and trainers around the nation as an initial indicator of an athlete’s potential on the field.

BENEFITS: This is a great opportunity for your athletes to take advantage of NIKE’s commitment to football, which will give them the opportunity to get tested professionally so that they will have a standard base to improve upon. Additionally, the NCAA recently passed legislation saying that combine testing can no longer take place on Division I campuses. That means there will be NO testing at the NIKE Football Training Camps this year. If your athletes want to get tested, receive a SPARQ Rating and get their numbers in front of the college coaches – which we will do, you MUST attend a NIKE Combine and compete. NCAA Football coaches rely on our certified SPARQ Timing and Testing and the NIKE Combines are the only place you can get those.

There is also an opportunity for great recruiting exposure and coverage. Student Sports, home of the NIKE Football Training Camps and part of the Rivals.com Network, will be at the combines covering the event as well as taking photos and video. In addition the results will be distributed to major college football programs all over the country. Also, a good performance can mean a spot at the NIKE Football Training Camps, which kickoff in April.

We look forward to seeing you at the Oregon NIKE Combine. For a complete list of locations and directions, please visit www.studentsportsfootball.com and click on NIKE Combines.

For any questions, please contact Student Sports (971) 222-1309
Tyler McClaughry x309 or tyler@sparqtraining.com

23954 Madison Street * Torrance, CA 90505 * Tel. 310-791.1142 * Fax 310-791.1140

SPARQ TEAM CHALLENGE IN HILLSBORO NETS SOME REAL FINDS:

Basically we had an awesome event and had some great athletes show tehir skills at the Velocity Sports Hillsboro 2007 SPARQ Team Challenge Event. Pictured above is Robert A'toe of the Dalles, Oregon who turned in some impressive numbers for his first SPARQ Event. I officially weighed him and measured him. He was a very solid 6'3 .5" and 327 pounds. This is a young man to watch this year here in Oregon. There were several scores in the High 70's and overall the group that came was very very solid. See results at SparqTraining.com or at http://picasaweb.google.com/dirkknudsen/2007SparqHillsboroVelocityEvent.

Westview Wildcats

2007 core group

Derby Camper Ryan Pohl getting ready for His Time at OSU

Beavers looking for depth on offensive line
Oregon State has four returning starters but needs others to step upBy Cliff KirkpatrickGazette-Times reporter
Each spring, Mike Cavanaugh begins his artistry of big men.
That’s when the offensive line coach for the Oregon State football team takes on the challenge of rebuilding the cornerstone of offensive success.He fine-tuned a strong starting group in 2005 and created enough depth to support them through injuries in 2006. For the coming season, he must do all of that at the same time.The Beavers have four returning starters in Jeremy Perry, Kyle DeVan, Roy Schuening and Andy Levitre. The fifth starter should be Tavita Thompson, who has been prepped at left tackle for the coming season for three years.After Thompson, that’s where Cavanaugh must really get to work.“We need to increase the depth in the offense line,” Cavanaugh said. “The group we have can be a good offensive line, as long as we don’t get bit by that complacency disease.”Levitre and Adam Speer have been the line’s super subs the last two seasons. Levitre could fill in for any of the guards or tackles.When Josh Linehan went down with a season-ending injury in the third game last year, Levitre found a home at right tackle. That left only Speer for the coming season as a proven backup at center and either guard positions.“My biggest concern is the tackle,” Cavanaugh said. “Ryan Pohl’s development is important. Pohl is kind of like our Levitre. He’s getting the on-the-job training like Levitre a couple years ago.”Pohl, a redshirt freshman, is learning both tackle positions as the primary backup. He’s a 6-foot-3, 280-pounder from Hawaii. Rivals.com rated him the nation’s 50th-best offensive tackle coming out of Kamehamaha High after the 2005 season.The tackle position’s depth took a hit when Mau Nomani decided to go on his LDS mission in the fall. Coach Mike Riley felt he could challenge Thompson for left tackle.Nomani, from Tigard High, was the third-best prospect in Oregon. He redshirted last season in his first year. When he returns in two years, he will have four years of eligibility left.“We have some guys who are picking up on things and getting better,” Levitre said. “With Mau going on his mission, we are trying to help Ryan Pohl out because we don’t have depth at tackle. I’m helping coach him up on technique.”Junior college transfers Michael Cole and Jon Ioane should join the program in the fall, but will be playing catch-up. They may not be ready until the middle of the season.There’s more depth for interior linemen, starting with Speer. Guard Gregg Peat is ready after two seasons, and junior Marcus Henderson is developing at center.“They are all coming along,” Perry said. “The younger guys haven’t had the opportunity because we (the starters) have been here all the time. They’ve been watching. Now they have to step up fast. And Cav is working them hard.”Beyond them there are four other redshirt freshmen working in the spring. When everyone is here in the fall the Beavers could have up to 17 offensive linemen.However, Riley has made the mandate in recruiting this year to focus on offensive and defensive linemen. Schuening and DeVan graduate after this season, so experience will be gone and depth wiped out again.And the feeling from the Beavers is you can’t have too many linemen.Getting one game-ready takes two to three years, according to Cavanaugh. It’s a process working their hands and feet techniques enough that it’s second-nature. Then there’s all the training in the weight room.“I’m please with the way the kids have worked in the offseason,” Cavanaugh said. “The strength department did a good job, and they are doing what I ask them to do on their own. If they commit to it, they’ll improve. Some of the guys have a lot longer to get good, though.”

What can Linemen do to prepare for the upcoming HS Football year in the Pacific NW:

I keep getting this call and questions form players and Parents a like:

What can we do to get ready for the season and maybe get some exposure as well if I want to go on to play in college?

Well great question and it can evoke many answers. Here are my thoughts for Linemen wanting to excel and have the best upcoming year that you can do that will help you:

Get to This Event This week if your Can:
SPARQ TESTING EVENT:
TO ALL Oregon Football Players and Coaches:
This is your first opportunity to get to the First official SPARQ Testing Event of the Year. This is a great time to tune up for the Summer Combine events or to get some practice in. These are official scores and this will be a great opportunity to get tested. Here is the info.
Velocity Sports Hillsboro; Matt James Sports Performance Director 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM Come anytime but Provide 30 minutes for your testing Any Athlete that is going into 10th, 11th, or 12th grade is welcome No Cost Free SPARQ Shoe Bags to all Athletes 1 SPARQ Training Kit for each Team bringing 20 athletes or more Individuals or Teams welcome Call Velocity Sports Hillsboro and Register: 503-615-4228

Also:

#1: Train hard. Now is the time. Not when the season starts. Get in game shape before pre-season and bring your team the best player you can be when the season starts. This includes Diet (NO POP), Training with proper weight regimen and SAQ work, Proper rest too!!

#2: School. make sure your credits are taken care of. Keep your GPA up and maintain the best average you can. 3.0 or better will likely be required to get to a good college. Do not slack off. Make this a priority.

#3: Attend your teams Summer Camp and Weight Room events. This is just very very important. You need to be able to work with your Coaches and teammates in whatever they are doing.

#4: Get to speed and Agility Camps like Velocity Sports or Competitive Edge.

#5: Attend a SPARQ Event. There are some coming up in Oregon and Washington this Spring and Summer. understand how this stuff works as it is becoming more and more a part of what is used out there for recruitment. Certainly not the only thing but can be very important. check out www.sparqtraining.com or contact me for the events and dates some of which are listed here.

#6: Get to a Summer Camp. For Linemen the Brian Derby Camp is great but is cancelled this year: back in 2008. Get to this camp if you can. You can work with up to 15 college coaches and it is an awesome camp: Both sides of the ball too: No other camp can offer you this. Western Oregon Line of Scrimmage camp: http://www.wou.edu/~bowmant/los.htm Get There!

#7: Some combines. You will need an invite. These are the best events in the NW. There are a lot of small ones but these are the best events:


http://www.gottheedge.com/



Get to University of Oregon on June 9th for the NIKE NTSC Clinic: Check with a coach or me. Invite Only. There will also be an event in Oregon on June 8 to get officially tested in a SPARQ Rating. These events are the very best.

And also a good workout and some very good coaching and showcase events this Spring and Summer:

http://www.airattackfootball.com/frameset.php

#8: Get some press coverage: Rivals.com and Scout.com have some opportunities to help get your story out. this is typically reserved for players who have gained some notoriety but you ever know who is gonna show up big! The combine events can be a big help in getting this to happen. You can contact me for more info on this and I might be able to assist you in this regard.

#9: Get your Game films and Resume together. Coaches need raw film: 2 Games against quality opponents. Also your Academic info and your stats and SPARQ info etc. Any All League info etc. Map out a plan with your family and coaches. If you apply yourself and train hard you have a chance to make it to a collegiate program! Be realistic as to where you project and where you can fit in. Locate some schols with curriculum you desire and contact them and make an introduction and express interest.

Football People are some of the best people you will ever work with. There are some Donkeys out there but most have a big heart for the game and will help out wherever they can.


These are a few ideas based on what has worked for players we have helped. Maybe not everything you can do but a pretty good start for sure!

Best wishes to all you guys. Call me anytime to discuss how I can help or questions you may have: 503-799-8383.

--
Dirk T Knudsen
President
Re\max Metro:
#1 ranked Sales Team in Portland: 2006
Re\Max Hall of Fame
503-799-8383 (Cell)
www.theknudsens.com
www.derbycamp.com

NIKE SPARQ EVENT SET FOR HILLSBORO

April 20th, 2007
SPARQ TESTING EVENT:

TO ALL Oregon Football Players and Coaches:

This is your first opportunity to get to the First official SPARQ Testing Event of the Year. This is a great time to tune up for the Summer Combine events or to get some practice in. These are official scores and this will be a great opportunity to get tested. Here is the info.

Velocity Sports Hillsboro; Matt James Sports Performance Director
4:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Come anytime but Provide 30 minutes for your testing
Any Athlete that is going into 10th, 11th, or 12th grade is welcome
No Cost
Free SPARQ Shoe Bags to all Athletes
1 SPARQ Training Kit for each Team bringing 20 athletes or more
Individuals or Teams welcome
Call Velocity Sports Hillsboro and Register: 503-615-4228

Do you have what it takes? NIKE and SPARQ are conducting a team competition across the Nation for High School Football teams to find out who really has the best athletes! All teams that compete will receive a Team SPARQ Rating based on the performance of their top five athletes (every athlete tested will receive a SPARQ Rating and the top five ratings will make up the teams average). Each qualifying team will also receive a SPARQ Training Development Kit to add to their training arsenal. The Team SPARQ Rating will consist of components measuring Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction and Quickness.



The Football SPARQ Testing will consist of:
· 40 Yard Dash
· 185 lb Bench Press
· Vertical Jump
· Shuttle


The Individual and Team SPARQ Ratings will be updated weekly on SPARQTRAINING.com leading up to the naming of a Regional and a National Team Champion!



Every athlete tested will receive a limited edition bag tag and have access to set up a customized SPARQ Athlete page.



Contact Adam Hunt (Adam@QmobileMARKETING.com or
503-319-7459) to schedule an event.




NIKE and SPARQ are committed to rewarding the teams that work and train the hardest, so get your team prepared for the NIKE TEAM SPARQ CHALLENGE 2006 and compete to be the top team in the country!

I WOULD RATHER SPEND 1 DAY WITH THE LIONS THAN 1000 DAYS WITH THE SHEEP!

Glanville's life turned by Iraq visit

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

The Oregonian

Brian Meehan: Glanville phones loved ones of U.S. soldiers

Like some character out of a Joseph Conrad novel, Jerry Glanville journeyed almost 7,000 miles from his suburban Atlanta home to the deserts of the Mideast to find his second calling as a football coach.

And the message was delivered by thousands of young- American soldiers.

In March 2004, Glanville had not coached an NFL game in 11 years. It had been 30 years since he coached in college. Portland State's new head coach had a jaundiced view of a younger generation that favored baggy jeans, earrings and hip-hop music.

But this would change during a weeklong tour of U.S. bases in Kuwait and Iraq. Glanville joined a group of NFL alumni that included Deacon Jones, Bud Grant and Randy Gradishar.

"I think it changed everybody's life," Glanville said Tuesday. "Deacon Jones said for the first time in his life, he knew what terror was."

Fate is inscrutable. If not for a random seat pairing on a Tampa-to-Los Angeles flight, Glanville might never have returned to college coaching in Hawaii or become Portland State's 12th football coach.

Ray Carolin, a former Secret Service agent and treasurer of the Arizona chapter of the NFL alumni, was on that flight. He talked for hours with his seatmate, an Army officer dressed in civilian clothes. The officer asked Carolin if he could assemble an NFL group to visit soldiers in the Mideast. The two shook hands at baggage claim and went their separate ways.

Only later did Carolin realize who his seatmate was: Gen. Tommy Franks, leader of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and commander-in-chief of the U.S. occupation forces.

A year later, Franks invited Carolin to bring over a group; Glanville was among those who quickly accepted.

The footballers got a quick introduction to dangerous Iraq when their C130 executed a spiral landing into Baghdad to avoid missile fire. The plane dropped from 20,000 feet in terribly banked turns until it landed hard on the runway.

"It is like falling out of a 10-story building," Glanville said.

The group visited with troops in the Green Zone, the fortified area of Central Baghdad. They dressed in steel helmets and body armor and signed autographs for Navy Seals, soldiers in the Army's 1st Cavalry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas, and National Guard personnel from Minnesota and the Dakotas.

Soon, Glanville began to think it was he who should be collecting their autographs.

Riding in a Humvee caravan on a lonely road that pierces the desert between Kuwait and Iraq, Glanville read words that changed his life. They were written on the wall of the last latrine along this treeless sand anvil.

"I would rather live one day with the lions than 1,000 days with the lambs. Signed: The American soldier."

"We were over there to help boost their morale, but it was the 19-year-olds of today who gave us the right morale," Glanville said.

Glanville filled a book with names of soldiers. He asked they include the phone number of a loved one. When Glanville returned home, he spent weeks phoning family members to tell them that their son, husband, wife, daughter was doing just fine. Glanville made 70 calls a day until he got through the thousands of numbers he had collected.

The goodwill trip turned more harrowing than any football game ever had been.

One day in Baghdad, Glanville ran into a CIA agent who had been an academic coach when Glanville was a graduate assistant at Western Kentucky. The man invited the group to dine with him outside the heavily patrolled Green Zone.

The Army wouldn't send guards so Glanville's friend sent several vehicles. The vehicles, manned by Kurdish guards, roared at high speeds, six feet apart, weaving a serpentine pattern down the "highway of death."

When they arrived, there were 14 machine gunners on the roof the 18-story Palestine Hotel. Glanville and company were urged to sprint for the doors. Once inside, the Kurds lined up vehicles in front of the main entrance to deflect any suicide bomber.

While Baghdad is dry, the host laid out beer and liquor.

"All of us were consuming heavily," Carolin said, "because we knew we'd have to drive back to the base on that highway of death."

Huddled on the floor of a battered Toyota, Glanville and Carolin were scared during the ride back. Glanville said to Carolin, "If we are lucky enough to get out of here, I'm going to go back to coaching in college."

The next fall, Glanville became June Jones' defensive coordinator at Hawaii. Last week, the 65-year-old took over the Vikings' program. And it's all because of what 19-year-olds taught him in the Iraqi desert -- that his life is enriched in the presence of young people.

"I used to think, like a lot of old guys, 'Who is going to run the country when we're dead,' " Glanville said. "Well, I found about 5,000 young people and I am not going to worry for one minute more about the future. They can do everything better than me."

Welcome to Portland Jerry!

Watch This if you ever Pity yourself and how tough life is!

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/ivp/index?id=2787851&catname=360%20Exclusive

--
Dirk T Knudsen
President
Re\Max Hall of Fame
503-799-8383 (Cell)
www.theknudsens.com
www.derbycamp.com