Left-Right:President of the New York City AFL-CIO, Vinny Alverez; Senior Vice President AFL-CIO Investment Trust Corporation, Randy Kinder (Notre Dame
class of 1997); Joe Delaney, ND Club of SI; Marcus Wilson,
Notre Dame class of 2005

The Bread of Life Food Drive (B.O.L.D.) began back in the spring of 1992 through the ND Club of Staten Island. Randy was introduced to the food drive two years ago when he was in meetings with local New York union electricians. The topic of ND came up during the meeting and they told Randy that he should check out this food drive that the local ND Club had been participating in for years, which they were also involved with through their union. Randy spent a Saturday first hand helping out and fell in love with the project. Since then Randy has been working with the Staten Island Club to create a partnership with Lou’s Lads and to turn their local food drive into a nationwide food drive in which all Notre Dame Clubs can participate.

When I myself heard about the food drive from Oscar McBride, I wanted to learn more about it, and I hope through some word of mouth and elbow grease we can get this project moving in communities all across the nation. Would you like to get involved personally, or get your local club involved? Please contact Lou’s Lads representative Randy Kinder at: rkinder1@gmail.com, or Joe Delaney from the ND Club of Staten Island, jodelaney@deloitteretired.com.

Want to learn more about B.O.L.D.? Keep reading!

Inspiration

In the spring of 1992, Father Malloy, President of the University of Notre Dame asked each Notre Dame Alumni Club across America to give a “gift” to their local community in the name of Notre Dame, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the University.

The University of Notre Dame Alumni Club of Staten Island decided that a food drive, to be held in the spring of 1992, would be their “gift” to the Staten Island community as requested by Father Malloy.

The club called their springtime food drive the “Bread of Life Food Drive” and the food drive provided 5,000 items of food, collected from seven schools, and distributed to three local Staten Island not-for-profit organizations who served the hungry, homeless and families in need.

Feeling very proud of their accomplishment, the Staten Island club thought this would be a one-time event. However, each of the three recipient organizations thanked the club for their donation of food and told the Bread of Life organizers they had never received food donations in the spring time. It seemed that only Thanksgiving and Christmas were times when food drives were held to support these not-for-profits.

So, inspired by this revelation from the not-for-profits, and with a little inspiration from the Holy Spirit, the Notre Dame Club of Staten Island decided to hold a second spring food drive in 1993, and increased the number of donor schools, recipient organizations and total items of food collected. And thus, eventually became the “Bread of Life Food Drive,” now in its 22nd year of operation. In the spring of 2013, the Bread of Life Food Drive consisted of 125 schools, who donated 80,000 items of food to be distributed to 25 not-for-profit organizations on Staten Island that continue to serve the hungry, homeless and families in need.

 Key Partnerships

There are three key partnerships that make B.O.L.D successful.

1. Notre Dame Clubs

There are more than 220 domestic Notre Dame Clubs throughout the country embracing the mission of Our Lady’s University to promote Camaraderie, Catholic Spirituality, Current Students, Community Service, Continuing Education and Communications. (The 6 C’s.) Notre Dame clubs have conducted various types of food drives depending on the needs of local partners, needs of the community or the historic evolvement of local circumstances. Food drives can be very small (one school, one church, etc.) or expanded up to and including numerous schools and/or other partners.

2. Lou’s Lads Foundation, Inc.

In 2008, Lou’s Lad Foundation (LLF), a 501(c)(3) corporation, was formed in dedication to preserve and support the legacy of Lou Holtz and his players. The foundation has established a platform to provide financial assistance for the educational needs of underprivileged students and legacies as well as to support charitable and educational activities and organizations within the communities of its members.

LLF is comprised of each member of the Notre Dame Football team during any season coached by Lou Holtz between 1986 and 1996 and whose name was included on an official roster of Notre Dame. LLF included senior football managers from each one of those teams as well.

Coach Holtz and his players are dedicated to the unconditional support of Our Lady’s University and the underlying mission of the 6 Cs. As with most alumni(ae), Lou’s Lads are excited about engagement with Notre Dame and wish to extend their outreach programs under the banner of the Golden Dome. In this regard, Lou’s Lads Executive Board has approved a partnering relationship with the Bread of Life Food Drive as it is promoted through various Notre Dame Clubs across America.

3. Food Bank Networks

There are food bank networks in most cities of significant size. These food banks are sometimes referred to as food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, etc. For our purpose, we will refer to the term “food bank” as distribution centers for community food programs.

Notre Dame Clubs can select a local food bank of their affiliated choice or one of the food banks with Feeding America, the country’s largest network which is led by Matt Knott, ND ’92. Feeding America www.feedingamerica.com is one of our key partners with more than 200 members in most major cities. A key benefit is that food shortages at one food bank are supplemented from another with their overstock. Concerning disaster relief food drives, donated items can be delivered to a local food bank affiliated with Feeding America, and the relief goods will be transported by other volunteers to disaster destination(s).

***

So … are you ready to get involved? Start small … start big … just get started! Want to learn how you can get a Bread of Life Food Drive organized within your community or local Notre Dame Alumni Club? Please contact Lou’s Lads representative Randy Kinder at: rkinder1@gmail.com, or Joe Delaney from the ND Club of Staten Island, jodelaney@deloitteretired.com and let them help you get started!

If the Staten Island club distributed 80,000 items of food in 2013, just think of what we can do on a nationwide scale!

Cheers & GO IRISH!

The post Support Lou’s Lads and B.O.L.D. appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Notre Dame Football, when your cleats hit the cushion … (Featured photo: John Mersitis/Landov)

We’ve all read about the favorite experiences of Notre Dame scholarship student-athletes. The famous “Play Like a Champion Today” sign and the rituals of touching it on your way out of the locker room. The first time running out of the tunnel and into Notre Dame Stadium. That moment when your cleats hit the cushion and you look up to see the thousands of cheering fans. We’ve heard lots of stories about top players coming in and loving these moments, but what about those other guys that put in the blood, sweat, and tears – the walk-ons — are they welcomed? Are they treated like outcasts? Are they embraced and supported to share those great experiences in the same manner, or are they shunned? Take a walk with me along the journey of one such Notre Dame football walk-on, Tim Klusas.

Q: Where are did you grow up? And at what point did you become interested in attending and possibly playing football at Notre Dame?

A: “We moved around a lot as I was growing up as my dad’s career in corporate finance advanced. I lived in Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana, and New Jersey, with Indianapolis, Indiana, being my final stop and the place where I finished high school. Notre Dame was always a school that I wanted to attend. When I was in high school my parents told me if I got into Notre Dame – don’t even think about it – just go.    Go anywhere you want, they said, but if you want us to visit and if you want to come home during the holidays, go to Notre Dame.”

“I was an all-conference and honorable mention all-state football player in high school, but I wasn’t getting any attention from schools like Notre Dame. I was recruited by several local non-Division I  schools such as Wabash College, DePauw University, Butler University and Earlham College in addition to the Ivies. I also received some preliminary  interest from some Division I schools such as the Air Force Academy and Stanford University. However, I don’t really think they were looking at me for my football talents but more so because I would meet their academic requirements. I was pretty serious about the Air Force Academy, but once I got accepted by Notre Dame I stopped pursuing the Academy. In order to attend the Air Force Academy you must have a letter of recommendation from your congressman and I didn’t want to take that recommendation away from someone else in my district if I was pretty sure I was going to attend Notre Dame.”

Q: Were you offered football scholarships to other schools? What made you attend Notre Dame over one of these other schools?

A: “While I had some indications for  scholarship opportunities from some of the  schools which were looking at me, in the end a degree from Notre Dame was a much more attractive proposition for me. I decided I’d rather take the risk of going to Notre Dame and trying to be a walk-on for their football team and graduate with a degree from ND than go elsewhere to be a starter on the football team.”

Q: What was it like being a Notre Dame football walk-on during the early 90s? Can you walk us through the process of trying to become a walk-on? Did you know how hard it would be to make the team?

If you enjoy these “Where are they now?” pieces, please check out my new book: “Echoes From the End Zone: The Men We Became.” I will also be signing books this weekend at the Shamrock Series Luncheon on Friday with Tim Brown and Rick Mirer. Tickets still available!

A: “I wanted to come on as a kicker in the fall, and so I went on a one day tryout at the beginning of my freshman year, but they already had a lot of kickers and so I was told to stay in shape and come back for winter conditioning and try out again in the spring. I did my best to stay in shape and participated in winter conditioning with the team which consists of running and conditioning drills, but of course no ball work with the football. Then after doing that all winter we had spring practice and that is when I got another tryout. In high school I was a kicker, defensive lineman, and a running back. I talked to the running backs coach and he encouraged me to try out as a running back instead of as a kicker as I had previously done in the fall. Of course he was very clear about not making any promises.  I went through spring practice with the team which was a remarkable experience. It was great to be with people who you had previously seen play football on television and now you’re right next to them, playing alongside and against them. Even though I was outmatched as far as size, speed, and strength, I made the team as a walk-on running back. I really don’t know why they kept me on the team. I guess because I kept showing up for practice day in and day out while others were dropping off. I’m sure the coaches were thinking ‘maybe someone forgot to talk to him – he’s back again!’” (laughs)

“My sophomore year I was in the backfield with Jerome Bettis and Reggie Brooks. My junior year, the incoming freshman included Randy Kinder, Marc Edwards and Robert Farmer.  They were all players of the year from their respective hometowns and states. It was an honor for me to be able to have a chance to play with that caliber of football players and people.”

“I think athletes come to Notre Dame to compete  with the best of the best.”

“I was on the scout team which lined up as the opposing team against our defensive starters. I can tell you from firsthand experience how great the talent was on the defensive side of the ball. Demetrius DuBose, Junior Bryant, Bryant Young, Pete Bercich. When you are a walk-on and you’re trying to hit the hole and you see Demetrius take six steps toward you with the ball before you even take two toward the hole, it’s scary – he had amazing talent.”

Q: Did your coaches make you feel like a walk-on?

A: “Maybe some of the other position coaches who were focused on their position players, but not mine. Coach Holtz also made everyone feel as if they were not only important to the well-being of the team but also a direct contributor towards the outcome of the game. As a player I was an inconsequential part of the team yet Coach Holtz made me feel like I needed to watch game film and make sure I was prepared in case the ‘six guys ahead of me’ couldn’t dress for the game.”

“I was one of the few walk-ons that traveled with the team and dressed for the away games. I got the ball a few times at the end of a game to run out the clock.  I was told whatever happens, don’t fumble, don’t run out-of-bounds (stops the clock), and I had better not fumble.  I never wanted to miss a practice for any reason because I was a walk-on who traveled with the team, and I wanted to do everything in my power to retain that privilege!”

“Coach Holtz knew who each and every one of us was, myself included. He would always take a one-on-one meeting with me, even on short notice. I could never give him enough  credit for what I learned as a player. He comes off as such an entertaining guy and many people mistake his sense of humor for being aloof at times, but Coach Holtz knew every detail of every play. If your foot was angled the wrong way, he knew it and pointed it out. If your split (distance between you and the person lined up next to you) was three inches off, he knew it and would have a ruler provided on the practice field to measure your splits. Sometimes if you were right you actually got the benefit of having a measurement.  I took away many things from Coach Holtz. He made me feel important and that is why I tried to give as much effort as I could. I learned how powerful it was to  engage people and make them realize they  determine success or failure in any  process.”

“Coach Holtz had his three standard questions. Can I trust you? Are you committed to excellence? Do you care about me? We try to use these questions as fundamental parts of evaluating people in our business every day.”

Q: Did the other players treat you differently because you were a walk-on?

A: “Not really, the other players were great. They were gracious to me in making me feel like you were an integral part of the team. I don’t remember anyone  really caring who was on scholarship and who wasn’t. What I appreciate is here you have a group of 18-22 year old young men. They are thinking about a million other things that they’d rather be doing other than being at practice having coaches scream at them and point out their mistakes. They are black, white, Hispanic, Catholic, not Catholic. We could not have been more different but we were all part of the team and we were a cohesive unit. We were all focused on becoming the best team that we could be, on winning games and living up to the high standard that placed upon us by the privilege of playing at Notre Dame. Play smart, play tough, and give your best effort.”

“Even my fellow running backs, we were all there to help each other out. It was a well-functioning team. It makes you aspire to  be part of something like that again. There was so little fighting, no politics even though we spent many hours together, and everyone was supportive both on and off the field. Whether you were having trouble with a class or a certain subject, there was always someone there to help you. There was always someone there supporting you… and later in life, can you make an introduction for me? Can you put in the good word for me? You appreciate that much more the further you get away from it.”

Q: What is your favorite Coach Holtz story or moment?

A: “I missed one practice – one – – during the time I was on the team because I suffered  a hamstring injury. Coach Holtz walked up behind me, didn’t stop, didn’t even look up from the ground, and said, ‘I didn’t think you were fast enough to pull a hamstring’ And just walked off like that.  That was the one and only practice that I missed during my playing time at ND.”

“Coach Holtz used to always tell me, ‘I always liked you — you’re one of the few guys I can look in the eye when I talk to you.’ (He said he had to look up to everyone else).”

“My favorite Lou Holtz experiences though occurred during the 1993 season. The Florida State game, the whole outcome at the end of the season, he really taught us about dealing with both success and failure.”

“Two weeks before we played FSU we played Navy in Philadelphia. We were heavy favorites in that game. Navy was up at halftime. In his halftime speech Coach Holtz said to us, ‘we’ve got to be more focused. Just do your job and it will take care of itself.’ We went out and beat  Navy decisively in the second half.”

“We had a bye, so the two weeks of  preparation for the FSU game was Coach Holtz at his  best. He was Dr. Psychology. It started in the locker room after the Navy game in Philadelphia with ‘they are the best team ever’.  He continued when we got back to ND, ‘they are so good and we are just OK at best. I don’t know how we are going to even come close to playing with these guys – let alone win.’ Then on Monday (ten days before the game) we look at film and he says, ‘There is no way we can play with these guys, but there are a couple of things we can do so maybe we won’t get embarrassed on our home field.’ Then on Tuesday he says, ‘Well, we had a good practice today and maybe we can keep this game close.’ On Wednesday he says, ‘We had another good practice today and I think we might, might, have a really, really  long shot at winning this game in the second half.’ Of course we are all wondering what he is seeing to change his mind.  By the time we get to the weekend before the game he says, ‘Wow, I think we really might have a halfway decent shot at winning this.’ The week of the game, ‘We are going to win this game because we are going to play our game, and when such and such happens they are going to react in such and such  way that they are not accustomed to reacting.’”

“William Floyd was the fullback for FSU, so during the practices in preparation for the FSU game I was to be playing ‘as’ William Floyd. I had to watch all of the film and be able to stand just the way he stood for each different play that he made. I did everything I could to prepare my teammates for every play they would see from Floyd. A couple of times they ran a play in the game that our defense recognized immediately and stuffed. This was what Coach Holtz did: prepare us for every facet of the game.”

“Coach Holtz had a knack for telling us exactly what was going to happen in a game, and sure enough it would. In preparation for the FSU game he told us, ‘They are going to come out and score on us really quickly but then this is what going to happen next.’ And that is exactly what happened. They didn’t know quite how to handle us as the game wore on and that is exactly what Holtz said would happen.”

“Coach Holtz had what he called “The Plan.’ Getting us ready for FSU the day before the game he told us, ‘Follow the Plan, the Plan is infallible.  We’re not going to turn over the ball, we are going to hit them harder than they hit us, and this is how we are going to beat them because we follow the plan.’ Of course we had all bought in and the Plan had gotten us this far.  Then he told us, ‘I have a confession.  (Dead silence)  I’ve known Bobby Bowden (FSU Coach) for a long time and once when w were both young,  struggling coaches Bobby called me for some advice….and I gave him The Plan.’ We all gasp. How are we going to win if Coach Holtz game him ‘The Plan.’?  This is terrible! We were so close!  Then Coach Holtz continues, , ‘but I just want you to know I only gave him half of The Plan… so that’s why we are going to win.’  It was like a wave of confidence crested.”

“The week following FSU we played Boston College and lost in the final seconds of the game. We were a sure bet to win the national championship by defeating Boston College and then winning our Bowl game, but not after the loss. After the game, everyone was in the locker room sobbing and looking distraught, because we knew a National Championship was a long shot. Here comes Coach Holtz. Instead of telling us that it was going to be okay he said, ‘you should feel how bad this feels. It hurts. It should hurt. It hurts me, it hurts you.  This is what it’s like when you come up short. You remember this. You remember this after football, after Notre Dame, this is what coming up short feels like… and it hurts. When you get a chance to finish something, you finish it.’  Here we are at a massive disappointment at the pinnacle of our lives to this point and Coach Holtz is telling us that we will go on and do great things because of this.”

“Every time you think ‘I can do a little bit more to prepare,’ do it.”

Q: Had you heard of Rudy before you attended ND? Are you here because of Rudy or in spite of Rudy?

A: “I had not heard of Rudy when I was looking at Notre Dame. They actually filmed the movie while I was a student. Rudy and I do actually have a lot in common (Rudy is from Joliet, Illinois which is where I was born) — and Rudy says we are both good looking guys!” (laughs)

Q: Where has your career taken you since your time at Notre Dame?

Timothy Klusas

A: “After I graduated from ND I worked at a bank doing the credit analysis for commercial loans and developed relationships between the bank and small business owners. Then I went on to become a lender making loans to small business owners. It was a great job. I got to be their confidant and their advisor, not just their lender. Then I went back to school to get my MBA from Cornell University to gain the tools and knowledge to be able to get even more involved with entrepreneurs and small business owners. After my MBA, I worked at a global manufacturing company, Eaton Corporation, working on projects from corporate strategy to divestitures and acquisitions.  I was working at Eaton when I was contacted about The Marketing Alliance opportunity, to be the President/CEO.  The Marketing Alliance (TMA) was a chance for me to work again with business owners and entrepreneurs  through a company that distributes life insurance products.”

“I love working with small business owners. I think my Notre Dame experience plays into that … business owners want you to be more than just a vendor, they need to know you are invested in their success. During the interview process, when we  (The Marketing Alliance) discussed my background and how I benefited from playing football at ND as a walk-on, I’m sure they took one look at me and thought, ‘You must be some kind of overachiever. If you can hang in there and do that, you will be fine!’ Our market capitalization has increased by almost ten times since then, and we currently have around 70 employees. Besides insurance distribution, we have two other businesses. The first is an agricultural terrace and tiling business (Empire Construction) in Iowa. We go into farm fields and build underground drainage systems out of plastic tiling which extends the farming seasons and increases the yield of the crop on that farm land. It also reduces soil erosion and maximizes the acreage that can be farmed. The service pays for itself in relatively few years through better yields and more tillable acres. The third business is two franchised locations of a children’s entertainment business.”

Life for Tim Klusas is not dull, that is for sure!

Q: What was your biggest challenge as a Notre Dame student-athlete? How did Notre Dame prepare you for life after college?

A: “Being able to balance the demands of academics and athletics at ND really prepared me for life after college. You knew on the athletic field you were competing with the best of the best which took all of your time. Then you had to walk into the classroom and compete with the best of the best there as well. You knew your peers in the classroom had more time and more energy because they didn’t have the stuff beat out of them every day at practice like you did. I tried to be extremely focused to keep up. When I was doing football, I did football. When I was preparing for a test, I was studying. Time is finite. You have to be extremely focused and organized when you are a student-athlete at a place like Notre Dame. In my freshman English class my professor asked, ‘how many of you were valedictorians?’ and it seemed like half of the class raised their hands. I thought, ‘whew, only half’.  Then he asked, ‘how many of you were salutatorians?’ and it looked like the other half of the class raised their hands. And I’m sitting there thinking, ‘oh great.’ Life is not fair. As a student-athlete, sometimes you couldn’t go to every review session for exams because you were at practice, or you were exhausted because you had just flown the red-eye home from the West Coast. Everyone has challenges.”

“I struggled — it was hard. I did a much better job with my studies in graduate school then I did as an undergrad because I could dedicate all of my time and energy to academic life. I was much more prepared and focused while getting my MBA at Cornell.”

“At ND you just knew you were getting the best of the best in everything you did. Both on and off the field.”

Q: What advice would you give current student athletes?

A: “It’s hard to imagine giving advice but I would say, embrace the fact that you are among the best of the best at what you do. It’s okay to fail as long as you learn something from it. Keep your options open and enjoy it because your college years as a student athlete  comprise a unique experience and you will gain skills you will use for the rest of your life. You will draw from it for years and years afterwards. Succeeding, failing, preparing for the relationships you make working with others to accomplish a common goal. Embrace these moment because you will truly draw on it for years to come and I think it puts you at a definite advantage over others who have not had those experiences.”

Tim currently lives in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife Beth and their three daughters. You can find out more about Tim’s business ventures at: The Marketing Alliance, Empire Construction and Trenching and Monkey Joe’s.

I’d like to give a big thank you to Tim for stopping by the blog. It was an absolute pleasure to walk through his journey with him. Stay tuned for many more great stories in the “Where are they now?” series!

If you enjoy these “Where are they now?” pieces, please check out my new book: “Echoes From the End Zone: The Men We Became.” I will also be signing books this weekend at the Shamrock Series Luncheon on Friday with Tim Brown and Rick Mirer. Tickets still available here.

Cheers!

The post Where Are They Now? Timothy Klusas appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Q: Growing up in East Lansing, Michigan, in the heart of Spartan country, how did you become interested in playing football for the University of Notre Dame?

A: “As a kid growing up I had no knowledge of Notre Dame and I was not a huge college football fan. I was born in Washington, DC and when we moved to Michigan when I was five years old I brought my Redskin fandom with me. As I got to middle school I became a Spartan fan. Everyone around me knew the Spartan fight song. My mother went to graduate school at Michigan State and worked at the university for a while, and we lived just a mile from campus — it was very present in our lives. When I realized I was pretty good at football I started to pay attention to other schools. I knew of Notre Dame but was not really interested. I was shocked when I found out it was only two and a half hours away. I never thought it was a possibility for me to play somewhere like Notre Dame until the recruiting process began. I went down to Notre Dame for the Michigan game when Reggie Brooks scored the unconscious touchdown and I thought to myself, this is the coolest place ever. That was a huge deal for me, when I saw that play. If you grow up a Michigan State fan, you hate the Wolverines. It was awesome to see a running back give their all like that and just fall into the end zone.”

Randy Kinder, Notre Dame running back.

“I remember the Cotton Bowl game in January of 1993 against Texas A&M. Jerome Bettis scored a touchdown on a Rick Mirer pass late in the third quarter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43J-4dchKCo After he scored he got into somewhat of an altercation with a few of the A&M players in the end zone. When he got to the side lines you could see Coach Mosley talking to him, telling him that he needed to chill out. After the coach was done talking to Bettis the camera was still on Jerome and you could then see him mouth, “I still got six.” I wanted to be on the team with that guy.”

“I also got to attend the ND football banquet where I had the chance to see the caliber of guys who were leaving: Rick Mirer, Devon McDonald, Demetrius Dubose — and I got to meet some guys that I would be playing with, including Derrick Mayes who was my host and would later be my roommate. He was the best salesman for Notre Dame. It was a typical snowy South Bend weekend when I was there, but the weather did not scare me being from East Lansing. I absolutely fell in love with the guys on the team and the coaching staff (Tom Clements and Skip Holtz). I went to all of the functions that weekend and then the last person I met with was a one-on-one meeting with Lou Holtz. He asked me if I wanted to be a part of “this” (Notre Dame) and I gave him my verbal commitment right then and there.”

“Outside of a short flirtation with Stanford, I never really wavered in my interest of attending Notre Dame. I knew after that weekend that Notre Dame was where I wanted to be.”

“I took official visits to Michigan, Michigan State, Boston College, Stanford, and Notre Dame. My parents had given me an “approved list” to choose from. They wanted to be sure that academics came first and football second. Michigan State had an excellent Public Policy program and the academics at Stanford were fantastic. The schools I was looking at had some excellent football coaches as well…Bill Walsh at Stanford, Tom Coughlin at Boston College, and George Perles at MSU. I really could not have gone wrong at any of those places.”

“My weekend at Notre Dame was not a weekend of wining and dining. It was a real weekend. There was not a lot of pomp and circumstance. I had the chance to spend time in the dorm and get to know the students. It gave me a great feel for what the place was really like. My parents really enjoyed it as well and were happy that it was only a couple of hours from home. Notre Dame pretty much checked off every box that we had made as a family before hand and it did so with flying colors. I felt honored that Notre Dame was even considering me.”

Q: What is your best Notre Dame football memory?

A: “My freshman class was a top-ranked recruiting class. We had such names as Ron Powlus, Bertrand Berry, and Marc Edwards. The freshman football players arrive on campus five days before the rest of the team comes in and have a freshman orientation. We really came in as a cohesive unit. We had such pride in each other and were very excited to be a part of this thing called Notre Dame football. The camaraderie that we built those five days was incredible. We were so happy, so excited. We all knew we were going to at least attempt to accomplish great things during our time at Notre Dame. That feeling alone is one of my best Notre Dame football memories.”

“As far as on-the-field memories go, the win over Florida State my freshman year was amazing. To go into that game as an underdog and come out on top was a great feeling for us. For me personally, the comeback over Purdue late in my junior year was a huge accomplishment. I scored the winning touchdown in the final minutes of the game (Randy Kinder’s 52-yard touchdown run put down a strong Purdue rally in a 1995 35-28 thriller.). All the trips we took, Air Force, BYU, the trip to Ireland my senior year, we had so much fun as a unit traveling together, getting to visit places we’d never been before. It was a huge part of the experience of playing Notre Dame football.”

“There are some guys who remember every single detail of every play. I am the kind of guy that when the play turns on, my memory turns off. During that Purdue comeback, I remember that Purdue had just scored the go ahead touchdown on a turnover, and when we got the ball back I remember Ron Powlus coming into the huddle and telling us, “We’ve got to get this game back. Let’s do this right now.” And on the next play we ran I scored the winning touchdown and we took the game back.”

Q: Can you talk about the big hit during the Texas/ND game in 1996?

Bryant Westbrook puts a vicious hit on Notre Dame’s Randy Kinder, 1996.

A: “It’s funny, I have a much younger brother who is in high school right now. I was on his Facebook page not too long ago and his buddies were giving him a hard time about the big hit I took during that Texas game in 1996.
Any time someone new comes into my office, the first thing my boss does is rushes them over to the computer to show them the play.”

“But my only thought is this: we won the game.”

“If you look at the play, for years and years people have said to me, ‘Aww man, you must have been mad at Ron (Powlus) because he hung you out to dry.’ A couple of years ago Malcolm Johnson sent me an apologetic email saying that he was supposed to block Bryant Westbrook on that play.”

“When I went to the NFL combine Bryant was there as well. He ended up getting drafted in the first round by the Detroit Lions. We ran into each other at the combine and just cracked up laughing. I told him ‘You’re welcome” because that play was run so many times on ESPN that it probably helped catapult him into his NFL career.”

“I don’t have an active memory of that play. I was pretty much done after it. I went in for one more play. A play that I had nothing to do on, but I knew my mother was watching the game on TV in East Lansing and I was sure she was thinking that her son had died so I wanted to make sure she could see that I was okay. I knew it was bad when on the flight home they kept telling me, ‘you should probably stay awake for a while. No sleeping on the plane.’”

Q: What was your biggest challenge as a Notre Dame student-athlete?

Notre Dame running back, Randy Kinder

A: “Keeping my focus. It is so hard to stay focused and you don’t realize it until you are in a situation which requires focus. To be able to remember, as Lou Holtz always said to us, ‘WIN — What’s Important Now?” What is the most important thing to do first and what gets you to your goal.”

“It’s the first time you are away from home. There are so many distractions outside of football and school, it is easy to lose your direction and get knocked off your path. I got caught up with things that had nothing to do with what my goals were or what should have been my priority. It led to off-the-field issues with student affairs that were unnecessary and mistakes, but they could have been completely avoided. They came from a lack of focus. In the classroom I had the same issue. I loved school. I was not a great student but I always loved school.”

“There are so many demands on you and it’s so easy to let something fall by the wayside. I did not manage my time well at Notre Dame. What I can say now is that through all that I experienced as a student at Notre Dame I have learned a great deal and am much more organized and efficient as an adult.”

“I think about Tim Ruddy. He had over a 4.0 grade point average, was the starting center and was a high NFL draft pick. He was a brilliant guy, a good guy who didn’t suffer on the personal side of things. We should celebrate student-athletes such as that. There are so many ways to take short cuts in life. Any time I hear about student-athletes who make Academic All-American, I think we should do more to recognize those students. We should provide more services to the student-athletes to help them better manage their time and their lives. The more we do to help student-athletes early on, the better.”

“When we arrived at ND staff from the student affairs and counseling offices would meet with us and explain, ‘You’re about to face a lot of demands on your time,’ but we had no idea what was really about to happen. I was so invested in football practice I just blew off the academics. There is so much we can accomplish in college, it’s a shame when a student does not take full advantage of all that is offered. I feel bad that I did not take advantage, academically, of all the things that Notre Dame had to offer.”

“When the university hired Reggie Brooks to be the liaison between the alumni football players and the current football players it sent a huge message to the rest of us. Many of us were disappointed in the way that Coach Willingham had been dismissed and had lost our connection with the university. Coach Holtz had a reunion with us somewhere around 2005, and as we were sitting there in South Dining Hall he reminded us that we own this university, through the blood, sweat, and tears that we put into it; and that we all needed to be active participants in it and not hold on to the bitterness.”

“This message from Coach Holtz along with the hiring of Reggie Brooks (one of us) helped show us that the University was not only interested in reestablishing a relationship with her football alumni but was also interested in getting us involved in mentoring current student-athletes. To get us to come back and help make the University what we want it to be. Reggie’s hiring was instrumental in making that happen.”

“As a student-athlete, you need to have a place where you can go and get some real advice on how to deal with what you are experiencing, from someone who has already experienced it. To have trusted people who you can get advice from. This is what Notre Dame is doing today.”

Q: How do you remember your NFL draft?

A: “I sat at home with my family and we watched both days of the draft. There was some wishful thinking on my part that I’d get picked somewhere in the middle rounds but it didn’t happen. I did get calls from several teams who expressed interest in drafting me and told me that if I did not get drafted that I would get invitations to camp.”

Stay tuned for more in the “Where are they now?” series!

“Ron Wolf, the general manager of the Green Bay Packers called me in the middle rounds of the draft and said, ‘We like you and we have a plan for you.’ He explained to me that they were very interested but were not sure that they wanted to keep me in the running back position, but possibly move me to defense. He was quite a legend, so getting that call meant a tremendous amount to me. Shortly after the draft I received calls from several teams inviting me to their training camps. Mr. Wolf called me again wanting me to come to camp, and there were three other Domers already on the team (Aaron Taylor, Craig Hentrich and Derrick Mayes) so it was a great fit for me. I was very familiar with the team, and they were coming off a Super Bowl win which made them very attractive. Green Bay has a college town feel to it which I liked. They wanted me and they had a plan for me, and so I went up to Green Bay and signed with them.”

“They decided that they wanted to switch me to defense back and I agreed because I wanted to be a part of their organization. They had done it successfully with several other guys, so it seemed like a great opportunity for me. I would spend a year or two on the practice squad and then I’d have the opportunity to join the 53 man roster. After the first game of the season Craig Newsome, their starting cornerback, tore up his knee and so they bumped everyone up on the depth chart. Suddenly I was the sixth corner and was added to the active special teams unit. This gave me a chance to learn more about the system and they’d have the ability to move me back to the practice squad if needed.”

“In my very first game (which was week two of the season), on my very first play, I was one of the gunners running down field towards the kicker. As I got down there I was completely in the zone. I was running full speed ahead and when the punt returner sees me coming he throws up the fair catch signal. I tried to change up my momentum but by that point I was already too close and I ended up slide tackling into him. I headed over to the sideline, sure that I was going to be cut or sent home, but they were totally great with me. ‘Randy, we love your enthusiasm, but don’t do that again.’”

“I played a lot of special teams in Green Bay. In November of that season I was moved back to the practice squad and was then picked up by the Philadelphia Eagles. This was great for me because my Dad was from Philadelphia and my grandparents lived there and were able to come to every game, along with my cousins and Uncle and Aunt. I spent the offseason in Philly and then was cut at the end of the following training camp, and aside from a short offseason stint with the Indianapolis Colts that was the official end of my NFL career. I could have gone and played in Europe or Canada, but I decided not to pursue that and to begin the next chapter of my life instead.

“I can’t complain at all. I got to play with Reggie White and Brett Favre, two of my childhood role models, and a lot of my childhood dreams came true. It was a wonderful opportunity/experience for me.”

Q: Where did life take you after football?

A: “After my time with the Eagles I lived in Chicago for a bit but eventually settled in Washington, DC with my wife. I work with a company called the AFL-CIO Investment Trust Corporation. I work in marketing and investor relations for a series of funds that invest union pension dollars into commercial real estate and into the stock market. Our whole main idea is to use union pension dollars to create jobs and a secure retirement for our workers. In our commercial real estate fund, if we build anything, it is built with union workers. And if we own buildings, they are serviced by union workers.”

“There is a big industry conference that I go to every year for union trustees, the International Foundation, and a few years back it was in New Orleans and Lou Holtz was the guest speaker. Within ten minutes of the big announcement that Coach Holtz was going to be the speaker I already had several emails from colleagues, ‘can you introduce me to Coach Holtz?’ So I sent an email to Coach Holtz’ secretary, Jan, letting her know that myself and Bryan Flannery both work in the industry and that we’d love to have dinner with Coach Holtz after his speech. Almost immediately Jan emails me back saying, this is great but it’s too far off in the future. The next day I get an email from Coach Holtz, ‘Randy, whatever you and Bryan need, I will do it for you.’ And that was Coach Holtz.”

“‘Give me four years and I’ll give you forty.’”

“He was coming to the conference from Bristol, Connecticut (he had been working at ESPN headquarters) but because of a blizzard his flight out of Hartford was cancelled and so he had to drive to NYC to fly out of La Guardia. They were closing roads left and right on his route and a state trooper ended up guiding him down the road. He makes it to his flight and gets to our luncheon and could not have been more gracious. He stayed with us for 90 minutes after his speech, signed autographs, never once complaining that he had been up all night trying to get there. And for him, we were able to raise money for his foundation, Lou’s Lads. Years later he is still very much a part of our lives, and we are in his as well.”

“When he arrived at the conference, the first thing he said to me was, ‘How’s your family? How are your folks? How’s your sister?’ Even years later, he still had a vested interest in your life, success and well-being.”

Q: Can you tell us more about Lou’s Lads and your involvement with this charitable foundation?

A: “Lou’s Lads is a charitable foundation set up by his players, dedicated to Coach Holtz and designed to preserve his legacy. He did so much for us, we are more than happy to give back to him through this foundation. We based the foundation on the same idea as Leahy’s Lads. Their foundation started out mainly as a way for them to stay together — to get back to campus and stay in touch. We started not only with this concept but directly with the idea of doing charitable work and giving back to the students. We wanted to not only take care of each other, but to give back as well.”

Our Mission: Lou’s Lads Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to preserving and supporting the legacy of Coach Lou Holtz and his players while providing a platform to provide financial assistance for the educational needs of underprivileged students and legacies as well as support charitable and educational activities and organizations within the communities of its members.

“I have been involved in a project that the foundation is supporting in Haiti. http://haiti.nd.edu/
Reggie Fleurima, Jeff Burris, Brian Hamilton, and I made the trip to visit the ND Haiti program to see how we could use our influence to help an existing program at the school. We had been introduced to the program through Brian Hamilton and it’s director Father Thomas Streit and we got a chance to see firsthand the amazing work they are doing down there.”

“There is so much work to be done in Haiti you have to force yourself to be extremely focused. The Notre Dame Haiti Program, founded in 1993, seeks to achieve the historic goal of eliminating Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) in Haiti by 2020. In an area where there are issues with clean water, the disease is spread through mosquito bites. The disease is the second leading cause of long-term disfigurement and disability worldwide, which primarily presents itself as elephantiasis. The social stigma associated with the disease is often as bad as the disfigurement itself. Once you contract the disease it is not reversible, however it is possible to eliminate it through mass drug administration and the distribution of co-fortified salt. What the Notre Dame program is trying to do is get the medicine to the people. Haiti is one of the few countries that does not have an iodized salt program, so they decided why not put the medicine along with the iodine into the salt and you’re killing two birds with one stone.”

“The work that Notre Dame is doing is remarkable, and once successful in Haiti they hope to use their model in other developing nations.”

“After we had a chance to see the work that Notre Dame is doing in Haiti firsthand, we are now trying to figure out how we can be ambassadors for the program and get Lou’s Lads behind it. The potential of what we can do is limitless. I am very excited about what lies ahead.”

Q: What advice would you give current student athletes?

A: “It is important that young people are able to focus in on, as Coach Holtz says, “what’s important now,” but I think in order for these young men to get the fullest out of their experience in college they have to make it a priority that they get the most out of each part of their collegiate life. They need to make sure they don’t sacrifice one for another. Football is important, but it’s just one facet of college life. The opportunity that you get to attend a university such as Notre Dame goes way beyond just playing football. Take advantage of everything that college has to offer, the services, faculty, fellow students. I did not take advantage of all that Notre Dame had to offer when I was a student.”

“In college you are becoming the person that you are going to be in the future. Student-athletes need to really explore that in their personal lives — to meet other people and to figure out what kind of person you want to become. If you put one of the facets of college life aside, if you let any one of these fall by the wayside, you’ll know it and regret it later on.”

“The only person you hurt by not taking advantage of all that college has to offer is yourself.”

Q: What is your favorite Lou Holtz memory?

Randy Kinder and Coach Holtz at a Lou’s Lads event in Chicago.

A: “Coach Holtz had this way of breaking you down so that he could build you back up. He was a psychology major in college and he used every ounce of that degree in coaching. My freshman year he had me convinced that I was the dumbest player that he ever recruited from the state of Michigan. We had worked on my stance and it was still a half-inch off and he kept yelling at me — why could I not get it right?”

“Then one of the upperclassmen Pete Chryplewicz told me not to worry, that he was the dumbest player recruited out of the state of Michigan the previous year.”

“My favorite Coach Holtz story happened the week before the Florida State game in 1993. It was the Wednesday prior to the game and I don’t think one pundit had picked us to win. They were this gargantuan power and we were the lowly guys who should not even be on the same field as them, with a quarterback who did not even come close to competing with their amazing Charlie Ward.”

“Coach Holtz called us in to the defensive meeting room in the ACC. He then started going through our team, player by player, down the starting lineup and compared each one of our guys with Florida State’s corresponding player. He explained why Florida State had no business being on the field with *us* and how our players were more talented than each one of their players. It was the best psychological exercise I’d ever seen. It was so clear to us. I think every one of us walked out of that meeting convinced that we had already won the game and that we didn’t even need to play it. We knew that we could beat them and that we would beat them.”

“We meditated before every game. Coach Holtz was big on making sure you were in the right mental space before taking the field to play the game. The power of your mental psyche over what you can do physically is amazing. It’s like flipping on a switch in your head.”

“At that meeting before the Florida State game I saw really how good he was as a coach.”

I’d like to give a big thank you to Randy for stopping by the blog. It was an absolute pleasure to walk through his journey with him. Stay tuned for many more great stories in the “Where are they now?” series! If you enjoy this series, you can also read more stories in my new book, “Echoes From the End Zone: The Men We Became” available for purchase on August 1st.

Cheers!

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