B
y Vince Teresi
Some scoreboards are invisible.
Kennedy High School football fans scanned the scoreboard during the 2008 season. Sometimes they liked what they saw – sometimes they didn’t.
But the Trojan football team of players and coaches also monitored another “scoreboard,” which the fans could not see.
The scoreboard reflected the progress in the “Virtue over Victory” program which head football coach Randy Traeger integrates into his football philosophy and daily practice sessions.
Traeger believes in coaching both the athlete and the person.
Off the football field, Traeger’s eyes light up just as bright as the scoreboard that records touchdowns when he talks about his players demonstrating growth in exemplary, virtuous conduct. His coaching staff works to develop both the body and spirit of their athletes through a structured program of exercise, weightlifting and balanced nutrition.
During each week of training, a specific virtue is discussed and practiced among the staff and players, such as brotherly love, charity, courage, leadership, patience, integrity, initiative, forgiveness, tolerance, wisdom, truth, empathy and thankfulness. The objective is the recognition that the spirit is more important than the body.
Traeger encourages his players to develop their muscles for the athletic arena and their values for the life arena.
“Before the season, the players were not as close in friendship as we are now and probably would never have been if it weren’t for the Virtue program,” said senior Juan Conejo. “We feel like one big, happy family.”
Moreover, Traeger realized the program helped pull team members through some difficult social situations that existed within their home, school or community.
“I am blessed with the positive changes our program has made in the lives of our players – more than the yards gained, passes thrown, tackles made, the wins and the losses,” Traeger said.
Alex Morrissey, a Kennedy High School student, said Traeger often tells him and his teammates “the journey is more important than the destination.”
So when setbacks happen on the playing field as well as in life, such as Kennedy’s star running-back being injured during pre-season, the team made the necessary adjustments.
“That really gave us a taste of life that was bitter and hard to swallow, but we had to carry on,” said teammate Morrissey. “Life throws those surprise punches and it quickly changes your perspective. We learned to accept it and move forward.”
In the spring, Traeger begins his third decade as a high school football coach. It is one of the loves of his life. But he is skillful in doing a balancing-act with other interests in his active career as a coach, as vice president of marketing for Traeger Pellet Grills and the father of seven children. He also served as mayor of Mt. Angel from l986-1997 and as a volunteer with the fire department and an ambulance driver for many years.
Traeger is a graduate of Willamette University where he was a Little All-American football player and president of Delta Tau Delta fraternity. He has been married to wife, Lynnette, for 29 years. He is a graduate of Kennedy High School where he served as an assistant football coach for 21 years. He was also the defensive coordinator at Silverton High for five years.
When Traeger was younger, he felt “invincible.” He was a high-achiever both as a student and athlete. His energy was in high gear through it all. But his health failed under the pressure of the multi-ringed “circus” within which he managed to perform simultaneously.
A hectic schedule found Traeger missing breakfast and lunch for a length of time, which lead to him being diagnosed with diabetes.
Traeger suddenly had to face the reality that if he didn’t change his course, he “might never see my son, Derek, finish playing high school football.” He didn’t want to see his life-game end up that way. That was one fourth-quarter scoreboard he could alter. He refocused his priorities and changed his life-habits – allowing more time for relaxation, exercise and family.
Traeger tries to live what he preaches. Tucked away among the business papers on his desk at Traeger Pellet Grills is the “Book of Psalms”– part of his daily reading. Much of his coaching revolves around the saying, “The coach’s job is to love his players. The player’s job is to love the other players.”
“Randy exemplifies what we want our coaches to be. The focus of his program is building responsible, caring, honest, diligent and hard-working individuals,” Kennedy athletic director Kevin Moffatt said. “He models this for our players every day. It is rare these days with how competitive our society is, to find an individual who puts all of these things above winning.
“I always know that Coach Traeger will do the right thing. On top of all that, he knows a ton about the game of football and we have had good success in his tenure here. We could not be happier with the man who is in charge of our football program.”
Aside from the numerals on the scoreboard and the season’s stat book, Coach Traeger holds one number as very special: 39.
“That is the number of players who look at each other with the eyes of a ‘brother’– and they will do so forever,” he said.
