Q and A With Head Football Coach Larry Kindbom

By Sean Wallis
Sports Information Student Assistant
Washington University in St. Louis

While most coaches are counting on their players to be dedicated in the offseason, Washington University football coach Larry Kindbom wanted to be held accountable as well. Going into his 21st season at WU, he decided he had become too content with the way things had become in his life. He set up some goals most coaches wouldn’t think of, pushing himself as hard mentally and physically as he had ever been pushed. Starting from scratch, he found it was using his players and a charity as motivation that helped him overcome the challenges he faced along the way.

Where exactly did this idea to set goals come in? What goals did you set? Following last season, I wanted to be able to approach the team like I was a new head coach coming in. I think I got too comfortable over the years so I wanted to go out and achieve something for myself, some goals of a higher nature. I wanted something that would give me some motivation and that was meeting individual challenges. The three goals I made were to lose 15 pounds, run a marathon and climb Pikes Peak.

What was the team’s reaction? I think the players thought it was pretty cool, the fact that I put myself out there and told them that I was trying to accomplish some individual goals going into the offseason. While often times it’s the coach being held accountable, their knowing what I was striving for kept me motivated. When you’re in a team situation you can’t get it done by yourself and I needed them to help me go.

There were some pretty good parallels to what you were expecting of your players going into the offseason, right? Definitely, but that wasn’t the motivation. In a way it was the same thing with me that I wanted our football team to do. To be able to say you want to do something. But then most importantly be able to back it up, go about trying to do it, without being able to know if you were really going to get it done.

How did the initial training go? As I got into the first two weeks of my running, it was apparent I wasn’t in the type of shape or possessed the motivation I thought I needed. From a daily motivation standpoint I needed to have a reason to do the work—for me it wasn’t fun, and the end wasn’t in sight. I had recruiting going on and there really wasn’t a lot of time to do the training—so it took a lot of motivation.

Where did you find the day-to-day motivation you were missing? I was reading about depression and how it affects people of all ages, but it was becoming more and more apparent in teenagers and then leading to suicide. Here at Washington University, students are facing a lot of pressure and the way they’re dealing with the pressure isn’t always the best way to go about it. I did some research and came across The Jason Foundation, which deals directly with teenage suicide and depression. I decided then for each mile I ran in training, each day I’d put a penny into a jar to make a donation for the Jason Foundation. As I did that, I told that to the players and coaches and then they’d start to put pennies in the jar.

Enough guys started putting pennies in the jar and thinking about that every day was a big deal. In March, April and May, when I was struggling, not feeling up to the challenge physically, it was a big motivation. Every mile was a penny, it isn’t much, but just getting that penny in the jar made me feel good. It would have been easier to write a check, but it was a great thing.

So how did reaching the three goals turn out for you? Well I lost 20 pounds by the time spring ball came around, and lost 30 pounds when all was said and done by the end of July. So I successfully lost the weight. I ran in a marathon in Carleton, Mich., on July 26. During mile number 21, I had a cramp from my foot all the way through my back. I walked the next mile with my leg stiff.

When I had cramps as an athlete, I was always done-- I had no chance to keep on going, so I realized I couldn’t walk six miles like that. But at one of the stations I had some Gatorade and the cramps went away. It was a miracle, that never happened before. So I finished the marathon in 4 hours and 22 minutes.

And what happened with Pike’s Peak, the last goal? Nine seniors came out to walk up with me just four days after the marathon on July 30. One of them couldn’t make it all the way to the top. Someone had to go back with him because we wouldn’t let him go alone. The other eight players there wanted to go all the way to the top. So there I was, with my last goal right in front of me—feeling good, totally motivated with my players by my side—but it was more important to have someone go down the trail with the other guy.

So I went down with him. I honestly can say I didn’t achieve the last goal, but I got more out of the decision I made to go down with him, the setting of the goals and pursuing the goals than I would have letting that one player go down alone and still climbing the Peak.

So when this season is over, will you have a new list of goals for this offseason? I’ll always have goals, from my spiritual life to family life. But it made me realize players also have these goals. Going through what I did, I know I’ll have a different way of sitting down with a player facing challenges when they don’t meet their goals. I’ll now approach it saying if you want to do something, you can get it done. And if you really want to get it done, it may not happen the exact way you want it to be or pictured it, but you can get it done.

Please visit http://www.jasonfoundation.com for more information about The Jason Foundation.