The greatest leaders have an ability to connect with people on an emotional level. Dave Schultz had a magnetic personality that drew people to him. His energy and carefree spirit had a way of infecting everyone around him. Schultzy could take a bad situation and turn it into an awesome memory.

Such an event happened my senior year in college. We had just finished wrestling the Las Vegas Invitation and our nonstop flight from Vegas to Chicago got cancelled. We in turn had to fly from Vegas to Los Angeles and then had a four hour layover before taking a red eye from LA to Chicago. As we were en route to Los Angeles I was talking with Schultzy and told him that I had never been to California and had never seen the Pacific Ocean. I also told him that over half of our team had never seen an ocean at all.

When we landed in LA, all the wrestlers crashed on the airport floor dreading the four hour
layover. Schultzy came up to the team and said, “Let’s go to the ocean boys!”

The whole team crammed into an eight passenger rental van and Schultzy drove us to the beach. Standing on the shore at 11 o’clock at night hearing the waves was awesome until I saw Schultzy peeling his clothes off. He yells, “What are you guys waiting on?”

We all stripped down to our birthday suits and sprinted towards the water. Three things I found out, and two of which I discovered right away.

One - I had no idea the Pacific Ocean was so cold (there was some serious shrinkage, luckily it was dark).

Two - The water was so salty it singed every mat burn and cut I had on my body. While shivering and walking back to our clothes I noticed an older lady on the beach watching all twelve young men getting dressed. I’m glad cell phones weren’t around then.

Looking back on my wrestling career and reflecting on my experiences as a coach I learned that relationships must be formed between the coach and athlete. Schultzy’s impact was far greater than what he did on the mat with the guys. The bond between coaches and athletes are not just formed on the mat, they are formed off the mat as well. These relationships make the athletes go to war for their coach because of their love and respect.

When Schultzy was in my chair, I felt I like I was a two-point per
match better wrestler. I had more confidence and wanted to win more because of him. I want my wrestlers to go to war for me as I did for Schultzy. This is done by building solid relationships that will last longer than a season or even a career. When done right, relationships should last a lifetime.

Oh yeah - the third thing - I had no idea a three hour flight could be so uncomfortable because I had sand in places you certainly don't want it in.


About the Author:
This is a multi-part series about Dave Schultz written by Jeff Jordan. This is article three.
Jeff is currently in his fourteenth year as head coach at Saint Paris Graham.

-14x state champs
-2x National Champs
-Owner and operator of the Jeff Jordan State Champ Wrestling Camps


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