Dave Schultz Taught Me How to Coach by Jeff Jordan

I’ve been truly blessed to have known such a great man as Dave Schultz. It was the beginning of my junior year in college at the University of Wisconsin when I met my idol, hero, coach and friend. My wrestling career was at a standstill. I had made it to the NCAA’s the two previous years but did not win a match. Then Dave Schultz came into my life.

Never will I forget the first time I met Schultzy. It was the start of fall in my junior year, and I had just finished lifting at the stadium and I went to get a sandwich at Jingles Restaurant across the street. I walked in the door and there were two people standing there, the owner (Jingles) and Schultzy.

I ran over to him and said, “Mr. Schultz, I am Jeff Jordan and I wrestle 150 pounds, and it’s a pleasure having you as a coach.” Schultzy said, “Hey Jordan, my name is Dave or Schultzy.” He then asked if I would wrestle him at 9:00 a.m. the next morning. That night I called all my teammates and bragged to them that I would be the first guy to wrestle Schultzy.

I was at the wrestling room at 8:30 dressed and psyched for the workout. At 9:00 a.m. the
locker room door opened. In walked a shirtless, hairy chested guy with spandex biking shorts and hiking boots on, carrying his mountain bike that he had just lugged up two flights of stairs. This guy also had chemistry experiment goggles on for eye protection. He sure did not look like an Olympic champion. I thought this guy was a band member who went to the wrong locker room.

We drilled hard for ten minutes, took a quick break, and smacked hands to go live. I then asked Schultzy the dumbest question in the world. “How long do you want to go?” He came out of his stance and said, “What?” I then repeated the dumb question again. “How long do you want to go?” Before Schultzy answered I said, “My brother Jimmy and I would go 45 minutes to an hour straight.” Schultzy looked me straight in the eye and said, “Hey Jordan, it don’t matter how long we go, we will go until we get a great workout in. I can make three minutes of going with Schultzy tougher than one hour with Jimmy Jordan.” We again smacked hands and for the next eight minutes Dave Schultz showed me what intensity was all about; he beat me unmercifully.

After the eight minute thrashing, Schultzy took his shirt, shorts, and head gear off and left the wrestling room with just a knee sleeve, wrestling shoes and speedo on. I was laying on the mat exhausted from the pounding hoping the workout was done. Five minutes later Schultzy came back in, put his shorts, shirt, and head gear on and smacked my hand and proceeded to pound me for seven more minutes. Again, he took his shorts, shirt, and head gear off and left the wrestling room. This time I prayed to the good Lord that Schultzy would not come back in to wrestle. We went three go’s that morning, eight, seven and six minutes.

Schultzy proved three things to me in twenty one minutes. Number one, he was The Man
(Olympic Champ). Number two, his position and techniques were the best. Three, it doesn’t matter how long you go, it’s how intense you go! I honestly felt like a little first grader wrestling a high school state champ. I didn’t even score a point that day and experienced extreme pain and exhaustion in that short workout.

After showering and getting dressed, Schultzy put his biking shorts, hiking boots, and goggles back on and before leaving the locker room with his bike in hand he said, “Hey, Jordan, you’re tough and you are going to be an All American this year.” Those twenty one minutes of pain and suffering that I experienced that day I would do every day just to hear those magical words. Thus began a relationship with my hero, where instantly Schultzy gained my love and respect. I am convinced those words gave me the confidence to achieve All American honors that year.


About the Author:
This is a multi-part series about Dave Schultz written by Jeff Jordan. This is article one.
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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