Years ago, when my son was only 3, he and I took a father-son trip to watch Galesburg play at Rock Island in football. We went out for pizza before, and then headed to the game- a real guys’ night. Every time Rocky scored, they shot off a cannon. It was loud and it scared Allen. The problem was Rock Island scored and scored and scored. By the middle of the second quarter, Allen was a nervous wreck. We headed home early with little Allen expressing his dislike of Rock Island.
The same winter, Allen and I headed to the Rock Island boys basketball game at Thiel Gym. On the way in he expressed how he had hated going to Rock Island. I assured him that Rocky would not have brought the cannon down to Galesburg. As we walked into the gym, right in front of us, were a dozen RI students with face paint. They were big and they were loud. Allen was not happy. He turned to me and said, “I don’t like Rock Island, and I don’t like the ‘face painters.” All the way through high school, Allen referred to Rocky as “the face painters”, and maintained a dislike for them.
Coaching at Galesburg, I am not a fan of the “face painters” either. But having known Thom Sigel for 30 years, I am a fan of his. Thom has won two State Titles since he left Galesburg, and has had tremendous success.
Despite his success, he has not changed. In little ways, he is the same. He still quotes lines from his favorite 1980’s comedies and immediately laughs. In big ways, he is still the same. Despite his success, he is humble.
When I talk to Thom, he doesn’t talk about himself. We may share coaching issues we have, but I have to ask to get him to talk about any of his achievements. Unless asked, you would never know his teams have won two State Titles.
When old timers talk about the coaching legends of the WB6, the names that immediately come up would be named like Thiel, Morris, Hanks, Leggett, and Reid. At the risk of having done faulty research, here is where Sigel fits into WB6 history in terms of tenure of boys coaches at those six schools. (UT’s info is not updated with IHSA)
Morris Alleman 33 years
Reid Rock Island 21 years
Leggett Quincy, RI, Mol 21 years
Phillips Galesburg 21 years
Senneff Moline 21 years
Sigel Rock Island 19 years
Thiel Galesburg 18 years
Hanks Quincy 15 years
Thom has certainly become one of greats in WB6 history.Thom has had unbelievable success at Rock Falls and Rock Island, but Thom has remained one of the good guys in coaching.
Has the job and demands of coaching changed in the time you have coached?
I don’t know that the demands or the time has changed much for me. When I went to Rock Falls there was a lot of work to do in establishing the culture we wanted. It was not a unit district, so I had to work with each school within our district in order to get our program implemented starting at the grade school level.
At Rock Island there has also been a great amount of effort establishing our youth program. And as far as scouting, it has become easier from the standpoint of trading game films electronically, but it also means more game films available to watch. Therefore, there might be more time watching film, including our games since we can more easily break our films down.
One way it has changed is how social media impacts our teams. I follow our players on Twitter and try to help guide them in how it can work to their benefit and how it can harm them. The social media phenomenon is something new and does add some demand by monitoring how it impacts our program.
Some people make comments about how kids have changed. From your experience, have players changed during your time coaching?
I know Bob Knight has said that kids haven’t changed, but their parents have. I believe that while kids may not have changed, coaching kids might be different because of their influences. I know many people in my generation have said they would never go home and tell their parents they got in trouble in school or at practice because their parents always supported the authority. That does seem to have changed some, but I don’t think it is all about the parents.
I also think the manner in which youth sports is structured has impacted coaching in high school. Most teams are set up where playing time is guaranteed or even equal regardless of ability or effort. And if kids are not selected for a team, new teams are popping up all over, and they can get on a team. I believe this can create a false sense of abilities and possibly an attitude of entitlement. In addition to that, there are so many more people who have coached or worked with players who can be influencing them. So we have to continue to stress accepting roles and putting the program first.
You have had a daughter and two sons who have been active in athletics. I am guessing at some point in their athletic experience, each of them expressed they were serious and they had high goals. As a coach, you know how much time and work is needed to reach high goals in athletics. And as a coach, you know there is a big difference between talking about becoming great and actually being willing to do the work. As a parent, how did you navigate the line between reminding and pushing them to do what you felt was necessary vs. pulling back not to burn them out?
You are right that there is a gap between saying you want to be good and play at the next level and realizing what that actually involves to get there and the expectations once you are at college. And as you mention, there is a line between doing what it takes and getting burned out. With our kids, we tried to instill a work ethic in them and remind them that people who earn things in life have different habits than others.
I love the scene in “Miracle” when Herb Brooks says “this can not be a team of common men because common men go nowhere. You have to be uncommon.” So if our kids didn’t enjoy what they were doing and willing to work at it, then we didn’t make them play. My daughter gave up basketball after 7th grade and focused on volleyball because she just didn’t enjoy playing basketball. My youngest son Colton gave up football after junior high and chose to play golf.
But I also think it is very healthy for kids to play multiple sports if they enjoy them. It can be important for most kids mentally and physically to get away from a sport and rewarding to represent their school in another sport. The exception might be a student-athlete who has an obvious chance to play at a very high level in college in a particular sport. Colton has played baseball in addition to basketball and golf. And Trey played football, basketball, and baseball. They have enjoyed the different experiences and teammates they experienced playing other sports.
Both your sons have played for you on the varsity. How have you and your wife handled this experience?
I had some good advice from coaches who coached their sons. We had some experience dealing with it since I had coached each of them some in baseball and some basketball when they were younger. But each of them have learned how difficult it can be when you hear the comments and the added pressure that come along with it.
While I liked and respected my high school coach, I wouldn’t want to go home with him every night, especially after bad games or practices. So I figured I shouldn’t put my sons through it by bringing it home with us. That has gone fairly well, but they haven’t been able to totally escape it. And while other players’ fathers can be dad during the games, I guess it is expected that I turn that off and just coach the team. The coaches who gave me advice said it wouldn’t be easy on anyone in the family, but that there will also be many positive memories we will take from it.
If you were talking to an incoming freshmen, what would be three things you would tell them as they start their career?
I suppose I would focus on these three things for us. One, there are too many athletes who hurt their GPA during their freshman year that they have to battle the next three years. So they need to make sure they focus on academics from day 1, especially if they hope to get any type of academic or athletic scholarship. Secondly, I am not really concerned what they have accomplished so far. Success when players are younger doesn’t necessarily translate to being a varsity player. They shouldn’t listen to any hype they hear and should focus on working to get better. It’s crazy when I hear about how kids are getting ranked on social media when they are in 6th and 7th grade! The third thing would probably be that working on their skills might be the most important thing for them to keep in mind. Being a skilled player helps their chances at playing time at any level they might play at.
Do you hate losing more than you love winning?
Yes, definitely. I am not sure where that comes from, but I think my attitude toward losing is what drives me toward chasing success in most areas of my life. I have tried to get more of a focus toward the process and the journey with our teams, but we keep scores and records so coaches are in a results-oriented business. And I have always thought most people might wonder why coaches do what we do if they knew how many of us are more affected by the losses than the wins.
The agony of losses sticks with me much longer than the joy of most wins does, which I realize isn’t necessarily healthy – it has just always been that way for me. And I remember early in my coaching career Urban Meyer being asked if he wants players who hate losing or who love winning. He quickly, and without any doubt, said he wants players who hate losing. And in my experience, the more players you have - especially your leaders - that hate losing, the better you will be.
Your teams have won 2 State titles. How have those two experiences changed you?
First of all, I like the way you phrased the question by saying “teams have won”. I often get people who say I have won 2 State titles, but it is actually that I have been fortunate to coach TEAMS who have won them. I feel extremely blessed to be able to experience this twice. When I started, I always had a dream to be able to coach a team that made it to State. Honestly, that seemed like a pipe dream, so to get to State three times and win twice seems very surreal.
I guess to answer your question, because I feel so fortunate, I would like to think I haven’t changed much. Both of the championship games were nailbiters and the outcome could have changed base on a single play during the games. I have felt that if either or both of those results had changed, I would still be the same person and it wouldn’t make me a worse coach, just like winning those titles doesn’t make me a better coach. However, I understand we are judged on results. And I feel like I have been doing this long enough that there are always losses and situations that will humble you. So I have tried to remember I am just trying to coach to the best of my ability. There will be praise and criticism that will happen, but I can’t control that. So my experiences have shown me that keeping a proper perspective and having humility is important.
If you had not gone into coaching/teaching, what do you think you would have done?
Not sure it was anything that I even thought about in college, but since then I have thought I would have enjoyed doing something like landscape design. I have always enjoyed designing things and the sense of accomplishment when I see any type of project completed. My dream project would be able to design a golf course. Another interest I have had since high school is designing athletic uniforms. A few years ago I was able to get involved with ProLook Sports and started a small business selling uniforms and apparel for them. This has been something I enjoy doing, although it keeps me busy. Maybe I will pursue putting more time into this when I retire.
All of us were younger when you were at Galesburg. What are some of your favorite memories as a young teacher and coach in Galesburg?
I really enjoyed my six years at Galesburg. There were a number of new teachers that started the same year, and also some great mentors who treated me very well. Some great and lasting friendships were made during that time. There are so many memories to choose from, but maybe I will try to list some brief comments to include as many as possible, even though I know I will miss some: first exposure to Big 6 basketball, learning so much from coaching colleagues on boys and girls staffs, stories from the coaches clinics we used to go to like when Coach Rux and I had to crawl under a limo, speaking at graduation, “performing” in the staff lip sync at the Swirl assembly, teachers – especially in the English Department – taking me under their wings, Casa Sierra, Dew Dusters golf, getting nicknamed “Coach Nick”, stories with Arnie and Rodney as assistants when I was the sophomore coach, and most importantly I met my wife in Galesburg (and Trey was born there before we moved).
Last question- if you could pick three people (living or dead) to have dinner with- who would you pick?
This is a tough question and took the most time, but I will try to choose three. Sorry I didn’t go with historical icons. Being an Indianapolis Colts fan, there are a couple that come to mind – Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning. While I would love to talk with Manning about his attention to detail, and his wit is funny, I would say Dungy would be my choice. I have read two of his books, and his perspective as a strong Christian coach would be great conversation.
Then I turned to some of the comedic movies I like and was debating between Chris Farley, Chevy Chase, and Adam Sandler. Farley might get us thrown out of the restaurant so it came down to a tough choice between the other two. Sandler had some great movies, and I have always thought he is down to earth and uses some great 80’s references in his movies. But when I think of Fletch, the Vacation movies, Caddyshack, and Spies Like Us, I think Chevy Chase would have to be my choice. But he might get tired of me constantly mixing in quotes from those movies during our discussion!
Finally, I turned back to sports and was thinking of some of my favorite athletes. Pete Maravich and Magic Johnson came to mind as two of my all-time favorite basketball players. But I went to baseball and will choose Will Clark since he is my favorite San Francisco Giant. I loved his fire and competitiveness, and his outgoing personality would make for a great time hearing stories. So you see that I chose Tony Dungy, Chevy Chase, and Will Clark, but I was able to sneak more than 3 into the answer!
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