View Video: The First Time I Met Dave Schultz

 Welcome to Wisdom on Wednesdays and its great having you with me this week. I’m changing gear for the next couple weeks and doing a few episodes of Wisdom on Wednesdays about my idol, hero, friend, and coach. His name was Dave Schultz, and this man impacted my life tremendously. He taught me the importance of building relationships with wrestlers. How I coached my high school wrestlers is a direct result from the influence of Schultzy. Today, more than ever, I am convinced kids need good positive role models as well as hero’s and  to help guide and mentor young men and women in their journey to be successful in life.

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 powerful words he said to me over and over throughout the season gave me the confidence to achieve All American honors that year.

There were many times Schultzy broke me physically in the wrestling room, but he never broke my spirit. In fact, after these brutal workouts he would actually build up my spirit and make it stronger. His encouraging words was the catalyst that gave me the confidence to win.  That’s what great coaches do. This is also what we as coaches should strive to do with our athletes.

Thanks for listening to Episode #7, we will see y”all next week.

Stay Safe, keep training hard, and remember…. Noah Didn’t Wait For His Ship To Come In… He Built One.