ANALYSIS: Local Athletes on Center Stage ...
... so, too, the lessons that their journey in sports teaches them
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Like millions of others, I’ll be watching this afternoon as the Ohio State Buckeyes, a perennial football powerhouse, take on the best story in college football this year, the 10-0 Indiana Hoosiers.
For those who couldn’t give a rip about athletics of any type, bear with me.
Indiana’s rise has been nothing short of remarkable. The Hoosiers have been playing football since 1887; well, more accurately, they’ve been playing at football. Over 126 seasons, IU has accumulated a won-loss-tie record of 506-704-45. In all that time, they’ve appeared in 13 bowl games and somehow actually managed to win three — the last time was 33 years ago.
This turnaround is due to two major events — the hiring of Curt Cignetti from James Madison University in November 2023; and the “transfer portal,” which beginning in 2018 allowed players to change schools and not have to sit out a year.
Cignetti has won everywhere he has been. In short, say what you want, the guy knows how to coach. He also knows talent. Cignetti brought 13 players with him from James Madison, and had another 18 transfer in from other schools.
Two of those 13 JMU players have local ties. Elijah Surratt starred at Colonial Ford High School from 2017 - 2019 and Aiden Fisher starred at Riverbend High School, where he graduated in 2022. Both are now stars for the Hoosiers.
I’ll admit to some bias, as I had the privilege of being on the coaching staff at Riverbend when Fisher played there. It’s not every day, after all, that one gets to spend several years watching a young man grow into someone who is now the anchor of the Hoosier defense and a semifinalist for the prestigious Butkus Award — the “Heisman Trophy” for defensive players.
I was neither Fisher’s position coach, nor influential in his development. I did, however, see the traits in him that make him great. Commitment to his coaches and teammates, a relentless work ethic, and a way of playing the game that elevates everyone around him.
He also is humble. He understands that no one achieves success on their own, and he respects those who both are in place to teach and guide him, and also help him achieve his goals.
Fisher has been handed nothing. He has made the most of every opportunity presented to him.
He personifies everything that is great about athletics — the character it builds, the teamwork and respect it requires, and the mental and physical toughness it develops.
The coaches who have helped guide Fisher’s development are the ones I had in mind when I wrote 30 Days with America’s High School Coaches.
Unfortunately, another breed of coach also moves through youth athletics and high school athletics, and they’re far from the model leaders we all hope our children are coached by.
A House in Flames
As Fisher and Surrat prepare to play the game of their life today under the direction of one of the better-respected coaches in college football, one high school football program in Virginia is entering the playoffs with a cloud over its head.
Hayfield High School hired Darryl Overton from Freedom High School earlier this year. Overton won two state titles at Freedom; he was also dogged throughout his time there by charges of illegally recruiting players. He also had a reputation for not just beating opponents, but humiliating them. On my last trip to Freedom High School as a coach, I experienced from the sidelines Overton’s humiliation.
At Hayfield, the allegations caught up with Overton, and the Hayfield football team was banned from post-conference play for two years by the Virginia High School League (VHSL). However, three hours before the VHSL state football championships were scheduled to kick-off, Judge Manuel A. Capsalis granted an injunction allowing Hayfield to play. It promptly hung 75 points on its opponent.
Despite allegations, Overton never paid a price for his supposed recruiting violations at Freedom High School. It took the reporters at the Fairfax Times to root out what has become an ethical, athletic, and educational disaster.
What ultimately happens remains to be seen. Currently, the school’s athletic director and principal, and the Fairfax County superintendent are facing withering criticism, and an independent, external investigation is being launched.
For some, it’s too little too late.
Derek Radoski, defensive coordinator on the coaching staff of the West Potomac High School football team, said in an interview, “Hayfield Athletics is a house engulfed in flames right now, and Superintendent Michelle Reid setting up an ‘independent’ counsel to prevent future house fires does not address the billowing smoke that’s coming out of the burning house right now, and it ignores the flames and the children trapped inside.”
The Particulars Matter
If there’s a lesson to be learned here, it’s this. The particulars matter.
Both Fisher of IU and Overton of Hayfield come from the same ecology. Both have the talent to be successful in football. Both are committed to their craft. But the two appear to have taken very different paths.
Fisher committed himself to hard work, his coaches, and his fellow players to reach the heights of success. As he walked this path, there were no guarantees that the effort would pay off. Had he gone to college somewhere other than JMU, his path doesn’t cross with arguably one of the greatest coaches of the 21st century, and he probably isn’t playing in the most-hyped game of the week.
Overton appears to have taken his gifts and decided the best way to success is to not leave things to chance, so he purportedly chose illegal recruiting to secure the prizes he likely feels entitled to.
For now, it looks like Overton has been caught, even if he has a temporary reprieve. This doesn’t mean, however, that he’ll necessarily pay a price for what he’s accused of, even if the evidence ultimately shows him to be guilty.
We like to believe that sports are a model for life — play by the rules, work hard, and support those around you, and good people and teams win.
In fact, sports are like life, but not because of what happens on the field, but because of what happens off the field.
Character, mental toughness, and teamwork don’t always end in victories and championships. Too often, the cheaters win.
Those who point to and celebrate “hardware” (championships, rings, trophies, and bling) are celebrating the wrong thing. These are not the goals of youth and high school athletics.
Those who commit themselves to the development of young men and women — which occurs not on game night, but on the practice field — understand what our games are all about.
Something to consider as we watch two local athletes play on this biggest stage this afternoon.
And something to consider as we go through our more-mundane lives. Are we chasing character? Or are we chasing fame?
It matters.
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