343. Daniel Fitzmorris - Data Driven Toughness, Trust, and Tradition - Pasadena Dobie HS

Hey, everyone. My name is Colton, and I'm the host of the Coach 360 podcast. Here, our goal is to come alongside and equip coaches with the resources to help develop character through sports and raise up the next generation of leaders. Not only do we do that through this podcast and interviewing coaches from across the nation about character, culture, and leadership, but we also do it through our 2 words character development curriculums. If you want to learn more about these or anything else that we offer, visit our website, 2words.tv. That's the number 2 words.tv. Or you can always drop me an email, colton at 2words.tv. Thanks for listening today. Let's get into the show. PMX Pro Maxima is your one-stop shop for the ultimate fitness equipment solution. Are you ready to take your workouts to the next level? With their state-of-the-art equipment, you can achieve your fitness goals faster and more effectively. From strength to cardio, they manufacture a wide range of high quality products made in the USA to maximize your performance. Experience the difference with PMX Pro Maxima and see why thousands of athletes and fitness enthusiasts trust them. Visit ProMaxima.com today to explore their catalog and elevate your fitness journey. Coach Mackey and I have personally gotten the opportunity to train with their equipment in our home gyms. Many of you know of our strongman and powerlifting backgrounds. From big bench presses and deadlifts, we have spent thousands of hours under a barbell and can personally tell you PMX Pro Maxima is one of the best manufacturers of strength equipment we have put our chalked up hands on. And they're made right here in the great state of Texas. PMX Pro Maxima. Find your strength from within. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Coach 360 Today, I get the great privilege of hanging out with Coach Daniel Fitzmaurice. He's the athletic coordinator over at Pasadena Dobie High School. Coach, welcome to the podcast. Hey, how are we doing? Doing awesome. Excited to be with you in this moment. Uh, why don't you get our listeners started by telling us a little bit more about who you are and kind of your journey, I guess, back home to Dobie. Yeah, well, uh, I played here and I graduated from Dovey in 1999, uh, was a part of Some, uh, pretty successful programs, uh, back in the day. Well, I don't like to use the term back in the day, not so long ago. Uh, but, uh, we're a part of some teams, some back-to-back district championships that we had here and, uh, coming back home. I mean, it's been a, It's been a whirlwind, but it's been a dream come true. Um, my path is got a very, very windy road. Uh, I started my coaching career. In 2004, at a 1A high school in Missouri, there was eighteen kids in the whole entire program. So when I sent my defense out, I literally sent one kid on the field and one kid came off. Wow. From there, I was, uh, very fortunate enough to go overseas in Europe and, uh, I was a player coach in Denmark. So I was the, uh, I was the head football coach and I played quarterback. So it was one of those things where there were some games that I went out there and played and there were some games that I stood on the sideline and called plays. So I was over there for four years. And then I moved back to Kansas City, got my degree at Missouri Valley in nine coached for a guy named Paul Troth at Missouri Valley. And from there, I met my wife in college and we started Uh, started in Kansas City, uh, worked at a private school, worked at another school, uh, called Westport High School. Unfortunately, that school, uh, was shut down because of a right sizing, uh, thing going on. So, uh, Uh, my first job in Texas was actually at Baytown Sterling. I took a freshman job in 2013, worked for Troy A. Duddle. Uh, from there, I was able to go, um, to Texas City High School, work for Leland Cervic, one year here at Dobie, and then my career really took off once I got to Pasadena Memorial. I worked for a guy named, uh, Jamie Crocker. Uh, he gave me so much on my plate. Uh, he really entrusted me. And honestly, my career took off from there. I was the OC there for three years and I was a defense coordinator. And, you know, it was tough playing against Dobie. You know, I always knew that One day I'd love to get back to Dobie and this past May I was, I was definitely blessed with that opportunity uh, to come back to the alma mater trying to blend in some of my old traditions from, from when I played and also You know, some of the new traditions that are around today because it's not the same building, uh, that I went to school in. So they built a new school in three or four I believe. So I'm trying to blend some of the old traditions, some of the new traditions and kind of creating our own here. So yeah, so I've had a very windy road to get to this spot. But man, I tell you what, I'm blessed and there's been a ton of people that have helped me out along the way. Well, coach, could you, uh, maybe unpack that a little further? You know, you, you listed off a lot of different coaches that, uh, sound like, uh, had a great influence on you, uh, especially the coach you said at Memorial Pasadena, when you got back into that district. Um, tell us more about kind of how they influenced you, how they influenced kind of the way you do things today. Maybe give some examples of what that looks like. Well, one thing with Coach Crocker, it was funny, uh, the first day I came in to interview, one of my best friends, uh, Coach Bain Arts, he's actually at Pearland right now, but he was the defensive coordinator over there, and I literally go into interview and they said, what are the two positions that you'd like to coach? I was like, well, uh, DBs and quarterbacks, but those two positions were filled by the offensive coordinator and the defensive coordinator. He goes, how about receivers? I was like, Hey, I'll coach whatever you want me to coach. And, uh, He gave me a lot of, a lot of responsibilities and that's one thing for younger coaches or aspiring coaches that want to get into coordinating and calling plays or. One day possibly be a head coach is he delegated so much to me. And it was one of those things where I tried to keep as, as much, Stuff off of his desk, if you know what I mean. Handling offseason, handling kids in the classroom, you know, doing the discipline aspect of it. And then also helping out with the second sports. I mean, he gave me, uh, the head track job on the girls side. And then I talked, took over the boys side as well. So it's just, You know, the, the, the delegation that he gave me, it showed that he trusted me. Yeah. And I'll, I mean, I'll be forever indebted. I still call him multiple times each week, uh, cause I'm learning stuff on the job now. I mean, we work in the same school district. You know, I, I think of him as a brother and, uh, doesn't mean that I don't want to kick his butt on Friday nights, but, uh, the feelings is definitely mutual. Yeah. How have you, uh, taken that idea of Like delegating more to those younger coaches. How have you implemented that for your, for yourself? And how do you do that well, right? You don't want to overwhelm young coaches or up and coming coaches, um, even when they do have aspirations of taking on more and stepping up. Uh, sometimes you have to throttle that with them or for them. So what does that look like in your day-to-day now as a, uh, AC? Well, uh, When I got hired, I mean, it was so late in the game, I wasn't really able to bring any coordinators with me. But I remember I was watching Huddle and I saw two coaches that I had On the defensive side, they're both secondary coaches and they were coaching the entire group. Uh, during spring ball. I mean, they were running around like ants. I mean, I had a guy coaching the secondary. He'd sprint up and coach the D line. So I, I immediately saw that and I said, man, first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to promote from within. And, uh, building that trust with those guys because it's, it's tough when a new guy comes in, especially if you're a coordinator or if you're an assistant kind of waiting in the wings. So. The first, that was my first move that I had to make was to let these guys know that, man, I'm here for them even though I'm technically not their guy. But I have a unique situation over here. My assistant head coach, Charles Washington, he was my quarterback at high school at Dovey. So, you know, I have, uh, We have a strong bond, uh, from our playing days. And I mean, it was, it was an easy layup to promote him as my assistant head coach, uh, my defense coordinator, Cohen Landry. Uh, probably one of the smartest X's and O's guys that I've ever seen. Um, giving him his first coordinator title. So. You know, the trust that I have in them, it bleeds down to their assistance as well. You know, I try to put my coordinators in leadership roles to where You know, they are able to, you know, get their expectations for some of the assistance. And, you know, it's underneath the full umbrella of my vision, but those guys have to buy into the overall vision and then it trickles on down. But then, you know, I've got some younger coaches, first year head coaches to where You know, giving them weight room responsibilities, something that they're comfortable with, but also, you know, I want to challenge them as well. So it's, it's a fine line. Um, you know what I mean? You, you tow the line as much as you can, as far as responsibility with others. But I mean, I feel if you're a good coach, man, you, you want that responsibility. You want to be asked by the coach to do something because it's just like that player. You know, if we're coaching you, it means we like you. You know, if you got that kid that you kinda don't talk to anymore, it's not that we're giving up, it's just we've, you know. We've kind of run out of options. So we're going to find another option. So I kind of keep that same mentality with coaches to where, man, if I'm, if I'm putting stuff on your plate, that means I think very happy of you. And I feel like. Um, you know, whether I see a little bit of me and you or whatever, um, I want to give those guys a chance to grow, you know, and it's only going to help us be better as a program. Yep, absolutely. Coach, let's get back to, uh, your time with Dobie High School. Um, so tell, uh, tell us a little bit more about what it was like, uh, playing there versus coaching there today. You know, you alluded to kind of in your intro, uh, Um, bring in some of the, the culture aspects and elements that, uh, maybe the school and the program had while you were playing there, kind of bringing them back into today's culture. So give us a good overview of what that culture is like, what you're trying to do there and unpack that for us. Okay, so I was very fortunate to play for a guy named, uh, Coach Stan Levi. And Levi was so ahead of his time, uh, back in the 90s. This was before segment clocks, uh, Um, he had this little Casio watch that would buzz every five minutes. So as a player, knowing how organized Dobie was back then, Uh, I've tried to get that back over here. So everything has a plan. Nothing is shooting, shooting from the hip. Uh, that's on the coaching aspect side. But one thing about being Adobe football player back in the late nineties was, man, we were tough. We were tough kids that were bought in and I think it had to do with our off season. Uh, it was, it was one of those, um, What was it called? It was the, it was the bigger, stronger, faster. Okay. So Tom Osborne in Nebraska started the bigger, stronger, faster, uh, off season program. And we kind of implemented that at Dobie. And it was one of those things to where, man, it, it, It made you a very strong young man. If you can make it through offseason, you can make it through a fourth quarter of a game. And so I'm trying to bring that back here. The number one goal that we've had this offseason is discipline and toughness. Um, I feel that last year trying to get my seniors and kids involved and bought into the overall discipline, I knew it was going to take some time. Uh, but if we can get back to that old school football, I mean, we run the wing T here. We run the same offense that we ran back in 1998. And it's one thing, Kobe is going to be physical, we're going to be tough, and we're going to be disciplined. We might not have the athletes as, you know, the Pearlands and the Shadow Creeks in our district, but But you're going to get every ounce of us. Um, I want you to understand that, you know, when you get back on the bus, whether, whether it's a win, loss, or draw, whatever the case may be, that you, you, you felt Dobie that night. Yeah. Back to that mentality. And I feel we're trending in the right direction. Um, this place is a sleeping giant. You know, if we can get it figured out, uh, you know, we're going to get Dobie back on the map. Every coach wants a player led team, but how do you build a player led team? That's the question that led to the creation of the captain's course, a ten week customizable leadership development course for student athletes. The captain's course will equip student athletes to lead their teammates, Promote the growth of leadership skills, create alignment on your core values from coach to athlete, and help build player-led teams. Learn more at www.2words.tv slash captainscourse. Well, let's expand upon that. How do you get kids to buy into being disciplined and being tough and gritty? Like what are some of the practical ways in which you guys are doing that? You mentioned off season. So maybe you can expand upon. Uh, a deeper understanding of, uh, I remember bigger, faster, stronger program. I actually was an athlete at a time that was going through it. And so I remember. Uh, the throws of off season and how difficult and challenging that was, but maybe pushing a little bit deeper. How are you getting kids to buy into this mentality and to grow in those areas? What can our listeners take back to their programs and implement as well? Well, I mean, the first thing I did was, uh, was rolled out the mat and it's not one of those where, uh, we're going to do mats one day a week or this, that, and the other. We're, we're flying around throwing our body on the mat room every single day. Um, I feel like if you can learn how to throw your body on a mat room on a Tuesday afternoon, then you're going to be able to throw your body on a Friday night. And so just something as simple as that, uh, we try to create a bunch of external situations where we put them Uh, as far as challenge them mentally, whether that's chaos in the weight room, whether that's, uh, locking up whenever I say set, they say horns and they lock up. And it's one of those things we call it the longhorn off season commitment. And when we tell you to lock up, you lock up until we tell you anything else. And you break your lock, meaning you're scratching your nose, fixing your shorts or whatever. That's a punishment. And so one of the things, that's the mental aspect of it. We know our guys can lift and run and do all that, but can you stand still and stand at attention to, to receive the feedback that we're trying to give you? I'll call in a play on Friday night. You got to process the information. In a quick manner and then execute that information that we gave to you. So we're trying to set up everything that we can do to prepare them for a Friday night. So everything we tell them Based on the off season can can refer back to life and it can refer back to a football game. So we're constantly coaching our kids. You know, hey, if you no call no show on us, well, hey, guess what? You just got fired from your job ten years from now because you no call no show at your job. Everything is tied into, you know, real life or a game like scenario. And it's, it's been really, really good. Uh, we do, uh, the point system. So it's an accountability program that I got from Coach Crocker at Pasadena Memorial. And, uh, so what it is, is kids can gain and lose points every single day. So if you're absent or if you you're late or you got a bad teacher email or you're an ISS, there's going to be negative points and it's clear cut data. Uh, for our kids to see. So every coach drafted ten players plus two freshmen. I brought twenty-one freshmen over from the ninth grade campus. So we got a good group with them. So we're trying to accelerate the learning curve with those kids. Yep. And, um, You know, you can also gain points every day. So, you know, you make perfect attendance for six weeks. You got a good teacher email. You're passing your classes. You're going to events. Um, like, soccer games and softball games and tracking and taking a picture of you there supporting other Dobie athletes. It's that whole culture across all sports that we're trying to build And the kids have bought into it. And my top ten kids in my program are all senior returning starters. So that tells me The, the cream of the crop is bought in. So we're trying to get, I know I was long winded on that, but man, I could talk for days about, you know, old school Dobie football and what the new and improved Dobie football is going to look like here very shortly. Well, coach, I really like the idea of that consistent and real-time feedback with your point system that you guys have created. Um, one, you can motivate those athletes to, to do the things that are gonna help establish the culture that you, you want. Uh, you shared the example of, you know, uh, rewarding kids for going and supporting other sporting programs and going to games and events. Um, that's awesome. Like what, what are some of the other ways in which you're, Driving those kids or using that point system to move them in the direction of the culture that maybe if our listeners are thinking they're like, Hey, I love the idea of that point system. I love the idea of real time feedback for these kids and really using it as a, as a directional or steering mechanism. You know, what would be your advice for them if they want to implement something similar? Well, the, the, the best thing that I've seen is, is growing leaders. Um, you know, the coach is the general manager of that team, but essentially he drafted a captain, a co-captain, and then what we call an anchor. An anchor might not be the kid that's been the varsity starter, but he's a good program kid. And so the accountability piece within that single team is, You know, we've built, we've grown a ton of leaders. Um, you know, you got to hold kids accountable. And there's been times where, you know, hey, you're a captain, your team's in last place. Well, guess what? You get to face the music right now. And so- Uh, it's been really beneficial to have, you know, senior leadership, kids bought in and pulling up the kids that are kind of half foot in half foot out because every program has that. And so what I want to try and do is have kids, you know. Make your good ones great. And make your, uh, you know, your average below average kids, get them, get them into that good category. And whether that's, whether that's competing for a job on Friday night, being a starting quarterback or being one hell of a scout team player. You know, everybody has a role in this program and in this offseason. And just because you might not be a varsity starter, well, now, hey, you're getting a chance to compete as a sophomore right now with the older kids. And those kids as sophomores going through this and then juniors and seniors, man, they have goals now of, hey, man, I want to be a first round draft pick my junior or my senior year. So the culture of that is really bought in. It's, it's, It's based on each team and we've seen some kids really, really thrive in it, but we've also seen some kids that, you know, have struggled with this. You know, I'm not going to sit up here and tell you that every captain that was drafted is in the positive points, you know, so it's, You know, it, it has been the light bulb kind of going off to where it gives us data as coaches to say, Hey man. Yeah. You can play good on Friday night, but if we can't trust you in a fifth period class or a fourth period class or going to lunch or being in the hallways, how are we going to trust you on a Friday night and two minutes to go in the game versus paralleling? So that clear cut data has really helped us. And the number one thing I tell kids every single day, man, we want you to be a first team All-State husband. First team all state dad and a first team state member of this community. You know, the football part, man, believe it or not, football is so much easier than life. And so, So all those things are kind of intertwined and it's on a daily basis. There's no, there's no monotony or, or, you know, every day is changing with the points. Everything is changing with the Everything is changing with the situations or the external environments that we're placing these kids in. And so it's, it's year one and it's going to be better moving forward. But right now it's definitely moving in the direction that I want it to be. I love it. And I love coach how you you're drawing everything back to these are lessons that student athletes can learn now playing a sport that they love. And they can learn it and apply it throughout the rest of their life, wherever they end up being, wherever they end up called to, you know, mom, dad, business person, business woman, whatever the case may be, these are lessons that are gonna help them be successful. In the game of life, not just the game of football or whatever sport they're playing right now. Yeah, I'll tell them, hey, you think football's hard? Try waking up at three a.m. in the morning because your baby's crying. You know? That's hard. You know, anything that we can do to make, you know, our country needs good, strong young men. And, uh, you know, I tell them all the time, you know, football's hard. You know, we need, we need more tough. We need more hard. In this world, you know, I say, man, you guys walk, y'all walk past soft all the time. You know, there's everywhere, you know, everything. Uh, allowing you to be enabled, you know, football, military, uh, you know, uh, job cores, you know, industry work. That's, that's what's. That's what's going to keep this country moving forward is the blue collar aspect of things. So I'm just trying, I'm trying to make good, good young men over here, man. Well, it sounds like you are absolutely getting after it coach and just encouragement. I feel just speaking with you, like you fire me up. And so I can only imagine what it's like. Uh, being a student athlete under, under you. So, well, Hey, one more question for you, coach, and then I'll cut you loose. Uh, most, uh, as we kind of wrap things up, what do you feel like for all of our listeners tuning in? What do you feel like coaches in twenty-four twenty-five need to know most of all about their student-athletes? Well, you know, playing, you know, most of us coaches, I mean, we're all ex-football players and whatnot, and we never really had that true relationship with, with their position coach or their, You know, their head coach or their coordinators, you know, I never had, you know, my DB coaches paid your number or whatnot. But the one thing that that allows us now today with technology and just the interacting with the kids is getting to know them more. On a personal level. Now, not to the point of where you know their business every single hour, but knowing where these kids came from. You know, I've got a lot of Title I kids here. You know, with low socioeconomic status and whatnot and understanding truly, you know, what that kid's going through on a day-to-day basis and it comes to find out to where You know, you see that kid that you might be leaving going home at 435 o'clock, but you've seen the same kid waiting outside underneath the porch waiting for his ride to pick up. I mean, you know, as a younger coach, you know, you look at it, you're like, oh, okay, his mom might. It might be late. But man, you come to find out that some days mom or dad might not even pick them up. It's one of those things to where Yes, football's hard. We might be getting on to them or whatnot, but we don't know truly what's going on at home. You know, we kind of take that for granted sometimes. So, I mean, these are, these are people too. These are kids. This is not just a number. So, I tell younger coaches all the time, man, get to know these kids. Get to understand their background. And not every kid is going to be coached the same way. You know, you can say one thing to one kid. You might not be able to say that thing to another kid. So you got to really. Uh, differentiate your teaching, you know, and, and they preach that all the time in education is different, differentiating instruction to your, your classroom. Well, the same thing, you know, football coaches are. And we're teaching the game of sport or the game of football through sport and, um, and you know, in life. So, so. Yeah, I'll just get to know those kids, coach them up hard. You know what I mean? Hold them accountable and always stick through. If you say you're going to do something as a coach, whether that's something positive or whether it's something negative like a punishment, you better stick through with it. Because the second that you don't stand on what you said before, these kids are going to start to see right through you. So if you say you're buying pizza party for the winning team on Wednesday, you better be there with some pizza. Mm-hmm. Right in a mile or fifty up downs, you better do it. So that's, uh, that's one thing I try to live by is man. If you're going to say it, do it. Yes, sir. Don't make agreements that you can't keep. Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, coach, hey, thank you so much for your time today. Really enjoyed connecting with you. If our listeners want to connect and talk a little bit more, maybe they want to, you know, Pick apart something that you alluded to or talked about here on the podcast and they want to go a little bit deeper or see what they can do to implement something similar in their program. What would be a good way for them to connect with you? Oh, I mean, I'm on Twitter or X, uh, at Coach Fitzmorris. Uh, my cell phone number is 816-316-3301. You can call me anytime. Um, and then through email, dfitzmorris at pasadenaisd.org. Or, hey man, if you're in the neighborhood, stop by Blackhawk on. We get fourth period going about 1020. And, uh, man, I, my doors are always open to anybody. Awesome. Thank you so much, coach. Awesome. Thank you, sir. Hey, guys. One last note before you head off your day. Over 1,400 schools across the nation have or are using one of our curriculums. Are you ready to jump on board? If you want a turnkey program to develop character in your athletes, give us a call at 281-723-9943. We will work with you and your budget to make it as easy as possible. Thanks again for listening to the coach 360 podcast. Now let's have a good one today.