thedrifter
01-17-09, 07:10 AM
Dunkirk alum ‘coaching them up’ in California
By GIB SNYDER III, OBSERVER Sports Reporter
The name Carl Grisanti for some local residents might be synonymous with "Wheel of Fortune." The 1990 Dunkirk High School graduate appeared on the long-running game show in 1999, winning $4,300. For the residents of San Luis Obispo, California, the name Carl Grisanti is synonymous with something else - coach.
For the past seven years Grisanti has been trolling the sidelines at Division 1-AA California Polytechnic State University as a member of the football team's coaching staff. Grisanti has been with the school as a student, athletic trainer and coach for the past 11 years, serving this past season as a defensive line coach. He has also spent time working with the team's fullbacks, linebackers and defensive backs as well as working with the team's strength and conditioning program.
Cal Poly was not Grisanti's first stop after high school, having entered the Marine Corps after graduation, knowing that he didn't have skills or resources to get into college and further his education. During his time in the Marines, Grisanti was stationed in California and also spent time in Iraq in 1991 during the Persian Gulf War, but he has made Southern California his home for the past 18 years.
After the Marines, Grisanti worked various jobs in and around Southern California. Working for the Federal Emergency Management Agency after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, as a security guard and in construction. He always knew he wanted to go to college, but he knew coming out of high school it was not in the cards. It wasn't until a friend asked him to take a ride over to Santa Barbara City College with him to pick up his transcripts, that going to college became a reality. Standing in the lobby waiting on his friend, the college's Veterans Affairs coordinator noticed an exposed Marine Corps tattoo on Grisanti's arm. She asked if he was a veteran, he told her he was and she asked if he was currently enrolled at the school. Upon finding out that he was not, she asked if she could have an hour of his time to see if she could get him enrolled in a program. She was able to and Grisanti began his college career, majoring in SCUBA diving, something he had an interest in since he was a child and something he had hoped to be able to do in the Marines.
"I knew I wanted to go to college one day," Grisanti said, "but I didn't have the grades or the money coming out of high school so I went into the service, did great, got out and worked for a few years. I kind of just stumbled into college."
Cal Poly is not where he got his start as a coach however. While still in high school, Grisanti lent his services to the Middle School's wrestling team, from there a career dedicated to the lives of youths from Dunkirk to San Luis Obispo has taken shape.
From a very young age, Grisanti was always intrigued by the effect coaches can have on young athletes, none more so than John Bogardus.
Bogardus, a now retired Dunkirk math teacher, taught and coached Grisanti for several years of his adolescence.
"He just meant a lot to me," Grisanti said. "Just his coaching style and how much he cared about me as an athlete and as a student. That really inspired me to think, 'man, I'd really like to be like that guy.'"
Bogardus coached Grisanti on the Dunkirk modified football team in seventh and eighth grades as well as the track and field team from eighth grade through his senior year.
"He was a Marine and I ended up going into the Marines. There was a lot of influence from that guy."
Grisanti's first coaching gig in California was as a summer league basketball coach at Santa Barbara High School. He has since spent time as a youth basketball, baseball and football coach for youths aged 9-12, but Grisanti doesn't see a difference in coaching either young or advanced athletes.
"I can teach or coach any aged person and get great results from them," Grisanti noted. "I've had third-grade boys and girls that said they'd never play basketball. They hated it when they started. They didn't know why they were there and by the end of the year, they didn't want it to end. Their skills ... they went from zero to hero and to see kids do that, to go from hating to loving that sport, it's an incredible feeling."
"And with the Cal-Poly guys," Grisanti continued, "some of them are grown men and some of them are still young 17, 18 and 19 year-olds. They're young men trying to be grown men and they've got a lot of responsibility. They're really committed, so they're easy to work with. It's a privilege to play and they understand that."
Grisanti's experiences in the Marines helped shape the coach that he has become today.
"I definitely feel that the Marine Corps helped with my coaching philosophies," Grisanti said. "I try to talk to my players respectfully and I try to teach them that in the service guys are instantly willing and obedient to orders, authority, team work and discipline. You don't ask them, you tell them what to do and it's done instantly. There's no griping and no whining. It gets done. So, I try to tell them the same thing. Granted, they're not in the military, but they have to have a lot of discipline and really be interested to do what we want them to do."
"Our service men and women go into war," Grisanti added. "And they might not come back. But they're dedicated to what they're going to do. As a football team, we go into what we call a 'battle,' however, we're coming back. Because I'm a veteran, I preach highly on how they're (service men and women) allowing them to play college football and allowing me to coach college football. I relay that to them quite often."
There is one former player in particular who Grisanti uses to cement his point. Osbaldo Orozco had wanted to be a soldier since the time he was a little boy. A member of Cal Poly's Reserve Officer Training Corps until his graduation in 2001, Orozco got his opportunity, joining the Army as a commissioned officer in June 2001. Like some of the men and women Grisanti mentions in his speeches to his players, Orozco did not make it back, his life ended on a battle field near Tikrit, Iraq in April 2003. Grisanti uses Orozco's story as a model of what it takes to be dedicated to something that you love.
"A lot of these guys don't know him when they come in, but we're big on history," Grisanti noted. "So, one of the things I do, is every year I bring him up. I let these guys know who he was, what he stood for and what he fought for."
Grisanti's most memorable moment as a coach has nothing to do with anything that has ever happened on the field of play. It has more to do with what he does with his players before or after games - prayer.
Since the age of 8, Grisanti has been a Born Again Christian, mainly due to a renewed relationship his father, Carl Sr., had with Jesus Christ and the influence his mother, Cynthia Keminsky, his stepmother Kay Grisanti and his grandmother, Carolyn Grisanti had on him forming a relationship with the Almighty.
"I don't push it on anyone," Grisanti said of his prayer sessions. "But it's offered. Those that want to receive, receive."
Beginning in third grade, Grisanti coached a young man named Jeff Mitchell and this past summer Mitchell, during a retreat to honor those like himself, treated Grisanti with the most gratifying feeling he has ever experienced.
"Jeff gets up in front of the crowd of people and begins, 'I gave my life to God and a big part of it was my coach right there (pointing to Grisanti), Carl.' I had no idea that was coming and when that hit me, it was the most incredible feeling I've ever felt."
Coaching is not Grisanti's main endeavor however, as the 2001 Cal Poly graduate of Kinesiology has, for the past six years, owned and operated "Grisanti Custom Detail," a car, boat, motorcycle, RV and airplane detailing business that he began as a means to supplement his income as a waiter over the summer months.
"My first year was as a volunteer," Grisanti said of his first year coaching at Cal Poly. "So I was working 40, 50, 60-hours a week and not getting paid. I was working as a waiter and a buddy and I, a man by the name of Pat Garrity, who was a former Marine scout sniper, were kicking around a few ideas of how we could make some extra cash and he said that he and his brother had been detailing cars every summer for years. So I said, 'let's do it'. So for a summer gig we did it and it was pretty profitable, so I thought I'm just going to keep this going. I didn't think it was going to grow into this thing that I have now. I was just doing it for the extra $1,000 a month or whatever it was."
Within the last year, Grisanti also bought into a juice company called "Xango," which makes all-natural health related drinks, made from mangosteen puree, pear puree, pear juice as well as grape, apple, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and cherry juices and contains 40 of the 200 known xanthones found in nature.
As for his coaching future at Cal Poly or for any other college football team, your guess is as good as his. Rich Ellerson, who had coached the Mustangs for the past eight seasons, has left to take the head coaching job at Army, with Army's former offensive coordinator Tim Walsh taking the head job at Cal Poly. He's hopeful that he will be able to continue coaching football and quite possibly as a member of Ellerson's staff at Army, but nothing has been guaranteed.
"I may have an opportunity to go to Army if Ellerson invites me," Grisanti said. "My home state is New York, so I'd come back to New York and coach at West Point. That'd be a dream come true, that'd be nice. I'm a military guy and to coach the military boys, I think that's even a step higher than just a regular college football team."
For now, Grisanti will continue enjoying his current station in life. Running his businesses, taking time out to help local athletes, going surfing and living the single life, but if a call for a coaching job comes, he'll be more than willing to listen.
Gib Snyder III is an OBSERVER Sports Columnist. Send comments to sports@observertoday.com.
--
For more information on "Xango," visit www.cgstudjuice.com.
Ellie
By GIB SNYDER III, OBSERVER Sports Reporter
The name Carl Grisanti for some local residents might be synonymous with "Wheel of Fortune." The 1990 Dunkirk High School graduate appeared on the long-running game show in 1999, winning $4,300. For the residents of San Luis Obispo, California, the name Carl Grisanti is synonymous with something else - coach.
For the past seven years Grisanti has been trolling the sidelines at Division 1-AA California Polytechnic State University as a member of the football team's coaching staff. Grisanti has been with the school as a student, athletic trainer and coach for the past 11 years, serving this past season as a defensive line coach. He has also spent time working with the team's fullbacks, linebackers and defensive backs as well as working with the team's strength and conditioning program.
Cal Poly was not Grisanti's first stop after high school, having entered the Marine Corps after graduation, knowing that he didn't have skills or resources to get into college and further his education. During his time in the Marines, Grisanti was stationed in California and also spent time in Iraq in 1991 during the Persian Gulf War, but he has made Southern California his home for the past 18 years.
After the Marines, Grisanti worked various jobs in and around Southern California. Working for the Federal Emergency Management Agency after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, as a security guard and in construction. He always knew he wanted to go to college, but he knew coming out of high school it was not in the cards. It wasn't until a friend asked him to take a ride over to Santa Barbara City College with him to pick up his transcripts, that going to college became a reality. Standing in the lobby waiting on his friend, the college's Veterans Affairs coordinator noticed an exposed Marine Corps tattoo on Grisanti's arm. She asked if he was a veteran, he told her he was and she asked if he was currently enrolled at the school. Upon finding out that he was not, she asked if she could have an hour of his time to see if she could get him enrolled in a program. She was able to and Grisanti began his college career, majoring in SCUBA diving, something he had an interest in since he was a child and something he had hoped to be able to do in the Marines.
"I knew I wanted to go to college one day," Grisanti said, "but I didn't have the grades or the money coming out of high school so I went into the service, did great, got out and worked for a few years. I kind of just stumbled into college."
Cal Poly is not where he got his start as a coach however. While still in high school, Grisanti lent his services to the Middle School's wrestling team, from there a career dedicated to the lives of youths from Dunkirk to San Luis Obispo has taken shape.
From a very young age, Grisanti was always intrigued by the effect coaches can have on young athletes, none more so than John Bogardus.
Bogardus, a now retired Dunkirk math teacher, taught and coached Grisanti for several years of his adolescence.
"He just meant a lot to me," Grisanti said. "Just his coaching style and how much he cared about me as an athlete and as a student. That really inspired me to think, 'man, I'd really like to be like that guy.'"
Bogardus coached Grisanti on the Dunkirk modified football team in seventh and eighth grades as well as the track and field team from eighth grade through his senior year.
"He was a Marine and I ended up going into the Marines. There was a lot of influence from that guy."
Grisanti's first coaching gig in California was as a summer league basketball coach at Santa Barbara High School. He has since spent time as a youth basketball, baseball and football coach for youths aged 9-12, but Grisanti doesn't see a difference in coaching either young or advanced athletes.
"I can teach or coach any aged person and get great results from them," Grisanti noted. "I've had third-grade boys and girls that said they'd never play basketball. They hated it when they started. They didn't know why they were there and by the end of the year, they didn't want it to end. Their skills ... they went from zero to hero and to see kids do that, to go from hating to loving that sport, it's an incredible feeling."
"And with the Cal-Poly guys," Grisanti continued, "some of them are grown men and some of them are still young 17, 18 and 19 year-olds. They're young men trying to be grown men and they've got a lot of responsibility. They're really committed, so they're easy to work with. It's a privilege to play and they understand that."
Grisanti's experiences in the Marines helped shape the coach that he has become today.
"I definitely feel that the Marine Corps helped with my coaching philosophies," Grisanti said. "I try to talk to my players respectfully and I try to teach them that in the service guys are instantly willing and obedient to orders, authority, team work and discipline. You don't ask them, you tell them what to do and it's done instantly. There's no griping and no whining. It gets done. So, I try to tell them the same thing. Granted, they're not in the military, but they have to have a lot of discipline and really be interested to do what we want them to do."
"Our service men and women go into war," Grisanti added. "And they might not come back. But they're dedicated to what they're going to do. As a football team, we go into what we call a 'battle,' however, we're coming back. Because I'm a veteran, I preach highly on how they're (service men and women) allowing them to play college football and allowing me to coach college football. I relay that to them quite often."
There is one former player in particular who Grisanti uses to cement his point. Osbaldo Orozco had wanted to be a soldier since the time he was a little boy. A member of Cal Poly's Reserve Officer Training Corps until his graduation in 2001, Orozco got his opportunity, joining the Army as a commissioned officer in June 2001. Like some of the men and women Grisanti mentions in his speeches to his players, Orozco did not make it back, his life ended on a battle field near Tikrit, Iraq in April 2003. Grisanti uses Orozco's story as a model of what it takes to be dedicated to something that you love.
"A lot of these guys don't know him when they come in, but we're big on history," Grisanti noted. "So, one of the things I do, is every year I bring him up. I let these guys know who he was, what he stood for and what he fought for."
Grisanti's most memorable moment as a coach has nothing to do with anything that has ever happened on the field of play. It has more to do with what he does with his players before or after games - prayer.
Since the age of 8, Grisanti has been a Born Again Christian, mainly due to a renewed relationship his father, Carl Sr., had with Jesus Christ and the influence his mother, Cynthia Keminsky, his stepmother Kay Grisanti and his grandmother, Carolyn Grisanti had on him forming a relationship with the Almighty.
"I don't push it on anyone," Grisanti said of his prayer sessions. "But it's offered. Those that want to receive, receive."
Beginning in third grade, Grisanti coached a young man named Jeff Mitchell and this past summer Mitchell, during a retreat to honor those like himself, treated Grisanti with the most gratifying feeling he has ever experienced.
"Jeff gets up in front of the crowd of people and begins, 'I gave my life to God and a big part of it was my coach right there (pointing to Grisanti), Carl.' I had no idea that was coming and when that hit me, it was the most incredible feeling I've ever felt."
Coaching is not Grisanti's main endeavor however, as the 2001 Cal Poly graduate of Kinesiology has, for the past six years, owned and operated "Grisanti Custom Detail," a car, boat, motorcycle, RV and airplane detailing business that he began as a means to supplement his income as a waiter over the summer months.
"My first year was as a volunteer," Grisanti said of his first year coaching at Cal Poly. "So I was working 40, 50, 60-hours a week and not getting paid. I was working as a waiter and a buddy and I, a man by the name of Pat Garrity, who was a former Marine scout sniper, were kicking around a few ideas of how we could make some extra cash and he said that he and his brother had been detailing cars every summer for years. So I said, 'let's do it'. So for a summer gig we did it and it was pretty profitable, so I thought I'm just going to keep this going. I didn't think it was going to grow into this thing that I have now. I was just doing it for the extra $1,000 a month or whatever it was."
Within the last year, Grisanti also bought into a juice company called "Xango," which makes all-natural health related drinks, made from mangosteen puree, pear puree, pear juice as well as grape, apple, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and cherry juices and contains 40 of the 200 known xanthones found in nature.
As for his coaching future at Cal Poly or for any other college football team, your guess is as good as his. Rich Ellerson, who had coached the Mustangs for the past eight seasons, has left to take the head coaching job at Army, with Army's former offensive coordinator Tim Walsh taking the head job at Cal Poly. He's hopeful that he will be able to continue coaching football and quite possibly as a member of Ellerson's staff at Army, but nothing has been guaranteed.
"I may have an opportunity to go to Army if Ellerson invites me," Grisanti said. "My home state is New York, so I'd come back to New York and coach at West Point. That'd be a dream come true, that'd be nice. I'm a military guy and to coach the military boys, I think that's even a step higher than just a regular college football team."
For now, Grisanti will continue enjoying his current station in life. Running his businesses, taking time out to help local athletes, going surfing and living the single life, but if a call for a coaching job comes, he'll be more than willing to listen.
Gib Snyder III is an OBSERVER Sports Columnist. Send comments to sports@observertoday.com.
--
For more information on "Xango," visit www.cgstudjuice.com.
Ellie