Mike Barthelmess is a football coach who draws daily inspiration from a basketball coach.
Barthelmess, who became Lawrence University's head football coach for the 2012 season, professes a great admiration for John Wooden. It is some of the sage advice from the Wizard of Westwood that Barthelmess hopes to instill in his Vikings.
Wooden's "Pyramid of Success" builds from a foundation of traits like friendship, loyalty and cooperation and continues on to things like team spirit, poise and confidence. Barthelmess believes those building blocks are critical to Lawrence's success.
"This has to be a family, a brotherhood. There has to be a sense of love," Barthelmess said. "I need them to know that deep down inside they know they've got each other's back."
This philosophy is critical because Barthelmess is quick to point out that this team's ownership rests with the players. It is up to the coaches to serve as teachers and give the players tools with which to be successful.
"I'm a big believer in empowering players. This is their team," Barthelmess said. "We are going to do everything we can to support the players in what they are going to do."
Lawrence has struggled to find that breakthrough season and climb back toward the top of the Midwest Conference. Barthelmess said a fundamental change must occur for the Vikings to reach that goal.
"What I bring is a philosophy of no limitations," Barthelmess said. "What I've gotten used to in my career is focusing on what we do have and making the most of that. I see my job as expanding the thought process of our coaches and our players to think from a new perspective."
Barthelmess also wants the Vikings to adhere to some basic, time-tested fundamentals as well.
"If you study any successful football team, they do four things – play great defense, win the kicking game, don't turn the ball over and score in the red zone. Part of my philosphy is to study those things and work on those four," Barthelmess said.
When the Vikings take the field, Barthelmess believes his team can pursue the Vince Lombardi axiom about chasing perfection to catch excellence.
"We are going to do what we have to do, and that means raise the players' expectations, increase their work ethic and work harder," Barthelmess said. "There's a lot more inside of these young men but they haven't tapped it. I'm going to do my best to tap into something that's deeper, greater."
Barthelmess spent his first two seasons on the football staff as the associate head coach/offensive coordinator, and the Vikings set or tied 28 offensive game or season school records in that time. Barthelmess was promoted to head coach in November 2011.
Barthelmess, who will be the special teams coordinator in 2012, is in his second stint in the Lawrence Department of Athletics. Barthelmess served as the interim head baseball coach for the 2008 season before working in the private sector.
A 1983 graduate of Principia College with degrees in business and English, Barthelmess starred in football and baseball for the Panthers.
A native of Weston, Conn., Barthelmess coached everything from girls' tennis to basketball to baseball at the high school level before joining the Principia coaching staff as an assistant in 1985.
Barthelmess served as a graduate assistant football coach at the University of Houston in 1989-90 before going back to Principia as the football team's head coach and assistant baseball coach in 1990. Barthelmess spent the better part of the next two decades at Principia.
Barthelmess was the football team's head coach from 1990-95 and again from 2003-04 and in 2006. Barthelmess directed a high-octane attack at Principia and saw his teams set NCAA records and lead the nation in total offense. Barthelmess also coached the Panthers baseball team from 2001-04.
Barthelmess and his wife, Becky, live in Appleton. They have two sons, Luke and Isaac, who both attend Lawrence and play football for the Vikings.
Email Head Coach Mike Barthelmess michael.barthelmess@lawrence.edu
