Why Rossville football coach Derick Hammes is a perfect fit: 'Coaching was an extension of the game'
Topeka
Capital-Journal
Rossville’s success on the gridiron continued this year as they won another state title, its fifth since 2014, all under ninth-year head coach Derick Hammes.
Hammes
didn't take over a bare cupboard when he came to Rossville, inheriting a
roster that had gone 11-2 the prior year under Steve Buhler.
Buhler
coached at Rossville from 1998-2012 with a 119-55 record in his 14 years, going
to the post-season in 13 while posting eight or more win seasons in nine
of those years.
But
Hammes took a consistent regional and substate reaching football team — coming
from Washburn Rural where he coached from 2006-2012 — and got
Rossville over the hump.
"We
were right there knocking on the door all those years," said athletic
director Curt Brecheisen. "I think his attention to detail in the
weight room and classroom, details of the kids and what they’re doing and
how they’re doing, I think that’s what helped him kick the door in.
"Paying attention to all the little things that
he’s been notorious for since he got here."
Hammes entered this year with an 83-15 record and
state titles in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2020, adding 13 more wins as the team went
undefeated for the fourth time since he's come to Rossville.
We talked to current and former players, assistant
coaches and administration about what Hammes has brought to Rossville since
arriving in 2013.
Hammes loved sports ever since he was a kid, whether it
was playing football in the backyard, playing baseball or shooting hoops in a
friend’s driveway.
As Hammes got older, he didn’t know what he was
going to do but credits his football and basketball coach for pushing
him toward college while also letting him know he had the talent to
compete at that level as well.
He played football for four years at Emporia State but
had coaching on his mind even then.
"I figured out that I couldn't play forever and
that coaching was an extension of the game," said Hammes.
On his recruiting trip with coach Larry Kramer, he told
Kramer he would like an opportunity to be a student or graduate coach to
get his career started.
Kramer promised Hammes that opportunity would be
available to him.
When he began his post-playing career as a student coach
in 1993, it brought back his love of sports as a kid.
"I had a ball in my hand, was participating
and playing, and it goes back to it was an extension of playing,"
said Hammes. "I still felt like I was a part of the game. I
think that's when I knew that this was a career that was right for me.
“I never felt like I was going to a day of work. I
always felt like I was doing something that I enjoyed."
Hammes credits his high school basketball and football
coaches and Kramer as influences. Two more men made an impact as
well.
"My time with Tom Stringer at Hayden was very
important," said Hammes. "I learned from him how to run a program,
how to handle people and make players feel good about their roles. I think
that's one of the things that he did really well.
"The late Dave Bassore was very instrumental for
me. He taught me a majority of the X's and O's that I know. I've had a lot
of people that have shaped me and I'm pretty grateful to all of them."
An opportunity at Rossville
After student coaching at Emporia State, Hammes
had coaching jobs in Hayden and Kansas City before heading to Washburn
Rural.
Hammes saw Rossville as a great opportunity, a program
with longstanding tradition.
"I didn't know if it was possible for me,” said
Hammes. "It's been a good fit.”
On Hammes' first day, he brought the team into the gym
and explained his goals.
Those goals were to win a league championship, beat
their rivals, be district champions and be state champions.
"Those goals have never changed," said Hammes
on Tuesday.
“Sitting in the meeting, I can still remember that,”
said Gabe Marney, who played at Rossville from 2012-2015. “He laid his line,
his expectations, I could tell right when he got in, he had that drive we
needed.”
Tucker Horak, who played from 2012-2015, said the team
didn't know what to expect.
"He showed up on his first day and explained to us
what his goals were with us," Horak said. "It really got us all
excited."
Horak credited the seniors and his older brother
Thatcher's class, juniors at the time, for helping make the transition.
"Those two classes set an example for how it's all
right for change to come in, to accept it and welcome it," said Thatcher
Horak, who played from 2011-2014 and has been an assistant coach for Rossville
for the past five years.
Torrey Horak, senior quarterback and younger brother of
Thatcher and Tucker, was in the fourth grade when Hammes arrived. He remembers
his brothers' first practices with the new coach.
"They said it was different," said Torrey.
"Not in a good or bad way, it was just different from coach
Buhler. They seemed to like it and trusted him."
Hammes vision for a program
Hammes made it clear he took over a program in very good
condition. He said the kids were winners and the program could’ve sustained
itself with the athletes they had and those coming up.
He did bring his own vision of what a program
should look like.
"He's very process-driven as a coach," said
Thatcher. "When he first he got here, it was, 'How could he take something
that’s really good and make it great?'”
Hammes said his vision for a program is one that has a
level of discipline and toughness and for him, that started in the weight room.
"I think it's the strength and conditioning part of
it where you get to be around the kids’ day to day, and that you get to
establish the kind of culture that you want,” said Hammes. “That's the way I
went about building the program and the culture that we have right
now."
“I never felt like I was going to a day of work. I
always felt like I was doing something that I enjoyed."
Hammes credits his high school basketball and football
coaches and Kramer as influences. Two more men made an impact as
well.
"My time with Tom Stringer at Hayden was very
important," said Hammes. "I learned from him how to run a program,
how to handle people and make players feel good about their roles. I think
that's one of the things that he did really well.
