Mauk building Cubs program around life after football

By Jared Lankford [email protected]

Wins matter. Yards matter. Touchdowns matter.

But for Monett Head Football Coach Ben Mauk, the real measure of the Cubs’ program may not be found on a scoreboard.

It may not even be known for another 10 or 20 years.

Mauk is working to rebuild a culture at Monett where football provides players with more than a place to spend their Friday nights. The goal is to give them structure, relationships and lessons they can carry long after they have played their final down.

“We want to win football games, but at the same time, we know that you’re not going to play football forever,” Mauk said. “I think what you’re going to see in the next 10 to 15 to 20 years is the success that these guys have after high school and their willingness to come back.”

That philosophy was shaped long before Mauk became Monett’s head coach.

His father, Mike Mauk, is a Hall of Fame coach, and the younger Mauk grew up watching the impact a coach could have away from the field.

“He never coached high school football or coached football because he wanted to make money or it was about himself,” Mauk said of his father. “It was always about kids and doing what’s best for kids.

“I saw that growing up. I saw the structure and the foundation that he laid, and I knew someday I wanted to be a head coach.”

When Mauk received that opportunity at Monett, he began putting those same principles into the Cubs’ program.

The importance of that approach becomes evident when listening to the players.

Senior offensive lineman Jose Garcia has spent four years in the program and said the relationships he has formed are what make being a Cub special.

“It means a lot,” Garcia said. “All my teammates mean the world to me. Coach, we build good relationships, bonds, and it feels good to be a Cub.”

Garcia has grown into one of Monett’s leaders, particularly along an offensive line that rarely receives the attention given to the players it protects.

Quarterbacks and skill players may fill the stat sheet, but Garcia understands none of those numbers happen without the five players up front doing their jobs.

“The guys are doing pretty good,” Garcia said. “I get them going every week. They make me better as I make them better, so we try to hold each other accountable every week and make sure that we don’t let Dylan get touched back there.”

That accountability extends beyond blocking assignments.

Garcia said his role as a senior means accepting responsibility for his actions, being available for teammates and helping younger players understand what is expected of them.

“I’ve just been a leader,” Garcia said. “I take accountability for everything I do, responsibility. As a senior, I’m just there for my teammates. I try to be the best, encourage each other, work with the little ones and get them going.”

Ask Garcia what football means to him, and his answer has little to do with wins or losses.

“It means a lot,” he said. “I’ve built a lot of relationships and friendships with these guys, and hopefully I can keep these relationships for the rest of my life.”

For defensive lineman Dominick Anderson, football provided something even more fundamental — a place to belong.

Anderson, who arrived at Monett last year, described the Cubs as a brotherhood.

“I enjoy all the coaches,” Anderson said. “They treat me like family, like everybody, like a father figure to me. I love all the kids, all the seniors here. It’s a brotherhood over here. It’s really nice.”

Mauk remembers Anderson arriving at Monett and walking the school hallways. He happened to be in one of Mauk’s classes and was quiet and reserved.

A couple of hours later, Mike Mauk walked Anderson into his son’s classroom and asked whether the two had met.

That began a relationship that eventually led Anderson to football.

“He came out for football and didn’t know what was going to happen,” Mauk said. “He came in about 170 pounds. Right now he’s 210, 215, but he’s done a really good job taking on a lot of leadership roles. He’s served in our community, and a lot of people know who he is.

“I think we’ve given him a place and opportunity to be successful and reach his dreams and goals.”

Anderson credits Mauk with helping him adjust after moving to Monett.

“Coach Mauk is a man of his word,” Anderson said. “I don’t think a lot of people know that. He helped me a lot when I moved here. He was one of the first ones to reach out to me.”

That assistance went beyond football.

“He talked to me a lot,” Anderson said. “Talked to me about football, about life, helped me work out a lot, got me stronger.”

When asked whether Mauk had taught him that football is more than a game, Anderson’s answer was simple.

“Yes, sir.”

Mauk’s pursuit of Garcia was different but just as persistent.

Garcia was a sophomore when Mauk arrived at Monett. Initially, he was a regular participant in the program’s early-morning workouts.

“He came every morning at 6 a.m.,” Mauk said.

Then summer arrived, Garcia got a job at Braum’s and disappeared from the football program.

Mauk wasn’t willing to leave it there.

“I really had to pursue him, go to Braum’s a couple times, find out who he was related to,” Mauk said. “Then we got him involved in football, and the last two years he’s really blossomed into a leader.

“He’s going to be very successful after high school as well.”

That last sentence gets to the heart of what Mauk is trying to accomplish.

The coach points to Monett teams of the past, including the 1971 and 1977 squads and players from the Burl Fowler era, as examples of what he wants today’s Cubs to become — former players who find success and then return to support the community and program that helped shape them.

“We’re trying to do the same thing and bring back the history and tradition within the program,” Mauk said.

The lessons are sometimes delivered through something as simple as an offensive lineman protecting his quarterback or a defensive lineman taking on a blocker so a teammate can make the tackle.

Anderson laughed when asked to describe his job on Friday nights.

“Beat up the center,” he said. “That’s all. That’s my job. Got to beat up the center, beat up the offensive line.”

The answer drew a laugh, but Mauk sees a deeper lesson in that assignment.

Monett stresses unselfish football. On defense, a player may occupy a blocker without receiving credit for the tackle. On offense, a lineman may never score a touchdown, but his block makes the touchdown possible.

“We play team defense,” Mauk said. “Everyone has a role to play. They’re not always going to make the tackle, just like on offense you’re not always going to catch the touchdown or throw the touchdown. But it’s a team sport.”

Mauk believes the same principle applies to life.

“Some day, these guys are going to be husbands, they’re going to be fathers, they’re going to be the head of a household,” he said. “They’ve got to do what’s best for everyone else and not focus on themselves.

“We try to teach them that through the game of football.”

The players are already looking toward that future.

Garcia said he plans to become a licensed massage therapist after high school, while remaining open to playing college football if the opportunity presents itself.

Anderson hopes football can take him to college. His goal is to earn a scholarship, continue playing and pursue an associate degree, possibly in business management. Asked where he would play if he could choose any college, his answer came quickly.

“The Florida Gators,” Anderson said.

Whether those paths include football remains to be seen.

Mauk knows that eventually the helmets will come off for the final time. The Friday night lights will go dark, and the statistics accumulated along the way will become numbers in an old record book.

What remains, he hopes, will be the relationships, accountability, work ethic and willingness to put others first.

For Mauk and the Cubs, that’s when they’ll discover what the game was really worth.