A Hero Comes Home to Vassar
October 17, 2012
By Alex Leveille and Tyler Langley
Vassar High School seniors
(Editor's note: Nothing short of incredible describes the story of U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills. He is continuing a successful recovery from losing all four limbs after stepping on an improvised explosive device while on patrol in April during his third tour of duty in Afghanistan. His story turned a national spotlight on Vassar, a town of 2,700 people located in Michigan's thumb. Mills was an athletic standout for the Vulcans before graduating in 2005, and returned for Homecoming earlier this month. Vassar seniors Alex Leveille and Tyler Langley give us the story and explain its impact from a student point of view.)
Homecoming is about many things to high school students. But this year it got a whole lot bigger when word got out that Travis Mills, paratrooper of the 82nd Airborne, was coming home.
When the students at Vassar learned that Travis was coming back for Homecoming, everyone was excited to see him. A couple of students said they were really happy they would finally be able to meet the hero they heard all about.
“Seeing and meeting Travis was a really neat experience for me personally, so I can only imagine the effect he had on the community," said Vassar football player Brik Rupprecht, one of the team captains this fall. "When Travis showed up, you could really feel the positive energy coming from the crowd, supporting him, and the positive attitude Travis brought with him. When it came to the game, we just gave it our best for him. He told us he wanted to see a win, and that’s what we gave him. (Vassar defeated Unionville-Sebewaing that night 22-16.)”
Many things were changed to accommodate Travis’s homecoming. The Homecoming parade, of which Travis was the grand marshal, was moved to Thursday, Oct. 4 instead of Friday before the game. It was followed by a bonfire at which Travis spoke to a crowd of more than 3,000 people, thanking them for everything they have done for him and his family.
On that Friday, the day’s events included a block party sponsored by many local businesses plus Pepsi and Frito-Lay. This was a chance for the community to come together to celebrate Vassar’s Homecoming, as well as welcome Travis home. The pregame festivities included a ceremony to thank all of the area’s veterans, including Travis.
Travis then took center stage before the game to again express his sincere thanks for the community’s love and support throughout his recovery. The community continued that support with various gifts to Travis and his family to further show their love for them.
He then led a special coin toss during which both Vassar and Unionville-Sebewaing players lined up intermixed on both 45 yard-lines to show their united support for Travis. He also spoke to the Vassar team before the game, encouraging them to "play every down like it’s your last, because you never know when it’s going to be your last.”
With Travis coming back to Vassar, our town was put in the spotlight of national news, which was something new to almost all of the students in Vassar. They all had different opinions about it too. Some didn’t like the thought of being in the eye of the country, but others did. Draven Muller, a sophomore and junior varsity football player, said it was a cool thought to be recognized nationally as a town and to be associated with a hero like Travis.
Jim Baker, a former paratrooper himself and teacher at Vassar High School, said, “Travis Mills is a true representative of what a paratrooper is all about. He makes me proud that I was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division.”
Vassar Chief of Police Ben Guile said he remembers Travis when he was in high school. “Only a person like Travis would have been able to survive something like this, and be as positive as he is," Guile said. "He is very charismatic, and him coming back home to thank the community is one of the best things he could have done. This town loves him, and I never have felt any more positive energy at a parade than the one that Travis led.”
Travis came back the following Friday, Oct. 12, to speak to the students at Vassar High School. Travis, being the upbeat guy he is, kept the crowd awake and laughing the entire assembly, cracking jokes and telling the crowd about his experiences in the Afghanistan war.
He also offered advice on high school and college experiences and talked about his plans after getting out of Walter Reed Medical Center, where he's undergoing occupational therapy.
As he put it, “Hopefully the Army will want me back after I’m done at Walter Reed. I might not be able to do all of the physical stuff anymore, but I still have everything they taught me in my head.”
He also plans to go back to college and get a degree in teaching, and hopefully become a teacher and a football coach some day.
Having Travis home was great for the community and the area. He is an all-around great guy and can uplift anyone’s spirits.
Click on links below for Mills' web site and some of the national coverage of his recovery and return home.
TravisMills.org - Fox News - USA Today - Detroit News - Saginaw News
PHOTOS: (Top) Travis Mills served as the grand marshal of Vassar's Homecoming parade Oct. 5. (Middle) Mills returned to his former high school Friday to tell students about his experiences in Afghanistan. (Top photo by Vassar High senior Sarah McKenney; middle photo by English and journalism teacher Jamie Strauss.)
DCC, Rice Begin Following New Leaders
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
August 16, 2017
The Detroit Catholic League football coaching carousel took a few more turns during the offseason, with a pair of programs once led by two of the winningest coaches in state history welcoming new leaders for this fall.
Two former understudies to those longtime mentors now find themselves with the top jobs directing programs that have combined to earn 18 MHSAA Finals championships.
Adam Korzeniewski, 43, is the new coach at Birmingham Brother Rice, replacing Dave Sofran, who replaced legendary coach Al Fracassa after the Warriors won their third consecutive Division 2 title in 2013.
Dan Anderson, 48, is the new coach at Detroit Catholic Central, taking over for recently-retired Tom Mach, who directed the Shamrocks to a Division 1 runner-up finish nine months ago.
“It is daunting,” Anderson said. “You question yourself. Would Tom have done that? You want to keep the tradition alive. I’m not Tom Mach. I can learn from him and put my stamp on it.”
He and Korzeniewski will seek to do so while navigating what continues to be one of the most competitive leagues in the state. Detroit Catholic Central (10), Brother Rice (8) and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (7) have combined to amass 25 MHSAA football titles, while Warren DeLaSalle has added two more.
But when Mach announced his retirement from DCC in February, it continued a recent run of Catholic League Central programs passing the baton. Following the 2015 season Paul Verska – who led DeLaSalle to the 2014 Division 2 title – stepped down from the Pilots, and Mike Giannone left Macomb Dakota to fill Verska’s spot. Fracassa retired after the 2013 season with a record of 430-117-7 since starting at Royal Oak Shrine in 1960 and moving to Brother Rice in 1969; he holds Michigan’s record for most high school football coaching wins, while Mach is third with a record of 370-94 from 1976-2016.
St. Mary’s longtime leader George Porritt (256-71 since 1989) will enter this season as the league’s only coach with more than a year heading up the program at his school.
“I’m not a tight T (formation) guy. But I will run it right at you,” Anderson said in explaining a philosophical similarity to Mach. “And I do run some tight T plays. You can’t get rid of the wham. Tom’s philosophy was defense wins championships. That won’t change while I’m here.”
The wham is a basic run play into the middle of the line, a trademark of Mach’s offense. It’s simple but often effective. Anderson said he will install a multiple offense incorporating formations and plays from a variety of schemes as the Shamrocks look to add to last season's 13-1 run.
Anderson has been well-schooled, at Catholic Central and a number of high schools in Ohio where he grew up, played football and coached. He came to Catholic Central in 1999 as a freshmen coach. The next five seasons he was the head junior varsity coach. In 2005, he became a varsity assistant – and in 2007 he became the defensive coordinator.
Anderson played defensive end and offensive tackle at Archbishop Alter in Kettering, Ohio, located near Dayton. He earned a scholarship to University of Pittsburgh where he played guard and was a starter his junior and senior seasons.
Long before then, he knew he wanted to become a teacher and a coach. A junior high history teacher, who was also a coach, played a major role in Anderson becoming the person he is today.
“He coached me in CYO (Catholic Youth Organization),” Anderson said. “He made a big impression upon me. I was 12 or 13 years old, and I knew then I wanted to teach history and coach.
“I love the game (of football). As soon as I got out of college (1992), I started coaching as a volunteer assistant at Penn Hills (Pa.).”
And he hasn’t stopped coaching since. After leaving Penn Hills, Anderson went to Pomfret, Maryland, located just outside of Washington, D.C., and coached three sports (baseball, basketball and football) at McDonough High. After two years, he went back to his alma mater and spent five years there, the last three as the head football coach. His wife at the time was transferred to General Motors in the Detroit area and, again, Anderson sent out applications and was hired by Catholic Central as a history teacher and football coach.
Anderson said he feels fortunate to be in this position. Learning and having mentors within a parochial school system prepared him for this opportunity and challenge.
“Mach, to me, was a heck of a mentor,” he said. “My high school coach, Ed Domstiz, was one of my mentors, too. And he’s still coaching.
“Tom was laid back. He didn’t take things too seriously. With all of the extracurricular things that go on now, he wanted football to remain a game. That bothered him, the kids jumping from one school to another. To me, high school was a great time, all of the friends that you made. When you move around you miss that.
“For Tom, it was more of his relationships with people. He had the Xs and Os, but it was about building men. That was always an emphasis. You had to develop them into great people. What you saw with Tom is what you got. It was refreshing.”
Though Korzeniewski isn’t directly replacing a legend, Fracassa’s shadow still looms over Brother Rice football; history doesn’t leave us that quickly. Expectations remain high for a program that won three straight Division 2 titles from 2011-13. The Warriors finished 7-4 last fall.
There’s an added unknown for Korzeniewski. He’s never been a head coach before. He’s coached for 17 seasons, including six as Fracassa’s defensive coordinator. The last two seasons Korzeniewski was the defensive coordinator at Birmingham Seaholm, working under his good friend Jim DeWald. The two were teammates at Western Michigan during the mid-1990s.
Korzeniewski’s approach is to keep things simple. He doesn’t see his job as having more pressure than most head coaching positions. As a coach, you teach. For the players, they learn.
“To me, it’s my job,” he said. “I go about it as I would anything else. To other people it would be different. I do my job every day.
“I didn’t come here thinking other people did this or that. It’s the kids. It goes back to why I got into coaching. You see the progress. It’s important to them that they get better. Football is important to them.”
Just as Anderson learned from his predecessor, Korzeniewski has borrowed much from Fracassa.
“I learned the importance of a team,” Korzeniewski said. “Nothing is more important than the team. And there’s something else. He made every player feel a part of the team. He had a way to make kids compete. I wish I could do that.
“What’s important to me is that things get taught and understood. You have to be demanding and supportive. (It’s) the action and reaction.”
Rest assured, both coaches will be watched as if through a microscopic lens. They understand that. They also understand they are heading into once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, and they’re going to make the most of them.
“I’m excited,” Anderson said. “We have a great group of kids. We have a great group of coaches and we’re going to enjoy each other’s company.”
Tom Markowski is a columnist and directs website coverage for the State Champs! Sports Network. He previously covered primarily high school sports for the The Detroit News from 1984-2014, focusing on the Detroit area and contributing to statewide coverage of football and basketball. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Catholic Central's Dan Anderson (left), here coaching the defense during the 2016 Division 1 Final, and Brother Rice's Adam Korzeniewski, the Warriors' defensive coordinator during their 2012 Division 2 title run, are taking over top Detroit Catholic League programs this fall. (Middle) Former Brother Rice coach Al Fracassa (top) retired after the 2013 season, while DCC's Tom Mach stepped down in February.