Oakridge 3-Sport Star Potts Applying Lessons to 'Second Chapter' in Sales
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
July 20, 2023
Jamie Potts put a major strain on his feet and ankles for many years.
Potts was constantly twisting and contorting in cleats and sneakers as a three-sport standout at Muskegon Oakridge and later as a rare two-sport star at Grand Valley State University, where he is still listed in the school’s football and baseball record books.
So it’s fitting that the 30-yeaar-old Potts is now helping to heal feet and ankles as a medical device salesman for Stryker.
“It’s a very competitive, fast-paced job and lifestyle,” said Potts, who graduated from Oakridge in 2011.
“I am very thankful for that because there is a huge void there. When you put so much of your time and energy into it, transitioning out of competitive sports is difficult.”
Potts is the youngest of four boys, so he practically grew up in the bleachers at Oakridge. By the time he got to high school, he fell effortlessly into the rhythm of football in the fall, basketball in the winter and baseball in the spring – all while maintaining a 4.1 GPA, good for fifth overall in his class.
Potts did everything on the football field at Oakridge, as a 6-foot-3, 200-pound dual-threat quarterback. As a senior, he rushed for 1,561 yards and 24 touchdowns and threw for 696 yards and 10 TDs – along with totaling 64 tackles and successfully booting 9-of-13 field goal attempts.
“He was a fantastic high school athlete and one of the best athletes to ever come out of Oakridge,” said former Eagles coach Jack Schugars, the all-time winningest high school coach in the Muskegon area who is now the special teams coordinator at Ferris State. “He was a tremendous leader and the epitome of a role model for younger kids.”
Potts was a solid, if not spectacular, basketball player, known as a defensive specialist who wasn’t afraid to guard anybody.
Then in the spring, he was back to all-state status in baseball as an outfielder, batting .584 his senior year with six home runs, 38 RBIs and 34 stolen bases.
That meant it was decision time when it came to college – would it be football or baseball?
Potts received several Division I offers, including from Central Michigan University for football and Oakland University for baseball.
But it was Division II Grand Valley, particularly then-assistant coach Matt Yoches (now the director of football operations at Miami of Ohio) that floated the possibility of playing both sports – a very rare feat at the DII level.
Potts made the GVSU coaches look like geniuses. He was a four-year starter at tight end and receiver, finishing his career second all-time for the Lakers in TD receptions (35) and third in career receptions (169). In baseball, he finished with 241 career hits, the fifth-most in school history at the time.
“People told me that playing both in Division II wasn’t realistic,” said Potts, who now lives on the east side of the state in Fenton, with his 1-year-old daughter, Brooklyn. “But I wanted to give it a shot and I think I did all right with it. Growing up in Oakridge, my life was all about sports, so it prepared me.”
Potts was drafted by the Texas Rangers shortly after his senior collegiate baseball season in 2015 and played that summer for Class A Spokane (Wash.), batting .217 with four home runs in 57 games. He missed training camp and the first two games of the 2015 football season, but returned to help the Lakers to the DII Semifinals his senior year.
He prepared to resume his baseball career and left in late February for the Rangers spring training complex in Surprise, Ariz., before announcing his retirement in March with a long and heartfelt Facebook post, which concluded:
“My best advice I can give is that you should always chase your dreams until your heart says it’s time to stop,” Potts wrote. “No matter how far out of reach you think it is or how old you are, you can do it with enough hard work and preparation.”
Potts, who completed his degree in allied health sciences with a minor in psychology during the Lakers’ 2015 football run, then had to shift gears and find his place in the “real world,” outside of competitive sports.
Potts said Oakridge, in addition to being a hard-working sports community, also did a mighty fine job preparing him and his three older brothers, sons of Tom and Kathy Potts, for life after athletics. Oldest brother Chris is an engineer, Andy works as a logistics manager and Aaron is an orthopedic surgeon.
It was actually Aaron who pointed him in the direction of medical device sales. He went through five interviews shortly after his retirement before landing his first job in the field at Arthrex in Grand Rapids, before moving on to Kalamazoo-headquartered Stryker last year.
“A big part of my job is being in the operating room with the surgeons and making sure that everything is working,” explained Potts, who is part of a six-member team which covers much of eastern Michigan. “It’s very intense, very much like the feel of a close game. No doubt all of those years of sports help me every day.”
But Potts could not leave sports behind completely after his baseball retirement.
He was back in Muskegon in the spring of 2016 and attended a Muskegon Ironmen indoor football game. He spoke with team owner TJ Williams, who Potts used to watch playing for Oakridge as a kid, and a few weeks later, he was in an Ironmen uniform.
Potts played two years with the Ironmen as a receiver, linebacker and kicker.
“It was a lot of fun, really, getting to play in front of fans in Muskegon again,” said Potts. “The worst part was the walls. I’ve never experienced getting tackled into walls before and, I tell you, that takes some getting used to.”
More recently, Potts helped out last month as a coach at Schugars’ kicking camp at Oakridge, getting him back on the turf at Russell Erickson Stadium, where the field is now known as Jack Schugars Field.
“I’m happy to be a role model for kids,” said Potts. “You learn so many life lessons from playing sports. It really gets you ready for the second chapter of life.”
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PHOTOS (Top) Jamie Potts runs the offense for Muskegon Oakridge as a senior in 2010, and now. (Middle) Potts, second from left, is advancing in his career in medical device sales. (Photos courtesy of Jamie Potts.)
1st & Goal: 2025 Playoffs Week 3 Preview
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 12, 2025
The MHSAA Football Playoffs turn into a second season for teams still alive at this late date – and it’s impossible to not begin sensing the opportunities opening up for those teams as we move into mid-November.
With two weeks remaining in the 8-player season, we’re running a counter and starting this week with a little deeper dive into our four Semifinals in those divisions. One reigning champion is still in pursuit of a Superior Dome return, and two teams are seeking Saturday to reach Finals for the first time.
After that, we check out Regional Finals in every 11-player division, with four games matching undefeated opponents. All of those games are Friday unless noted below, and Semifinals sites will be announced Sunday.
Tickets this weekend are $9 for 11-Player Regional Finals and $10 for 8-Player Semifinals and can be purchased at GoFan.co. All four 8-Player Semifinals and all 32 11-Player Regional Finals will be broadcast and available to watch with subscription on the NFHS Network.
8-Player Division 1
Blanchard Montabella (10-1) vs. Norway (11-0) at Traverse City’s Thirlby Field WATCH
Montabella has pulled within one more win of reaching the Finals for the first time, its only loss this season to Division 2 semifinalist Portland St. Patrick. As a team, the Mustangs are averaging 8.5 yards per carry, paced by senior Brady Kieff (1,475 yards, 8.5 per carry, 16 touchdowns rushing). Norway last reached the Semifinals in 2006 (in 11-player) but has seemed on the verge of a run since moving to 8-player in 2021. Senior quarterback Owen Baij has run for a team-high 1,443 yards and 30 touchdowns and thrown for 817 yards and 13 more scores.
Kingston (10-1) vs. Martin (11-0) at Chelsea WATCH
Martin moved to a combined 13-2 in playoff games this decade with last week’s 36-20 win over Climax-Scotts, and the Clippers are once again led by a two-way threat in senior quarterback Haylen Buell, who has run for a team-high 1,528 yards and 32 touchdowns and thrown for 866 and 13 scores. Kingston has run into eventual champions the last two seasons, falling to Martin in a Semifinal in 2023 and then Deckerville in a Regional Final last year. The Cardinals are attempting to reach their first championship game powered as well by a dangerous two-way quarterback in senior Tanner James (524 yards/11 TDs rushing, 902/20 passing).
8-Player Division 2
Felch North Dickinson (11-0) vs. Onekama (11-0) at Marquette WATCH
North Dickinson has stormed into its first Semifinal since 2001 (in 11-player) with senior quarterback Brady Jungwirth directing an offense that has outpaced every opponent by at least three touchdowns, including adding to a 38-34 win over Lake Linden-Hubbell in Week 1 with a 32-12 win in their rematch last weekend. Jungwirth has thrown for 1,888 yards and 28 touchdowns, with just three interceptions. Onekama is playing in a second-straight Semifinal seeking to get to the Superior Dome for the first time since 2018, paced by a pair of running backs both averaging more than nine yards per carry – senior Tyler Hart (859 yards, 15 TDs rushing) and freshman Bennett Zeller (821/13).
Deckerville (10-1) vs. Portland St. Patrick (11-0) at Mount Pleasant WATCH
Deckerville won Division 1 last season and is seeking to return to Superior Dome with junior Brandon Salowitz moving up from supporting cast in 2024 to the starring role. He’s the leading rusher with 1,311 yards and 24 touchdowns, starts at linebacker and punts. The Shamrocks are working to get back to the Finals for the first time since 2020 and showed off a dynamic playmaker as well last week in senior running back/linebacker/punter Brady Leonard, who has run for 1,091 yards and 14 touchdowns and intercepted 10 passes. He scored five touchdowns in last week’s 51-22 win over previously-undefeated Mendon.
11-Player Division 1
Detroit Catholic Central (11-0) at Clarkston (10-1) WATCH
These two have met twice previously in playoff games, with Clarkston winning both including their Division 1 championship matchup in 2013. These days, Detroit Catholic Central has won 22 of its last 23 games – the only loss to eventual champion Detroit Cass Tech during last year’s Semifinals – and perhaps most impressively this fall hasn’t given up more than 14 points in a game despite playing Grand Ledge and Detroit Martin Luther King on top of a loaded Catholic High School League Central slate. Clarkston is a 27-21 Week 2 loss to undefeated Harper Woods from a perfect run through this season as well, and handed previously-unbeaten Grand Blanc its only loss last week – doubling up the Bobcats 44-22. The Wolves also won all of their games in the power-packed Oakland Activities Association Red by at least two touchdowns.
Other Regional Finals FRIDAY Detroit Cass Tech (11-0) at Saline (10-1) WATCH, Romeo (8-3) at Rochester Adams (9-2) WATCH. SATURDAY East Kentwood (9-2) at Hudsonville (11-0) WATCH.
11-Player Division 2
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (8-2) at Midland Dow (10-1) WATCH
Reigning Division 2 champion St. Mary’s cleared a major hurdle last week, avenging a Week 8 loss with a 35-14 win over rival Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice. But the Eaglets obviously can’t rest this weekend. Dow played three teams during the regular season playing this weekend for Regional championships (and went 2-1 against them), and a win would send the Chargers to the Semifinals for the first time since 1997. That only loss this fall came to still-undefeated Mount Pleasant in Week 3, and Dow hasn’t given up more than 15 points since.
Other Regional Finals FRIDAY Traverse City Central (7-4) at Portage Central (11-0) WATCH, Dexter (10-1) at Gibraltar Carlson (11-0) WATCH, Birmingham Groves (8-3) at St. Clair Shores Lakeview (9-2) WATCH.
11-Player Division 3
Warren De La Salle Collegiate (5-6) at Detroit Martin Luther King (7-4) WATCH
As likely anticipated, both of these teams have surged in the postseason after navigating two of the toughest schedules in the state. The Pilots actually have won four of their last six games and opened the playoffs with a 56-34 victory over Macomb Area Conference Gold champion Warren Fitzgerald before downing Port Huron last week. King provides another level of challenge, and it opened the playoffs defeating Huron League co-champ Riverview before downing Trenton to clinch a District title.
Other Regional Finals FRIDAY East Grand Rapids (9-2) at Mount Pleasant (11-0) WATCH, Zeeland West (8-3) at Lowell (9-2) WATCH, Fenton (8-3) at DeWitt (11-0) WATCH.
11-Player Division 4
Goodrich (11-0) at Williamston (11-0) WATCH
This could be a clash of styles as Williamston rode big plays to a comeback win last week over Haslett, while Goodrich has won 24 straight games (including last season’s championship decider) with a powerful running attack and physical defense that earned its first shutout of this season last week against Chelsea. The Hornets trailed Haslett 21-7 at halftime last week before scoring 28 third-quarter points mixing speed to get to the perimeter and a potent downfield passing attack.
Other Regional Finals FRIDAY Big Rapids (10-1) vs. Hudsonville Unity Christian (10-1) at Hudsonville Baldwin WATCH. SATURDAY Vicksburg (7-4) at Portland (11-0) WATCH, Dearborn Divine Child (10-1) vs. Harper Woods (11-0) at Westland John Glenn WATCH.
11-Player Division 5
Frankenmuth (10-1) at Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (9-2) WATCH
It was easy at the start of these playoffs to circle this rematch of last year’s Division 5 championship game as one of the most notable matchups in the entire bracket. Notre Dame Prep won last season’s 42-7 and has continued to follow the lead of quarterback San Stowe, putting up 50 or more points against five playoff teams over the course of this fall. The Eagles will counter with a defense that has shown itself plenty capable allowing only 10 points a game and giving up only 17 in its lone loss to reigning Division 4 champ Goodrich.
Other Regional Finals FRIDAY Kalamazoo United (9-2) at Grand Rapids West Catholic (10-1) WATCH, Michigan Center (10-1) at Monroe Jefferson (10-1) WATCH. SATURDAY Ogemaw Heights (10-1) at Saginaw Swan Valley (10-1) WATCH.
11-Player Division 6
Montrose (11-0) at Kent City (11-0), Saturday WATCH
Montrose has built on its first perfect regular season since 2013 with a pair of big home playoff wins the last two weeks, but will travel for this one to take on a Kent City team that finished the regular season undefeated for the first time since 2017 and has added the first District championship in program history. The Eagles no doubt are enjoying a little bit of an additional bump this week with this game at home after playing their first two playoff games – and five of their last seven total – on the road.
Other Regional Finals FRIDAY Reed City (9-2) at Kingsley (9-2) WATCH, Ida (9-2) at Jackson Lumen Christi (8-3) WATCH, Detroit Edison (9-2) at Almont (11-0) WATCH.
11-Player Division 7
Clinton (9-2) at Millington (9-2), Saturday WATCH
This will be the first playoff meeting between these two annual contenders, and neither will shy away from taking on an unfamiliar but powerful opponent. Clinton’s losses this season were to undefeated Hudson and last year’s Division 7 runner-p Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central, and the Redwolves avenged the latter last week by a 22-14 score. The Cardinals won the Division 7 title a year ago downing SMCC 24-0. They lost early this fall to Cass City and then to undefeated Harbor Beach in the regular-season finale – but stormed back to win both of their first two playoff games 49-0.
Other Regional Finals FRIDAY Ithaca (8-3) at Pewamo-Westphalia (10-0) WATCH. SATURDAY Shelby (7-4) at Menominee (11-0) WATCH, Schoolcraft (9-2) at Hanover-Horton (9-2) WATCH.
11-Player Division 8
Beal City (11-0) at Harbor Beach (11-0), Saturday WATCH
The reigning Division 8 champion Aggies have rumbled through their competition this season, winning all of their games by at least two touchdowns and by 40 points on average. Harbor Beach is pursuing a first Regional title since 2018 and has been similarly dominant, winning its games by an average score of 41-8. Both closed the regular-season with a notable nonleague win as well – Harbor Beach over reigning Division 7 champion Millington, and Beal City over Ithaca, which like the Cardinals is also playing for a Division 7 Regional title this weekend.
Other Regional Finals FRIDAY Springport (11-0) at Hudson (11-0) WATCH, Bark River Harris (9-1) at Maple City Glen Lake (9-1) WATCH, Allen Park Cabrini (10-1) at Madison Heights Madison (10-1) WATCH.
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PHOTO Clarkston's Griffin Boman (0) follows his blockers as a Grand Blanc defender pursues during the Wolves' District Final win last Friday. (Photo by Terry Lyons)