As I’ve discussed in this space previously, my mentor in football is a man named John Paul Young, who coached with several NFL teams as well as practically every reputable college football team in the Southwest proper in the 70s, 80s and 90s. While I’ve never discussed his wife, Dolores, she’s as much a part of John Paul’s story as anyone in football, and he’d tell you as much.

However, no one’s ever told Dolores’ story before, so she took it upon herself to do just that, sort of. In her new book, I Married Football (for details on ordering it, click here), she recounts her days in the game, but also provides key advice and tips for young women who are in her situation and just getting started in the game.

Though I haven’t had the pleasure of reading it yet, I asked her several questions about her experiences. I’ve included them here, along with her responses.

• JPY coached at all four levels (HS, college, indoor and NFL). Which one was easiest for you, as his wife? Which one was most enjoyable? “John coached at the junior high in Jacksonville for two periods before he went to the high school. He loved those junior high kids. In those days, they had to cross Hwy 79 to get to the Tomato Bowl (where Jacksonville High School’s football team plays) where they had football or P.E. One boy pulled another boy’s shorts down as they were crossing the highway, so John paddled him. They marched like soldiers after that. John loved coaching football. When asked if he misses football, he answers, ‘every day.’ He really coached for love of the game and the boys or men. . . My favorite game of football is Arena Football, and John had two teams: the Dallas Texans and the Houston Terror. I really liked the Texans because the field was so close we could see everything happening. There was loud music, and you could hear the players bouncing off the walls like hockey players. The fans were in the game. It was just fun and exciting.” 
• Getting fired is part of football. Did it ever get easy? Are there “stages of grief,” almost like a death in the family? “Getting fired was very difficult for us all, whether it was the whole staff or just John. Just like a divorce or a death. I disliked for other coaches to be fired as well as John. I did not like leaving our home, friends, and church. Sometimes John would get a job right away and leave us to sell the house and move. . . The boys usually were very excited to go to a new team. I was thankful we had boys. The new place is easier for boys than girls . . .  boys are ready for new boys. It is harder for girls, since the girls are not as happy for girls . . . .”
• Moving is part of life as a coach’s wife. What was the hardest place to leave? What was the toughest move to make? “It was hard leaving Texas A&M since we had lived there eight years, the longest we lived anywhere. I loved our church, house, and friends. The boys had only gone to school in Bryan and had lots of friends. But since we were going to the Oilers, the boys were excited. We had to move without John since he ran off to training camp in San Angelo. I had moving experience (some) but not without a husband.”
• Let’s say you just met a football wife. What is the thing you two will most likely talk about immediately? “We would talk about children, schools, where to buy a house, where to shop, getting to know the other wives on the staff.” 
• JPY has thousands of friends in the business, but some are closer than others. Which coaches’ wives did you get closest to, and why? “The first coach’s wife I met was Helen Phillips (wife of Bum), when I was 20, at UTEP. She helped me a lot getting to adjust to being a coach’s wife. Nell Almond’s husband, Kenneth, was a coach, too. We are still in touch now 62 years later. Also Marion Slayton and Jean Harper. Betty Sheffield (wife of Jacksonville head coach Dick Sheffield) was in Jacksonville. She took me under her wing with our seven-week-old baby boy, John Paul, Jr. Euleta Fry at SMU (wife of head coach Hayden Fry) introduced me to Mary Kay makeup. At Texas A&M, Ruthie Stallings (wife of head coach Gene Stallings) was wonderful bringing me all kinds of things. Jeannette Van Zandt (wife of longtime NFL assistant coach Lance Van Zandt) was (also) a good friend.”

Dolores’ book is full of great stories about the business as well as full-color pictures of coaches, players and people from around the game, most of them from the Youngs’ personal collection. If you love stories about the game and a unique perspective on the game, make sure to pick up her book. You won’t be sorry.

If you read this blog regularly, hopefully, you read our newsletter, the Friday Wrap, semi-regularly, as well. Last week’s edition was one of our most popular of the year as we asked NFL scouts to tell us which schools’ pro liaisons — the official who most often interfaces with evaluators to discuss players — were the best at their jobs. If you missed it, you can get caught up here.

The truth is, we got a lot more responses than we could possibly fit into one newsletter. We got a lot of names-but-no-comments responses, and we got some scouts who were absolutely effusive about pro liaisons that no one else mentioned. We even had some who expanded the question and gave us feedback on helpful people who didn’t hold the “pro liaison” title. It was all too much to just dismiss.

As a result, we’ve complied everything that wouldn’t fit into Friday’s edition, and we present it here. We’ve tried to organize it in a comprehensive way, but may have failed, as responses were all over the map.

Here goes.

Top pro liaisons who just missed the mark last Friday, with comments (presented alphabetically):

• Scott Aligo, Kansas — “The king of the portal . . . he is the best host and he is a superstar. . . He competes to give scouts the best access in the country. He is smart, welcoming and a genius football evaluator. Kansas is home, and he might be the best in the country at what he does. The most unique and best liaison for a long long time.”
• Tyler Barnes, Iowa — “Among those liaisons who are working at programs that weren’t so good to scouts before they took over as liaisons, and (who) are now great visits for us and do what they can to allow us to do our best work.”
• Brendt Bedsole, Auburn — “The Southeast is loaded with liaisons who do a great job. There are so many who help us and put in a ton of time to communicate with us and help their players, but if I had to pick one liaison who’s gone above and beyond this year, it’s Brendt.”
• Ricky Ciccone, Toledo — “Very accommodating, very welcoming, very thorough, very knowledgeable.”
• Jason Cvercko, Boise State — “One of the best for a long time, knows the players and also good at the evaluation part of it. Was previously at Washington State and Hawaii before Boise and did awesome at those places, too.”
• Nate Dennison, Purdue — “Just wide open. It’s almost as if they drop whatever they are doing to aid. Last-minute visit when someone else changes a schedule, and Purdue is like, ‘sure, come on in.’ They got the schedule lined up for (us). Gives access, honest about their players and (isn’t) ’t trying to sell. They have realistic views, which isn’t always easy when you love your own, which is appreciated.”
• Ean Deno, North Dakota St. — “Very good communicator and follows up with info after visits. Organized visit schedule and knows what you’re looking for.”
• Matt Doherty, Arizona — “Very informative and knows the players.”
• Darby Dunnagan, Northwestern — “Highly organized, detailed, and facilitates a very efficient visit.”
• Taylor Edwards, South Carolina — “Understands what we are looking for on the visit. Always communicating and is organized in his approach.”
• Lucas Gauthier, Colorado State — “Good info pocket, access to coaches.”
• Marcus Hendrickson, Minnesota – “Another great one. Very accommodating and willing to do anything to promote his players! As organized as there is!!”
• Aaron Hillman, Iowa State — “Really good player info, access to coaches.”
• Chad Klunder, Duke — “Duke always had three players on both sides of the ball who couldn’t play anywhere but Duke. He shored up the Duke roster and found players who are more rugged and more competitive. . . He provides us with all information, great access, and a flip card for practice.”
• Aaron Knotts, Washington — “He is very accommodating and does a great job setting up appointments with coaches and making sure you are able to meet with everybody that you need to on the visit.”
• Justin Kramer, Washington State: Great information, access to coaches.
• Marshall Malchow, Oregon — He is always organized, up front and honest with scouts. Makes visits efficient and gets us in front of whomever we need to talk to.
• Darrell Moody, North Carolina — “Is one of us, and he makes Mack Brown’s (team) more open and more welcoming.”
• Jay Perry along with Brittany Thackery, Mississippi State — “They are an awesome duo. First, they make the visit special with the access to film and how accommodating they are. It’s not always fun being in ‘Stark Vegas,’ but they make it worthwhile because they are super-honest in their evaluation of the person and growth potential. They know the families in and out and really give good insight on how we can help them, moving forward.”
• Justin Speros, Virginia (formerly South Florida and Western Carolina) — “Is always honest and digs up any information that we need in a timely manner.”
• Bob Welton, Alabama — “Gets it. One of the, if not the, top visits in the country.
• Matt Wilson, Arkansas St. — “Matt is very well-versed on all dealings of the program. He gives really good information and makes sure all visits are very organized.”
• Roy Witke, Syracuse — “I respect him so much for . . .  his history as a coach.  But has super great insight and is still sharp as a tack. He knows the kids, (and) he’ll point you in the right direction for the questions you should ask (if you’re new to him). Always accommodating.”

Others who received a mention: Chandler Arbizzani, Montana St.; Michael Doctor, Oregon St.; Billy High, Tennessee; Mike Pechac, Indiana; Landon Salem, Memphis; and Troy Wingerter, La.-Lafayette.

Others offered unsolicited comment on school officials who excel.

GUYS WE MISS: One scout offered an extensive list of not only the liaisons that excel, but those who are no longer working with scouts for various reasons. They include:

• Gone for the NFL: Wake Forest’s Taylor Redd (Patriots) and Charlotte’s Carter Crutchfield (Rams).
• On the move: Duke’s Jim Collins, who left for the AAF and then Elon; Matt Lindsey, who left Ole Miss for Athletes First; and Geoff Martzen, who left Michigan State for private business. Also, John Srofe (Richmond to Appalachian State) and Patrick Hickman (Virginia to BYU) have taken on new roles in new places.
• Retired: South Carolina State’s Gerald Harrison and Liberty’s Paul Rutigliano.
• Passed away: Texas A&M’s Gary Reynolds and Texas Tech’s Tommy McVay.

And finally:

STRENGTH COACHES, ETC.: Pro liaisons aren’t the only ones scouts come in contact with, and strength coaches are especially in demand. Here are a few comments on the best ones.

• David Feeley, Duke — “One of the most honest strength coaches with scouts.  Great charisma. He also maximizes players’ potential in the weight room.”
• Kevin Glover, Maryland — “Is a mentor. Coaches the coaches on how to  coach hard and coaches the players on how to accept constructive criticism.”
• Brandon Hourgan, Vanderbilt — “A great, goal-oriented strength coach. He started giving us the numbers and pictures over a player’s freshman to senior seasons, with numbers for every calendar year, almost a decade ago when he was at Wake. . . We (get to) see a body change over time. We see strength numbers, test numbers, body fat percentage numbers change. No hiding bad test numbers or bad pictures. He provides an open book, a true portfolio of what his players have accomplished. Accountability attained!”
• Woody McCorvey, Clemson — “Coaches the players at Clemson to accept hard coaching. He is an excellent resource if he allows you schedule a one-on-one visit with him.”
• Chad Scott, Coastal Carolina — “A young star. He built a weight room at Charleston Southern. He built the credibility between the players and staff at Coastal. Unsung hero who speaks truth, has morality, and is a great role model. Motivates players in an impressive manner.”
• John Williams, East Carolina — “Mentors individual players who are very difficult to reach. He is a life coach and a strength coach.”

If you missed last week’s Friday Wrap, make sure not to miss this week’s by registering here.