When sports fans hear the leader of their team described as a players’ coach, one of two thoughts usually leap to mind:
1. Oh, great. This guy wants to be the players’ friend more than he wants to be an authority figure and mentor to them.
2. This guy relates well to his kids, shows them that he cares by building relationships and a rapport with them, but nonetheless demands high standards of performance and conduct and expects accountability at all times.
Guess which category Lebanon Valley College second-year head football coach J.R. Drake fits into? If you’re familiar with the Flying Dutchmen, you already know the answer.
Last season, the 34-year-old Drake, a former player and assistant coach at LVC, guided the Flying Dutchmen to a 6-5 record — their first winning season in a decade — and a postseason bowl game as part of the Centennial-MAC Bowl Series.
Though Valley fell to Muhlenberg College 22-7 in the bowl game, Drake – who was appointed head coach on Oct. 13 last fall after initially serving as interim head coach following the retirement of Joe Buehler – left a strong impression on players, coaches, and administration during his first season at the helm.
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It was a culmination of sorts for Drake, who began a steady rise through the program as a wide receiver from 2007 to 2009, then went on to hold multiple assistant coaching roles for LVC before stepping into the top job last season.
“It’s nice to have the title, but I never really felt like it wasn’t mine,” Drake said Saturday, crediting previous head coaches Buehler and Jim Monos for aiding his rise up the coaching ladder. “I just knew I had to do the right things, keep my head down, and stay with the process.”
Led on the field by dynamic, dual threat quarterback and ELCO grad Braden Bohannon, LVC stuck to that process throughout the 2023 campaign, which was highlighted by a 27-24 double overtime victory at Widener and a 47-9 thrashing of Albright.
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“I knew we’d be fine,” Drake said. “They just had to learn how to play in tighter games and learn they could play with anyone. It’s funny, confidence is such a huge thing in football.”
So, too, are relationships between players and their head coach.
As a younger head coach, Drake has some built-in advantages since he is closer in age to his players than most head coaches.
“I’m younger, that’s there, so I think they feel like they can relate to me,” he said. “Really, what it is for me is relationships. I take time to get to know them in the recruiting process, learn throughout their years what makes them tick. I know their parents’ names, I know when their birthdays are.”
All of that is well and good, but the biggest factor for Drake is letting his players know he truly cares about them, something he has been able to do through programs and initiatives that focus on the athletes’ mental health.
“We really focus on the mental health part of the game,” he said. “We use a book written by a sports psychologist, we do exercises out of it, we use phrases from it. It’s such a big thing with this generation, trying to get them past that, ‘I’m a guy, I can’t talk about my feelings’ deal.
“What they’ve realized through the last few years is that they all go through the same stuff, if they just talk about it, it’s easy.”
Spoken like a true players’ coach, right?
“I would say I’m a players’ coach,” Drake says evenly. “But I have high standards and I don’t sacrifice those standards. I demand a certain standard. I try to treat every problem or issue on the field as a learning experience rather than just yelling at kids.”
On-the field problems may not be too prevalent for LVC, which returns a boatload of experience from last year’s group.
“We have 18 of 22 starters back,” Drake said. “Our goal is to win an MAC championship. Our expectations are high. We feel like we can do it. We feel like we’re a playoff team. They’re a well-seasoned group and the leadership from the captains is incredible.”
All of which can only take place if the head coach not only allows it to take place, but also to thrive.
“One of my golden rules that I tell every recruit and every kid that’s here is, ‘I’m always gonna tell you I love you and I’m always gonna tell you I appreciate you.’ Because truly I do,” Drake said. “Without them we can’t do anything.”
The Dutchmen’s first game of the season is Friday at Franklin & Marshall in Lancaster.
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