Jane Richards is a pretty good sport.
She has to be.
Her son, Jeff, is head football coach at Bluffton High School. Her husband, Mike, is a volunteer coach on his son, Jeff’s coaching staff.
In a chat with Jane on Thursday at Common Grounds, the Icon learned a lot about being the mother and wife of football coaches.
For starters, her position is a lifetime career.
“I’m the stable one. Mike moved around in his coaching career,” she laughs.
Jane taught art at Cory-Rawson for over 30 years.
Meanwhile, Mike coached football at Allen East, Riverside, Columbus Grove, Bluffton University, Bluffton High School, Perry, Allen East (again), and once again at Bluffton High School.
During that span he was also a principal at Perry and retired as Allen East school superintendent.
All three of Jane and Mike's sons - Matt, Brett and Jeff - played football at BHS.
And, just when she thought her football days ended, her son, Jeff, returned to Bluffton and is in his first year as head varsity football coach for the Pirates.
She admits that after watching too many games to count, she says she can pretty much tell what play will unfold when the offense lines up.
In her new role as a mother of a coach, she says she’s a lot more relaxed than she used to be, adding: “I don’t offer my opinion much to either Jeff or Mike. However, by the end of the week it can get pretty intense (in our house.)”
When Jeff took the BHS position last spring, his dad came on the staff a volunteer coach.
“Mike is in the press box and that was Jeff’s decision,” said Jane. “Mike and Jeff talk on headsets to each other during the game.”
Jane says that Jeff grew up around football. When in grade school he “carried the cord” on the sidelines at Bluffton University games when his dad wore a headset. That was in a much different technological era as headset cords are a thing of the past.
As a player, Jeff gravitated to the offensive center position. He played that at Bluffton High School, when Dennis Lee was coach. He also played that position at Bluffton University.
As a funny story, Jane says when Jeff was in high school, she took him to a “long snap camp” in Kentucky. NFL kicker and Hall of Famer Ray Guy led the camp. Not knowing Guy, Jane launched into a conversation with someone at the camp, by saying, “Those are some pretty impressive rings you are wearing.”
Later, she discovered it was camp director Guy she had talked with.
Back to this season, Jane tells about coming home from the first game at Cory-Rawson. In the car with one of her three granddaughters, Jane was asked: “Grandma, do you like football?”
Jane’s answer: “That’s a big question. Yes I do. I even played powder puff football when I was a student at Bluffton College.”
As you might imagine, her granddaughter’s image of powder puff football was pretty interesting. Jane needed to explain it involved flags in your back pocket and no tackling.”
So, how big of a BHS football fan is Jane?
“At the first game at Cory-Rawson, I think I was the first person in the stands. Mike pointed out that fact to Jeff during team warm-ups,” she said.
By the way, Jane doesn’t wear any lucky charms to games. She sits in Row O at Harmon Stadium.
Icon’s advice to Pirate fans: Don’t sit too close to her. She describes herself as a “yeller.” You might get in her way.
