{"id":46437,"date":"2015-09-02T19:59:27","date_gmt":"2015-09-02T19:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/?p=46437"},"modified":"2015-09-03T04:20:00","modified_gmt":"2015-09-03T04:20:00","slug":"coaching-with-conviction-from-auggie-pride-comes-a-passion-for-teaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/2015\/09\/02\/coaching-with-conviction-from-auggie-pride-comes-a-passion-for-teaching\/","title":{"rendered":"Coaching with Conviction: From Auggie Pride Comes a Passion for Teaching"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bottom<\/a>
Bottom (L-R): Andy Johnson, Mark Joesph; Top (L-R): Royce Winford, Jordan Berg, Derrin Lamker, David Tilton, Jack Osberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Derrin Lamker \u201997 remembers that he wanted to be a coach from his first year in college. As head coach at Osseo High School for the last 10 years, he says he had good training coming from a great team like Augsburg.<\/p>\n

At Augsburg, he played football, basketball, and baseball. During his football career, he was the MIAC Most Valuable Player and led the Auggies to an MIAC title in 1997, the same year he received Kodak All-American Honors.<\/p>\n

At Osseo, Lamker has surrounded himself with a coaching staff that includes several stellar Auggies and teachers. They mesh well and show up every day for the same reason\u2014to develop contributing members of society. Their hope is that no matter where the players go, or where football takes them after high school, they will be successful. The Orioles are now ranked second in the metro area, and have started the season with a 2-0 record. Lamker says what is remarkable about the team is the people.<\/p>\n

Six Auggies join Lamker in coaching the teams. They include his former college football coach and mentor, Jack Osberg \u201962. Osberg says it is a great joy to coach with Lamker. \u201cI\u2019m doing what I love to do,\u201d says Osberg, who was head football coach at Augsburg from 1991-2004, and then stayed on to work with head coach Frank Haege. He didn\u2019t stay away from football very long before he continued to get his \u201cfall fix\u201d in coaching once again at Osseo High School.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s real people at Augsburg. That\u2019s what you get,\u201d says Lamker. The Auggies joining him on the coaching staff include Andy Johnson \u201904, Royce Winford \u201909, Mark Joseph \u201901, David Tilton \u201912, and Jordan Berg \u201909. For the past five seasons, they were joined by Tony Nelson ’84 and Doug Bailey ’90, who stepped down from coaching this year. Together, they have built a program that puts its priorities in order, much like they saw at Augsburg, both on and off the field.<\/p>\n

Competition and Compassion<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Derrin<\/a>
Derrin Lamker with wife, Amy, and daughters Jordyn, 12, and Shea, 10. The girls, both well-rounded athletes, play basketball, volleyball, swimming, soccer, and golf.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How do they prepare athletes for the competitiveness of athletics in a tough league? Osberg talks about feeding their competitive nature in a way that doesn\u2019t overwhelm and distract. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to treat them right,\u201d Lamker says. \u201cTreat the players with honesty and have fun.\u201d After all, he says, \u201cfootball is an optional game. It\u2019s a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lamker enjoys the organizational part of the game, but knows that the challenge rests in getting 190 players and 20 coaches on the same page with the same philosophy. Osberg says Lamker has a work ethic that is second to none. \u201cHe communicates extremely well with his peers, players, and community. He has an edginess about him and a deep compassion that gives him the ability to handle a multitude of situations that can come up in coaching.\u00a0He loves the game and his players.\u201d<\/p>\n

His drive has paid off. Lamker was named the Northwest Suburban Conference Coach of the Year in 2007, 2013, and<\/em> 2014.\u00a0During his tenure, Osseo has had the highest winning percentage in the league.<\/p>\n

Family Values<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Derrin has a knack for getting the chemistry just right,” Osberg says. “He is amazing at pulling all the pieces together. He brings together people who are compatible, and who genuinely care about the young men and their families”\u2014values he saw in action at Augsburg and shared with student-athletes. \u201cI am so proud of these guys,\u201d says Osberg. \u201cI love to stand back at times and watch them work like a proud father. They apply their unique skills and personality and \u2018bring an Auggie touch\u2019 to what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The secret to good coaching, Osberg says, is in finding natural teachers. \u201cIn all the years that I\u2019ve been coaching, I’ve found that you don’t have to be a star athlete to be a good coach. If you\u2019re a good teacher and you like young people, you can be a good coach. There are many roles of teaching in our lives.\u00a0 We teach as parents, colleagues, and coaches. You have to be able to motivate, understand individual differences, and teach skills. If you can challenge individuals to reach their potential and then stretch them a little more, you have succeeded as a coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cDerrin has always understood the people component of success in a career. I think that is one of the great values Augsburg College has taught,\u201d Osberg says. \u201cHe has a knack of handling each member of the team in the way that\u2019s best for them,\u201d Osberg says. \u201cIt\u2019s fun to watch him coach.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"jack<\/a>
Jack and Nina Osberg on campus. Three of their six children graduated from Augsburg.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Part of the reason Osberg felt so at home in Division III sports was because of the balance between athletic, educational, and personal values. He says, \u201cThere\u2019s more to life than the things right in front of you. If you can understand the values of coaching, athletics, and people around you it\u2019s one of the great aspects of coaching football.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coaching for Osberg has always been a family affair. Throughout his career, his wife, Nina, has long been his right-hand in supporting the students off the field, especially if they were struggling at home or in school. \u201cI couldn\u2019t do what I do without her beside me,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Leadership and Belonging<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of Lamker\u2019s favorite memories from his time at Augsburg is winning the conference championship in 1997. He credits his role models, Jack Osberg, Frank Haege, and Drew Privette \u201989 with teaching him discipline, organization, how to treat people right, and how to have to have fun in the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cDerrin had to work hard for everything he accomplished,\u201d Osberg says. He remembers Lamker as outstanding in his junior and senior years at Augsburg. He was years ahead of his peers, and knew what he wanted to do with his life. \u201cHe knew his pathway and he worked so hard to get there and never let up,\u201d Osberg says.<\/p>\n

Lamker was a natural leader on the field. \u201cAs a quarterback he was like a coach on the field.\u201d After graduation he continued his development as an assistant football coach at Augsburg.<\/p>\n

Augsburg continues to draw Auggies together as students, coaches, and alumni. Osberg says he loved every minute of his time as a student and coach. “The people drew me to Augsburg. I sensed it 1958. It was so wonderful being a piece of that as a coach,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Now he is thankful for the positive energy shared with the Osseo team. \u201cThese coaches give me a sense of belonging to a group.\u201d Like Lamker, the joy he has in coaching is still meeting and working with young men and watching them grow and mature.<\/p>\n

Their love for coaching is more than x\u2019s & o\u2019s. And it\u2019s a love that\u2019s renewed each fall as a new team assembles on the field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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