41 years in coaching, Dorazio’s the best
He doesn’t just create scouting reports, he gives us detailed personal cheat sheets for the week
It was 8 a.m. on Good Friday in the spring of 2003 when I first realized what a special coach I had in Dan Dorazio.
Being a statutory holiday, everything was closed, and our football facility was a complete ghost town. Dan unlocked the building and for two hours of his holiday he worked with me relentlessly, with the singular purpose of helping make me the best football player I could be.
That was my first year with Dan, but even 11 years later, nothing has changed. Any time of year, or even any time of the day, you can bet that Dan is working on ways to help his players be the best they can.
Some people love their work. Some people live their work. Then there are the rare few who eat, sleep and breathe their work. That’s our offensive line coach, Dan Dorazio.
This year marks Dan’s 41st in the coaching world. It’s the only career he’s ever known. His resumé is as long and distinctive as his list of accomplishments.
In 16 CFL seasons he has won four Grey Cups and tutored the CFL’s most outstanding lineman winner as many times. As with most great things, though, it’s never the stats or awards that separate you from the rest. It’s all the things most people never hear or even know about that truly makes a man great.
With Dan it’s always been about his players. A CFL workday starts at 9 a.m., but for Dan, most days start seven hours earlier, at 2 a.m. Why? So he can get a seven-hour head start on making us our personal cheat sheets for the week.
Most coaches will give players scouting reports. Dan gives us cheat sheets. He spends the time to make us a complete breakdown of each player we will face. I’m talking about things like the actual percentage of times they will use each pass rush move, broken down depending on the down, what alignment they’re in, what hand they put on the ground, even down to how much their elbow is bent in their stance.
My whole career has been like the teacher giving me the answers to the test ahead of time. Dan spends every second of practice working on specific techniques he has deemed appropriate for that week to defend those particular players. The groundwork for these techniques begin months in advance. That’s what brings us back to Good Friday, 2003.
Every off-season since that first spring, linemen looking to improve have come to Dan for moulding. Sometimes it was pushing his car around to develop leg drive, or maybe it was crumpling up newspapers with one hand to improve grip strength. You never knew what Dan had in store for you.
Each year he would travel to coaching clinics, pick his colleagues’ brains, and sometimes simply invent his own drills. He would do whatever it took to help his players prepare for the season. We would do crazy things like squat down eyes closed with our hands behind our back and have Dan throw you around like a rag doll, all to improve your body balance and what he calls your “anchor.”
Some drills were fun, some were next to impossible, most were usually exhausting, but all helped make us better. For 41 years now, Dan’s purpose has been simply to make his players better, and whatever he can do to help, he’ll do it.
Our meeting room is completely wallpapered with inspirational quotes, each carefully chosen by Dan to reflect the meaning of our work that season. He’ll sprinkle in weekly quotes and stories that match what is happening in our current week. Where he finds the time to look these up, I will never know.
Nestled neatly among all these quotes are photos of his players, his true pride and joy. Like any proud father,whentheirboydoessomething great, he enjoys rewarding them.
Thus, the candy bar tradition. After every win, big plays and great performancesareallrewardedwith‘Payday’ bars,and‘Crunch’bars.Themostcoveted reward of all though is the ‘Eraser’. It’s literally a grease-board eraser givenonlywhenalinemancompletely erases his opponent from the game making him non-existent. It may not sound like much but they are seriously treasured, and you’re lucky if you see one handed out a season.
These are things that don’t have to be done, and most are not part of the job description at all. They are simply a reflection of not only his deep love for the sport of football, but also his complete commitment to helping his players achieve their best.
I know I never would have been the player I became without Dan. He gave me every single tool required to maximize my ability. I think almost any player who has been fortunate enough to play under him would agree. Dan not only makes you a better offensive lineman, but also a better person. He gives you an understanding of true work and commitment.
Sure, all the techniques and plays don’t always go the way you have prepared them, and sometimes you have to go back to the drawing board. With Dan though, it’s never just been about the end result, it’s the continuous process of working toward improvement.
I’m so lucky to have had Dan as my coach these past 11 years. He’s taught me so much more than football.
He has taught me the true meaning of one of his favourite quotes, “Good, better, best ... never let it rest, until your good is better, and your better is best”.
That’s Dan, that’ll always be Dan, and every player he’s ever coached is lucky because of that.