Hartings demands excellence from Warriors
At the end of a filmstudy session last week, Jeff Hartings spent a good five minutes instructing his Worthington Christian players on the proper way to leave the locker room each day. Waddedup tape, clumps of dirt and garbage, he insisted, should be pushed into one corner to make the janitor’s job easier.
“Every little detail matters to him,” senior running back and safety Danny Myers said of the first-year coach. “He talks about excellence all the time. He’ll make us do one specific technique or drill over and over again until it’s done perfectly.”
That standard of excellence has followed Hartings since his high school days, when his St. Henry team that included quarterback Bob Hoying won the Division V championship in 1990.
Hartings went on to become an All-American, athletic and academic, at Penn State. Then he was a first-round draft pick of the Detroit Lions. An 11-year NFL career culminated with him helping the Pittsburgh Steelers win the Super Bowl after the 2005 season. He was a two-time Pro Bowl choice after shifting from guard to center.
After he retired because of knee problems, Hartings performed missionary work in Nicaragua, helped start a nondenominational church in Pittsburgh and knocked around as an assistant coach, even serving as an intern at the Steelers training camp, before having an epiphany.
“Two years ago, I fell into a great situation here at Worthington Christian, which emphasizes all the same values we believe in. While I was certainly content with a lesser role and responsibilities, I had a calling to become a head coach,” said Hartings, 44. “My wife (Rebecca) and I began talking about it every night, and with God’s guidance, we agreed that I’d start looking around at available positions.”
Concerned that he might lose Hartings, Worthington Christian athletic director Kevin Weakley decided to part ways with Brian Stier, who started the program in 2014 and guided the Warriors to a best-ever 6-4 record last season. Hartings was hired April 19.
“Obviously, Jeff has some significant name recognition that automatically gets him an enormous amount of respect, but hiring Jeff was about more than that,” Weakley said. “He’s a really, really good man and philosophy-wise he has an excellent grasp of what role athletics should play at a small Christian school like ours. He brings some real excitement to our program, from the lower levels up.”
Within three months, Hartings initiated a youth flag football league, fifth- and sixth-grade tackle football and restored the on-again, offagain middle-school program.
In addition to his vast football experience and knowledge, Hartings is first and foremost a people person. One of 10 children, he is a father of eight ranging in age from 4 to 19. Three are adopted. All attend Worthington Christian schools, including Michael, a junior linebacker and safety, and Lucas, a sophomore quarterback and defensive back.
“I’m a strong believer that life is about relationships,” Hartings said. “No matter what some people say, football is important because it is a physical sport and it toughens a person in many ways. Sure, I have a desire to be a great program and win state championships, but my first priority is transforming boys into men.”
To that end, Hartings sees the transformation as an exercise in which wins and losses are secondary.
“Our motto is ‘process is the product,’
” he said. “Building a foundation and doing things the right way on and off the field is the key to success.”
On the field, Hartings plans to keep things simple for his 33 players. He has installed a run-oriented wing-T offense.
“Coach’s knowledge of the offensive line is unbelievable and I’m sure that’s going to be the strength of our team,” senior quarterback Braedon Mullins said. “The transition to a different offense has been really smooth. Coach brings a lot of intensity to the program and it never lets up. He demands excellence and we’re going to give him our very best.”