How coaching in the Arena League prepared Mike Denbrock for Notre Dame football

SOUTH BEND — Tony Jones Sr. can still hear that booming voice from across the practice field.

Even now. Decades later.

“Run your feet!”

That was one of Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock’s go-to phrases during Jones’ Hall of Fame playing career at Illinois State and later with two different franchises in the Arena Football League.

“Pin!”

That was another favorite of the well-traveled former Grand Valley State tight end who has coached nearly every position group on both sides of the ball.

Also: “Get yourself in position!”

Jones, who would later send his namesake son to play running back for Denbrock at Notre Dame, chuckled at the memory during a recent phone interview.

“He’s a whistle-happy guy,” said Jones, at 53 just a few years younger than the 60-year-old Denbrock. “And he has the best coach’s voice. I always say you can tell him from everyone else. It was always a deep roar. Probably one of the most passionate coaches that I’ve ever been around.”

It’s not just about decibels with Denbrock. It’s about information and the attentive hush that his no-nonsense communication style commands.

In a syrupy baritone that conjures equal parts Tommy Lee Jones and Gene Hackman’s Norman Dale, Denbrock was dropping knowledge on Day 1 of spring practice earlier this month and really from the moment he walked back into the Guglielmino football building for a third tour at his all-time favorite workplace.

Jack Larsen, a freshman tight end from Charlotte, N.C., immediately knew what Jones was referencing with his comment about Denbrock’s coaching voice.

“For sure, he does have that,” Larsen said. “Definitely louder. When he talks, you’re not going to be talking. Everyone quiets up.”

Hired away from LSU in December after guiding quarterback Jayden Daniels to the Heisman Trophy, Denbrock had everyone’s attention during a recent motivational talk.

“He covered the concept of grit,” Larsen said, “and what it really means to work hard and have your brothers’ backs and play as a team. He touched on how you can’t have a bad day around here being at Notre Dame. Every day is a good day, no matter how bad it might seem. It’s not that bad.”

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Mike Denbrock's long climb

Plenty of football coaches pay their dues along the way.

Not many take the path Denbrock did from small-town Homer, Mich., to one of the richest contracts for any coordinator in modern college football: reportedly four years at about $9 million.

Interspersed with those three tours at Notre Dame were three separate stints with Tyrone Willingham (Stanford, Notre Dame and Washington) and three separate runs with Brian Kelly (seven years at Grand Valley State, seven more at Notre Dame from 2010-16 and the past two seasons at LSU).

What’s more, Denbrock was an assistant in the Arena league for the Cleveland Thunderbolts (1992-93) and the Buffalo Destroyers (1999-2000), both times at the request of his longtime friend and former college assistant coach Dave Whinham.

“We used to pull his chain and say Mike was Arena Football’s greatest success story since Kurt Warner,” Whinham said of the quarterback who went from the Iowa Barnstormers to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “Mike and I have shared apartments, and I know he and Brian shared apartments in the Grand Valley days. That’s just the way you did it.”

During his Thunderbolts tenure, Denbrock would coach Arena ball in the spring and summer and then return to Allendale, Mich., by the start of preseason camp at Grand Valley. It’s fair to say courtesy SUVs for the coaching staff weren’t part of the typical arrangement at either outpost.

“Oh, man, I can tell you this,” Whinham, 67, said in a phone interview from Columbus, Ohio. “He and I have had a laugh more than once about how long each of us was coaching for a living before we made $20,000 in a year. For both of us it was quite a few years before we even reached that mark.”

The brainchild of former NFL marketing man Jim Foster in the mid-1980s, Arena Football required total commitment from its spartan coaching staffs that went well beyond the game itself. From promotional appearances at community centers and youth-league fundraisers to answering phones in the ticket office, Denbrock willingly pitched in.

“Everybody had to do everything,” said Whinham, who owns an event management, production and consulting company. “Mike always did his unfair share of those things, and he was always great about that.

“For Mike, it’s not about Mike. His career has year by year by year gotten better and better and better, and he’s been able to make more and more people aware of his tremendous talents. But he’s the same person he’s always been.”

With tighter budgets, rosters and fields of play, Denbrock coached the offensive and defensive lines and served as defensive coordinator at both AFL stops.

“Yeah, how about that?” Denbrock said. “It’s interesting, I think one of the advantages in some ways over the course of my career that I’ve had is an opportunity to coach on both sides of the ball. Even though it’s arena football, the fundamentals of being a good football player are the same regardless of what kind of football you’re playing.”

Despite working with a canvas roughly half the size of a regulation football field, including 8-yard end zones and nets that were in play, Denbrock’s understanding of the never-ending chess match steadily broadened.

“I think it’s given me a perspective that helps me understand defensive adjustments,” he said. “I think it helps me anticipate what those are going to be and adjust what we’re doing and have more answers for what the problems may possibly be before they show up, so we’re rolling a little bit smoother.”

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Winning hearts while losing in Buffalo

After going a combined 6-16 in Cleveland, despite fielding the league’s fourth-stingiest defense and packing the house at Richfield Coliseum, Denbrock found himself back in the Arena league by decade’s end.

While with the Destroyers, Denbrock found the love of his life, Dianne. Their son, Chance, is 12.

“Dave introduced Denbrock’s wife to him while we were working together,” Jones Sr. said. “There was a little pub across the street from where our main office was. Nothing fancy. Just a local place. We always went to happy hours on Fridays after work. It was like, ‘This is my guy over here. This is my buddy.’ “

Despite a roster that included NFL-level talents such as kicker Bjorn Nittmo and the late Carlton Haselrig, a former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman, the Destroyers won just once in their first 18 outings over a two-year span.

While former Buffalo Bills linebacker Ray Bentley would replace Whinham as head coach midway through the 2000 season, leading the Destroyers to a surprise playoff berth, Denbrock stayed on to finish out the year.

“Mike Denbrock is the strongest of character,” Whinham said. “He’s a guy that will look you in the eye in every situation. Without a word, you know you can depend on him. He’s absolutely one of the greatest people I’ve ever known.”

Denbrock also found ways to keep things light, even amid the strain of losing. Jerold Jeffcoat, now head of development for a loan servicing company, calls his association with Denbrock a “highlight of my football journey.”

Affectionately known as “D-Rock” by his players, the coach made a lasting impression with his sense of humor as well as his empathy.

“I admired him greatly, not just for his coaching prowess but for his profound humanity,” Jeffcoat wrote in a text message. “He was a master of levity, transforming the locker room with pranks — from filling my locker with unexpected items to swapping my helmet for a smaller one.

“Beyond the laughter, he was a mentor and a friend, gifted in recognizing and nurturing potential in everyone. His unwavering dedication and passion distinguished him; he always led with his heart. … Truly, D-Rock is an exceptional coach and individual.”

The coach’s voice, that deep roar, still echoes.

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for NDInsider.com and is on social media @MikeBerardino.