Take it from me: New Columbian coach Lutz can make you better

Judd Lutz went from an all-state football player for Columbian to its head coach in less than a decade. It’s been a remarkable story to follow. I started covering Lutz in his junior year of high school. At that time, I was in my first year at The Advertiser-Tribune. New to the area and new to the sports culture here, it was a challenge. Learning how to do the job of a sports writer, writing stories about people, and about teams, I barely knew. Lutz was the first great Columbian athlete I covered. But I can’t say I expected him to be a football coach. And that’s because I didn’t know him from football. Back in 2005, I didn’t cover Columbian football. Ever. Then-sports editor Dave Feltner and writer Mike Genet drew those assignments. Don’t get me wrong, it was a great arrangement for me. My job was to cover the non-Tiffin high schools in football and the area colleges on Saturdays. For my first four years here, I didn’t cover a single game in Tiffin. I always enjoyed – and still enjoy – covering games in Bascom, Attica, Sycamore or anywhere that’s not a Toledo Area Athletic Conference school. Well, except for Calvert and Gibsonburg. Point is, I never really talked to Lutz about football when he was in high school. I knew him as a track and field star. He was a dominant thrower, setting school records and making back-to-back trips to Columbus for the state meet. Because Lutz usually won at invitationals, districts and regionals, I’d go to a meet and make a beeline not for the track, but for the throwing areas. There was always a chance Lutz might do something special, and I didn’t want to miss it. It occurred to me that Lutz made me a better writer. Before I started covering him, my track stories were kind of, well, blah. “So-and-so threw the shot such-and-such a distance,” it would (seemingly) read. Then I’d insert a quote from an athlete about how well he or she did. Bam. Send it to the presses. Genius, it was. But Lutz was different. He would talk to me about his strategy – how he approached each throw. He’d know when to take the risk of fouling. He knew when to play it safe to get a distance that would either win him a meet or advance him to the next round. He knew what it took to be successful. Those things made it into my stories. And those things – I’d hope – made for better reading. I’ve tried to write that way since. Remember, Lutz only was about 17 years old at the time. But even then, he had a presence that made him seem much older. We had a number of interviews during the 2006-07 track seasons. He was an easy kid to pull for. Always focused, but always polite, even when meets didn’t go his way. After he graduated, he sent me a letter thanking me for all the stories. I can count on one hand the number of athletes who have done that in my 12 years here. No athlete should feel obligated to do that. I’m just doing my job. But it was nice to know he appreciated my work. I did a few more stories on him when he was playing football at Mount Union. In fact, his games against Heidelberg were the only time I saw him play that sport. Obviously, he was a terrific football player. An All-American and two-time national champion. And then-Mount Union coach Larry Kehres raved about him at every opportunity. After he left Mount Union, Lutz and I crossed paths once more. In the run-up to a Columbian-Avon playoff game, I did a story called “A Tornado in Eagle Country.” It was about Lutz being an assistant and going up against his former team. Lutz did as well as ever – he’s really good at interviews -but it didn’t occur to me that he’d be a head coach so soon. But he is, in his hometown. No one can say for sure how things will go for Lutz, at least early on. But I know this: Lutz won’t be outworked. He won’t be outprepared. And he’s a quality person who will strive to instill positive things – on and off the field – in his players. And that’s a good start. Zach Baker is the sports editor of The Advertiser-Tribune. Contact him at: zbaker@ dvertiser-tribune.com or on Twitter @Zachthewriter