Mike Leonard’s place in the history of Franklin College football is a topic he would rather not discuss.
Win totals and league titles aren’t how he measures success.
“When I was 22 years old, it was all about the Xs and Os. That’s what drove me,” said Leonard, the Grizzlies’ coach since 2003. “The older I got, I realized the significance you can have not only in a player’s life, but coach’s lives and people who are at the school’s lives.
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“I look at every one of our jobs that we have in this life, it can be used as a ministry whether it’s what I do or what someone else does. Mine is teaching people about attitude. That’s really the only thing we can control.”
Franklin College is 116-48 on the gridiron since Leonard took the job. He’s only four victories from tying the legendary Red Faught in career wins, and he’s led the Grizzlies to 10 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championships.
For Leonard, it has always started with attitude.
Prior to being interviewed for the Grizzlies’ head coaching job, Leonard, then the offensive coordinator at his alma mater, Hanover College, devised a brief, easy-to-remember plan of attack for persons in the program to implement in their own lives.
They are, in order: 1) always think positive; 2) strive for perfection; 3) stay aggressive; and 4) enjoy the game and enjoy life. These objectives are on a sign on the wall directly to the right of Leonard’s office desk.
Leonard recently read a quote that likened a negative attitude to a flat tire. Unless you change it, you’re not going anywhere.
Maintaining a positive outlook was vital at first — in the coach’s first three seasons, the Grizzlies lost a total of 15 HCAC games. Franklin been dominant ever since, though, with just seven league losses over the past 12 years.
The coach’s daughter, Emily, 23, is getting married Sept. 22. In the meantime, she lives at home and is occasionally awakened by hearing her dad playing “This Little Light of Mine” on his guitar in the kitchen, which is directly below her bedroom.
“He bought a harmonica, too. He’s a regular one-man band,” said Emily, laughing. “What impresses me most is he can take any situation and make it a positive one. He’s never shown us any negativity. My brother and I are fortunate to have the parents we have. They’ve always been interested in our lives.”
Gordon Cox, a 1982 Franklin College graduate in his fifth year as president of the football program’s Touchdown Club, said Leonard’s positivity is infectious.
More importantly, it’s genuine.
“The thing about Mike, first of all, is he’s one of the greatest human beings I know,” Cox said. “He’s always smiling. He’s always upbeat and positive. I’ll tell you what, he’s got two of the greatest parents, and that’s where it starts.”
The youngest of George and Anna Leonard’s three boys growing up in Speedway, Mike Leonard credits his parents, now both in their mid-80s, for shaping the positive attitude he now uses to mold the lives of those in his program.
“I can’t recall my mom ever saying anything bad about anybody,” Leonard said. “There were some things she disagreed with, but not the people themselves. I try and live that way. The day my dad dropped me off at college, he said, ‘Son, when you shake somebody’s hand, make sure to look them in the eye and have a firm handshake.’
“That’s the only thing I can remember him teaching me verbally. I got tons of things from him by watching.”
Franklin College has won all but two of its last 64 HCAC football games since 2010, an unbelievable stretch of dominance that has made the Grizzlies the league’s undisputed yardstick in terms of success.
Other conference programs took notice.
Former Leonard assistants Matt Theobald and Steve Rock are the head coaches at Hanover and Anderson, respectively. The coaching staffs at those schools and Rose-Hulman include eight former assistants who either coached under or played for Leonard at Franklin College.
“The other schools look at our program and see the success,” Cox said. “Mike truly has embraced the traditions of the program, even the down years they had between Red and Mike. That’s a big part of his success.”
Andy Hape was Leonard’s offensive line coach for five seasons (2008-12) before becoming head coach at his old high school, Evansville Reitz.
Hape has led the Panthers to a 47-12 record using mostly things he learned from Leonard. Those things include ways to better condition athletes in the offseason, the importance of community service or a specific way to run a play.
“Coach Leonard means the world to me and my family,” Hape said. “The thing he did for me is he taught me how to be a head football coach. He went out of his way to make sure he was more than a box. He was a mentor.
“I didn’t realize it at the time, but he was coaching me to be a coach.”
Leonard claims not to know how many victories he has or where he stands on any of the Grizzlies’ career lists.
Red Faught, to him, is legendary. Mike Leonard, meanwhile, is simply someone who’s been fortunate enough to surround himself with smart, knowledgeable assistant coaches who are even better human beings.
“The reason we’re successful is because we’ve been able to attract good coaches that can go out and recruit good young men who will be teachable,” Leonard said. “Morale is huge. This game is all about the players. My goal is for everyone who plays this game to have an incredibly positive experience.”
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The stops made by Mike Leonard before he became head football coach at Franklin College in 2003:
Year;School;Title
1984-85;DePauw;Graduate assistant
1986;Alabama;Graduate assistant
1987-90;Hanover;Offensive coordinator
1991;Holy Cross College;Receivers coach
1992;Butler;Quarterbacks coach
1993-95;Tokyo Seagulls;Offensive coordinator
1996-97;Wittenberg;Offensive coordinator
1998;Tokyo Seagulls;Offensive coordinator
1999-2002;Hanover;Offensive coordinator
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Mike Leonard
Age: 56
Born: Indianapolis
Family: Wife Susan; son Bart, 28; daughter Emily, 23
High school: Speedway (1980)
College: Hanover (1984)
Major: Business Administration
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