Mark Gallagher
During my high school years of playing football, there was one coach who really made an impact on me. He was the one who coach who really taught me that working hard leads to success on the field and off the field. This person is Coach Mark Gallagher; he was my position coach for four years. He now resides in Olentangy, Ohio and works in the Worthington School District as a physical education teacher and a football coach. He is a football coach who is very dedicated in what he does and has a passion for the game of football and helping young kids learn the values of life.
Mark Gallagher grew up in Newark, Ohio where he was raised by his family that taught him his values in life. “My parents really drove home the values of hard work, dedication, and passion. I believe that everyone must work hard for what they earn in life and whether it is a football player or a businessman--being a hard worker is the key to success. When I am coaching I make sure my players are working as hard as they can to be the best they can.” I found this to be true when I was playing because he would always make kids run from drill to drill and if a player was slaking, the whole team would be doing up-down’s. Up-down’s were not very fun because you would basically fall to the ground and get back up as fast as you can. I remember one time when I did not give 100% during practice and he made me bear crawl all the way to the fence and back. A bear crawl is a drill where you get on all fours and crawl without your knees touching the ground. He also had many other forms of discipline for players who were not working hard.
Coach is also believer in that you should be 100% dedicated into everything that you do in football and life. “For my football players I just want to see them giving it all their effort and enjoying what they are doing because I know it is not easy. I want the kids to have passion for the game and be upset when they lose but enjoy the good moments like after a game that we won.”
Playing sports and being active was not always easy for Coach Gallagher. “There was a time for two years growing up when I couldn’t do any sports because I had a hip disease called Perthes and I was on crutches for two years.” Perthes is a disease of the hip where blood supply to the femoral head is disrupted causing some of the bone to die. The body then breaks down this dead bone because of its healing process and new bone is then made. However, the dead bone leads to weakness in the hip causing a lot of pain and trouble walking. “So, for two years I could not play sports, but it helped me see there was more to life than just sports. It helped me mature faster than kids my age that just had everything handed to them because I really had to work hard to be able to get back on the field and play again.” During this time, between fourth and sixth grade, he began to swim. “That was a blessing because I was still able to be active during my hip problem and did not just sit around the house which was something my parents did not like and they always made my sister and I be very active. That was also a gift because I would have never been involved in swimming if it was not for the hip disease”
Coach Gallagher was a well rounded athlete growing up playing pretty much every sport that a kid could play. He always knew that he wanted to teach and help kids grow but it was not until his early high school years that he decided football was his sport and that he would want to continue his career further than high school. “I had a natural drawing to football and that was always my favorite sport even though in high school I could have gone to Division 1 or bigger school to wrestle; just football was my first love so I decided it was what I would focus on the most.”
“After high school, I decided that I wanted to continue my football career in college so I decided to attend Muskingum College.” Muskingum College is a Division III college in the state of Ohio. Looking back on his career Coach Gallagher sometimes regrets going to Muskingum because he believes he was good enough to play at a bigger school like Ohio University where the coach told him he could walk on at. “I should have tried to play at Ohio University because I know I could have played there and I think a reason I didn’t go there because I had a coach at Ohio University say yeah why don’t you go ahead and walk on while I had a guy at Muskingum calling me twice a day for 3 months.” However while at Muskingum, he was one of three freshmen to make the traveling squad for every away game. He also started as long snapper in the later parts of the season, and he even made it as high as second string on the depth chart on a nine and one football team. This shows that he was a hard worker because it is very hard for freshman to come into college and contribute right away. College life is just so different and the level of play really increases.
“Although I enjoyed my two years at Muskingum, I decided to go into the army because I had a lot of injuries in college and it just was not what I expected it to be.” While in the army coach had his values that were taught to him by his parents reinforced. “I think spending time in the army kind of reinforced what I saw in my parents. A sense of discipline and I always felt it was my duty to protect our country and the things we have. Growing up, my dad almost became a fighter pilot for the air force and I think he instilled some of that into me in that it’s kind of our duty we have great things being in the country and it’s kind of my part to help our country stay strong.”
The army helped develop coach in many ways and it has really influenced his coaching style. He runs his practices and coaches his players like a drill sergeant. He is very tough and does not take any attitude and expects a great deal from his players. “I would say my coaching style is simple. I would say, fair, tough, strict, be physical and mentally tough on them. Obviously not to where they break, but try to push them to where they have not been pushed before.” He plays the best kids and the ones that work the hardest. In practice, if a kid is not doing the right thing than they will be disciplined. Discipline is a major part of his coaching style much like it is in the army. He also believes in winning the right way. “I want the kids to get out if that, yes I want to win games, but besides being an athlete and being a football player I want kids to learn what it is like to be a good man and a good person. You know you don’t cheat, you do things right, you play the game hard, you play the game fair and you play at 100%. Whatever you do, do it all the way.”
Even though Coach has a great passion for football and for kids, he will be moving on in the next couple of years. “I am kind of getting out of coaching now because I have three daughters and as much as I love coaching and being around the football players and the athletes, I love my daughters and my wife a lot more and to me that’s the most important thing. God and family is the most important thing and everything else comes after that. I actually turned down an offensive line coaching job at Mt. Vernon last week because family comes first.” He plans to get back into coaching down the road but he is very happy with his life and he is living his American Dream. This to him is, “A healthy happy family, I am living in a beautiful house, found a great church and doing the things that I would like to do.”
Mark Gallagher grew up in Newark, Ohio where he was raised by his family that taught him his values in life. “My parents really drove home the values of hard work, dedication, and passion. I believe that everyone must work hard for what they earn in life and whether it is a football player or a businessman--being a hard worker is the key to success. When I am coaching I make sure my players are working as hard as they can to be the best they can.” I found this to be true when I was playing because he would always make kids run from drill to drill and if a player was slaking, the whole team would be doing up-down’s. Up-down’s were not very fun because you would basically fall to the ground and get back up as fast as you can. I remember one time when I did not give 100% during practice and he made me bear crawl all the way to the fence and back. A bear crawl is a drill where you get on all fours and crawl without your knees touching the ground. He also had many other forms of discipline for players who were not working hard.
Coach is also believer in that you should be 100% dedicated into everything that you do in football and life. “For my football players I just want to see them giving it all their effort and enjoying what they are doing because I know it is not easy. I want the kids to have passion for the game and be upset when they lose but enjoy the good moments like after a game that we won.”
Playing sports and being active was not always easy for Coach Gallagher. “There was a time for two years growing up when I couldn’t do any sports because I had a hip disease called Perthes and I was on crutches for two years.” Perthes is a disease of the hip where blood supply to the femoral head is disrupted causing some of the bone to die. The body then breaks down this dead bone because of its healing process and new bone is then made. However, the dead bone leads to weakness in the hip causing a lot of pain and trouble walking. “So, for two years I could not play sports, but it helped me see there was more to life than just sports. It helped me mature faster than kids my age that just had everything handed to them because I really had to work hard to be able to get back on the field and play again.” During this time, between fourth and sixth grade, he began to swim. “That was a blessing because I was still able to be active during my hip problem and did not just sit around the house which was something my parents did not like and they always made my sister and I be very active. That was also a gift because I would have never been involved in swimming if it was not for the hip disease”
Coach Gallagher was a well rounded athlete growing up playing pretty much every sport that a kid could play. He always knew that he wanted to teach and help kids grow but it was not until his early high school years that he decided football was his sport and that he would want to continue his career further than high school. “I had a natural drawing to football and that was always my favorite sport even though in high school I could have gone to Division 1 or bigger school to wrestle; just football was my first love so I decided it was what I would focus on the most.”
“After high school, I decided that I wanted to continue my football career in college so I decided to attend Muskingum College.” Muskingum College is a Division III college in the state of Ohio. Looking back on his career Coach Gallagher sometimes regrets going to Muskingum because he believes he was good enough to play at a bigger school like Ohio University where the coach told him he could walk on at. “I should have tried to play at Ohio University because I know I could have played there and I think a reason I didn’t go there because I had a coach at Ohio University say yeah why don’t you go ahead and walk on while I had a guy at Muskingum calling me twice a day for 3 months.” However while at Muskingum, he was one of three freshmen to make the traveling squad for every away game. He also started as long snapper in the later parts of the season, and he even made it as high as second string on the depth chart on a nine and one football team. This shows that he was a hard worker because it is very hard for freshman to come into college and contribute right away. College life is just so different and the level of play really increases.
“Although I enjoyed my two years at Muskingum, I decided to go into the army because I had a lot of injuries in college and it just was not what I expected it to be.” While in the army coach had his values that were taught to him by his parents reinforced. “I think spending time in the army kind of reinforced what I saw in my parents. A sense of discipline and I always felt it was my duty to protect our country and the things we have. Growing up, my dad almost became a fighter pilot for the air force and I think he instilled some of that into me in that it’s kind of our duty we have great things being in the country and it’s kind of my part to help our country stay strong.”
The army helped develop coach in many ways and it has really influenced his coaching style. He runs his practices and coaches his players like a drill sergeant. He is very tough and does not take any attitude and expects a great deal from his players. “I would say my coaching style is simple. I would say, fair, tough, strict, be physical and mentally tough on them. Obviously not to where they break, but try to push them to where they have not been pushed before.” He plays the best kids and the ones that work the hardest. In practice, if a kid is not doing the right thing than they will be disciplined. Discipline is a major part of his coaching style much like it is in the army. He also believes in winning the right way. “I want the kids to get out if that, yes I want to win games, but besides being an athlete and being a football player I want kids to learn what it is like to be a good man and a good person. You know you don’t cheat, you do things right, you play the game hard, you play the game fair and you play at 100%. Whatever you do, do it all the way.”
Even though Coach has a great passion for football and for kids, he will be moving on in the next couple of years. “I am kind of getting out of coaching now because I have three daughters and as much as I love coaching and being around the football players and the athletes, I love my daughters and my wife a lot more and to me that’s the most important thing. God and family is the most important thing and everything else comes after that. I actually turned down an offensive line coaching job at Mt. Vernon last week because family comes first.” He plans to get back into coaching down the road but he is very happy with his life and he is living his American Dream. This to him is, “A healthy happy family, I am living in a beautiful house, found a great church and doing the things that I would like to do.”
Coaches have a lot of impact on their players.
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