Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009

G-W gets its power from kin

Immediately following the coin toss on Saturday, Gardner-Webb quarterback Stan Doolittle will jog to the visiting bench and find his father, offensive line coach Mike Doolittle, waiting with open arms.

Just like they have before every other game this year, the two will share a big hug and words of encouragement. Such public displays of emotion are rare in the masculine world of college football, but they could care less what anybody thinks.

"My two sons are two most important things in my life along with my wife," Mike said. "They really are. I've done that with his oldest brother, and I've always done that with Stan. It's just an exchange of words. It's different each week. It's always, 'I love you and I'm proud of you.' ... It's a warm feeling in my heart. I'm going to miss that."

Neither of the Doolittles is ready to start thinking about an end to the family's football odyssey, but both know their time together on the same team is winding down.

Stan, a senior, has only three games left in his career, starting with Saturday's trip to Coastal Carolina.

It's hard for Stan, the Big South's leader in total offense, to imagine football without his dad. He's only spent one season without him on the sidelines since his freshman season at Ninety Six High School, where his father built one of South Carolina's best small-school programs as the head coach.

Stan spent 2006, his true freshman campaign, at Gardner-Webb without his father, who remained at Ninety Six. But the family was reunited a year later, when Bulldogs coach Steve Patton hired the elder Doolittle to coach his defensive linemen.

"I couldn't imagine it any other way," Stan said. "I watched him coach my brother through high school. Then he coached me through high school.

"I couldn't imagine him any other place besides being on the sidelines with me.

"It's a blessing to have him out there, because there aren't many opportunities when you get to have that father-son connection throughout high school and college."

Their bond has grown even closer over the past year. Mike now coaches the team's offensive line, adding importance to their on-field communication. "We talk a little more considering he's the one protecting my butt," Stan joked.

The cohesion of Gardner-Webb's offensive line has allowed Doolittle to flourish in his final season under center. He has thrown for 1,671 yards, eight scores and just two interceptions, while rushing for 237 yards and three touchdowns.

The key to his success has been good health.

He was hampered by a knee injury in 2006, when 180 of his 388 passing yards came in one game against Coastal, and broke the thumb on his throwing hand in 2008 against Georgia Tech, costing him the final five games of the year. In an effort to get bigger and stronger and hopefully avoid injuries, he spent eight weeks this past summer training with Competitive Edge Sports in Atlanta, where he received position-specific work in and out of the weight room.

"It's been a weird feeling being this healthy - knock on wood," Stan said. "It's a blessing. ... Being hurt and sitting out all those games gives you ample opportunity to study [film] a little more than you normally would if you were playing. So, it's allowed me to be more studious behind the scenes and understand the complexities of the schemes of the defenses."

That study time brought him and his father even closer.

"I was blessed to coach both of my sons through high school," Mike said. "To have the opportunity to coach Stan and be here the last three years has really been special. I thank the Lord for the opportunity.

"He's in a good place with good coaches and teammates. It's hard to put into words. To think we're coming to the end of that road as a dad is hard."