Jacksonville looks to change football culture through 'Real Men' program

Apr. 9—No Jacksonville High school football fan, coach or player is satisfied with the Indians having won just seven games over the past five seasons.

In the past month much effort has been made in turning things around as many team members completed the 13-day "Indian Maker" off-season plan of action.

Monday evening about 30 members of the Indian football team gathered inside the JHS Fieldhouse for the first installment of the "Real Men" program, which is designed to change the culture of the Jacksonville football team.

"Real Men" is the brainchild of Matt Montgomery; a former Indian quarterback, a local businessman and one of the voices of Fightin' Indian Football via radio and streaming for the past 42 years.

Montgomery partnered with Jacksonville athletic director and head football coach Jason Holman before the end of the 2023 season to develop off-season programs that had proven to be successful in the past at Jacksonville.

The "Real Men" series is scheduled for April 15, 22 and 29, before wrapping up on May 9.

In upcoming weeks, Danny Long, the winningest football coach in Jacksonville history, Richard Whitaker, Jacksonville's all-time leading rusher and former Tribe quarterback Ryan Black, who is the all-time leading passer at Jacksonville, are scheduled to speak to the young men.

Assisting Montgomery each week are Coby Duran, Family Minister at Central Baptist Church, Austin Kirpatrick, Youth Associate, Central Baptist Church and Brandon Orr, a former multi-sport athlete at Jacksonville who is now a faculty member at the high school.

"There are guys in this community that love you and want to see each of you do well," Montgomery pointed out to the attendees. "They can't go out and strap on the pads and play for you, but they can support you in a number of ways."

"Real Men" leaders were crystal clear in advising the men in the room that before success could happen on the field, some things must change as for as mindsets go, and that this must be accomplished before fall camp opens on August 5.

The "Real Men" series does not sugar coat anything. It is direct, presented in a tell-it-like-it-is fashion and is often quite personal for each of the participants.

Before the program launched Monday, Holman, after noticing about 15 empty seats in the room, addressed his players in a rather stern fashion.

"Every seat should be filled," he said. "It is your job to talk to your teammates to get their(behinds) here from this point forward."

In early January Montgomery polled the Jacksonville football coaching staff to determine what the primary issues were that are standing in the way of the Indians' success on the field.

One of those topics, respect, was the focal point of Monday's "Real Men" meeting.

Included in the discussion were points regarding having proper body language and exhibiting emotional control.

Many of the points covered in the "Real Men" series can be traced all the way back to the Bible as the program aligns with Christian teachings.

For example, cursing. Ephesians 4:29 instructs all to avoid the use of "unwholesome" words and to only speak words that are uplifting and "helpful in building up others."

"We close every (football) practice by saying the Lord's Prayer," Montgomery said. "And, I can't tell you how many times after the prayer that I have heard (curse words) being used as we go back up the hill (to the locker room). That has to stop."

Near the end of Monday's meeting, the student-athletes were divided up into small groups according to class (incoming sophomore, juniors or seniors) for a breakout session.

One of the benefits of that was for the young men to start to get to know their brothers — the guys that will be lining up along side them in practice and on Friday nights in the fall.

Culture can't be changed overnight; for it is an involved process to change who one is, what one does and why one does it.

A group of Jacksonville Fightin' Indians are advancing down the road of change right now and that is some of the first steps of the process.