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Providing Leadership On And Off The Field

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By KATHERINE SMITH, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 26, 2007

Updated: 09/26/2007 12:33 am

TAMPA - Well on their way to getting into the 'Guinness Book of World Records,' Mike Fenton and his Tampa Catholic classmates settled in for the night.

During the spring break week of his sophomore year, Fenton joined other Tampa Catholic students in the school gym as they tried to break the record for longest continuous basketball game. The students were separated into groups and those that weren't playing would sleep on a nearby floor.

At some point during the night in the middle of the marathon game, one of Fenton's fellow playmates sneaked out of the gym to go fishing.

What happened during that time taught the Jefferson High football coach a valuable lesson at an early age - sometimes bad things happen to good people.

Fenton's classmate struck his head on a bridge while catching a fish and fell into the water, where he drowned. Tampa Catholic finished the basketball marathon, got in the record book and dedicated the achievement to their fallen friend.

That incident came to mind when Fenton learned the news that his star linebacker and last season's defensive MVP, C.J. Mills, was shot and killed in his driveway on April 25.

'I knew what these kids were going through,' Fenton said. 'It was a shock, a shock value. You learn life is very fragile, how something so innocent can turn to this. You live each day with as much gusto as you can because you never know.'

As a coach and a career counselor at Jefferson, Fenton deals a lot in the unknown. It's his job to find answers to difficult questions. When a student doesn't seem interested in school or questions their path in life, Fenton provides guidance, playing the part of the realist.

Just like he is with his football players, he tells it like it is with his students.

'They all want to be movie stars, actresses, models, professional football players,' Fenton said. 'So you sit down and show them percentages of guys playing high school football that actually make it in the NFL or guys playing high school football that make it in college.

'It's not a bad goal to have because we're trying to teach them goal setting and long-range goals, but we also try to tell them they need something to fall back on.'

The seafood business was Fenton's fall-back choice. He thought he would join his father and brother, but the coaching bug bit him first.

Stints as an assistant coach at Robinson, Plant, East Bay, Armwood and Tampa Catholic eventually led to a head coaching job. In 2006, his first year as Jefferson's head coach, Fenton led the Dragons to a 9-3 record and the playoffs.

'I think I've taken a little bit from all of the head coaches I've worked with over the years,' Fenton said.

Jefferson suffered their second loss of the season Friday night. Gaither defeated them, 27-17. It was a game Jefferson was favored to win and a setback for a program with a goal of winning a state championship. At practice on Monday, Fenton began the process of regrouping.

'No matter good or bad, he's not going to lie to you,' Jefferson quarterback Zack Grossi said. 'He's going to tell you what you did right, tell you what you did wrong and help you try to get better. People see him on Friday night and at practice, he's a big fiery guy and he's in your face. But after a loss, he'll just talk to man-to-man about what you did wrong and what you did right and how we're going to move on from there.'

A lot of times, coaching boils down to controlling chaos when chaos holds the upper hand. Like the night C.J. was shot and killed.

In the jam-packed waiting room of St. Joseph's Hospital, it was all Fenton and other Jefferson administrators could do to keep C.J. teammates from exacting revenge.

'Everybody was crying, breaking stuff and just freaking out,' Grossi said. 'We didn't know what to do. Coach Fenton grabbed me and said 'Zack, this is a time you need to be a leader. You need to step up. Your teammates need you.' I grew up a lot that day because Coach Fenton showed me. He didn't panic, he didn't freak out. Obviously everyone was sad and crying, but he rallied our guys.

'It was a bad night, but Coach Fenton showed a lot of leadership. He showed what he was about.'

Two days after the shooting, Fenton happened upon a student in the hallway. Her head was down and she was crying.

'She wouldn't talk to anybody,' he said. 'I had a feeling, but she wouldn't tell anyone what her problem was. Finally she started opening up to me and it was about C.J. She didn't understand why it had to happen.'

Fenton doesn't know why it happened.

'God knows, I needed counseling too,' he said.

Letters and cards from around the country soon began pouring in after C.J.'s murder. The coaching community reached out to Fenton and his staff. Cards from the University of Iowa, Marshall, Troy State and Nebraska are gathered in a pile in Fenton's desk drawer.

University of Florida coach Urban Meyer showed up at Jefferson when he found out about C.J. So did USF coach Jim Leavitt. Even rivals coaches leant their support. Plant coach Robert Weiner attended C.J.'s funeral, while Armwood coach Sean Callahan paid a visit to the school.

'We're all in this together,' Fenton said. 'We compete on Friday nights. We're all competitors and we try to beat each others brains out on Friday nights, but there is still that thing in the back of our minds that we're all in this together. We respect one another for that.'

Colleges are still recruiting C.J. A couple of weeks ago, Fenton received a letter from the University of Miami, C.J.'s dream school, inviting C.J. to a home game.

Fenton's saving the letters and cards and when he gets the last one, he plans on giving them to C.J.'s family. So he'll continue to gather them as they come in, all the while trying to move on, which has become difficult when there are daily reminders.

'It's different and it's a learning process every day,' Fenton said. 'We're trying to get on with life.'

COMING NEXT WEEK: The 1-2 Jefferson Dragons take on undefeated Armwood Friday night. Armwood knocked Jefferson out of the playoffs last season by a point. That 22-21 loss has been one of the main motivators this season. C.J. Mills and some of his teammates watched the game film the night before he was killed. C.J. had vowed to beat Armwood this season and win a state championship.

Reporter Katherine Smith can be reached at (813) 259-7860 or ksmith@tampatrib.com.

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