PORTAGE -- Come Tuesday, it'll be three years to the day.
Jay Novak had recently been hired to head up the new sprint football program at Calumet College of St. Joseph.
Still an assistant coach at Andrean for the balance of the high school season, Novak was on his way to Eastside, where the 59ers were playing for the Class 2A semistate, when he took a phone call from a player in Georgia who became the first to commit to the Crimson Wave.
"I'll never forget," Novak said.
The player only stayed a year, but the moment will always represent a beginning for Novak, a long-time high school coach in the Region who has since led Calumet College to consecutive Midwest Sprint Football League (MSFL) championships.
Calumet College of St. Joseph recruiting coordinator Zack Jennings and head coach Jay Novak hang out with their new friend, the Midwest Sprint Football League championship trophy. The Crimson Wave made it back-to-back titles defeating St. Mary of the Woods.
"We grew this thing from that first player," Novak said. "To see how far it's come, it's pretty exciting. I always knew we could build something. I just didn't know how long the time would be, with a brand new program. With the infancy of the program, I was like, I've seen this stuff before at (Hammond) Clark, (East Chicago), we can do this. You can sit there and say this is why we can't do something or you find a solution. That's what those two places helped me do. The first step was bringing the right guys in for a foundation."
Novak calls recruiting '99.5 percent of the job,' a process that he credits former assistant John Maurek, who's now back at Andrean, for helping him initiate in the fall of 2021. But the sales pitch was different, reaching out specifically to kids who could stay within the sport's 178-pound maximum (which has since been bumped to 190).
"John had a big hand in building this," he said. "I love that guy. When we're recruiting, we tell them may have to move around, do what's best for the program. They know what they're getting into. They're athletes. We can teach technique. We can't teach that athleticism. That's what coach Mo did a great job of. We'd pull them in and put the pieces together. We were very fortunate to get the right kids in here, on and off the field. We had a great base of those guys. It's exciting because next year they'll be graduating. We've had the highest retention rate in the league. That's a testament to all the coaches. It helps the family atmosphere, wanting to be a part of something."
After three years, the pitch really hasn't changed -- a unique chance to play college football -- but given the Crimson Wave's success, the sell isn't nearly as hard as it was at the outset, when commitments came largely on blind faith in the plan.
"We know we don't have the campus, the life of a Marian, Trine," Novak said. "Some kids just want to get away. Some want to stay home, to be able to play ball. Here's a great opportunity, your family can come watch you every week. It targets a different type of kid, kids getting lost on rosters, NAIA, Division III. It's given them a chance to get on the field. One of the big selling points opportunity to come and compete, to play right away. You're going to dress for home games. Calumet College may be a fit, may not be. It's a small school. There's a lot of one on one with teachers. You're not going to get lost, you're going to get a great education."
This season's roster of 72 included about 20 juniors. About half are from the area, while the rest span the country. The linebacker trio of Trevor Busse (Knox), Alexander Dellaechaie (Las Vegas) and Josh Tejeda (Hobart) have been mainstays from the start. Whiting grad Nino Barbosa has contributed all over the field in three years, initially on special teams, then took over at quarterback last season, while still anchoring the secondary. Rushing leaders Zaire Davis and Jamal Warnell come from Florida and Texas, while top receiver Stevie Salman (Highland), and other defensive standouts Tony Madrueno (Whiting) and Jared Cuevas Cottrell (Griffith) are local. Center Tristan Dietiker played eight-man football in Iowa. Kicker Jeau Vinatieri is also from Las Vegas, and yes, he's related to former NFL great Adam Vinatieri, who is his uncle.
Trevor Busse reacts after making a tackle against Bellarmine. (Photo by Caitlin McEnery)
"It was pretty cool to see him at the championship game," Novak said. "We want to own the Region. We want to try to own the northern half of the state. We feel we have a shot at that. Indiana kids get state and federal money, which opens up money to go get a big dog on the west coast. We've got to think outside the box a little bit. Bigger schools, the first year, they kind of laughed at me. They're sitting there saying, ah, Calumet College, it's a commuter college, I don't know. They would tell me I don't have anybody for you. Now at least they listen to me, they've given me their sheets. I'm getting texts from Hanover, Valpo, Lake Central, hey, I've got this kid. It's catching on."
The program's recruiting efforts got a big boost before last season, when the school budgeted for Novak to hire a recruiting coordinator. Zack Jennings was about six months on the job at Alderson Broaddus in West Virginia when the coaches abruptly found out the school was shutting down while they were in a fall camp meeting.
"Kids were reporting to camp," Jennings said.
The timing was awful at the moment for Jennings, who had moved his family there with him, but it turned out to be a boon for Novak and Cal College.
"This dude was on every recruit I was on, so I knew he could do his job," Novak said. "I thought to myself, I needed this guy with me. We're not just evaluating players, we're evaluating coaches who can help the program, too. We want to keep getting the word out. Our social media presence now is nuts. He does a great job with that. The kids like that stuff. If you don't keep adapting, you're going to die. What you're trying to do as a coach is keep them motivated. (Jennings) does a game day experience for recruits. They take a tour of the school. We let them be a part of the pre-game. We want to get them around the team to see what it's like."
Jennings and Novak had become friends through sprint football network circles, and liked the idea of his son playing for the Crimson Wave.
"The stuff we talked about that wasn't football related, that's when I walked outside and told my wife we're going to Calumet College in Whiting, Indiana," he said. She did say where is Whiting, Indiana? A couple years ago, I was on the other end of that (conversation). That's literally the reason I'm here versus the other institution. I know all of this. I know what they're going through, this is what you need to hear, this is what the kids need to hear. It's not just the kid's decision, it's the whole family's. One of the things I like to do with our guys is to talk to mom, dad, aunt, uncle directly. We want this to be a family thing.
After losing in the MSFL championship St. Mary of the Woods in 2022, Cal College reversed the result last year and repeated
Whiting graduate Nino Barbosa got the
chance to play college football close to
home at Calumet College.
(Photo by Caitlin McEnery)
with a 38-13 win in Terre Haute last Saturday. The Crimson Wave (7-1), who had lost the regular-season meeting both times, captured the '24 title as the four seed.
"I think one of the big things that made it harder to go back to back was we're getting everybody's best," Novak said. "Last year, we were 0-3, we replaced our (offensive coordinator) and (defensive coordinator), we won six in a row and won the whole thing, t's something that should have been on Netflix. After something like that, there's nothing we don't think we can do as a staff and a program. Year three, everybody knows what to expect. We're always refining, trying to find a better way. The coaches have helped me build that. I'm thankful to do this for 29 years, and every single year equipped me for this moment. We'll see how far we can continue to build on it."
Stevie Salman fends off a Bellarmine tackler in Calumet College's MSFL semifinal game. (Photo by Caitlin McEnery)