Former Eagles DeSean Jackson and Michael Vick became first-time college head coaches last year at Delaware State and Norfolk State, respectively.
Mike Bartrum, a Pro Bowl long snapper and reserve tight end with Philadelphia for seven seasons, has joined the small fraternity, having recently been named as the head coach at the University of Rio Grande in Ohio.
But unlike Jackson and Vick, Bartrum is taking on the challenge with experience. He was the head coach at Meigs High School, his alma mater, in Pomeroy, Ohio for seven years, an assistant tight ends coach with the Eagles for two seasons, and a senior analyst and special assistant to the head coach at Marshall University for four years.
"Really, overall, this is just God's blessing. You pray for you to be where you're supposed to be, be where your feet are. That's something that I learned from coaches way back in the day," Bartrum said. "The last seven months, I'd been working for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. And when I was in those prisons, I was thinking about coaching football sometimes.
"And then this opportunity came available through (the President of the University) Mr. (Ryan) Smith. He was a (member of the House of Representatives) for Ohio when I was fortunate enough to be a county commissioner. I was in a lot of meetings with him, and he was always so locked in and just so professional.
"And when a guy like that gives you a call and they're interested, how could you turn down an interview for the job? So what a blessing it was to have an opportunity to interview and be able to be back kind of home, too. And actually, our daughter, Taylor, plays volleyball here."
Bartrum may be in his backyard, but as a rookie head coach at the college level, he's facing obstacles that make it seem like he's new to the neighborhood. For one, he's taking over a team that went 0-9 last season.
"At the end of the day, we feel that, we taste that, we use that as motivation," Bartrum said. "What's the challenge? The challenge is we weren't very good last year, and we're here now. So we adopted that team. We're all part of the brotherhood. Whether you were here last year or not, you're part of Rio Grande football."
For another, Rio Grande will be playing only their second season this fall after a 75-year absence from the gridiron.
"I believe it's just a challenge in life," Bartrum said. "And it's not because I know by God's grace and mercy, He allowed me to have this opportunity, and He allowed me to have the opportunity to play in the NFL. I looked at that as a challenge, and I blew my knee out in college. But people go through these things, deaths in the family, things that happen. That's a challenge, man. Just embrace that challenge and let's go.
"There's nothing about last year's team – whether they won the National Championship or they didn't win a game – it doesn't matter. It's like, 'OK, we're going to use that for the rest of our lives as a challenge.'"
Bartrum is also challenging his players to be living for, breathing for, and playing for something bigger than themselves. And even in these early days of the program, whether they're working out in the weight room or practicing yoga in the auditorium, he's seeing that they're doing so.
"They're checking each other. And when you see these players start holding each other responsible, and they respect each other, then that's pretty cool," Bartrum said. "I feel like when they're doing that, when they're checking each other, it's like Proverbs 27:17 says, 'As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.' So if we're not sharpening each other, what are we doing? We're getting dull, and I don't like dull. We're trying to strive for perfection.
Bartrum loved the motto that former Indiana University football coach Tom Allen utilized in the program – L.E.O. which stood for Love Each Other – so much that he crafted one for the RedStorm.
"We have the F.A.M.I.L.Y. – Forget About Me, I Love You. And I think that's exactly what you're saying when you say if you're living for, breathing for, playing for something bigger than yourself.
"So it's not about you. It can't be about you. It's about us. It's about the team. It's about working together for a common goal. And if we win football games, great. If we lose, hopefully we'll learn something from it and we'll move on to the next one and be better the next time."
Moving on to the next one is not a new experience for Bartrum. After playing for six years with Kansas City, Green Bay, and New England, he signed as a free agent with Philadelphia in 2000. And during his first five of seven seasons as an Eagle, they played in four consecutive NFC Championship Games and Super Bowl XXXIX.
"The whole seven years I was there, it was about family. Once you build that bond with each other, you trust each other and you know that you've got each other's back," Bartrum said. "(Andy Reid) brought in some guys from T.O. (Terrell Owens) to Jevon Kearse. Donovan (McNabb) was already there. I was very minuscule in that part, but those guys, the high-profile guys, were really, really good football players.
"I wish we could have made it to the Super Bowl those other years, but it's all God's time and I feel that he put us there for a reason. It was really, really cool that we were all able to stay together that long and be able to try to make a good run. I feel it was a blessing every day that I was fortunate enough to be on those teams."
Bartrum also feels fortunate to have played for Reid in Green Bay and Philadelphia, and be a part of Doug Pederson's staff with the Eagles. Both have influenced not only his life, but his coaching philosophy.
"Coach Reid is like a dad to me. I mean, I love him just like my own father. My father passed away, so he's kind of like I'm adopting him. I don't know if he'll adopt me, but I'll adopt him," Bartrum laughed.
"Just be consistent. If you listen to Coach Reid and Doug Pederson at any press conference, they're going to take (accountability). They're not going to blame anybody. They didn't have to tell me; they told me by their actions of just being a servant leader. Serve people. Be good to people. Hold people accountable, not always being a yes man. Always ask the why, and let people ask the why of you. And try to explain your why in a teaching mode. Because I think that's what we are. We're all teachers
"I had Coach Reid as our tight ends coach (while with the Packers) and our head coach. And Coach Pederson, he was coaching me up when I was actually coaching. I'd listen to him and how he coaches and how he teaches. It was just so instrumental. And that's the reason they were both very successful."
The RedStorm hopes to be successful this fall, as well. And Bartrum feels they could be for two reasons.
"We have a thing that we talk about all the time with attitude and effort," he said. "Ten percent is what happens in your life, 90 percent is how you deal with that. Ten percent, that's your attitude and your effort. It's not always going to happen, but eventually you keep a great attitude and effort, it's going to happen.
"We're always going to work hard. We're going to say, 'We're the hardest working football program.' Well, probably not, but that's OK. We're going to say it. We're going to work our butts off and try to be the best version of ourselves that we can be."
