Andy Waddle

Springfield, Ohio — More than 100 young men reported to Wittenberg University for preseason football practice this week, about six weeks after Assistant Football Coach Andy Waddle, class of 2003, returned from a unique coaching trip. Half a world away from Wittenberg and his hometown of Springfield, Waddle found a captive audience in Germany while coaching 95 high school-aged players at the Kaiserslautern Youth Tackle Football Camp in June.

Waddle made sure to pack plenty of Wittenberg gear for his trip, which sparked a lot of unexpected interest amongst the campers and their parents. About 80 of the campers were American citizens whose parents are serving their country on military bases throughout Europe.

"The camp took place on an American military base, which includes one of the largest American populations outside of the United States," said Waddle, a member of the Tiger football coaching staff since 2005 and the team's defensive coordinator the last two years. "I had a lot of people come up to me who knew Wittenberg. It was fun talking to people about their connections to the university and the area in general.

"It felt like a quaint community, kind of like a small town in Ohio. The difference was just the language and some other cultural things when you left the base."

Marshall University Offensive Coordinator John Shannon organized the camp, and he invited Waddle after meeting him at a football camp at the University of Toledo. The Wittenberg University defensive coordinator was the lone coach representing an NCAA Division III institution at a camp that included numerous NCAA Division I coaches and even one National Football League coach.

While the camp format was similar to those held each summer at Wittenberg and most other American universities, Waddle said the players in attendance were a little different. Most of them had limited playing experience with club teams on American military bases, so they took full advantage of this unique camp opportunity.

"Those kids, while raw, had some talent, but it's tough to attract top coaches to come over there," said Waddle, who was making his first trip abroad. "They were great kids who were all eager and willing to learn. I had a lot of fun working the camp in part because the players were extremely respectful, and they really craved the coaching from myself and the others that were there."

Other highlights for Waddle were tours of various bases in the Kaiserslautern Military Community, including Ramstein Air Base, and an opportunity to visit with wounded soldiers. While at the military hospital, the coaches distributed football memorabilia.

Now Waddle turns his attention to the business at hand – namely, the 2008 Wittenberg football season. A former All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) safety, Waddle and the rest of the Tiger coaching staff welcomes 16 starters back to the lineup in 2008. Coming off records of 8-2 overall and 6-1 in the NCAC, the Tigers were pegged conference favorites by both the media and coaches at last week's media day.

Related Links: Wittenberg Football Home Page