Bulldog Patriots

 From  1976 to 1996, John P. Lavelle served as probably the most intense assistant  coach the Bettendorf football program has ever had—and considering all of the  coaches that have worn the Black and Gold, that’s a lot to be said.  Growing up  on the South side of Chicago in the early ‘60s, Lavelle graduated from Calumet  High School and then attended Woodrow Wilson Junior College (now called  Kennedy-King Jr. College) which is also in the Windy City.  While at WWJC,  Lavelle was also member of the 1966 football team until an injury ended his  athletic career—and temporarily his academic one.  Joining the Army on October  18th, 1966, Lavelle eventually was sent to Vietnam in September of ’68—but not  before marrying the former Martha Fentem on August 3.  After serving his tour of  duty in Vietnam, Lavelle returned to college and graduated from Western Illinois  University; eventually, all of his knowledge, experiences, and worldly travels  would come into to play while helping mold Bettendorf into a dynasty.          
 

Lavelle’s first job—as he described—was “…a semester fill-in down in Lee  Central High School” (in Iowa) where he coached both football and girls’  basketball.  After a brief stint at Lee, Lavelle then returned to his home state  when he took a head football coaching job at Leaf River High School.  At the  time, the River Demons were owners of a 21-game losing streak—but that quickly  ended after Lavelle assumed head duties and the River Demons finished the season  ended with a 5-4 campaign.  Lavelle then moved on—this time to the college  ranks—when he returned to Western Illinois as a graduate assistant where he  coached the junior varsity offensive line.  A short time later Lavelle then  settled in the Quad Cities when he was hired to teach at Rock Island High School  and coach both the offensive and defensive ends.      
 

In 1976 Lavelle began his teaching and coaching career at Bettendorf High  School; in his own words he said, “I had moved so much in those first few  years of coaching that I never intended to stay at Bettendorf for very long.  Then, one Friday night during warm-ups, Coach Randy Scott came up to me and  said, ‘Congratulations!...we’ve been here for twenty years!’ I could not believe  him.  I guess it’s true that time flies when you’re having a good time.  And  believe me, we had good times. I was able to work with some really talented and  hard-working young men while at Bettendorf.  It was that hard work that  produced—and still produces—the Bulldog Mystic in Iowa.”  While at BHS,  Lavelle taught English and coached football, track, and golf.      
 

In 1991, Lavelle was honored for his hard work and dedication by being named the  Iowa Football Coaches Association “Assistant Coach of the Year.”  However,  Lavelle humbly stressed that the greatest honor he had was being able to coach  his two sons as Bulldogs:  Stephen was a starting tight end on both the 1987 and  ’88 state championship squads while John was his team’s leading receiving and a  member of the All-Conference team in 1994.  As well, although Lavelle has  retired from teaching, he currently still is involved in coaching Bettendorf  athletes and at present time is the girls’ head track coach.  As well, he—along  with Merv Habenicht—returned to the gridiron as a coach for the Quad City  Steamwheelers for the 2007 af2 season. 

The  road to Bettendorf went through Pennsylvania and Indiana for former Bettendorf  offensive coordinator Tom Freeman.  For boys born in Western Pennsylvania,  athletics has long been something beyond passion and bordering on obsession.  Coach Freeman said, “We played football six months and baseball the other six  months.  We played at recess, during the lunch hour, and after school.  We  played all day on Saturdays and most of the day on Sundays. Our fathers took us  to high school games and almost every boy wanted to be a football player.”   In 1952, as a sixth grader, Coach Freeman played for the Blairsville Bobcats  junior high team and has been playing or coaching ever since..          
 

In eighth grade, his family relocated to Northwest Indiana.  In the shadows of  the mighty steel industry, Coach Freeman learned the craft upon which he would  build his life.  He played football, basketball, and baseball for Dyer Central  High School (later renamed Lake Central High School).  It was during this time  that he began thinking about becoming a teacher and coach.  Recruited in  baseball and football, he chose to attend Wabash College in central Indiana to  pursue degrees in history and psychology, playing both football and  baseball.       
 

Upon  graduation in 1963, Coach Freeman returned to his hometown and began his  teaching and coaching career.  He also found time to get his Masters degree in  guidance and counseling from Indiana University.  Prior to Bettendorf, he  coached six years as an assistant at Lake Central High School, followed by five  years as a guidance counselor and head coach at River Forest High School (Hobart  Township, IN).        
 

One thing about coaches is that they form tremendous bonds… bonds of friendship  and bonds of rivalry that last a lifetime.  One such relationship exists with  Jerry Grafton. Coaching together at Lake Central, Jerry moved to Davenport,  Iowa.  It was through Jerry that Coach Freeman became acquainted with Iowa and  Merv Habenicht.  Originally seeking a coaching position at junior college in  Iowa, Coach Freeman instead chose to continue in the high school ranks,  accepting the position of offensive coordinator at Bettendorf in 1974.

The road had now led to Bettendorf… and through  Bettendorf, Coach Freeman would enjoy many blessings in football and beyond.    In addition to receiving the Iowa Assistant Football Coach Award, he  represented Bettendorf football at several football clinics over the years.  He  was also honored to receive the Golden Apple award for teaching excellence in  Scott County.   By 1978, early signs of the dynasty were evident when the  Bulldogs knocked off a powerful Davenport Central team led by running back Roger  Craig.  In 1980, the great run on the Dome began.  Coach Freeman enjoyed fifteen  playoff appearances and five state championships.  He has coached many fine  football players… and many fine young men.

But football was not his only athletic passion.  He was privileged to be an  assistant basketball coach for three teams that played in the state tournament  in Des Moines and an assistant baseball coach for the first Bettendorf baseball team to qualify for the state tournament in Marshalltown.  Coach Freeman retired  from teaching and coaching in 2000.  So what does a coach do when he retires?  He  keeps coaching!  Coach Todd Sturdy of Saint Ambrose University asked Coach  Freeman to join the Bees' staff.  At St. Ambrose, he has had the opportunity to  coach in the NAIA National Playoffs on many occasions.

Friendships run long and deep among coaches.  On any given weekday, stop into  Hardees, HyVee, or Panera’s  for breakfast and you will find Coach Freeman and several other of the coaches  of your childhood trading stories and showing pictures of their grandchildren.

So how does Coach Freeman sum it up?

“I’ve had the opportunity to spend most of my life playing and coaching a  game that I’ve loved since childhood. I’ve had the opportunity to work with  great kids and great coaches.  I have a wife who understood the significance of  my vocation and who supported me and walked with me on this fantastic journey.   My two sons, both BHS graduates, have moved from Iowa, one an engineer in  Atlanta, and the   other a teacher and coach in south Florida… yet they continue  to follow the Bulldogs with great zeal. And I  have three super grandchildren to  spoil.  With granddaughters Lily and Sarah cheering him on, my four year old  grandson, Tommy, wearing his Bettendorf Bulldog football helmet runs back and  forth in his backyard in Atlanta proclaiming ‘Twins left, Tailback at seven, on  one’ and dreaming of playing for 'Coach Scott' of the Bettendorf Bulldogs.  It  doesn’t get much better than that.  I have truly been blessed.” 

Written and submitted with the loving affection of his sons