Name: Eduardo Soto

Year: Junior

Major: Economics

CFS Class: Field Studies in the Humanities

Employer: Northwestern Football

 

I have been working as a full-time intern with the Northwestern Football Coaches for the past 4 months. It has been a tremendous experience. I have been able to contribute to a season in which Northwestern won its first Big Ten West Division title and thus made its first-ever Big Ten Championship (the game has only been around for 8 years). Every week, I am in charge of putting together the scouting report on the next opponent for both the players and the coaches. During the week, I study a variety of things – trying to find different details and things that can help the Cats go 1-0 on any given weekend. I work closely with the defensive side of the ball, and am very fortunate to get to see how the decorated coaches in the room approach building a game plan each week. There are thousands of coaches around the country who dream of getting this type of exposure to a program which does things the right way AND sees positive results in this industry. I have learned a great deal about game preparation, scheme, and leadership over the course of the season.

I can not go into specifics of the daily routine, tasks, and things that I’ve learned – information is power. I will say, however, that I work about 15 hours a day for most days in season. There is a lot of work to do when you have to start from scratch every week and have about 5 days to get everything done. I can also say that I have learned a lot about leadership from Coach Fitzgerald from sitting in both game plan and staff meetings with him. He is a great man, and very well deserving of the Big Ten Coach of the Year award that he got this year. Fitz, being his normal humble self, has repeatedly stated that the award is does not belong to him, it belongs to all the staff members and players that make the Northwestern Football program so dynamic. Seeing that sort of humility when it is not just in front of a camera is something very special. Of course, I have learned a great deal from the other coaches in the room as well, especially defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz.

Although I could not give too many details in this post, I can only say thank you to the CFS office for giving me this unbelievable opportunity to get my foot in the door in the coaching industry and help contribute to the Cats’ season. Go Cats!