By Mark Eckel | Engagement Insider
Mike Frederick never thought his last game as an NFL player would be Super Bowl XXXIV when his Tennessee Titans came up a yard short of the St. Louis Rams.
Frederick, a free agent defensive end after that 1999 season, signed with a Philadelphia Eagles team, coming off a 5-11 season in Andy Reid’s first year as head coach. What he found was a better team, especially on defense, than he realized and was let go on the final cutdown day.
“I certainly thought my career would last longer,’’ Frederick said. “I thought I would make the Eagles in 2000. They were a 5-11 team, which is one of the reasons I signed there. But when I got to camp I saw how talented they were, especially on defense. I looked around and said this is a good team. From the outside, it didn’t look like it.
“I was aware of the numbers situation. I was also aware of the fact that I was getting to the point that some of the things I could do as a younger player, take a tackle and throw him by, I would go to throw him by and I would buckle or he wouldn’t go by. There were little things that made me to start to think I can’t do this forever.’’
So Frederick, a third-round pick by the original Cleveland Browns in 1995 out of the University of Virginia, saw one career end and another one start, just as it is doing again in 2014.
After a successful second career in the business world, Fredericks has returned to his high school, Neshaminy High in Langhorne, Bucks County, as the team’s varsity football coach.
“When I was finished playing I went right back to business school,’’ Frederick said. “The big issue with the transition out of football is a difficult one. I was alerted to that throughout my six years. I talked to a number of people who I trusted and I had taken an interest in making sure I was successful.’’
After getting his MBA from the University of North Carolina, Frederick eventually started his business with several other former Virginia players.
“The NFL provided two things that were key for me,’’ he said. “I had five years of insurance, which was essential, so I didn’t have to pay for my wife and I and our children. The second was a severance package that paid you per years of service. I took that check, endorsed it and gave it to UNC and said here’s my tuition. That was my transition plan.’’
It worked. Frederick’s business, which was the first to launch a Hedge Fund in a mutual fund form, does well in West Chester, Pennsylvania, a city about a half hour south of Philadelphia. He’s still a partner, but takes some time away in the fall to coach at his alma mater.
“I tried Wall Street and didn’t really like it,’’ he said.
He also tried coaching before, and did.
“I was an assistant coach at The Gillman School in Baltimore,’’ Frederick said of coaching the national power from 2002-04. “Philosophy-wise, I learned a lot when I was there.’’
There were chances to continue as a coach, almost every year, but none that brought him back home until this past year.
“Every year I talked to my wife about coaching,’’ Frederick said. “I was offered some college assistant jobs. It was people I had played for, or played with, but with four kids I would always choose to stay.’’
While saying no to the jobs, he stayed involved in high school football circles, attending different camps and such. When word got out that Neshaminy, always one of the top teams in Eastern Pennsylvania, was available, Frederick’s interest rose.
“When this one had come up, I kept an eye on it to see who they were going to hire,’’ he said. “It stayed open for a long time. That’s why I’m here. I called over and talked to some people I knew who were close to the staff. They told me the staff wanted to stay. A couple of guys, who were very talented coaches, just didn’t want to be the head coach.’’
So he’s back where he once helped the school, as a player, get to the first-ever Pennsylvania playoffs playing alongside current Penn State coach James Franklin; and losing in the state semis to a school with Kyle Brady.
“It’s a very unique situation,’’ Frederick says of being back at Neshaminy. “The staff here is very successful, very talented, they work their tails off and they wanted to stay intact with the opening at the top. I had to be confident to allow them to coach. I didn’t need to step on toes. I give them the flexibility to coach their position. I think we have a pretty good group. We’ll see over time. It’s different here than a lot of places, but the tradition, the program is great.’’