By Aaron Allen
The Seattle Medium
In high school, as in life there’s always a chosen few who separate themselves and stand out from the crowd. Some are labeled MVPs in sports, Most Likely to Succeed or class president. But then there are some who just want to make an impact in their moments Mario Bailey, Franklin High School’s new football coach, is such a person.
Bailey, a graduate of Franklin high school in 1988, stepped into his high school experience as a basketball player but would exit as a football phenom. A standout receiver in football and guard on the basketball team, Bailey would help the school win three Metro League championships (two in football and one in basketball) – including back -to-back championships (1987 and 1988) in football.
“My junior year we won Metro for the first time in 30 years in football,” said Bailey, who was also MVP of the team.
“My senior year we actually won Metro in football and basketball and I’ll say it now again it’s the only time you’ll see that [a school win the Metro League title in basketball and football during the same season] in the last 30 year,” says a very proud Bailey.
Bailey’s return to the coaching ranks was not by design, but rather by necessity. Franklin almost had to forfeit all their football games this season, as the original head coach had to step down. With the season in jeopardy and a group of seniors who might have to forego the most important season in the life of a young athlete, Bailey, in the only way he knew how, stepped up and took on the head coaching job at his alma mater.
For Bailey, who had a previous stint as Franklin’s head coach in 2005, it was an opportunity to give back to the community and to become, along with his coaching staff, positive role models for the young players.
“I didn’t choose to come back, it chose to bring me back,” says Bailey about his second tenure as the man in charge of Franklin’s football program.
After speaking with the principal and learning that the season may be forfeited, Bailey’s heart would not allow him to turn his back on his alma mater or the young men looking to live out their dreams of playing high school football.
“I couldn’t see the kids forfeiting the whole season,” said Bailey. “And it’s my high school, so I said I would come back and make sure they had a season and think about the future after the season was over.”
Bailey’s credentials speak for themselves. A heralded high school football recruit, he went on to play division one football for the University of Washington and was recently inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame. Drafted by the Houston Oilers in 1992 Bailey’s path in the professional sports was diverse with stints in the NFL, NFL Europe, the CFL, the XFL and AFL.
His winning ways in high school followed him throughout his career, winning 2 Rose Bowls, a National Championship in 1991, and 4 championships in the NFL Europe. Bailey brings this pedigree to his coaching with the hopes of changing Franklin’s football culture to that of winners.
Coaching high school sports comes with many challenges being that the talent is so young, but Bailey remains optimistic and enthusiastic about his team’s players, their potential and the potential of the team. Right now, he says he just wants to give them the opportunity to have a successful and complete season.
“My first thing is to make sure that the seniors had a season, a senior season,” said Bailey, when asked about his goals for the seasons.
“It’s really for me just giving back to the community, giving back to the kids, its life lessons,” he continued. “It’s more than football, its being around kids, my passion is just being around youth.”
Bailey is one of those men whose life enjoyments is working with children and community service. He sponsors feeding programs during the holiday seasons providing dinners to those in need or who just want to taste good food. But he also finds fulfillment in mentorship. Teaching young people the lessons life has to offer, the lessons he has endured and learned from in the hopes of giving them a head start as they enter the challenges of the world after graduation.
Progress not just in football but in life is what Coach Bailey strives to instill in his players. Progress in the classroom as well as the field. This is why, even after the season, Bailey makes sure that his student athletes maintain the expectations he has for them beyond football.
Sometimes, he explains, the kids will achieve at a high level academically because they want to be eligible for the team, and then, they have a tendency, to let their grades fall after the season is over. So, in an effort to curb that trend, Bailey maintains a presence on campus to help ensure the athletes continue to do well off the field as well as on the field.
“It’s my job, my duty to nurture them past playing football,” says Bailey. “It’s to get them in the classroom, to talk to them about life and help them.”
In the coaches’ eyes coaching is more than x’s and o’s, sometimes it’s being a friend, a father figure, an uncle figure, some children due to environmental challenges and urban obstacles come to school with adversities or the world on their shoulders and are looking for support that they might not be getting elsewhere, and Bailey does not have a problem stepping into those shoes if it is going to help those kids progress.
“When you’re a football coach you’re more than a ‘football coach,” says Bailey. “You’re like an uncle, a father, a best friend, a big bother your all of that.”
In the midst of an everchanging social climate, particularly for African American youth, Bailey understands the importance of allowing his players freedom of expression as they encounter the socials issues of their time. He doesn’t necessarily advise his players, but he also doesn’t discourage them from expressing their feelings regarding the challenges of the day.
Bailey’s commitment to youth is indicative even in his coaching staff, as it is comprised of young men who played under him from his previous stint as Franklins head coach. It’s something that is not only important to Bailey, but also to the players and coaches themselves as they attempt to resurrect not just a program, but the school.
“Part of my coaching staff is previously from the players that I coached eight, nine years ago so there on the staff so watching them give back, the whole process is just fun for me,” says Bailey.
“What I want to see is Franklin get better, get back on the map, be a good football program, be a good school in general, got a lot of freshman on the team and I want make sure that there being nurtured,” concluded Bailey.
