The rise of Aussie gridiron

He may be thousands of kilometres away, but you can hear the smile in Eric Mangini’s voice when he’s asked to reflect on his time in Melbourne.

“It was truly amazing, I loved the city, I loved my time at the University, staying at Newman College and making some great friends. It was a trip that really changed my life,” he says.

Eric Mangini is best known as the former head coach of the NFL’s New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns, who now plies his trade as a senior Offensive Coach for the San Francisco 49ers. However Mr Mangini’s coaching career started much further away, on the suburban footy fields of Doncaster and Kew, during a six-month study abroad semester as an arts student at the University of Melbourne.

“I was originally going to study in London for a semester but my brother Kyle worked as an investment banker here in Melbourne and convinced me to come out. I had a lot of free time over Christmas before classes started, and I met up with a few of his friends who convinced me to come and help out with their team.”

While that first team folded, the players asked Mr Mangini to come and lead their new team, the Kew Colts, who would go on to win the championship during his first season in charge. He took his second semester of senior year off to stay in Melbourne, and coached the club to a second consecutive title the following season.

“It was a great thing for me as a young coach, as I had to coach a lot of positions and learn a lot on the fly. My college coach would fax me information that I studied during the day and then had to pass on to the players that night. A lot of stuff was trial and error, but it was fun.”

He’s retained connections with many of those he coached during his time in Australia, hosting them at the Super Bowl, his wedding and at various other times as people have travelled in the United States.

“It’s definitely one of those experiences that created lifelong relationships,” he says. “We had a team that included kids from 18 years of age through to family men of 44. I even had Mike Fitzpatrick (former Carlton premiership player and current AFL chairman) for a game at tight end. He was good!”

Mr Mangini can also lay claim to being one of the first to discover former Geelong star Ben Graham, whose transition as a long kicking key position player for the Cats to a punter in the NFL helped spark renewed interest in ‘America’s Game’.

“When I was working for the Jets as a consultant I worked Ben out in a cow paddock in town. I had seen him kick the ball over the Yarra and thought to myself he would be a great punter! He was only an emerging player at that point, but 10 years later he ended up being my punter when I coached the Jets. It was amazing! He’s a great guy, and a great friend.”

While Mr Mangini helped give the local gridiron scene a shot in the arm in the early 1990s, it took until 2010 for the University’s first official club to be formed, the Melbourne University Royals. This year is a milestone in the club’s short history, with the Royals competing in Division One for the first time, having won the Division Two championship in 2012 and making the playoffs last year. 

The club will also add a second team, the Lions, playing in Division Two, as well as continuing the women’s team (the Chargers), one of only three clubs in the state to do so.

Club treasurer Henry Wright says the players are excited about the year ahead. 

“There is certainly an air of excitement and a fair degree of confidence around the club. Everyone is rallying around each other, the veterans are doing a great job with our younger guys and we’ve got even more members involved behind the scenes as well.

“Having a new coach and an infusion of new players also helps keep things exciting during preseason.”

In 2014 the club will be led by Jordan Retzlaff, a former high school coach in Canada who will become the first imported coach in the club’s history. 

“Like many American and Canadian coaches, he’s been immersed in football for most of his life,” club President Bryce Cilia says. 

“Already we’ve found that Jordan has a wealth of knowledge about football, as well as the schemes and game plans required to formulate a successful strategy, not to mention a genuine love of the game. And as a former school coach, he’s had experience in teaching many students new to the game, which is an important skill that will transfer well to our club.”

Mr Wright agrees that gridiron is growing rapidly down under, particularly in Victoria.

“While gridiron has been around locally since the 1980s, with NFL games being shown on free-to-air TV, over the past few seasons we’ve seen a real growth in interest in people wanting to play.

“We’ve had a great response to the team’s growth as well, with MU Sport backing us since the start, and we’re seeing more and more students and alumni join in on the action every year.”

Mr Cilia says the atmosphere at the Royals is positive. “We’re enjoying the new coaching style, and the energy and excitement Jordan has brought to the club. We’re running a style of football that’s not previously been seen locally, giving both our veterans and rookies something exciting to learn and create a lot of buzz around the club.” 

And it’s only fair to wonder whether the Royals may yet be home to a future NFL star in their own right. 

“I think Australian athletes, a lot of their skill sets are transferrable,” Mr Mangini says. “In our game there’s a lot of different skills. You don’t need to be good at everything, so you can take a guy that’s really good at marking for instance, and turn them into a wide receiver or a tight end. That’s what I found when I was teaching classes with local physical education teachers when I was in town.

“There’s a very passionate group of players and fans in Australia, the people into it are really into it. I’m excited the Uni has a local team now!”