Call Of Doody

Moorhead, Minn. --- Saturdays still give Sam Doody a mix of emotions and an adrenaline rush, but it just isn't the same anymore.

Doody came to Concordia after growing up in St. Paul and was slotted in as a wide receiver.  He soon made the shift to free safety as he joined a recruiting class that was eight deep in receivers.

There was plenty of depth on the roster so Doody obtained the practice reps needed to make the adjustment from offense to defense. More importantly for him, it gave him the opportunity to get on the field.

Doody played out his freshman season on the scout team before he began to experience a constant aching in his left knee.  That December he had to have micro-fracture surgery done on his left knee. 

After a summer filled with rehab Doody came back primed to contribute as a sophomore. He toed the line between junior varsity and varsity, splitting time in practice. Doody began the season on the scout team but eventually made the travel roster as a special teams player. 

All the while, his left knee continued to deteriorate. Doody began to be limited in practices but he gutted through practices. 

Spring ball came around and his limited work that winter gave him a chance to be on the field. The nagging injury returned early on and he was forced to sit the remainder of spring practice in his sophomore year. 

Doody returned home to St. Paul and began to obtain cortisone shots through rehab to give himself a chance battle through the injury. With a couple weeks left before preseason practice, he attempted to go full bore but his knee wouldn't allow him to make the cuts he used to.

In the coming weeks Doody would have a femoral osteotomy along with a cartilage replacement done to help restore his knee. Doctors developed a graft from his left femur and cadaver cartilage to stabilize the outside part of his knee paired with plates and screws for added support. The reconstructed knee would help relocate the pressure from daily activities to the inside of the knee where people with healthy joints experience pressure. 

Three days before his junior season he walked into assistant coach Brian Mistro's office to inform him he was hanging it up.

Through teary eyes he told Mistro there was no way he could play this season. 

Doody commented, "It eats you up. It's the game you love and you can't play. I knew I had to try, but I did, and my body wouldn't let me. That's the worst part."

As Doody began to become more emotional Mistro looked at him and declared, "Stop."
 
Mistro informed him how unfortunate the injury was and how he was expected to be high on the depth chart entering that season, but he urged Doody to come with him and chat with head coach Terry Horan before making any decisions. 

Keeping Doody around was not even a question. Horan cited that he could assist with the coaches on the field, help out with the underclassmen and assist in film breakdown.
 
"Looking back I'm glad they kept me around. Once you are done with sports you don't go back. I'm thankful for the opportunity because they are like family."

What has become known as "Doody Duties" started out as merely filling in for the team's film guy but it has since evolved. Doody soon began to assist the underclassmen on the field and now he charts plays on game days. 

Last season an unofficial title for Doody came about and has taken hold with the players and coaching staff.

DFO. The Director of Football Operations.

Defensive Coordinator Kyle Bakken and Doody have become quite close because Doody possesses a sense of humor much like the older coaching staff and similar to that of Bakken. One day while chatting the title came about and it has stuck from there. 

Universities at the NCAA Division I level hire DFO's as an actual position so the fact that the Cobbers have one is quite unusual. 

What first started out as a joke has become an actual position for Concordia. Doody's first duty as the DFO was the full-time operation of the 'Cobber Football' Snapchat account.

Doody laughs, "freshmen that came in right away didn't know my name and they just called me the DFO."

Offensive coordinator Aaron Willits believes Doody might have a career in football following Concordia because of his experiences as the DFO. He went on to say, "Sam has learned more about our program than a majority of guys who leave this campus. He did it as a player, now sits in during our defensive back meetings, charted plays, shot film, acted as a manager. He's done it all. It's been a great experience for him."

Come out to Cobber football practice and every now and then you'll hear Horan bark out, "Where's the DFO?!"

He's around, coach. He's still around.



Written by Sports Information Intern Austin Hawkins