Law and Football

Many attorneys' attention may turn to football fields once the season starts each year, but two Indiana lawyers have taken their love for the game directly to the sidelines by coaching at the high school and semi-pro levels.

"We're out there doing things other than beating each other up in courtrooms and thinking about the law," said Rob Doyle, a partner at Due Doyle Fanning & Metzger in Indianapolis who is head coach for freshman football at Bishop Chatard High School on the city's northeast side. "We do things separate from the law and contribute positively to the community, and that's important to talk about just as much as any case or legal issue."

Doyle is in his 14th year of coaching, starting when he was young and watching it progress gradually until it was time to make the call after graduating from college: Law school or coaching.

He took a detour and didn't coach for a few years while attending Indiana School of Law - Indianapolis, but then he started getting back into the arena. Doyle started with the fifth and sixth grades, and then moved to the seventh- and eighth-grade levels before venturing into high school coaching and working with some quarterbacks.

His coaching is part of a family tradition at Bishop Chatard, with his recently graduated son playing in three cham pionship games through the years. Doyle also coached several nephews who've attended the school. Another son is set to attend Chatard school in two years, and Doyle expects the football tradition to continue.

"We're a tight-knit community here, but coaching kids is an important thing today," he said. "You have an opportunity to impact kids in a way that even parents and teachers don't have."

That's a similar thought for Bloomington attorney John Shean, who balances a law practice with football coaching. But his audience is somewhat different than Doyle's. Shean is defensive coordinator for the semi-pro Indianapolis Cutters, with players in their teens to middle age.

The team has all levels of experience, from a couple who've had NFL tryouts to players who played in college programs, Shean said. Most have played high school football, but there are some who have not played since they were young.

Names that might be recognized include former Indiana University wide receiver Jahkeen Gilmore; Lee Becton who was the 12th leading rusher in Notre Dame history; Jason Mack, a player-coach who was center at IU in the early 90s; Israel Thompson who was "Mr. Football" in Indiana for 1996; and Andre Key who played safety at IU.

So far this season, the team has lost only its first game because of a forfeit. That is the nature of semi-pro, Shean said, because people have jobs and life priorities that sometimes mean the game must come second. But it's always fun, the lawyer said.

While he's been with the Cutters for only the past year, Shean has been coaching since his college days at Claremont McKenna College, a small liberal arts school east of Los Angeles. He was a college sophomore and a friend who had been coaching got him started coaching young children.

Looking back, he remembers joking with his girlfriend (now-wife) about how much of his life encompassed football coaching.

"I remind her that when she met me, I was in coaching shorts at the dorms with a whistle around my neck," Shean said.

His senior year in college brought some changes when he got a job as a high school junior varsity football coach for the Benita Bearcats in LaVerne, Calif. He did that until graduation and law school at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

"From there, I just played pickup games and didn't coach through law school," he said. He started coaching again when his son showed an interest in playing football at a young age.

When his son went out for football, Shean recalled approaching both coaches at the time and asking if he could assist as he had some coaching experience. They didn't express much interest, but when Shean took on the 10 new kids with little experience and had them performing well, the coaches took a second look, he said. He became head line coach and eventually made his way to offensive coordinator and head coach spots. He stopped briefly and got his "coaching thrills" announcing high school football on local radio.

"I was the local John Madden," he joked.

That led him to the Cutters; hearing a friend-announcer - who was ironically one of the coaches who hadn't picked Shean's son back in the 1990s - talking about the new semi-pro team. They joke about that now. Last year, he worked as a defensive coordinator helping a longtime coach, but it really wasn't his own and he always deferred to that coach's experience, Shean said. He took over this year and isn't "playing second fiddle anymore."

"It's a hobby. Some guys play golf or racquetball, or build ships in a bottle. For me, this is mine," said Shean, who came to Bloomington in 1988 and now works as a plaintiff attorney doing mostly personal injury and workers' compensation claims. "It's a great diversion for me from the daily drain of practicing law."

Once football season starts, Doyle admitted his schedule changes and he relies even more on his flexible schedule and law firm colleagues. During the season, Doyle rises early so that he can leave the office in time for post-school practice and any game that might be scheduled. He returns to his legal work later at home, often staying up late to complete his necessary tasks.

"I don't sleep much this time of year, and my wife jokes that I have two jobs," he said. "It's a lot of fun but a huge time commitment that requires you to be super-efficient and not waste any time during the day."

The same applies to Shean, though he admits the semi-pro environment doesn't interfere much with his daily schedule. Practices are two nights a week and games are Saturday so he's able to effectively balance the two, and he pointed out that most of the traits he needs in practicing law come in handy on the football field.

"Some of the same traits that do well in the courtroom - thinking under pressure - translate perfectly onto the football field. You're really coaching by the seat of your pants on the football field and have to be prepared for anything. That's one of most exciting and fun parts of it. It tests your gamesmanship. It's great."

Gridiron passion has attorneys balancing coaching with law practices