Q & A With Football Assistant Kyle Segler
6/25/2015 10:11:00 AM | Football
GoBearkats.com presents the third in a series of question and answer sessions with Sam Houston's football coaching staff.
Today's interview features tackles and tight ends coach Kyle Segler. A former Bearkat student-athlete, Segler has been a member of the football staff since 2010, helping direct the Kats to 51 victories in those five seasons.
Question: What are you looking for with the tight ends here at Sam Houston?
Segler: The two biggest things I am looking for in a tight end is toughness and a blue-collar work ethic.
This position is a very demanding one from what my guys are asked to do. It takes a lot of guts to accelerate through blocks and finish every single play or rep. That's why it is only an elite few who are tough enough to be part of this room.
The second piece is finding guys who bring it every single day in all areas of their life as an athlete here at Sam Houston. I want guys who know how to grind in the classroom, on the football field and in the community giving back to this great city.
The tight position creed is that we are the Gold Standard of this program and I remind my guys on a daily basis to make sure they are living up to that.
Question: How would you describe yourself as a football coach?
Segler: I'm a coach that my players know what they will get from me on a daily basis. They know that I love each and every one of them like family and will treat them as such. I am the first one to get on them if they are making a mistake but also the first one to pat them on the back when they are doing well. This profession has too many high and low personalities, I feel like I am the consistent leader my guys need to be successful.
Question: What is your favorite moment as a Bearkat so far?
Segler: There are so many to choose from, several as a player and as a coach here at SHSU. The biggest moment I would have to say would be the feeling after we beat Eastern Washington in 2012 to go to the National Championship game. The journey we took to Frisco that year was a long and crazy one, but that game to get us back to the title game was one I will never forget.
Question: What made you want to get into the coaching profession?
Segler: I come from a long line of coaches and educators so this was a natural fit for me. Growing up the son of a coach you get to see all of the highs and lows of athletics, but also see the forever lasting impact and relationships that coaches create with their players.
I grew up on busses and in the locker rooms of my father's teams and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Still amazes me to this day that former players who are grown men and have families of their own still look up to my dad and seek him for guidance.
Question: What do you feel you bring to the coaching staff here at Sam Houston?
Answer: I'd like to think that I bring energy each and every day to our staff. I am getting to coach at my alma mater and each and every day I wake up excited to go to work and be around our great staff and players.
Energy and enthusiasm is contagious and I hope that can help out my fellow coaches and players. If you ask the rest of the staff they would say that I am also the comedian on staff. The life of a football coach requires long hours and keeping the mood light and putting smiles on people's faces can help get you through the tough times.
Question: How has SHSU changed since you came here as a student athlete in 2004?
Segler: It is amazing how much this place has changed for the better in such a short amount of time. The vision of the administrators such as our president Dr. Dana G. Hoyt, our athletic director Bobby Williams and our head coach KC Keeler will keep pushing us into the upper echelon of college football for years to come. I say it all the time in recruiting, our campus sells itself. The natural beauty of the piney woods and the new facilities all over campus is something that makes you proud to be a Bearkat.
Question: What makes the SHSU football program special when compared to other programs?
Segler: The thing that makes this program so special is the relationships you have here at Sam Houston. From the moment our freshman step foot on campus there is a locker room, football staff, and academic support system that will be there through it all to help that young man be successful.
The relationships are genuine and our staff understands that there is so much more than X's and O's when it comes to developing these young people. Coach Keeler always says that if your players leave here without becoming a better man then when they arrived here, then we haven't done our jobs as coaches.
Question: What are your hobbies outside of coaching?
Segler: I love many different sports but I would say that my favorite thing to do is play golf. My wife gives me a hard time that I take it too seriously, but I am a competitor in all the things I do so it is hard not to want to be the best I can be.
When we get some down time I am a big motorcycle rider and love to ride as much as I can, Texas has some beautiful places to ride. I also have two Pembroke Welsh Corgis at home so I try to spend as much time as I can with those two at home with my wife.
Question: What is your favorite quote?
Segler: There are two quotes that I am very fond of. The first one came from our leadership training with our players and Col. Yebra this spring, “Deeds not words.” I feel like that is such a profound statement and is something that I and my players identify with. The second quote is from Gen. George S. Patton “Better to fight for something, than live for nothing.”
Question: If you weren't coaching, what would you be doing?
Segler: It is hard to imagine not being a coach since it is such a passion of mine, but I would probably say being an actor or stand-up comedian. I love to make people laugh and I know I could be pretty good at it if I had the chance. Being a movie buff I also think it would be really cool to try acting if coaching didn't work out.
Coach Segler and the Bearkat tackles and tight ends will start preseason camp in early August in preparation for the season opener Saturday, Sept. 5, at Texas Tech.
Season tickets for all five Sam Houston home games in 2015 at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium plus the 90th “Battle of the Piney Woods” presented by H-E-B at NRG Stadium are now on sale online at www.gobearkats.com .
