Althoff coaching staff gains a former NFL linebacker

Former St. Louis Rams linebacker Tommy Polley arrived at Althoff High early Saturday morning in preparation for the Crusaders’ football scrimmage game.

Not far removed from a career that saw him earn the 2001 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award and return a Brett Favre interception for a touchdown in the playoffs, Polley is back on field again as an Althoff assistant coach.

“These kids ... I’m 10 years out,” Polley said with a smile, looking back on an NFL career that saw him play with the St. Louis Rams (2001-04), Baltimore Raves (2005) and New Orleans Saints (2006) before retiring because of a shoulder injury. “They’re on the now, they’re on the new guys out here so I’m kinda old news, which is cool. I don’t have any problem being that.

“When they do go back and Google me and see ‘Coach did make some plays...’ I got that the other day. I don’t try to use that as a tool to my expertise, I just try to bring what I did on the field. What am I giving you to make you a better player?”

Althoff head coach Ken Turner said the Crusaders players did a little homework once they found out they had a former NFL player on the coaching staff.

“They knew about him (in the NFL) from day one, but it didn’t sink in with them,” said Turner, whose team finished 13-1 last season and reached the Class 4A state title game. “Now they’ve been researching and Googling him and seeing him pick off Brett Favre and stuff like that. That takes it to another level with how they feel about him. You couldn’t have a better guy than what we’ve got.

“He wanted to get back in coaching and he had the time and wanted to help out. Obviously I’m happy and I wanted to have him. This is a huge gain for us.”

Knowledge and experience

Polley, now 38, starred in football and basketball at Dunbar High in Baltimore, Md. As a senior, he helped lead the Poets to state titles in both sports and was USA Today’s Athlete of the Year in his home state before going on to become an All-American linebacker at Florida State.

He helped lead the Seminoles to two national championship game appearances.

“This bring me back a little,” said Polley, who coached previously at Aberdeen High in his native Maryland before moving to the metro-east with his wife, Belleville East graduate Melissa Polley. “I’ve been doing this for about five or six years now, so I’m used to it. I had a lot of major experiences in high school, so I like to take whatever I did and give that back to the youth so they can grow from it.”

Polley also trains local athletes and worked with Althoff defensive lineman Christian Wills last season. He became familiar with the team through that experience and Turner is happy to have Polley on the coaching staff.

“His level of knowledge is above anybody I’ve had coaching the D-line,” Turner said. “He’s just got an abundance of knowledge and his approach to getting his message across to the kids is great. When I look at individual drills or when we’re going one-on-one or anything like that, I can see what he’s teaching them.

“He’s teaching them the fundamentals and they’re all picking up on the fundamentals, so that’s special to have. That means they’re being taught well.”

Polley is enjoying his time on the field with high school coaches and players.

“I’ve always liked to give back,” he said. “They have some great athletes here and Coach Turner does a great job. He puts a good product on the field as far as winning games and sending kids to college.

“That’s what I’m about, so I decided to help them out and bring a little bit of my expertise to the program.”

Wills, a Division I prospect, said having Polley on the coaching staff is a definite advantage for the Crusaders.

“He’s an amazing coach,” Wills said. “I watched some of his film and he was quite the player, too. Playing with Marshall Faulk and the Rams and the Ravens ... he was a great athletes. It’s like playing with an NFL player out there; he’s giving us so much wisdom and so much knowledge.

“It’s a great benefit and we’re certainly going to take advantage of it.”

NFL experience on a high school coaching staff

Polley played alongside numerous Hall of Famers throughout his NFL career, including players like Marshall Faulk, Orlando Pace and Aeneas Williams in St. Louis and Jonathan Ogden with the Ravens.

“I played with at least 10 Hall of Famers,” Polley said. “What I learned is hard work and dedication is going to get you to the top. There’s no short cut or anything like that. Seeing those guys working at a high level and play at a high level ... I always felt I was on par with those guys because I always started with them and made plays with them.”

One of the most memorable plays Polley made with the Rams was a 34-yard interception return against Favre and the Green Bay Packers in the 2002 NFC playoffs. Polley, the Rams’ second-round draft pick in 2001, finished his NFL career with 306 tackles, six sacks and four interceptions.

Among the defensive coaches he played for were former Rams defensive coordinator Lovie Smith, now the head coach at Illinois, and current Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan.

“I’ve got a lot of knowledge about football and life to give back to these youngsters,” Polley said. “It’s a great feeling when you play with guys who did it at the top, at the max, so I know what I’m talking about. I’ve seen those guys do it and I want to pass it on to these young guys.”

Williams is one of the NFL players that left a lasting impact on Polley, who tries to instill Williams’ work ethic into the players he trains and coaches.

That’s no easy task given Williams’ legendary approach to practices that saw him return every single interception he made — even in drills — to the end zone.

“I saw Aeneas come to practice every day and work as hard as he could, like it was the Super Bowl every day at practice,” Polley said. “Then when he’d get in a game it was the same thing. You’re like ‘Oh, that’s why he’s great.’’’

In July, Polley joined many of his former Rams teammates for Isaac Bruce’s “Legends of Dome” alumni game at their former home inside the dome in downtown St. Louis.

Sure enough, Williams had not changed one bit.

“He was out there warming up and running real fast,” Polley said. “The other guys that didn’t play with him (before) said ‘Man, he’s out there playing like he could still do it, like hes’ warming up for the playoffs.’ I said that’s how he was every day in practice, tat guy right there.

“That’s why he was a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He worked hard every day.”

Polley says he has a lot to give to the Crusaders, not just about football but also about life. What has he seen so far from his new team?

“There’s a lot of great talent, a lot of great athletes,” he said, “but they still have a lot of growing to do as far as knowledge of the game, tempo, playing fast and playing hard throughout the whole game.

“It all starts in practice. Once they get better practicing hard and going hard, that helps. It’s a matter of consistency.”

This story was originally published August 22, 2016 at 8:49 AM with the headline "Althoff coaching staff gains a former NFL linebacker."