“It’s cool to do well in school here. The kids are sitting in the hallways doing their homework. Kids are in the library during free period,” said football coach Mike Engelberg.
‘Here’ is Maret, a private DC school founded in 1911. The school’s traditionally limited enrollment naturally makes for a lack of depth in the sports arena.
“See this picture right here? This is one of my favorites. This pretty much sums up our team,” Engelberg said as he clicked through game photos on his laptop.
This particular snapshot shows five football players on the sideline, backs to the photographer while they gaze at the field. The group is a hodgepodge of body types and size. Of course, that’s the case on all football teams but much more dramatically so on this one.
In the world of Frog football, it’s ‘take what you can get.’
“When this year’s seniors were freshmen, we had seventeen guys. It was very much, ‘How do we make it week-to-week and get through this week so we can play next week?” the eleventh-year coach said as he described the figurative gymnastics necessary to make football happen at Maret.
Liz Hall knows how that story goes…she’s served as the school’s athletic director for twenty-eight years.
“Two years ago, we were nervous about the future of our football team and whether or not we’d be able to field a football team,” Hall said.
At that point, brains really kicked into gear in Maret’s humble athletic offices. Speaking of brains, protecting those of the kids through a less-physical version of the game helped garner rejuvenated interest in football participation.
“In middle school, we went to a flag football format for a year, which got a number of kids out and their parents let them play flag. Those kids are ninth graders this year and we have about twelve of them playing, which really boosted our numbers,” Hall explained.
With a combination of her support and that of a solid assistant coaching staff, Mike Engelberg has kept Maret football afloat, despite the constant lack of depth he faces each year. But the neat thing is that now, the sport isn’t just surviving…his team is clicking, and reaching heights the school has never before experienced.
The Frogs are currently defending an unblemished, eleven-win record. They secured the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference title at the end of October and after a semifinal victory over KIPP, are in the midst of chasing a Class A DCSAA championship trophy.
The cherry on top? For the first time in program history, Maret is ranked in Washington Post’s Top 20.
“I opened up the paper last Tuesday and I just kinda looked at it and I’m like, ‘Really?? That’s crazy!” Engelberg said, his face mimicking the emotion he felt as he recalled that moment.
The coach was similarly overjoyed on Day Two of the NFL Draft this past April when his former athlete, Sean Davis, was selected in the second round by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Maryland alum's accomplishment made him the first Maret graduate to break into the league.
“I couldn’t be happier for him because that was his dream from way back when he was tiny all the way through, was just kinda working at it,” the proud coach said as he remembered Davis’ tiny body frame early on in high school.
“It’s neat for the school to have someone in the NFL. It’s not something that we’ve had in the past so everybody kinda is always checking on the Steelers and seeing how they’re doing.”
After the Frogs clinched the conference title, Davis shot Coach Engelberg a text congratulating the team on the achievement – something his Maret team wasn’t able to accomplish.
Soon enough, the safety was live on a classroom projector, chatting with the team through FaceTime and answering questions about life in the NFL. Most of the back-and-forth was serious, other parts, a little more lighthearted.
“One of the questions was if I was tougher than (Steelers head coach) Mike Tomlin but they all kind of broke down laughing, including Sean, because everyone knows that Tomlin’s probably the tougher guy than me.”
While at Maret, Davis learned Chinese and overall, was like the majority of student-athletes currently and traditionally at the school -- involved in a variety of activities that make one hard to peg.
“It’s kind of a throwback to the old days where you really can do it all. Like our starting kicker is the lead in the play.”
Case in point, basketball season is beginning and head hoops coach Chuck Driesell is holding practice. But, he doesn't even hesitate doing so with just a few guys, as the rest of his squad finishes one of the school’s best football runs in school history.
Next up for the Frogs, a chance at a championship. Maret will meet 8-3 Theodore Roosevelt at 2:30 p.m. at Wilson High School.
