Football is awesome. But it’s not important – at least not from the perspective of Henry Ford II head football coach Mike Szalkiewicz. “Holy crap,” Szalkiewicz said.
“A head football coach saying football is not important. “Our brains are important, as is the magic of believing.” Football games have been hard to win recently for the Falcons.
Szalkiewicz ended his first season at Ford in 2022 with one win. They bumped that number up to two in 2023. It’s not new.
In fact, Ford football hasn’t had a winning regular season since 2015 and they haven’t finished with a season with a winning record since 2011. During that time, Szalkiewicz was doing plenty of winning. A former De La Salle defensive line specialist, Szalkiewicz was there when the Pilots flipped the script from being just another Catholic League program to being one of the premier programs in the state, something that’s still true today.
In fact, he could still be with the Pilots if he wanted to – which would’ve come with additions to his already populated ring collection – but he chose Ford. Szalkiewicz has chosen to be walking proof that flipping the script on a football program is possible in front of high schoolers who have never seen it. So are his assistants, all of whom have played for him at one point or another.
For a program rich with poverty, that’s step one. “The first people that have to buy into what we’re doing here is our coaching staff,” Szalkiewicz said. “I brought in a couple of guys that played (for) me at La Salle.
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They were part of our state championship teams. I’ve (got guys) that buy into and lived and seen it. They understand what it takes.
” What exactly does it take? It harkens back to what’s important for them: their brains and some faith. “We first want to make sure that we are mentally where we need to be to not only have success in the classroom, but to have success on the football field,” Szalkiewicz said. “But most importantly, have success long after they leave Henry Ford.
Because what we’re doing here is we are trying to make these boys and help them through the maturation process to become men.” Grit, passion and accountability. Working hard, understanding the value of a hard day’s work and being where you need to be.
It’s that simple. “As simplistic as it may seem, that’s all we’re trying to do here,” Szalkiewicz said. “There’s X’s and O’s.
We have opponents, there’s no doubt about it, and they are coming. But I believe that if we buy into our pillars, the football thing will eventually take care of itself.” The Falcons strive to be a group that lives “above the line” – a gang who, when adversity strikes, formulate a plan and attack it head-on instead of cowering and adopting a victim’s mentality.
The phrase “I can’t” simply doesn’t exist in the locker room off Clinton River Rd. To them, football is merely a vehicle through which they can achieve their ultimate goal of teaching life lessons. For Szalkiewicz and the Ford staff, their view of success is measured more in the quality of man they send to the next level – be it college, trade or the military – and less about the final score against Cousino.
“That requires us to spend time in the weight room,” Szalkiewicz said. “Making sure that we are doing what we need to do in the classroom so that we are seen as something that the rest of the student body wants to be. We want to be an inspiration to the school through our behavior, not our mouths.
That has gotten better.” Their numbers have grown. The Falcons went from having their entire team outnumbered by rival senior classes alone to gaining several players which will allow for more depth and exposure in the halls.
That part is still a work in progress, too, as they continue to plead with some of the top athletes in the school to join their mission. The main selling point, beyond the obvious benefits of joining and starring on your school’s football team, is the lifelong family-style bond that’s being forged in the locker room. “That’s something that I’m trying to bring with me.
It’s something I’ve seen,” Szalkiewicz said. “It’s something that I’ve been part of in my journey as a coach in the 25 years that I’ve done it. And it’s one thing that I’m hoping these boys understand: how special it is to play football.
How special it is to play football here at Henry Ford II High School.” Culture changes take time, and the Falcons are still in the middle of theirs. It’s why, like the road outside their football field, the program is still under construction.
Yet the objective remains clear. “We haven’t lost our vision for where we’re going to be, nor have we lost our ambition to get to that goal,” Szalkiewicz said. “And we’ve decided and agreed as a group of collective individuals that, as long as we care about each other in the Falcon football family and live through our pillars of grit, passion and accountability, that we will achieve what people believe success is – and the only thing is wins and losses.
” Ah, right – wins and losses. Where do the Falcons stand on those for the upcoming season? The biggest influences there will be their captains, who the coaches selected through a real-world style interview and vetting process meant to prepare students for job interviews in the future. The ones who came out the other side are Mike Brown, Josh Houston, Joey Brooks and Jacob Harmon.
Brown, a true athlete who primarily slots into the secondary on defense and wide receiver on offense, has taken visits to Division I programs Kent State, Akron and Georgia Tech. He’s in his second year of captaincy and figures to be one of the best players on the field whenever he’s on it. Houston, also a defensive back/receiver, is another second-year captain while Brooks is serving the honor for the first time as a senior.
Harmon is setting himself up for back-to-back years of leadership, being named a captain as a junior. Now, all Szalkiewicz needs is for someone to lead the charge. “It’s like they know they’re right here, but everybody’s afraid to step on it – take the step over,” he said.
“So we are right up against the fence, man. We are there. Somebody just has to push.
And when it happens, the thing is going to fall like a waterfall. And it’s going to be a thing of beauty.” Ford is returning eight players on offense and 10 on defense from their most recent 2-7 season.
They’ve also managed to take a step back into the MAC Blue from the much more competitive MAC White, which Szalkiewicz lobbied for and thinks will give his players a more fair shot at developing. For the second-straight year, they’ll open the season against Salem, this time at home, on Friday, Aug. 30.
And with the culture change in its third year of construction, they’ll continue to do what it takes to become quality men – grit, passion and accountability. They’ll cherish their fellow man and embrace the hardships. They’ll set positive examples in their school and community with a focus on brightening their futures.
And the football thing will take care of itself..
