St. Xavier Football Coach Specht Conducts 2-Day Clinic In Brazil

April 12, 2011 / Football

CINCINNATI — It took an 11-hour plane flight, but St. Xavier football coach Steve Specht stepped outside of the United States for the first time the first weekend of April to help conduct a two-day national football coaching clinic in São Paulo, Brazil.

“An unbelievable experience,” Specht said of the trip.

Specht, who has been a part of the USA Football non-profit organization for the past few years, visited Brazil with Miami (Fla.) Christopher Columbus High School coach Chris Merritt to help instruct 100 coaches of high-school aged and adult club football teams from around that country.

The trip was organized and funded in part by the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) of which USA Football is a delegate.

The coaching clinic was held in a large theater at a university in São Paulo. Specht said none of the coaches spoke English so when he gave a demonstration on stage he had to wait until it was translated.

“The coaches were asking great questions,” Specht said. “… You could see how excited they were to talk and learn about the game.”

Specht had previous experience with the international game as defensive coordinator on the U.S. Under-19 national team that won a gold medal in the summer of 2009 in Canton, Ohio.

But, making a trip to Brazil to teach a clinic was new territory for Specht, who has been the St. X head coach since early 2004.

Merritt, who was the defensive backs coach in that ’09 tournament with Specht, played pro football in Sweden and later coached in Germany. He signed autographs with Specht for the coaches in Brazil.

“Steve was a rock star,” said Merritt, who has been the Columbus head coach for 10 years.

Specht, 43, said he brought two dozen PowerPoint presentations and countless hours of practice film and materials. Specht covered the basic fundamentals of American football, including individual techniques and a breakdown of a practice session.

Steve Alic, who is director of communications for USA Football, said Specht’s “booming enthusiasm for the game” made him an ideal participant.

“This is something he was excited to do,” Alic said. “It was a great fit.”

Specht, who returned home about 4:30 a.m. April 5, said he would be interested in returning to Brazil one day for another clinic. Next time, he would like to be able to speak more of the Portuguese language.

“I really enjoyed the people I worked with,” Specht said. “It was fun.”


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