From legends to leaders

Two former Creston all-state quarterbacks who each played in state championship games in different sports headlined the opening session of a new leadership class at Creston High School Wednesday afternoon.

Garrison Carter, Creston Middle School teacher and offensive coordinator of the high school football team, has developed a leadership class for current sophomores and juniors involved in Creston activities. The purpose of the class is to build leadership skills that will improve the culture of the school’s activities, and prepare those students for life after high school.

With school released an hour early on Wednesdays, Carter has scheduled six sessions at 2:30 p.m. each Wednesday, each with a different theme and guest alumni speaker.

Kyle McCann and Scott Driskell gave the initial presentations Wednesday to a group of 44 CHS students representing 28 school activities. The class is designed for fine arts participants as well as athletics.

McCann was an all-state quarterback at Creston who went on to become a starter at the University of Iowa. He led the Hawkeyes to the first bowl victory under head coach Kirk Ferentz in the 2001 Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. He was also the leading scorer and all-state guard (along with all-state guard Ben Gerleman) for the Panthers’ 1997 state championship basketball team coached by Mike Gerleman, and was a walk-on player for the Iowa basketball team for one year.

McCann also qualified for the state golf tournament while at Creston. He now works as general counsel for Wright Service Corp. in West Des Moines, a leader in several nationwide environmental services industries. McCann and his team of attorneys work on contracts with utility companies and other entities to provide vegetation management, forest management and reforestation, commercial environmental services, residential and commercial landscaping.

McCann received his law degree at Creighton University after graduating from Iowa and playing professional football. He was in the New York Jets training camp and played in NFL Europe, an NFL development league that operated from 1991 to 2007.

Driskell, CHS activities director and assistant principal, was also an all-state quarterback as a 1990 graduate and played at both St. Ambrose University and Simpson College. He was also all-state in basketball and baseball, and was the starting pitcher in the state championship game for the Panthers in 1990. Spencer won that game, 4-3. The 1989 Panther baseball team started a string of five straight Hawkeye Ten Conference championships under coach Vic Belger.

A group of 44 students representing several different activities attended Wednesday’s session.

“The idea behind bringing in alumni speakers is that it’s good for our kids to see people who have lived it and gone on to do some incredible things in life,” Carter said. “Being able to understand the future vision is good for them. To hear from people who are not just talking about it, but have lived it, goes a long way.”

McCann noted that Driskell and his teammates from a highly successful era of Panther athletics were role models for his class, which was seven years younger and beginning to set their own dreams in youth sports.

Setting expectations

McCann began his message by telling the current students to ask themselves what their expectations are, and go about setting goals and habits that will take them there. When he was their age, McCann said, he developed daily habits that were part of his route to success.

“I was bugging people so much to come into the gym and shoot that they gave me a key,” McCann said. “I’m guessing that’s not a current policy. But that’s what it was for me, a priority to be in the gym every day. That was for basketball. For football, summer weights was a high priority, even when I was playing baseball. We’d get back from a doubleheader in Harlan after midnight, but up in the weight room at 6:30 the next morning. It’s easy to make an excuse. You have to really decide what you want and whether it’s worth it, because it’s a huge commitment.”

McCann explained that everything else in his life — when he studied, what he ate, how much he slept, how much film study he did — orbited around his priority to improve and reach his goals.

Jump ahead to today, and the three daughters of Kyle and Maggie McCann in the Waukee Northwest school district are involved in programs with equally high expectations and achievement. Sadie, a sophomore, ran on state track champion relays and was a starter for the Northwest basketball team that placed second in this year’s Class 5A girls state tournament.

“Two of my daughters are your age, teenagers in high school,” McCann told the students. “If you want to win state championships in track, you’re in the weight room and you don’t skip workouts. On our spring break vacation, which is at the start of track season, three of the days on our vacation were dedicated to finding a track and finding time to get the workouts in, so when you come back from spring break you’re ready to hop in and be successful.”

The lasting legacy of that 1997 state title team was the closeness of the squad and success of role players who did not garner the attention of McCann and Gerleman. Driskell pointed to a newspaper photo of that team holding the championship trophy, with a reserve player on the team showing the same joy as the stars on the team.

“Everybody is valuable on a team and it’s important for everyone to understand their role,” McCann said. “Whether you’re a starter or a young player on the scout team, giving the varsity a good look in practice, those are all things critical to achieving whatever it is that you want. That’s what is exciting about you all showing up here on an early-release day to do this activity. There is a recognition that there’s a gap between what you think of Creston activities and what you want it to be.”

Talent isn’t enough

Driskell said talent alone isn’t enough for a team to be successful. Player-led teams with participants holding each other accountable to the shared standards have better cultures than more talented teams without that kind of leadership.

“I had a very talented (football) team that went 5-4 because they couldn’t get along,” Driskell said. “Probably my favorite team at Earlham went 3-6 and that was the best we were going to finish, but they worked their butts off every day and it was the most coachable group I ever had. Sometimes talent isn’t enough. It’s what you do with it together.”

Carter, football coach at three other schools earlier in his career, said he has led such leadership classes before, but this is the first one with a wider scope than just the football team. This is a school-wide culture development venture, he said.

After Wednesday’s speakers concluded their remarks, students worked in groups to provide their input on building a Creston Panther identity, pride and expectations.

“For me personally, this is something beyond football,” Carter said. “I’m looking at this is the place where my kids are growing up and what we can do to shape the culture and make it the best we can be. I feel good about our first session and the participation we had today, and we hope to have even more in the future.”

The topics of future sessions follow. Alumni speakers, to be announced later, will be invited to make presentations at each of them.

April 8 — Leading by example and accountability: Daily habits, discipline and how real leaders hold themselves and others accountable.

April 15 — Mental toughness and handling adversity: Developing mindset, responding to pressure and bouncing back from challenges.

April 22 — Associations, influence and communication: Understanding who you surround yourself with and how to communicate the right way.

April 29 — Raising the bar: Building elite habits in training, academics and life.

May 6 — Service, legacy and commitment: Leaving a lasting impact and serving something bigger than yourself.