SOUTHSIDER VOICE PHOTOS BY AL STILLEY The Pasch family of football features patriarch Richard Pasch (center), son Dave (second from left) and grandsons (from left) Jackson, Jake and John.
Erin Pasch, a junior at Lutheran High, is a three-sport athlete. By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer
When the Pasch family gathers around the dinner table, there is no talk about football because that’s the way grandmother Mariann and mom Liza Pasch want it.
“That’s the one thing we see with the wives,” Lutheran football coach Dave Pasch said. “They don’t always have a direct connection with football, so they want us to be part of everything that goes on.”
The football family consists of patriarch and Lutheran High School linebacker coach Richard Pasch; son Dave; and grandchildren: senior lineman John Pasch, freshman receiver/linebacker Jackson Pasch; Erin, a three-sport junior athlete at Lutheran; and Jake, a seventh-grader.
Erin said, “When dad gets home nobody talks about football; honestly, sports only comes up when we ask our parents about it.”
Family outings at her grandparents’ home usually includes touch football, but the family enjoys eating out and trips to their favorite lakes in Indiana.
In his 20th season of coaching and ninth at 1A Lutheran, Dave explained, “When I’m at home I try to avoid being ‘coach’ and try to be as much ‘dad’ as possible. I’ve learned through the years that it (football) is not really a job as it is a lifestyle; it does dictate everything that goes into the family dynamic. But at home we are a family.”
In his office Dave has a photo of his father, No. 30, in action as a Manual running back.
Preseason All-State lineman John, who played organized flag football in kindergarten, agrees that home discussions veer from football. John has seen the Saints’ football program grow.
“It has been something special to see; it’s just not a school or a football program but the community support has grown,” he said. “I’ve watched my younger brothers grow up and I’m playing my senior year with my younger brother. This is a very special season.”
John throws discus and shot for the track team and is a member of the robotics team and the student council. He is completing requirements to be an Eagle Scout, which included a landscaping project between the Saints’ locker room and football field.
Jackson began playing football in the third grade. He also wrestles and is into robotics. “My dad and my grandpa have been showing me how to be a receiver,” he said. “John has been showing me how to act on the field and around the other players. He’s my big bother/role model. I want to become as good as he is at football.”
Pasch and his wife lived in Putnam County, where he coached for 11 years (1965-57) before taking the job at Lutheran and moving his family to the Southside in 2008. He has guided Lutheran to three sectional titles, a regional champion and came within one win of reaching the 1A state title game two years ago.
“Didn’t think about the opportunity that was here (Lutheran) at the time, but it really came down to God executing the plan that he had for us,” Pasch said.
He left a program that reached the semistate and had two NCAA Division 1 players in 2007.
“We didn’t have the talent level; we didn’t have an experience and had no program development when I came here,” Pasch said. “It has been exciting to start from the beginning and to shape it the way I envisioned it. Everything we do is a reflection of our school and community.”
He expressed appreciation for assistant coaches Leigh Colgate, Mark Harris and Nate Filopovich, all of whom have been with the Saints since 2008.
“We have established a program that can compete and we should see some level of sustained success,” Dave said. “We cannot be complacent. We have to have to continue the same work ethic that got us this far.”
Senior staff writer
When the Pasch family gathers around the dinner table, there is no talk about football because that’s the way grandmother Mariann and mom Liza Pasch want it.
“That’s the one thing we see with the wives,” Lutheran football coach Dave Pasch said. “They don’t always have a direct connection with football, so they want us to be part of everything that goes on.”
The football family consists of patriarch and Lutheran High School linebacker coach Richard Pasch; son Dave; and grandchildren: senior lineman John Pasch, freshman receiver/linebacker Jackson Pasch; Erin, a three-sport junior athlete at Lutheran; and Jake, a seventh-grader.
Erin said, “When dad gets home nobody talks about football; honestly, sports only comes up when we ask our parents about it.”
Family outings at her grandparents’ home usually includes touch football, but the family enjoys eating out and trips to their favorite lakes in Indiana.
In his 20th season of coaching and ninth at 1A Lutheran, Dave explained, “When I’m at home I try to avoid being ‘coach’ and try to be as much ‘dad’ as possible. I’ve learned through the years that it (football) is not really a job as it is a lifestyle; it does dictate everything that goes into the family dynamic. But at home we are a family.”
In his office Dave has a photo of his father, No. 30, in action as a Manual running back.
Preseason All-State lineman John, who played organized flag football in kindergarten, agrees that home discussions veer from football. John has seen the Saints’ football program grow.
“It has been something special to see; it’s just not a school or a football program but the community support has grown,” he said. “I’ve watched my younger brothers grow up and I’m playing my senior year with my younger brother. This is a very special season.”
John throws discus and shot for the track team and is a member of the robotics team and the student council. He is completing requirements to be an Eagle Scout, which included a landscaping project between the Saints’ locker room and football field.
Jackson began playing football in the third grade. He also wrestles and is into robotics. “My dad and my grandpa have been showing me how to be a receiver,” he said. “John has been showing me how to act on the field and around the other players. He’s my big bother/role model. I want to become as good as he is at football.”
Pasch and his wife lived in Putnam County, where he coached for 11 years (1965-57) before taking the job at Lutheran and moving his family to the Southside in 2008. He has guided Lutheran to three sectional titles, a regional champion and came within one win of reaching the 1A state title game two years ago.
“Didn’t think about the opportunity that was here (Lutheran) at the time, but it really came down to God executing the plan that he had for us,” Pasch said.
He left a program that reached the semistate and had two NCAA Division 1 players in 2007.
“We didn’t have the talent level; we didn’t have an experience and had no program development when I came here,” Pasch said. “It has been exciting to start from the beginning and to shape it the way I envisioned it. Everything we do is a reflection of our school and community.”
He expressed appreciation for assistant coaches Leigh Colgate, Mark Harris and Nate Filopovich, all of whom have been with the Saints since 2008.
“We have established a program that can compete and we should see some level of sustained success,” Dave said. “We cannot be complacent. We have to have to continue the same work ethic that got us this far.”
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