Jared DeVries used to meeting challenges, but COVID-19 testing him like none have before
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Jared DeVries is hurting right now emotionally, but it has little or nothing to do with Friday’s gut-wrenching 21-20 loss to Iowa City Regina.
DeVries has been involved in sports for almost his entire life, first as a talented athlete who played football at Iowa, and in the NFL, and now as the head football coach at Clear Lake High School.
DeVries knows how to bounce back from the agony of defeat. So as tough as it was to lose on Friday by a single point at home, he will preserver because that’s what coaches and athletes are taught to do.
They’re taught to keep grinding, and to keep competing and to embrace the next challenge.
But they’re not taught how to handle the emotional strain, and the constant stress that festers during a global pandemic.
Coaches sort of have to learn on the fly because the circumstances are so fluid, and for DeVries, it’s the same with being a father during a global pandemic.
It was the father side of DeVries that became emotional during a phone interview on Friday morning.
He responded to my request for an interview so we could talk about his team preparing to face Iowa City Regina in a game that had been scheduled just two days earlier on Wednesday after the original opponents for both teams had to cancel due to positive COVID-19 tests.
There was plenty to talk about with the game just hours away, and with DeVries being matched against Regina head coach Marv Cook, who also played football at Iowa.
In fact, Cook and DeVries were both consensus All-Americans at Iowa. Cook played tight end from 1985-88, while DeVries played on the Iowa defensive line from 1995-98.
We addressed both the matchup on the field, and the matchup between head coaches, before the conversation shifted to the impact caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic.
DeVries’ mood immediately changed from upbeat to somber, especially as he talked about his son’s situation at Southern Illinois University where Jaylen DeVries is a freshman quarterback on the football team.
Southern Illinois is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, which has canceled fall sports, including football, due to health concerns with the coronavirus.
Jaylen DeVries, according to his father, has basically been in lock down for most of the time that he has been on campus.
“My own son is going through it, I feel for him every day,” Jared DeVries said. “He went to Southern Illinois and he’s only basically been able to practice a week. He’s been in isolation for thirty-four of the forty days he’s been in camp.
“It’s been wrenching as a parent to hear the heartache and the sadness in his voice. It’s just very challenging.”
Jared DeVries, who played 12 seasons in the NFL, is frustrated and confused by how the global pandemic is being handled.
The death toll from the coronavirus is approaching 190,000 despite the nation having been in lock down for the entire spring, and despite social distancing still being practiced by many.
Sports at every level has been hugely impacted by the virus, but the response to the virus has been varied, as evidenced by three of the five Power 5 conferences still planning to play football this fall, while the Big Ten, the Pac-12 and all but 15 of the 127 FCS schools have canceled the fall football season.
Saturday was supposed to be the Iowa football team’s season opener against Northern Iowa, but Kinnick Stadium was empty and mostly silent.
Some members of the Iowa Spirit Squad did gather near the stadium in order to wave at the kids in the UI Children’s Hospital across the street, honoring a tradition that now occurs after the first quarter of Iowa games.
But there was little traffic and few fans and nobody tailgating on campus property, all because of the virus.
The difference in approach to handling such a serious and influential health matter has created uncertainty, confusion and mistrust.
Why is it safe enough for some conferences to play, while it’s not for others?
Jared DeVries has been asking that question for weeks now, but with no acceptable answer or explanation given.
“I don’t understand why they aren’t (playing) and I don’t understand why some can and some can’t,” Jared DeVries said. “I just don’t understand. I don’t get it.
“But I guess we’ll just be in our own little world here in Iowa with high school football and just appreciate and enjoy the time that we have.”
DeVries gives his son advice and words of encouragement to help him in cope, but words only go so far.
“Yeah, but that message gets old after a while when you’re not allowed to leave your dorm room and they drop food off with the knock of a door,” Jared DeVries said. “I urge the county health people to sit down and have conversations about what they’re doing to our children and the impact it’s having.”
One of the biggest problems with the way sports in general has handled the pandemic is the lack of consistency and transparency.
What’s dangerous for some isn’t dangerous for others, but the explanations for why there is such a difference in opinion have been vague, at least in the case of the Big Ten Conference.
Jared DeVries has so much for which to be thankful as a retired NFL player, and as a former Hawkeye star.
He has a house on Clear Lake, a large family that is close and supportive, and he loves being a high school football coach in a community that embraces football and friendship.
DeVries’ brother, Darian DeVries, is also the head men’s basketball coach at Drake University and was named the Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year at the close of the 2018-19 season.
But even with all of that going for him, Jared DeVries still gets depressed and angry because the pandemic has that effect.
The virus has made life tough for the people he loves, and it hurts DeVries to know that his son is struggling while living away from home for the first time.
It was just a year ago that Jaylen DeVries was the star quarterback for a Clear Lake team that finished 10-1 and advanced to the state quarterfinals. He and his dad were living out a dream together, but now that dream has turned into a nightmare.
Every day is filled with uncertainty and frustration, and with potential setbacks due to the impact from the virus.
The high school football season has made it through two weeks, but it hasn’t been easy as some games have been canceled because of health concerns.
“We do remind them how fortunate and blessed we are to play this great game,” Jared DeVries said of what he tells his players. “We’re not guaranteed tomorrow. We’re not guaranteed that football game. We’re not guaranteed a lot of things.
“We’ve got to step back and realize how fortunate we are and appreciate those moments and make the most of them.”