Boston College Athletics
Louie Addazio: Set to Join the Family Business
October 14, 2015 | Football
When the senior tight end’s playing career ends, don’t be shocked to find another Addazio in the coaching business
Louie Addazio didn't quite realize going to work with Dad didn't have the same meaning it did for his friends.
While most kids dread the idea of having to join a parent at work, Addazio was in the thick of the action while father Steve was breaking into the collegiate coaching ranks at Syracuse in the mid-1990s.
"I just remember I'd be hanging out on the field, on the tackling dummies at practice, watching him coach his guys," Louie remembered. "And after practice we'd toss the football around. It was so much fun."
Football was in his blood. His dad was an assistant coach at one of the most powerful college programs in the country and Louie got to hang out with the players, the coaches – everyone – around the program.
"It was, 'I'm just going to work with Dad. This is fun!' Hanging out with all the guys, all the college football players, and I'm like, six, seven years old. That's all I knew. It was, 'Alright, dad's going to coach the guys at practice today, so I'm going to watch practice,'" Louie said.
It took a few years before Louie realized dad's job was a bit different. "When we moved to Notre Dame from Syracuse (I noticed it). There, Notre Dame football is like a religion. When I got there, it became, 'Oh wow, your dad's a football coach at Notre Dame.' Everyone thought that was the coolest thing in the world."
Being around football, watching dad's practices, getting to know the ins and outs of the game, it all had a lasting effect on Louie. His love of the game deepened and now almost 20 years later, the younger Addazio is on the verge of following his father's footsteps into coaching when his playing career is over.
"I've always loved football," Louie said. "I want to be a football coach when I'm done.
"I think from an early age, I got to be around it all the time, and that's where I fell in love with it. I got to really see it from the inside out, and me playing – of course, I was going to play! I was hanging out with my dad, he was a football coach. I wanted to do what these guys did," he continued.
The inclination toward coaching was natural. "It's the family business," Louie joked.
Steve, his coach on the field and father off of it, sees that Louie's love of football will continue to drive him into the professional side of his life.
"He loves football, he loves talking about football," Steve said of Louie. "And he just doesn't want to stop playing that's how much he loves it and he wants to be a coach. He's grown up around it and he's been around all the different gradate assistants he's gotten to know over the years - Justin Frye was a GA. He got to know those guys, and he's gotten to know the GAs here. He likes to come up [to the football offices] and help them do things because he's trying to prepare for life after playing when he wants to become a football coach."
Louie understands how fortunate his situation is, and uses the access to the football minds around him much like a normal college student does from internships and work-study placements.
"The GAs here and Coach Leonard, the tight ends coach, are teaching me little stuff here and there, whenever I have free time, getting me ready to be a coach," Louie said.
Coaching the younger Addazio every day in practice, Leonard sees Louie not only as one of his tight ends, but also as the future Coach Addazio
"Louie works very, very hard at understanding the game," Leonard said. "For some people, it comes easy. Some people it doesn't. He works very, very hard at it and I think he's ahead of the game in regards to not only scheme but the demeanor of how to handle players."
One recent public example of Louie's handling of players came last weekend. After kicker Colton Lichtenberg missed a field goal against Wake Forest, Louie came up to the freshman on the sideline to offer consolation.
That act wasn't lost on Leonard: "What he's done a great job of this year is his leadership. He's done a great job with all the kids in our room – obviously the kicker, as well. He's a good person. And you're probably going, 'Well everyone's a good person.' No, not everyone is a good person. There are different levels of that. And that's what's really pretty cool about Louie: he really does care. I talk to him about it every day. He's done a great job with [tight ends] Jake Burt, with Austin Chapman, with Tom Sweeney. Helping them and mentoring them. And that's where he's going to be a heck of a football coach."
The elder Addazio agrees. "I think he'll make a great coach. He understands the game. He understands people. His experience being involved, being a son involved helps. He's been in a lot of locker rooms, he's been on a lot of practice fields. He's listened to some great football minds – Coach [Urban] Meyer, and all these different coaches. He's been around them all. I think that can help you in a lot of ways," Steve added.
Coaching is a bit off in the future. Addazio still has the rest of the 2015 season ahead. So for now he suits up each day, puts on his white #81 jersey each day for practice and goes out to the field to get better and be a good teammate.
"Right now, I'm a player," Louie reminded. "So my mentality is I have to go out and do my job and worry about my job on the field.
He added, "But I really think, down the road, it'll be cool to see it as a coach. And I'm really excited for that chapter."
While most kids dread the idea of having to join a parent at work, Addazio was in the thick of the action while father Steve was breaking into the collegiate coaching ranks at Syracuse in the mid-1990s.
"I just remember I'd be hanging out on the field, on the tackling dummies at practice, watching him coach his guys," Louie remembered. "And after practice we'd toss the football around. It was so much fun."
Football was in his blood. His dad was an assistant coach at one of the most powerful college programs in the country and Louie got to hang out with the players, the coaches – everyone – around the program.
"It was, 'I'm just going to work with Dad. This is fun!' Hanging out with all the guys, all the college football players, and I'm like, six, seven years old. That's all I knew. It was, 'Alright, dad's going to coach the guys at practice today, so I'm going to watch practice,'" Louie said.
It took a few years before Louie realized dad's job was a bit different. "When we moved to Notre Dame from Syracuse (I noticed it). There, Notre Dame football is like a religion. When I got there, it became, 'Oh wow, your dad's a football coach at Notre Dame.' Everyone thought that was the coolest thing in the world."
Being around football, watching dad's practices, getting to know the ins and outs of the game, it all had a lasting effect on Louie. His love of the game deepened and now almost 20 years later, the younger Addazio is on the verge of following his father's footsteps into coaching when his playing career is over.
"I've always loved football," Louie said. "I want to be a football coach when I'm done.
"I think from an early age, I got to be around it all the time, and that's where I fell in love with it. I got to really see it from the inside out, and me playing – of course, I was going to play! I was hanging out with my dad, he was a football coach. I wanted to do what these guys did," he continued.
The inclination toward coaching was natural. "It's the family business," Louie joked.
Steve, his coach on the field and father off of it, sees that Louie's love of football will continue to drive him into the professional side of his life.
"He loves football, he loves talking about football," Steve said of Louie. "And he just doesn't want to stop playing that's how much he loves it and he wants to be a coach. He's grown up around it and he's been around all the different gradate assistants he's gotten to know over the years - Justin Frye was a GA. He got to know those guys, and he's gotten to know the GAs here. He likes to come up [to the football offices] and help them do things because he's trying to prepare for life after playing when he wants to become a football coach."
Louie understands how fortunate his situation is, and uses the access to the football minds around him much like a normal college student does from internships and work-study placements.
"The GAs here and Coach Leonard, the tight ends coach, are teaching me little stuff here and there, whenever I have free time, getting me ready to be a coach," Louie said.
Coaching the younger Addazio every day in practice, Leonard sees Louie not only as one of his tight ends, but also as the future Coach Addazio
"Louie works very, very hard at understanding the game," Leonard said. "For some people, it comes easy. Some people it doesn't. He works very, very hard at it and I think he's ahead of the game in regards to not only scheme but the demeanor of how to handle players."
One recent public example of Louie's handling of players came last weekend. After kicker Colton Lichtenberg missed a field goal against Wake Forest, Louie came up to the freshman on the sideline to offer consolation.
That act wasn't lost on Leonard: "What he's done a great job of this year is his leadership. He's done a great job with all the kids in our room – obviously the kicker, as well. He's a good person. And you're probably going, 'Well everyone's a good person.' No, not everyone is a good person. There are different levels of that. And that's what's really pretty cool about Louie: he really does care. I talk to him about it every day. He's done a great job with [tight ends] Jake Burt, with Austin Chapman, with Tom Sweeney. Helping them and mentoring them. And that's where he's going to be a heck of a football coach."
The elder Addazio agrees. "I think he'll make a great coach. He understands the game. He understands people. His experience being involved, being a son involved helps. He's been in a lot of locker rooms, he's been on a lot of practice fields. He's listened to some great football minds – Coach [Urban] Meyer, and all these different coaches. He's been around them all. I think that can help you in a lot of ways," Steve added.
Coaching is a bit off in the future. Addazio still has the rest of the 2015 season ahead. So for now he suits up each day, puts on his white #81 jersey each day for practice and goes out to the field to get better and be a good teammate.
"Right now, I'm a player," Louie reminded. "So my mentality is I have to go out and do my job and worry about my job on the field.
He added, "But I really think, down the road, it'll be cool to see it as a coach. And I'm really excited for that chapter."
Players Mentioned
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