High school Football Coach Troy Moritz has had a lengthy route to this point in his career. Growing up in Madison, Wisconsin, Moritz was a demon on the field. By the point he was 12 years of age he became a major force on his Pop Warner team's defensive line. In high school he led his team's defense to a school record number of shut out games and was recruited by major Division I college football programs. Nebraska, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio State and Notre Dame came calling as did Texas, Oklahoma and UCLA. Moritz made a decision to remain in his hometown and become a Wisconsin Badger.
While at Wisconsin, Moritz set a school record for the number of sacks on the opposing team's quarterback. He was a beast on the field and a gentle giant in the classroom where he double majored in Psychology and Education. Moritz was the heart and soul of the Badger team, arranging initiatives for team members to visit sick children in the hospital and working with all the administration to get senior citizen alumni to football games. A man of significant character alongside impressive athletic ability, Moritz was known in his undergraduate days to be somewhat of a Renaissance man.
His dominating presence on a Division I, Big Ten football team was regarded as an edge heading into the NFL Draft. Pundits had Moritz being drafted in the third round and prognosticated about the defensive lineman's future NFL career being long and prosperous. Everyone who knew (and knows) Troy Moritz said that all of this fortune couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Moritz's luck took a crash when he was significantly wounded in a car accident that kept him from playing football professionally.
That was all 2 decades ago and today, Troy Moritz says that not making it in the NFL was the best thing to happen to him. Over the course of the months following his injury, he endured countless rough days of physical therapy that strengthened him in ways he never thought feasible. Grateful that he was diligent about his education Moritz went on to look for a teaching job and learned his college sweetheart was also teaching. In the back of his mind though, he thought he may continually live with the sorrow of what could have been but was surprisingly surprised when he found he loved teaching - it energized him in a way football never had. "Football is one thing I did because I was good at it," he is fond of saying. "Teaching is something I do because I love it."
Moritz married his college sweetheart Cheryl and the couple has four teenage children. His sons play football, which makes their father proud. He has coached the high school football team at his school for a decade. When asked if he could ever see himself coaching at the collegiate level, a sparkle took over his eyes. "It's not out of the question; I would love to do that."
While at Wisconsin, Moritz set a school record for the number of sacks on the opposing team's quarterback. He was a beast on the field and a gentle giant in the classroom where he double majored in Psychology and Education. Moritz was the heart and soul of the Badger team, arranging initiatives for team members to visit sick children in the hospital and working with all the administration to get senior citizen alumni to football games. A man of significant character alongside impressive athletic ability, Moritz was known in his undergraduate days to be somewhat of a Renaissance man.
His dominating presence on a Division I, Big Ten football team was regarded as an edge heading into the NFL Draft. Pundits had Moritz being drafted in the third round and prognosticated about the defensive lineman's future NFL career being long and prosperous. Everyone who knew (and knows) Troy Moritz said that all of this fortune couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Moritz's luck took a crash when he was significantly wounded in a car accident that kept him from playing football professionally.
That was all 2 decades ago and today, Troy Moritz says that not making it in the NFL was the best thing to happen to him. Over the course of the months following his injury, he endured countless rough days of physical therapy that strengthened him in ways he never thought feasible. Grateful that he was diligent about his education Moritz went on to look for a teaching job and learned his college sweetheart was also teaching. In the back of his mind though, he thought he may continually live with the sorrow of what could have been but was surprisingly surprised when he found he loved teaching - it energized him in a way football never had. "Football is one thing I did because I was good at it," he is fond of saying. "Teaching is something I do because I love it."
Moritz married his college sweetheart Cheryl and the couple has four teenage children. His sons play football, which makes their father proud. He has coached the high school football team at his school for a decade. When asked if he could ever see himself coaching at the collegiate level, a sparkle took over his eyes. "It's not out of the question; I would love to do that."
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