Why Rossville football coach Derick Hammes is a perfect fit: 'Coaching was an extension of the game'
Rossville’s success on the gridiron continued this year as they won another state title, its fifth since 2014, all under ninth-year head coach Derick Hammes.
Hammes didn't take over a bare cupboard when he came to Rossville, inheriting a roster that had gone 11-2 the prior year under Steve Buhler.
Buhler coached at Rossville from 1998-2012 with a 119-55 record in his 14 years, going to the post-season in 13 while posting eight or more win seasons in nine of those years.
But Hammes took a consistent regional and substate reaching football team — coming from Washburn Rural where he coached from 2006-2012 — and got Rossville over the hump.
"We were right there knocking on the door all those years," said athletic director Curt Brecheisen. "I think his attention to detail in the weight room and classroom, details of the kids and what they’re doing and how they’re doing, I think that’s what helped him kick the door in.
"Paying attention to all the little things that he’s been notorious for since he got here."
Hammes entered this year with an 83-15 record and state titles in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2020, adding 13 more wins as the team went undefeated for the fourth time since he's come to Rossville.
We talked to current and former players, assistant coaches and administration about what Hammes has brought to Rossville since arriving in 2013.
More: Men in the trenches leading Rossville: ‘Their physicality is what sets them apart’
Hammes had a coaching mindset early
Hammes loved sports ever since he was a kid, whether it was playing football in the backyard, playing baseball or shooting hoops in a friend’s driveway.
As Hammes got older, he didn’t know what he was going to do but credits his football and basketball coach for pushing him toward college while also letting him know he had the talent to compete at that level as well.
He played football for four years at Emporia State but had coaching on his mind even then.
"I figured out that I couldn't play forever and that coaching was an extension of the game," said Hammes.
On his recruiting trip with coach Larry Kramer, he told Kramer he would like an opportunity to be a student or graduate coach to get his career started.
Kramer promised Hammes that opportunity would be available to him.
When he began his post-playing career as a student coach in 1993, it brought back his love of sports as a kid.
"I had a ball in my hand, was participating and playing, and it goes back to it was an extension of playing," said Hammes. "I still felt like I was a part of the game. I think that's when I knew that this was a career that was right for me.
“I never felt like I was going to a day of work. I always felt like I was doing something that I enjoyed."
Hammes credits his high school basketball and football coaches and Kramer as influences. Two more men made an impact as well.
"My time with Tom Stringer at Hayden was very important," said Hammes. "I learned from him how to run a program, how to handle people and make players feel good about their roles. I think that's one of the things that he did really well.
"The late Dave Bassore was very instrumental for me. He taught me a majority of the X's and O's that I know. I've had a lot of people that have shaped me and I'm pretty grateful to all of them."
An opportunity at Rossville
After student coaching at Emporia State, Hammes had coaching jobs in Hayden and Kansas City before heading to Washburn Rural.
Hammes saw Rossville as a great opportunity, a program with longstanding tradition.
"I didn't know if it was possible for me,” said Hammes. "It's been a good fit.”
On Hammes' first day, he brought the team into the gym and explained his goals.
Those goals were to win a league championship, beat their rivals, be district champions and be state champions.
"Those goals have never changed," said Hammes on Tuesday.
“Sitting in the meeting, I can still remember that,” said Gabe Marney, who played at Rossville from 2012-2015. “He laid his line, his expectations, I could tell right when he got in, he had that drive we needed.”
Tucker Horak, who played from 2012-2015, said the team didn't know what to expect.
"He showed up on his first day and explained to us what his goals were with us," Horak said. "It really got us all excited."
Horak credited the seniors and his older brother Thatcher's class, juniors at the time, for helping make the transition.
"Those two classes set an example for how it's all right for change to come in, to accept it and welcome it," said Thatcher Horak, who played from 2011-2014 and has been an assistant coach for Rossville for the past five years.
Torrey Horak, senior quarterback and younger brother of Thatcher and Tucker, was in the fourth grade when Hammes arrived. He remembers his brothers' first practices with the new coach.
"They said it was different," said Torrey. "Not in a good or bad way, it was just different from coach Buhler. They seemed to like it and trusted him."
More: Rossville football duo, lifelong friends, go out as state champions for the Dawgs
Hammes vision for a program
Hammes made it clear he took over a program in very good condition. He said the kids were winners and the program could’ve sustained itself with the athletes they had and those coming up.
He did bring his own vision of what a program should look like.
"He's very process-driven as a coach," said Thatcher. "When he first he got here, it was, 'How could he take something that’s really good and make it great?'”
Hammes said his vision for a program is one that has a level of discipline and toughness and for him, that started in the weight room.
"I think it's the strength and conditioning part of it where you get to be around the kids’ day to day, and that you get to establish the kind of culture that you want,” said Hammes. “That's the way I went about building the program and the culture that we have right now."
Hammes said he felt like his personality fit perfectly with that of the community in making it a good match. Athletic director Brecheisen agreed.
"He's a come-early, stay-late guy," said Brecheisen. "In the summer, he’s got the weight room open early and puts in his hours. During the school year, he has the weight room open for kids to come lift and pushes kids to lift. Not just football players, all of them."
Hammes knew new leaders have to win people over.
"I had to really prove myself to those guys," said Hammes. "Then I had to go about building up the kids that I had into the system we were going to use, which was a little bit different. So yeah, there were challenges.
"I think our first victory over Silver Lake was a great selling point for us that the ideas that I had could work and really validated what I wanted to get done."
More: Running back Corey Catron is playing quarterback for Rossville: 'I just had to step up for the team'
Rossville would win the regular-season matchup over Silver Lake in Hammes' first year before falling to them in the playoffs later that year.
Since Hammes has been at the helm, Rossville has won seven of the 12 meetings against their archrival.
“His expectations were so high, but all the kids were ready to meet them,” said Marney, the former player. “We were ready to win.”
Preparation and impact
When people talk about Hammes, they talk about his preparation.
“That starts after the season ends, like next week, it’ll start for him," said Rossville linemen coach Dan Schneider before the state title game. "When you get into the season, week in week out, he prepares better than anyone you come across. He leaves no stone unturned, dots his I's and crosses his T's."
His players see it too.
"The way he plans for games is a huge thing," said junior lineman Jacob Carver. "He’ll break down the offense more than most coaches would. He learns their offense and defense so we can have a good grasp on it."
Getting the best out of his players and accountability came up consistently when talking to those around him.
"He's going to bring the best out of you," said Tucker Horak. "My biggest takeaway from him? You can always work harder."
Hammes expecting the best out of his players and holding them accountable has paid off on and off the field.
"I love coach Hammes," said Torrey Horak. "He’s turned me into a really good young man.”
Senior running and linebacker Corey Catron praised his coach.
"It’s hard, but it’s totally worth it," Catron said. "I wouldn’t change it for anything and wouldn’t want any other coach.”
Contact Seth Kinker at skinker@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @SethKinker.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Rossville football's 5 state titles have been with coach Derick Hammes
