'Control the control-ables:' Former UW-Whitewater football coach on finding a path through pandemic

WHITEWATER -- In sports, coaches and players don't usually have a lot of time for home life. That changed quickly because of the coronavirus pandemic. For one coach, the task at hand remains controlling the things he can control -- even while staying at home.

Lance Leipold coached the UW-Whitewater football team to six, Division III National Championships.

Now he's running a successful Division I program at the University of Buffalo.

He remains a hands-on, encouraging type. Leipold is a molder of men, not just players. That's why the global sports shutdown is hitting him particularly hard.

The phrase "control the control-ables" is often heard in sports. Right now, there are few control-ables for anyone -- not just in sports.

Lance Leipold

"We ask our guys just to get a little bit better today than you were yesterday," Leipold said. "It's time to work on being a better son, or a better brother in some capacity. In all those ways through maturity are going to help them be better in life when this is all done. We are all going through something and that we will be talking about for many many years."

Leipold is right on the money with that approach. But he does know that he will be judged on wins and losses again at some point.

"I know at the Division I level, there is talk of what players have to return in order to play. I'm not focused on that at all. This isn't regional. It's not by level," he said. "This is everybody, every sport. So we are all really on the same playing field, from a starting point. When that is determined, we will make the best of it."

Circumstances change, but the drive remains to be a champion.