FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES Rutigliano: With God's help, you can make a difference

The former Browns' coach challenged the YSU gathering to help young people.
By JOHN BASSETTI
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Sam Rutigliano grew up in New York City in the same neighborhood as Joe Paterno and Vince Lombardi.
While living in the east suburbs of Cleveland and coaching the Browns from 1978-84, Art Modell lived up the street from Rutigliano.
Those are some high-powered people in sports, but, according to Rutigliano, there is no higher power than the Lord.
That was the crux of the God-driven message given by the 71-year-old during a luncheon Thursday on behalf of the Steel Valley Area group of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
The speech he delivered was to coaches, ex-coaches, athletic directors, pastors and FCA huddle leaders at Youngstown State's DeBartolo Stadium Club.
Rutigliano, while rattling off scripture passages interspersed with quotes and quips, emphasized the importance of making a difference.
"It's better to raise a youngster than to repair an adult," the former coach said of his reason for visiting the area. "Those people I speak to could be an integral part in helping young people."
Talked football, too
In addition to his recruiting mission for group leaders for the 15-year-old Mahoning-Trumbull-Columbiana FCA chapter, Rutigliano, most noted for coaching the Browns and Brian Sipe during their "Kardiac Kids" era, managed to talk about football.
He said returning to the sidelines wouldn't be a problem.
"Yes, I could do it. As a matter of fact, the greatest motivation would be that they're giving these guys $3 to 5 million dollars a year. I told [Cleveland coach] Butch Davis when he first came here that he's making $2.925 million more than I did as head coach of the Browns."
The former coach doesn't envy the current coach, now in his fourth year, but he said a lot is out of Davis' control.
"There have been a lot of changes [front office] and they've had a terrible run so far this year and a catastrophe in terms of some of the injuries they've had. It's hard to evaluate the quarterback [Jeff Garcia] because they lost their tight end [Kellen Winslow Jr.] who was going to be an integral part of what they're doing. So, it's kind of unfair to evaluate now.
Hopes for comeback
"I just hope some of these guys come back because the division they're in has no great quarterbacks. They've got a chance with Pittsburgh and with the Ravens. Three games don't make a season. In football, it's very difficult to lose two or three games in a row because it can really hurt your season. So, I look for them to come back and beat Washington and they'll be 2-2 and they'll be one game away from first place. They still have destiny in their own hands."
Rutigliano said he doesn't plan to leave Cleveland and continues to live in a little village around Kirtland and Willoughby.
"I kept the house even when I coached Liberty University. The only one who lived up the street is no longer there -- Art Modell. He moved out; they moved him out."
Rutigliano got hooked on FCA through his former placekicker, Don Cockroft.
"During his playing years, Don was the volunteer who held the FCA [in northeastern Ohio] together. Then I got involved and we got a permanent guy who works for the FCA year-round. Before that, northeastern Ohio didn't have anybody. So Cockroft was a pioneer. Now that he's back living in Canton, he's helping again."
Rutigliano works for NFL Europe with the Scotland team. He was an assistant coach with the Barcelona Dragons before the team folded.