Coach Doug Ramsey: 'With Peyton, I'm 100% Father First'
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Doug Ramsey is an accomplished football coach at Elder High School in Cincinnati, and he's had to make a lot of difficult personnel decisions in his two-plus decades.
He knows the ropes, knows the routine. You can't always make everyone happy.
That's why he has a unique perspective on the quarterback situation at Indiana. And when his son, Peyton Ramsey, wasn't named the starter in the fall after leading the Hoosiers in all 12 games a year ago, he put his coaching hat down.
He was Dad.
Nothing was more important than that, at that moment, and every moment going forward.
"I'm 100 percent father first,'' Ramsey said by phone from Cincinnati a few days ago. "That's my job, my role, my priority. And that will never change.''
Doug Ramsey had had parents chew his ear off about playing time "far too many times to count'' during all his years in coaching. He knows how hard these decisions can be — especially with the high-profile quarterback position — but when the decision came down at Indiana, he was a dad, and dad only.
But, he says, he also has "an extremely mature son who can think well for himself. We had a lot of conversations, but there wasn't a lot I needed to tell him, other than support him.''
In this day and age of the transfer portal, it would have been easy for Ramsey to just pack his bags and leave after being demoted. But the junior quarterback has talked often about that this season, that the first time he walked back into the locker and saw "my guys, all of them,'' that he knew he wasn't going anywhere.
"I could never walk out on the guys in this locker room,'' Peyton said a few weeks ago. "I love them all too much. All of my best friends, they're in this room.''
Those comments never surprised Doug Ramsey. No one knows his son better than he does. He and his wife Cherie were always there for him when he needed them.
That's their kid, and that's what their kid does.
"Peyton is a leader, and this is his team, whether he's the starting quarterback or not,'' Doug Ramsey said. "When he speaks, everyone listens. He's always been that way, and that will never change.''
Ramsey said that Wednesday morning, and that was BEFORE Indiana coach Tom Allen named Peyton a captain for the rest of the season. It had very little to do with the fact that Peyton is the scheduled starter for the rest of the year after Penix had season-ending surgery, and more to do with the leadership qualities that Peyton has shown all season.
He's been the consummate teammate, and this captaincy is a just reward for that.
"I just felt like he's earned it,'' Allen said. "I felt like the way he's handled everything and the way he responded, especially that first time at Maryland, he had to come in at a critical time and play at a very high level without even knowing he'd be out there and it's just continued.
"He's proven himself over and over in this program and I just think that's something he's earned and very worthy of. I'm excited for him and that opportunity. I just feel like, those kind of guys, the buy-in, all the things he does off the field, the way he trains, the way he prepares, the way he works in the weight room in the offseason, is infectious to this program.''
That's Doug son.
Father Ramsey admits that handling the August decision was difficult as a family, because they all knew how hard Peyton had worked. He was expecting a big year, but in the eyes of the coaches, Penix was slightly better. Allen has said often, though, that it was the most difficult decision he's ever had to make, because he knew what Peyton had put into it.
"That was a hard thing, a very hard thing, not being named the starter and the beginning of the season,'' Doug Ramsey said. "But Peyton is an extremely mature person, and he's the ultimate team player. He's always been that way.
"That's why it doesn't surprise me at all that he has handled all of this so well and also remained prepared to play, because that's the way he is. As a father, nothing could make me happier than to see how he does things, and how much he cares for his team and his teammates.''
Ramsey has rescued the Hoosiers three times already this season. When Penix strained his shoulder in Week 2 against Eastern Illinois, Ramsey came in and was nearly perfect, completing 13 of 14 passes for 226 yards in one half of work.
He started the Ohio State and Connecticut games, but went back to the bench when Penix returned on Sept. 28 at Michigan State. But three weeks later, Penix took a big hit at Maryland and came up woozy at the end of the first quarter. Ramsey came in cold and led the Hoosiers to a rare road win. He did it again the next week at Nebraska, and then had to come in again on Nov. 2 when Penix injured his clavicle against Northwestern.
Ramsey has played in seven games this season, and the Hoosiers are 6-1 in those games. Now it's his show the rest of the way. He's completing 72 percent of his passes, good for fifth-best in the country. He's a critical part of the Big Ten's No. 1-ranked pass offense.
Perseverance has paid off. Injuries are a part of football, and Ramsey has always proven that he will be ready.
The coach in Doug Ramsey understands all that's gone on since August, and the parent in Doug Ramsey knew how his kid would respond.
"As a coach, you're always trying to make the best decisions for your team and, yeah, I've had to do it here just about every year, too,'' he said. "I had to do it with Peyton when he was a sophomore here at Elder. We had a senior quarterback who was very good too, and we let them battle it out. But I had to make that final decision. It wasn't easy.''
He also know that no one outworks his son. He's always ready, and he's in for the long haul.
"Well, first of all, you just can't ever give up. You just put in all the work, and you get better every day,'' Doug Ramsey said. "Peyton did that, but then when Michael Penix was named the starter, that was hard on him. But quit? Give up? Never. And I never even had to bring it up, the idea of transferring. Sure he was disappointed, but he went right back to work the next day.
"Peyton has seen people get hurt before, so he knew there was probably going to be a time where he needed to be ready to play. That happened his freshman year (with former IU quarterback Richard Lagow injured), and he was always ready. Look at Purdue and Northwestern this year, they've both needed to play three quarterbacks this year. He knew he had to stay ready.''
Ramsey will start Saturday's game at Penn State against an old nemesis, Sean Clifford, who's also from Cincinnati. They played at rival Catholic schools. In fact, the two schools, Elder and St. Xavier, play again Friday night in the second round of the Ohio State playoffs.
"Yeah, it's an Elder-St. X doubleheader this weekend,'' Doug Ramsey said. "That can't make me any happier, as a coach and a father.''
Especially as a father. He can be very proud on how his son has handled himself.
We all can.
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