Kornacki: Kalis, Harbaugh Meet Again
9/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 30, 2015
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Jim Harbaugh and Todd Kalis met for the first time in Pasadena, California. It was a sunny, New Year's Day at the Rose Bowl, and Kalis was blocking for Arizona State quarterback Jeff Van Rapphorst, while Harbaugh was quarterbacking Michigan.
The Wolverines jumped out to a 15-3 lead, but the Sun Devils scored 22 unanswered points to win the game. Twenty-eight years later, Harbaugh and Kalis met again at Schembechler Hall, named for the legend who coached Michigan in that Rose Bowl.
Kalis had taken his son, Kyle, an offensive guard at Michigan, from their home in Pittsburgh to Ann Arbor to have another ankle cast fitted after surgery. They happened to run into Harbaugh on Dec. 30, the day he was named coach.
"The first time I met Coach Harbaugh was before everybody else did," said Kyle Kalis, who starts at right guard at Michigan just like his father did at ASU and in the NFL. "And my dad walks up to Coach Harbaugh with a big smile."
The son and the Sun Devil recalled the conversation:
Harbaugh, looking at Todd: "Hey, why do you look familiar?"
Todd: "Well, we've gone against each other over the years, but both of us played offense, and so we never actually got on the field at the same time together. You were the quarterback at Michigan when I was at Arizona State.
"Jim, do you remember the Rose Bowl game? We beat you guys in '87."
A few bystanders took a step back, wondering where the conversation was going, but the former Wolverines quarterback smiled.
Harbaugh: "Yeah, I remember that game."
Todd: "I was the starting right guard for Arizona State in that game."
Harbaugh: "That's right, Todd. I remember you."
Kyle Kalis loved telling that story about his coach and his father, who remains proud of his team claiming ASU's one and only Rose Bowl victory. There's a monument to that triumph outside Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.
"It is a small world sometimes," said Todd. "We both had a lot of football friends in common and just had a good time talking about all of that when we met. I had no doubt Jim would do a great job with the team. You've either got it or you don't, and Jim has it at the highest level. They have the greatest potential."
Kyle added, "That was the first time I met Coach Harbaugh, but it was fun. That was pretty cool."
Todd Kalis and Harbaugh went on to be NFL rivals. Harbaugh's Chicago Bears and Kalis' Minnesota Vikings play twice a year, and they were part of that series from 1988-93.
"We went up against each other 12 times in the pros," said Kalis, who played eight seasons in the NFL and finished his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers (1994) and Cincinnati Bengals (1995).
Kyle said his father not only heavily influenced him as a player, but as a person, too.
"My dad is the best guy I know," said Kyle. "He's the best role model I could ever imagine. He is the reason I am who I am today. He had the approach as a dad that he wasn't going to show pity for me, and not in a bad way. He wanted me to learn to grow up the way he did."
Todd said: "Kyle's got goals that he wants to accomplish, and it's kind of hard to put into words. It's just fun. We have a great relationship, and we have a certain level of respect because I understand what it takes. What I've always liked about Todd is that whenever he gets knocked down, he comes back up and is determined. He has fortitude."
Kyle said his father grew up in a family where every dollar mattered and wanted him to appreciate and earn what he had.
"He never forced me to play football," said Kyle, "but he was always there for me."
His father works for a consulting firm in Pittsburgh, where he's also the president of the Pittsburgh chapter of NFL Alumni. Todd drives his family hundreds of miles down turnpikes and highways to watch Michigan games, and they all wear Wolverines jerseys with their names on the back.
"He gets close enough to the action that he can hear the pads pop," said Kyle. "And he watches the game unlike any other person in the crowd because he only watches me. He watches my footwork, my pad level, my hands, my head, everything.
Bottom (L-R): Jimmy Kalis, Jenny Kalis
"I go to him after a game and say, 'Dad, how did I play?' That is cool. I get to hear what his perspective is, and he's awesome. If I play bad, he'll tell me. And that's good; that's what I need."
Todd said: "He knows I'm watching his every move. I might ask him: 'Why did you come off that double-team on the linebacker?' Things like that. Even in high school, I used to stand behind the fence in the end zone because that's the best place to watch the footwork of linemen. It's fun to help any way I can.
"I can point things out, but it's something that somebody he sees every day has to point out and fix so that the right thing becomes habit. But I can stress to Kyle that defensive linemen are always trying to get him off balance and capitalize on that. I tried to get him to focus on that: keeping his balance and not letting them trick him."
Todd's always been careful to avoid stepping on the toes of his son's coaches in order to respect them and avoid any confusion. But he's also passed along "the tricks of the trade," and said his son's now ready for more advanced techniques.
"He's at a level now where I can give him a little deeper insight," said Kalis. "I can draw from playing against Howie Long or Reggie White or Steve McMichael, and put that in the back of his head so he can draw on that. Maybe he gets into a one-on-one during the week and tries it out."
Todd had an interesting conversation with Ed Muransky at an NFL Alumni gathering. Muransky was an All-America offensive tackle at Michigan in 1981.
Kalis said: "I told Ed, 'I always looked at Michigan as Lineman U.' I went to high school in Phoenix, and my coach pulled out some reel-to-reel film to show me blocking from Michigan by Bo Schembechler. I said, 'Ed, you were there. People were emulating what you were doing at Michigan!' "
Now his son is getting the benefit of the top-notch coaching of offensive coordinator and line coach Tim Drevno, and the father is very pleased about that.
Kyle, a senior who was a five-star recruit at St. Edward High in Lakewood, Ohio, has graded out high in every game for the Wolverines.
After the third game of the season with UNLV, Harbaugh said, "The offensive line is getting better, and probably the guy who made the biggest jump was Kyle Kalis. He graded out for the ballgame at a little above 90 percent. Along with (center) Graham Glasgow, who has been consistently very good; he's been our best. But Kalis is ascending fast, and it was great to see that."
After the fourth game on Saturday (Sept. 26), a 31-0 win over then-No. 22 Brigham Young, Harbaugh added this on Kalis: "Better, better, better. He's really on his assignments. He's playing with a better and better pad level, making the right fits, and he's done good."
The No. 22-ranked Wolverines (3-1) have scored either four or five touchdowns in each of the last three games, all wins, since losing the opener, 24-17, at Utah, which is ranked 10th. Kyle said the line has progressed well since the first game.
"I want to give props to our D-line," said Kalis. "Going against those guys every day is huge for us. The O-line is really jelling. We're on the same page. We just want to keep going, keep the success flowing. We want to keep our battle-rhythm going. "
Kyle said the positive impacts of Harbaugh and Drevno -- teaching footwork, handwork and pad-level drills -- can't be understated. His father concurred.
"People say there are things that are meant to be," said Todd. "They are supposed to happen, and that there's always the perfect time. So, who knows? But every week, they get better."
His son now plays for the quarterback who was his opponent in the biggest game of his college career. And the father wonders what this season holds for his son's team. Though, knowing his son is having the time of his life and absorbing the game of football like a big sponge makes the father glow.
Maize and blue looks great to Todd Kalis these days.
