North: How coaching turned my life around

Eight years ago I went cold turkey and decided to stop drinking. I'm here to tell you that it was the right time because the drinking was starting to become a problem.

My performance on the air was never an issue. I never missed work because of a hangover, and was I not late for work because of it. I've always been the type of guy who plays harder when I am tired because that's when I focus even more.

When I went to see my doctor for a physical, he told me I was fine. But at 54 then, I should be aware that if I continued to drink with both hands, my health would start to deteriorate.

So I decided to quit completely. I didn't go to rehab or meetings, but I had said I was going to quit so many times before that my declaration might have sounded a little hollow - even to my own ears.

When a guy says he's going on the wagon, that's really just temporary, but quitting for good is permanent. The finality of that can be a little intimidating.

Then Father John Smyth, who had just taken over as president of Notre Dame College Prep in Niles, asked me if I would like to be an assistant basketball coach and work under Tom Les, a Notre Dame High School grad who had played for the Bradley Braves. Tom is the older brother of Jim Les, who played professionally and now is the head coach at UC Davis.

The IHSA requires nonfaculty to take several exams to be allowed to coach, so after taking those I became a volunteer assistant at Notre Dame Prep.

I did it for six years, and I had to walk away last year when I was appointed a permanent morning co-host at Fox Sports Radio to work with Andy Furman.

I have no doubt that being involved in high school athletics and being surrounded by great people from this program helped me stay off the bottle. When a person quits drinking or tries to break a bad habit, a replacement is needed to alter your behavior, and the demands of coaching did just that for me.

This week I stopped in at Notre Dame to visit, and there was my good friend Tom Les with a few of the kids I had coached. Some of the staff I had worked with were there as well: Jeff Williams, Kevin Clancy, Shay Boyle and Tom Collins, and they had all welcomed me from day one.

I will never forget that experience and what it meant to my wife and me. I miss doing it, but family and the morning show have taken precedent.

But I know for a fact that I would not be the person I am today without that school and those people. I was there to coach, but I learned plenty myself - about discipline, dedication, values, health and diet.

I'll always be a Notre Dame Don, and they'll always be my second family.

Program notes:

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• North's column appears each Tuesday and Friday in the Daily Herald, and his video commentary can be found Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at dailyherald.com. For more, visit northtonorth.com.