In the days of social media and internet interactions, handwritten notes are slowly becoming a thing of the past. Adel-Desoto-Minburn Tiger first-year head football coach Garrison Carter maybe apart of the millennial generation but he’s always made it a point to do most of his correspondence by hand. “I’ve always been a letter writer,” Carter said, “I think that kids like something tangible that lets them know Coach Carter is paying attention and likes what they’re doing.”
Those letters started showing up in early February, three months removed from ADM’s winless 2017 campaign on the gridiron. The first letters were to ADM wrestling state qualifiers Andrew Flora, Nolan Harsh, and Kaden Sutton wishing them congratulations on making it to Wells Fargo Arena. Flora and Harsh didn’t go out for football last fall and Carter said he had no expectations when he sent those messages to the state wrestlers. “At that time, I didn’t know if they were going to play football or not, I just wanted to be apart of the ADM culture and wanted to celebrate those kids that were doing phenomenal things on a big stage.”
Those were hardly the only handwritten messaged Carter penned while he was still working in Washington awaiting his last school year with the Demons to end. He also wrote to student-athletes with perfect weight room attendance during offseason training, seeing the number of letters he’d write grow each week significantly. The gesture influenced several players to recommit to football this fall including Flora. “From day one when he sent me and Nolan the letter, I wanted to work and play for a guy like him, ” Flora said, “He’s an amazing coach and a guy that’s always motivated.”
The impact of returning football players like Flora and Harsh has led to a bounceback 2018 campaign for the Tiger football program. Their 42-21 victory over Winterset Friday night was ADM’s fifth win of the fall and secures a winning record for the first time since 2012. The Tigers close their 2018 campaign in Council Bluffs this Friday against Class 3A No. 1 Lewis Central.