Like father, like son: Borrelli's face one another
CMU wrestling coach Tom Borrelli has seen his fair share of former wrestlers and assistant coaches on the other side of the mat.
But this Sunday is a little different.
Jason Borrelli, Tom’s son, will lead his Stanford Cardinal against his father’s Chippewas at 2 p.m. at Rose Arena.
And he should be very familiar to Mount Pleasant. Jason won two state championships at Mount Pleasant High School before moving on to CMU, where he was a starter for four consecutive years while graduating with a degree in Business Administration.
From his years of competing on the mat, Jason went where he thought he belonged.
Then he helped as a volunteer assistant coach at Central.
“I definitely wanted to coach at Central. I wanted to get into coaching, and I knew I was going to coach,” he said. “It would be a great experience at my alma mater and, with the culture, I grew up a Chippewa.”
Hiring
However, there was a clause in CMU’s hiring practices that did not allow Tom Borrelli to hire his own son to be on his coaching staff full-time.
For someone who had grown up in maroon and gold for a good portion of his life like Jason, that was tough to take in, he said.
“That was really frustrating because that meant that, as long as my dad was coaching there, I would never be able to coach at Central Michigan,” Jason said. “I think my dad wanted to fight it and talk to people, but I didn’t think that was right. I didn’t want to start controversy with the program.”
Still, Jason was able to stay on staff for a year, where he learned some of the differences between coaching and competing.
He saw what his father and what other assistant coaches focused on with each match and with Nationals, always a thought away.
“You get into the office every day and you see things from a different light,” he said. “The coaches are coming up with game plans, they’re trying to maximize workouts for the whole group.”
So, for a year, Jason stayed with his father and the Chippewas. But if he wanted to achieve his goal of becoming a coach, it would have to come somewhere else.
New opportunity
Jason got that chance on July 18, 2007, becoming an assistant coach at Stanford under Kerry McCoy.
“I never left with bitterness or on bad terms, but there were some things that didn’t allow me to stay there,” he said.
Less than a year later, McCoy left for Maryland and Stanford was left without a head coach.
On Aug. 9, 2008, barely a year after joining the Stanford staff, Jason was hired to become Stanford’s head wrestling coach.
And what he wanted to bring to Stanford was the winning expectations that he was used to at Central Michigan. He talked about how he needs his team, his coaches and everyone involved on the same page.
“Believing in the system, knowing that this is the way we are going to do it and knowing that we might have some hiccups along the way, but you need to stay true to the plan,” he said. “At the end of the day, you set the plan and you stick to it. Then, by the end of the year, it is all worth it.”
With father and son now being coaches, the two were bound to meet on the recruiting trail and, when that happens, neither side gives into the other.
Jason said with the academic expectations at Stanford, the number of recruits he is able to go after is lower than most schools, so he has to take advantage of the ones he goes after.
Still, Tom is not ready to give in and let his son take over his home state quite yet.
“He tries to recruit Michigan, and I tell him to stay out,” Tom said, jokingly. And although recruiting at times can get competitive, the two stay in touch over the phone constantly, with the topic of choice being, of course, wrestling.
“Wrestling is usually what we talk about,” Tom said. “Asking me for advice a lot as far as issues coming up with his team, sometimes compliance issues, academic issues, recruiting, just all kind of stuff.”
Jason said a lot of times, he might have his mind already made up, but talking, not just to another coach, but to his dad makes him feel more confident.
When the father and son meet Sunday leading their respective teams, both will have their game plan set. However, the person who might know both the best has already made up her mind.
On her birthday, while watching her husband take on one of her sons, Lorri Borrelli said she will be wearing maroon and gold.
“It’s her birthday the day of the dual so, whatever she wants to do, she can do,” Jason said.
