But can he do the worm like Nord...
- Thread starter ATXGator
- Start date
- Sep 8, 2014
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- Sep 8, 2014
- 25,449
- 59,476
Great, great story on this guy (not Nord, but the dancing coach, Johnson):
How Alonzo Carter went from MC Hammer dancer to college football coach
http://coachingsearch.com/article?a...om-MC-Hammer-dancer-to-college-football-coach
San Jose State running backs coach Alonzo Carter became a viral sensation this week after video of him dancing to ‘U Can’t Touch This’ at practice spread online.
Carter was once a backup dancer for MC Hammer and toured the world in the early 1990s. So how exactly did a dancer become a college football coach? Well, that’s a longer story.
CoachingSearch spoke with Carter about the video, about coaching, and about dancing. After SJSU head coach Brent Brennan issued the challenge, Carter had to show off.
“When he put me on blast and put on the music, he gave me that look, and he made the hand gesture like I had the floor. I had to give them something,” Carter said. “I was caught off-guard, but it was fun. No one knew it would become this, but I enjoy doing what I do and I enjoy coaching.”
---
Carter grew up in inner-city Oakland. It was a tough family life coming up, his father in and out of jail, but he played football and ran track at Cal State Hayward (now Cal State East Bay) in the Bay Area of California in the 1980s. A huge Michael Jackson fan, Carter got into dancing as a kid and had a dance crew with his friends in college. They attended a lot of shows in the area.
Rapper MC Hammer was also from Oakland and making his way up in the music industry, and when Carter’s crew got the chance to be extras in a video, it blew up from there.
“Hammer was local, so we went to his video, got in the video as extras, and the next thing we know, he liked us,” Carter said. “When he signed his deal with Capitol (Records), we went on tour with him that summer. I was supposed to come back for my senior year and play football, but it went so well, he kept us permanent.
“Next thing I know, I did three years on tour with him, dancing and choreographing videos.”
Carter was head choreographer and danced in 12 music videos. They toured the world and appeared on Oprah and Arsenio Hall.
Attempts to break out on their own didn’t turn out, the music business changed, and Carter returned home to Oakland to help his family and young son. He hadn’t finished school, but he wanted to give back to the community, just as Hammer had done. So he decided to coach. He began as a volunteer at McClymonds High School, his alma mater (as well as Hammer’s). He quickly became a paid track coach and then became a football coach in 1994.
“An inner-city kid, I wanted them to see me as a role model who had traveled the world; someone where they can say, ‘If he can do it, I can do it,’” Carter said. “I started coaching track. Then I was coaching JV football. Then I was the defensive coordinator on varsity, then they offered me the head coaching job.”
East Bay Express wrote a long, detailed story on Carter’s high school work back in 2009. He turned the program around on the field, winning four sectional championships and also saw more and more kids get Division scholarships. He worked at McClymonds through 2006, when budget cuts resulted in layoffs. He took over Berkeley High School and turned that program around, too, winning three league championships.
Coaching was a natural fit, and he tied it back to his dancing days.
“The seed was planted when I was involved in entertainment, because I was responsible for the training, the guiding and all the things that went into being a dancer,” he said. “There’s a lot of discipline. In my mind, if I can do that and do a nine-month tour, I could be disciplined enough to coach.
“I loved football. I played football. I wanted to get my fix around it so I could start coaching. I fell in love with helping kids. I had a mindset of ‘Change lives, save lives.’ That was the mindset. A lot of these young men didn’t have father figures. I was a major role model for them, so I wanted to teach them how to have a focus and perseverance and change their lives.”
Carter says he’s had more than 100 players go to Division I schools, and more than 90 percent got their degree. What started as a way to help kids had become a successful career. Eventually, Contra Costa College came calling in 2010. Carter went 47-27 and won four conference titles in six seasons. He finished his degree at Cal State East Bay last summer, and he realized bigger jobs could come.
It came from a friend.
Carter and Brent Brennan became friends when Carter was a high school coach and Brennan recruited the area as a Cal Poly and San Jose State assistant from 2001-09. They grew close, and Brennan was invited to Carter’s wedding — which was officiated by Hammer.
This offseason, Brennan went from Oregon State receivers coach to SJSU head coach, and he wanted to hire Carter.
“When he got the job at San Jose State, I shed a tear,” Carter said. “I saw it on (CoachingSearch), and it felt good to see my friend get an opportunity to become a head coach. He didn’t owe me anything. He just thought I’d be a great addition to the staff. I have all the East Bay connections. I’ve been able to still reach out to the youth, now we get some of the players to come to San Jose State.”
Carter’s dancing background was known by his players, but it wasn’t known.
“They had a sense, but they’d never seen me dance,” he said. “They had an idea. Around the building, I’m Coach Carter. There are some East Bay players on the team, so they had an idea, but no one went back into the vault and looked at YouTube and pulled up 1990 or 1991 videos.”
So when Brennan and SJSU staff surprised Carter with the music after practice last week, he had to show them what it was all about.
“It is a tool I use every year as a coach. I at least spring it on them mid-season or something,” Carter said. “Brennan let the cat out of the bag early. But I’m enjoying it.”
Follow
MC HAMMER
✔@MCHammer
Go Coach Carter !!!! @SJSUSpartanFB
@RealCoachCarter
@Iam360WISEhttps://twitter.com/sjsuspartanfb/status/850803952425631745 …
4:38 PM - 8 Apr 2017
While he’s become known as the dancing coach over the past week, he wants people to know where he came from. He’s been a coach for more than 20 years now, after coming from a tough situation growing up, and that’s the biggest takeaway he hopes kids remember.
“I entered college in 1986 at Cal State Hayward. I went back in June 2016 and walked the stage, and that’s what gave me the ability to coach (at San Jose State),” he said. “I’m a living example, if you have faith and perseverance, you can do it. Anybody can do it, if that’s your goal. I was 24 years old when I started coaching. I’m 48. If I can do it, you can do it. That’s the biggest thing I want people to know about me.”
How Alonzo Carter went from MC Hammer dancer to college football coach
http://coachingsearch.com/article?a...om-MC-Hammer-dancer-to-college-football-coach
San Jose State running backs coach Alonzo Carter became a viral sensation this week after video of him dancing to ‘U Can’t Touch This’ at practice spread online.
Carter was once a backup dancer for MC Hammer and toured the world in the early 1990s. So how exactly did a dancer become a college football coach? Well, that’s a longer story.
CoachingSearch spoke with Carter about the video, about coaching, and about dancing. After SJSU head coach Brent Brennan issued the challenge, Carter had to show off.
“When he put me on blast and put on the music, he gave me that look, and he made the hand gesture like I had the floor. I had to give them something,” Carter said. “I was caught off-guard, but it was fun. No one knew it would become this, but I enjoy doing what I do and I enjoy coaching.”
---
Carter grew up in inner-city Oakland. It was a tough family life coming up, his father in and out of jail, but he played football and ran track at Cal State Hayward (now Cal State East Bay) in the Bay Area of California in the 1980s. A huge Michael Jackson fan, Carter got into dancing as a kid and had a dance crew with his friends in college. They attended a lot of shows in the area.
Rapper MC Hammer was also from Oakland and making his way up in the music industry, and when Carter’s crew got the chance to be extras in a video, it blew up from there.
“Hammer was local, so we went to his video, got in the video as extras, and the next thing we know, he liked us,” Carter said. “When he signed his deal with Capitol (Records), we went on tour with him that summer. I was supposed to come back for my senior year and play football, but it went so well, he kept us permanent.
“Next thing I know, I did three years on tour with him, dancing and choreographing videos.”
Carter was head choreographer and danced in 12 music videos. They toured the world and appeared on Oprah and Arsenio Hall.
Attempts to break out on their own didn’t turn out, the music business changed, and Carter returned home to Oakland to help his family and young son. He hadn’t finished school, but he wanted to give back to the community, just as Hammer had done. So he decided to coach. He began as a volunteer at McClymonds High School, his alma mater (as well as Hammer’s). He quickly became a paid track coach and then became a football coach in 1994.
“An inner-city kid, I wanted them to see me as a role model who had traveled the world; someone where they can say, ‘If he can do it, I can do it,’” Carter said. “I started coaching track. Then I was coaching JV football. Then I was the defensive coordinator on varsity, then they offered me the head coaching job.”
East Bay Express wrote a long, detailed story on Carter’s high school work back in 2009. He turned the program around on the field, winning four sectional championships and also saw more and more kids get Division scholarships. He worked at McClymonds through 2006, when budget cuts resulted in layoffs. He took over Berkeley High School and turned that program around, too, winning three league championships.
Coaching was a natural fit, and he tied it back to his dancing days.
“The seed was planted when I was involved in entertainment, because I was responsible for the training, the guiding and all the things that went into being a dancer,” he said. “There’s a lot of discipline. In my mind, if I can do that and do a nine-month tour, I could be disciplined enough to coach.
“I loved football. I played football. I wanted to get my fix around it so I could start coaching. I fell in love with helping kids. I had a mindset of ‘Change lives, save lives.’ That was the mindset. A lot of these young men didn’t have father figures. I was a major role model for them, so I wanted to teach them how to have a focus and perseverance and change their lives.”
Carter says he’s had more than 100 players go to Division I schools, and more than 90 percent got their degree. What started as a way to help kids had become a successful career. Eventually, Contra Costa College came calling in 2010. Carter went 47-27 and won four conference titles in six seasons. He finished his degree at Cal State East Bay last summer, and he realized bigger jobs could come.
It came from a friend.
Carter and Brent Brennan became friends when Carter was a high school coach and Brennan recruited the area as a Cal Poly and San Jose State assistant from 2001-09. They grew close, and Brennan was invited to Carter’s wedding — which was officiated by Hammer.
This offseason, Brennan went from Oregon State receivers coach to SJSU head coach, and he wanted to hire Carter.
“When he got the job at San Jose State, I shed a tear,” Carter said. “I saw it on (CoachingSearch), and it felt good to see my friend get an opportunity to become a head coach. He didn’t owe me anything. He just thought I’d be a great addition to the staff. I have all the East Bay connections. I’ve been able to still reach out to the youth, now we get some of the players to come to San Jose State.”
Carter’s dancing background was known by his players, but it wasn’t known.
“They had a sense, but they’d never seen me dance,” he said. “They had an idea. Around the building, I’m Coach Carter. There are some East Bay players on the team, so they had an idea, but no one went back into the vault and looked at YouTube and pulled up 1990 or 1991 videos.”
So when Brennan and SJSU staff surprised Carter with the music after practice last week, he had to show them what it was all about.
“It is a tool I use every year as a coach. I at least spring it on them mid-season or something,” Carter said. “Brennan let the cat out of the bag early. But I’m enjoying it.”
Follow
MC HAMMER ✔@MCHammer
Go Coach Carter !!!! @SJSUSpartanFB
4:38 PM - 8 Apr 2017
While he’s become known as the dancing coach over the past week, he wants people to know where he came from. He’s been a coach for more than 20 years now, after coming from a tough situation growing up, and that’s the biggest takeaway he hopes kids remember.
“I entered college in 1986 at Cal State Hayward. I went back in June 2016 and walked the stage, and that’s what gave me the ability to coach (at San Jose State),” he said. “I’m a living example, if you have faith and perseverance, you can do it. Anybody can do it, if that’s your goal. I was 24 years old when I started coaching. I’m 48. If I can do it, you can do it. That’s the biggest thing I want people to know about me.”
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