UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio -- "Nuestro Modo."
When translated from Spanish to English, the simple two-word phrase has a big meaning: "Our Way."
The Jesuit ideal is the only way John Carroll University football coach Tom Arth knows, and that is exactly why he feels blessed to lead the very program he once earned Division III All-American honors quarterbacking in the early 2000s.
"It means the world to me," Arth said after a recent practice. "John Carroll is a place that I believe in with my whole heart, and it's an unbelievable school. What our school does for the students here and what John Carroll turns out, the graduates that we turn out, is incredible. What they go on to accomplish, the way they conduct themselves, the way they represent the school is so incredible.
"To be back at John Carroll, representing our school, but also, representing our football program, means the world to me and means the world to 94 years of football alumni. It's something significant to me. It's something I don't take lightly. I feel honored to be here and to represent our program."
After turning a record-setting John Carroll career as a player into a three-year run with the Indianapolis Colts (2003-2005), as well as the Green Bay Packers (2006), in addition to various teams throughout NFL Europe, the Canadian Football League and Arena Football League, Arth returned to John Carroll in 2010 to be the team's co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Then, in 2013, Arth, a two-time All-American who led the Blue Streaks to the National Semifinals in 2002, was given the opportunity to lead the program. He promptly led the Blue Streaks to an 18-3 record and back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time in school history.
"It's really, really exciting for us," Arth said. "It's the first time in school history that we've reached the playoffs in back-to-back years, so our players feel very blessed to have this opportunity."
Although passionate about leading this year's team to postseason glory, Arth bled blue and gold long before he ever pulled on a jersey and ran out of the locker room to play a game for the Blue Streaks.
From the experiences Arth had growing up, there was no other school he wanted to represent on the gridiron.
"There were opportunities, but Coach (Joe) Perella meant so much to me, this school meant so much to me, I wanted to go to the right place," Arth recalled. "I didn't want to go someplace just to say, 'I got a scholarship' and to say, 'I'm playing Division I football.' That doesn't mean a whole lot to me. It's about the school, what the school stands for, what the program stands for and the opportunities that you're going to have. John Carroll was everything to me.
"John Carroll was so influential in my life. The Jesuit education, the Jesuit philosophy has been so meaningful in my life, and I was fortunate to play for some really great coaches, Coach Perella being one of them. He's the reason I came to John Carroll. He recruited me and I knew him since I was a little kid, a freshman in high school coming to his camps. He always believed in me, always saw something in me, and after my senior year, I knew where I wanted to go because this place is a place that you can be proud of. I certainly am."
And playing football for the Blue Streaks helped teach Arth lessons that he passes down to the current John Carroll players, hopefully, for another five weeks.
"Learning the discipline, the perseverance, the teamwork, everything that it takes to be successful, the sacrifices you have to make to be successful, that's such an important part of this," Arth said.
"Our senior year (in 2002) was something really, really incredible, something that I'll have with me the rest of my life. That season, the regular season, through the playoffs, the travel with the guys, it meant so much to me.
"It's an honor for me to be here and to have a group of men that it wasn't that long ago that I was in their shoes. Everything that I have inside of me just pours out to give them that opportunity to experience what I did and more. I know how much it means to them, and it means that much to me to give them those same types of experiences that I had."
