Meiji Football: Coach Takahashi on Nozaki’s Legacy – Part 1

Takahashi Teru (HC, 35), the head coach (HC) of the Meiji University Griffins, who is part of the Kanto University American Football League’s TOP 8, is now in his 14th year of coaching. He went on to Meiji University from Hosei Daiichi High School, and after serving as captain, he became coach at the same time as he retired. I have been on the ground over the weekend, balancing my work with my trading company. This origins include the “fighting philosophy” inherited from the late General Manager Nozaki Kazuo (who passed away on January 27th, 2021). We asked Takahashi about football that he is working on at Meiji University.

He is a reliable older brother and is a teacher that is close to the perspective of a student.

My impression is that he is an instructor that is “a closest to the student’s perspective.” Since he served as a coach early after graduating and is close to his students, it may be easier to understand if he says he is a reliable older brother. He will be happy with the students if they play well during the game, and will strictly point out that he will make a boring foul. I have been watching the students admire Takahashi from the sidelines for many years.

It was a coincidence in a way that Takahashi, who graduated from Hosei Second High School, hit the gates of Meiji University. While he was also a member of the American Football club in high school, he went on to Meiji University after considering whether to go on to internal education or to another university, his studies, football and his future dreams.

When considering his abilities in high school, he said he was not confident that he would continue playing football at Hosei University, where he was invincible in the Kanto region. At the time, Takahashi, who was thinking about becoming a teacher, wanted to go to a university where teacher qualifications are easy to obtain. However, the high school coach told me to “rethink it again,” and my mother told me to “rend over and take the exam again.” In the end, I was given a sports recommendation as Meiji University, my first choice. Takahashi looks back on his impression of Meiji University at the time.

“It was a team with a lot of second place. But on the other hand, I thought it was the perfect team for aiming to beat Hosei. Also, when all universities were on earth at the time, they were artificial turf in the Meiji era. Another attractive feature was that they could practice in a good environment. When I watched the games, I found that Meiji office ladies were small but very fast and strong. I wondered why.”

The truth behind “I’m not teaching football”

What awaited Takahashi, who had enrolled in Meiji University, was his legendary coach, General Manager Kazuo Nozaki. In high school, scrimmage, which was a practical practice, lasted around 10 to 20 minutes a day, but in the Meiji period, it was common practice to practice full contact for more than an hour every day.

“My head hurts every day and my neck hurts. I thought it was amazing. It took me a while to get used to the rigorous training,” Takahashi recalls.

General Manager Nozaki was still passionately coaching even after he was over 70 years old at the time. However, it is said that beneath the harshness of this severity was deep affection and philosophy.

“What Nozaki often said was, ‘I’m not going to teach football. Do you know that fighting?” Rather than technical matters, are you going to get it all the way to the end, or are you sticking to the first step? You start with your hands and feet apart at the same time. I think the accumulation of these small details leads to victory.”

There are some words that particularly memorable. “Organisations are built on the sacrifices of individuals, both large and small.” These words were left behind when Director Nozaki was interviewed for a magazine, and Takahashi had the opportunity to hear them indirectly.

“It’s based on the sacrifice spirit. Whether you’re working as a working adult or working as a head coach, that’s the foundation. No matter what happens with this play, the team can win, and even if it’s just one yard. That’s the organization.”

When Takahashi returned to his original intentions as a coach, he still focuses on this idea.

A regular position that was established with a “no attitude”

Takahashi played in the first match from a practice match in March before he entered Meiji University. “When I was in high school, I had two good classmates in the same position, and my junior was Shitomi and Keisuke, who is currently the head coach for the Pirates. I was never a prominent player,” he said humbly, but he worked hard without taking a break even after getting a little injured. His sloppy attitude was appreciated early, and he quickly gained a regular spot. He himself recalls about that time.

“When I was in my first year, when a fourth-year defensive player made a tackle mistake and got a TD, I was the type of person who would point out to my seniors, ‘Don’t let it go!’. I think he was pretty sharp, so I kept a little distance from his seniors too (laughs).

Takahashi’s “unnecessarily concerned about his attitude” was a distinctive feature of him, for better or worse. As a third year I thought I wasn’t suited to being a captain. “If I were to be captain, my juniors wouldn’t follow me. It would be a completely reign of terror.” However, he was nominated by General Manager Nozaki.

“I told Nozaki-san, ‘You’re captain, so do it properly.’ I thought ‘I won’t be happy with the people below (laughs) I thought ‘Well, I’ll do it.’ I was one of the few people who could have a proper conversation with Nozaki-san.”

Takahashi still remembers the faces of his juniors when he was announced to become captain in the training room. They all looked at me saying, “Oh no, it’s over.”

Why I became a coach at my alma mater immediately after graduating?

After four years of active duty, Takahashi was also thinking about playing in the X League. In fact, there were also some teams calling out to the public. However, in the fall of his fourth year, when General Manager Nozaki became ill and was unable to come to the field, he was asked to become a coach. Takahashi chose to challenge himself as a coach rather than a player.

“At that time, within the Meiji era, there was an unwritten rule that ‘if you play as a working adult, you won’t go back to the Meiji era.’ But if I were to be the first coach, I think that even if my juniors return to the X League, they’ll be able to have a good environment.”

Takahashi continues: “When Nozaki was the manager, the number of club members was smaller than it is now and there were many people with no experience, so I think the top priority was to establish and spread Meiji football. That’s why it’s the Meiji era that we are now. I think that as my generation has entered the stage where we are adding new elements to that foundation.”

Upon graduating from university, he got a job at a trading company and began working as a coach on weekends. From his third year in office, he was assigned to the team as head coach.

“Football cannot be cut down on your life”

Balancing sales and coaching at a trading company was harder than I imagined. He began as a sales representative for semiconductors and electronic components, then developed new business, seconded to business companies, and now sells products for semiconductor manufacturing equipment overseas. I’ve been on many business trips, and there was a time when I was assigned to Nagano. Even in this situation, I returned to Tokyo almost every weekend to stand on the ground.

“I try to make sure I value my limited time. No matter how I work late, drink, wherever I go, what I do, I always spend time playing football. When I think about my priorities in life, what I can’t cut, I can’t cut football.”

Akimatsu Taimasa (graduated in 2020), who previously worked as a coach at Meiji University and played for Nojima Sagamihara, said this about Takahashi.

“I looked at the entire team from a bird’s eye view, and I felt that he was a head coach who could make the most of the choices that suited the situation. Sometimes he made gambling decisions in an outrageous place (laughs). But what’s so amazing about Teru now that I’ve come to work now is how tough he continues to visit Hachimanyama grounds as a coach on weekends, while working as a trading company on weekdays. I realized how difficult it was, and I’m grateful that he went to the Hachimanyama grounds as a coach after becoming an adult. I realized how difficult it was, and I’m grateful that he went to such a great deal of effort to face them.”

The foundation of Takahashi’s teaching philosophy is “enthusiasm.”

“It’s student sports, so I think I have to have the same or even more enthusiasm. I’m not a professional coach, so I’m not doing it as a profession. If I lose, I’ll be frustrated, and I’ll be happy if I win. If I don’t, I wouldn’t be able to do it.”

Since he can only be on the field for two days a week, Takahashi never misses the changes in each player. If he plays well, he will definitely call out the next week. I value seeing and speaking face-to-face rather than interacting with them on LINE.

“It’s important to show your face now that everything is online now. I’ve learned that way at work. No matter how busy I am, I can take time to meet up, no matter how long I am. This may be a common part between my work and my coaching career.”

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In the second part, scheduled to be released on the 21st, we will delve deeper into the team reforms he has been working on with manager Sakurai Ryo and his desire to become the best in Japan.