Eric Lauer grew up in central Pennsylvania as a foster child before finally finding a family fit, getting adopted and growing into the man that returned home to Mountain Pointe to take over the football program in 2020.
He and his wife, Terri, were foster parents for years before adopting two young ladies in 2012 so he could pay forward the positive influences he had.
Together they have lived and seen the ramifications of children never having support and/or having a consistent roof over their heads most of us take for granted.
They have tremendous sense of what the foundation of a safe home can do for an individual.
It gives Lauer an insight to what some of the players at Mountain Pointe go through, allowing him to connect in a way many coaches can not and creates an insulated feeling throughout the program that others only hope it can attain.
“A lot of these kids come from broken homes and what not,” Lauer said. “You gotta make them feel safe. Everyone wants that feeling. Grown adults want to feel safe at their jobs. You know the kids need that even more.
“That’s one thing we strive for here – everyone gets to feel safe. Not physically safe, but they are free to express themselves without being judged. They are allowed to have a say, and do what they can to contribute to the team.”
Once that level of safeness is reached is when a program can turn the corner. And when they do make that turn they have everyone behind them ready to take on whatever comes their way.
“When everyone feels safe then you can start being brave,” Lauer said. “Then you can start having players go from defensive tackle to offensive guard or go from quarterback to wide receiver without them thinking you are judging them or trying to hurt them.”
It's a philosophy and approach that can create that family atmosphere that is usually associated with successful programs. It was there when Lauer was the offensive coordinator and associate head coach under Norris Vaughan and the program was winning 10 games a year and advancing to at least the big-school semifinals every year.
Lauer left soon after his mentor Vaughan stepped down and returned to Georgia. The former took over the Marcos de Niza program and guided the Padres to the quarterfinals with a first-round upset of Canyon Del Oro and barely lost, 27-26, to eventual champion Mesquite 2019.
Then the call to return home, a feeling that means everything to a former foster child, to Mountain Pointe came from athletic director Aaron Frana, who was the offensive line coach during the Vaughn era.
“Eric epitomizes Mountain Pointe,” Frana said. “When it was clear that we were going to make a new hire there really was only one candidate we had in mind. We wanted to bring Eric Lauer back to Mountain Pointe.”
The program was much different when Lauer returned. Almost unrecognizable. The talent and attitude that saw the Pride win 71 games from 2012 to 2017 including a state title in 2013 seemed to be long gone.
“It wasn’t a great atmosphere,” Lauer said. “I realized we had to kind of do some damage control a little bit. They were not feeling good about football. A lot of kids left and then COVID hit and we really didn’t know the kids.”
It led to still hard to fathom 1-7 season in 2020 under Lauer and were winners of just two of their last 18 games over the course of two seasons considering the level of success and expectations before the struggles.
“God wanted to me to learn how to be humbled first,” He said. “You don’t get to skip steps. If you try and cut corners you get sent to the back of the line. We did some good things at Marcos, but this is where I wanted to be. Then we got here and tried to get that same philosophy, but I learned in a hurry you don’t get to skip steps.”
With that season behind them and COVID restrictions lifted, Lauer and his coaching staff, the includes former Pride players Ralph Roman and Kenny Lacy, have been able to get connected to the players like Lauer feels is needed to be successful.
Mountain Pointe is 2-0 heading into Friday’s home game against Perry (1-1) after beating Corona del Sol and Brophy by a total of four points. Lauer still doesn’t know how good of a team he has, but he likes the direction the program is headed.
“We didn’t get to eat for almost two months last year,” he said. “We’ve seen some level of success and they are excited and fully vested in the mission. Fast, focused and physical. We’ve had some early success to give us a glimpse into what we can be.
“They are starting to love us back, hear us and respond to us."
The thing Lauer likes is that there has been enough time that these players are not living off past success. This version of the Pride has to make name of themselves.
"These guys are generally making their own kill," he said, referring to the Lion approach they take on the field. "They are not eating off the teams of past success. They are not using the older posters or making the semifinals so many years in a row to win. They can’t help you. It’s totally all of them and them doing the work.”
It's easier to do that level of work when it comes in that safe and brave environment; a feeling Lauer and some of the players needed desperately at one point in their life.
“We can stand tall,” Lauer said. “Not everyone can make the same journey as you, but whatever that journey is you will have someone with you. It’s an incredible feeling when you can say that and know you are safe.”
Contact Jason Skoda at Jason@arizonavarsity.com
