By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Ella Dirks didn't know exactly what to expect when she reached out to Washburn University football coach Craig Schurig this past spring.
Ella Dirks, who grew up around football, joined the Washburn University coaching staff this fall as a student assistant. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
But suffice it to say the Washburn freshman was blown away by Schurig's response, offering the 18-year-old the opportunity to break into coaching as a member of the Ichabods' coaching staff as a student assistant.
"My senior year of high school (at Blue Valley Northwest), around April, I contacted coach Schurig because I was still deciding on colleges and I was like, 'Can I be a manager? I would carry water or anything because I just want to be a part of football,' '' Dirks said. "And he came up to me with this opportunity and said, 'Hey, would you like to do this? Is this something you're interested in?'
"I was honestly shocked and I was like, 'Absolutely, I would love to do it,' so all props to coach Schurig for offering me the position. I'm very grateful for what I'm doing.''
Schurig's association with the Dirks family goes way back to 2000 and 2001 when Schurig was an assistant at Pittsburg State and Ella's father, the late Josh Dirks, was a standout offensive lineman for the Gorillas.
Schurig and the Dirks family re-connected in 2013 and 2014 when Josh came on board at Washburn as a volunteer assistant while Ella's mother, Tiffany, served as a WU professor.
Josh Dirks, then an assistant coach at Olathe North, passed away in November, 2021, at the age of 39 but Schurig maintained contact with the family, and when Ella contacted him, Schurig thought it was a natural to offer her a chance to be involved with a sport she loves.
Student assistant coach Ella Dirks cheers on Washburn during the Ichabods' season-opener against Emporia State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
"I had seen Ella grow up and she was very athletic and she loved sports and loved football,'' Schurig said. "Her dad was a very good football player and a coach and all of that, so when she was coming to school here she approached me and wanted to see if there was anything she could do to help out the team. I was like, 'Well shoot, why don't you GA, why don't you coach?'
"Her dad was coaching at Olathe North, so she went to all of those games and she knows football and she loves athletics and loves to compete. And it worked out well because Mitchell (Schurig) is with the offensive line and he knows Ella well and we thought we might as well have her learn the offensive line because that's where her dad played. I thought that was a good fit and pretty cool.
"You're seeing these women in the NFL and major college football and everywhere, and if she really likes it she could get involved in coaching and there's always a way you can do that. So she kind of got excited about it and then we wanted to see if it would fit and it fit well.''
Like Schurig, Dirks felt her fit with Washburn was a perfect.
"I've been around Washburn since third grade,'' Dirks said. "My mom was a professor here for almost eight years and my dad was an offensive line coach so I was around the Washburn community and always came to the games because my dad was coaching.
"I was very big into basketball and I honestly had a scholarship from Washburn, but then I tore my ACL and while I was rehabbing, that's when my dad became sick and passed away so then that's when my personal realization was basketball may not be my career and then that's when I took a step back.''
A physical edcuation major, Dirks said she is happy to do any tasks the Washburn coaches need her to do.
"At the beginning of training camp I started with little things here and there,'' she said. "I did a lot of helping film at the first because they wanted me to learn the game, which I had kind of known the game because I grew up around it with my dad as a coach and we lived and breathed football. So I knew things here and there but now I've actually broken down stuff I've gotten to help with.
"Lately they're giving me a few more tasks. I help break down and cut our film, so I'm very thankful to be a part of the team and the little tasks that they're giving me. I'm just grateful to be a part of it. I'm loving it. Absolutely, I'm loving it. It's only been a couple of weeks, but I'm loving it.''
Said Schurig: "I'm glad she's enjoying it and she just jumps in just like any of our grad assistants do and whatever needs to be done she does.'
And although Dirks has no idea what her future may hold, she's excited about a possible career in coaching.
"Now that this door has opened, where I get to be part of football coaching, I've actually done a lot of research and coach Schurig has talked to me some about potentially becoming a collegiate coach of a position or assisting at one, specifically offensive line,'' Dirks said.
"I like that a lot right now and maybe potentially I can get to the D-I or the NFL level because I've seen other people do it, so I know that there's a chance. And now that all these doors are opening for me, I'm just seeing where I can go now.''
Dirks, who has 14 and 7-year-old sisters and a 12-year-old brother, said she would be very proud to honor her father's legacy by following in his footsteps.
"Most people look at me and they're like, 'Dirks is just your last name,' but I see it as my dad's legacy, and now that I'm part of football coaching that's where I'm taking the legacy because he can't coach anymore so I hope to continue it as far as I can.''
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