Schultz Is Throwing the Book at Himself

Bill Schultz disliked two things as a sophomore at Kennedy High: school and football.

“In 10th grade, I’d never even bring my books home,” he said. “They’d stay in my locker.”

At 6 feet and 215 pounds, Schultz had the right frame for football. But not the right frame of mind.

“I hated it,” he said. “I went out to practices and I couldn’t stand it.”

During practices, Schultz went up against Brett Garner, who gave away about six inches and 40 pounds to the sophomore.

It was no contest.

“He was good and he knew football,” Schultz said. “He pushed me around and I couldn’t stand that.”

Schultz’s plan was to finish high school and go to work laying asphalt for a company owned by a friend of the family.

But Schultz’s plan started to expand as he continued to grow. As a junior he was 6-3 and 245 pounds. By the time he reached his senior year, he stood 6-5 and weighed 260.

He also fostered a love for football. After not playing in a single varsity game as a 10th grader, Schultz started at offensive tackle as a junior.

Entering his last year at Kennedy, he envisioned himself playing football at a major college.

As a senior, Schultz started at tackle on both offense and defense for the Golden Cougars. He made all-league and All-City.

The University of Washington offered him a scholarship. He signed.

Life was good for Bill Schultz at 18.

But along the way to the Rose Bowl, Schultz hit a big thorn.

Despite compiling an overall grade-point average of about 3.0 in classes he described as “easy A’s,” Schultz was not admitted to Washington. In his three years at Kennedy, he did not accumulate enough credits in college-prep courses to merit admittance at a major university.

The dreams, not to mention the scholarship, were gone.

“My mind went blank,” Schultz said. “It was like, ‘Start over.’ ”

His new beginning commences Friday when he plays for the North team in the 34th Shrine All-Star game at East Los Angeles College.

He has not been able to practice for the game because of an infection in his right eye. A visit to the doctor Wednesday revealed that Schultz is allergic to grass. Schultz, however, is determined to participate in the game. “Definitely, I’ll play,” he said.

After the Shrine game, Schultz will continue practicing for Glendale College’s upcoming season.

And after that, he’ll take another shot at college football. That is, after cracking as many books as defensive backs this year.

“My goal,” Schultz said, looking down the road, “is to go pro.”

Schultz never even played football until he enrolled at Kennedy.

He started for the junior varsity team at offensive tackle, but practiced with the varsity team. So he went up against Garner, described by Kennedy Coach John Haynes as one of the toughest players “pound for pound” in school history.

“He gave Bill a real education,” Haynes said.

Schultz suited up for every varsity game, but did not see any action at all. He thought of quitting, but decided to come out for his junior year after talking to his coaches.

“I started enjoying it,” Schultz said. “I had fun pushing other people around.”

He made the starting lineup at offensive tackle.

“His junior year he lacked some confidence,” Haynes said. “He had just played JV ball as a 10th grader and, all of a sudden, he was starting in a 4-A league.”

Despite his unspectacular junior campaign, Schultz caught the eye of some college scouts.

“About two or three talked to me,” Haynes said. “They said he had potential. I reiterated to Bill what they had said, that he could be a starter at a four-year school.”

Schultz went into his senior year wanting “everything.”

“I just went crazy,” Schultz said. “I wanted to be All-City, all-league, all those good things. I wore a headband the first few games with a kamikaze sign on it. People must have thought I was crazy.”

People also thought he was good.

“The amount of improvement he had from his junior to senior year was just incredible,” Haynes said. “He had an excellent year on both offense and defense.”

His play, however, couldn’t overcome his academic shortcomings.

“Our evaluation of Bill was that he was a Division I player,” USC assistant coach Foster Andersen said. “He runs very well. He was very intense about playing, which was a big change from his junior year.”

USC asked Schultz over to the campus for a recruiting visit and an SAT exam, but “he didn’t score as high as we had hoped,” Andersen said.

So the Trojans could not offer Schultz a scholarship.

Washington talked with Schultz, but said it had other people in mind.

Northern Arizona showed an interest, but made no offer.

National letter-of-intent day came Feb. 13 and Schultz still hadn’t received any offers. He was thinking about junior college football when the doorbell at his Granada Hills’ house rang.

It was Washington. The Huskies had not been able to sign all the players they wanted to, so a scholarship was available.

Chris Tormey, a Washington assistant coach, discussed the situation with Schultz and his parents.

“I told them that Bill would have to go through a special admissions committee to be admitted,” Tormey said. “I told them that I didn’t think it would be a problem. We had nothing to gain by signing him and then not getting him into school.”

Schultz visited Washington two days after letter-of-intent day and signed with the Huskies.

“They told me, ‘Hey, no problem, we’ll get you in,’ ” Schultz said. “I never got in.”

Schultz’s name went before the committee for the first time in mid-March. He was denied.

He went up a second time in May. “When he was denied again, I became alarmed,” Tormey said.

Before his third try, in early June, the committee had Schultz gather letters of recommendation from some of his Kennedy teachers.

Still, he was denied.

“It was really bad timing,” Terry Schultz, Bill’s mother, said. “He found out (about the third rejection) the day before the senior prom.”

The committee recommended that Schultz go to summer school and take freshman-level classes in math and English. If he passed, the committee said it would reconsider his status.

Schultz visited Pierce and Valley colleges to inquire about summer school, but came away disappointed.

“The counselors said he would not score high enough on the (entrance) tests to get into the classes he needed,” Terry Schultz said.

So one week after graduating from Kennedy, Schultz was left with nowhere to go.

“I really feel sorry for Bill,” Tormey said. “I’m sorry the whole thing worked out that way. I really didn’t think it would be a problem. I was wrong.”

Said Schultz: “I was all depressed. I didn’t want to go to college. I was going to go into the army or something like that.”

But a talk with his parents changed his mind.

“We told him that we didn’t think (the Army) was the best choice at that time,” his father, Bill Sr., said. “He still had a chance to play at a JC. I said to him, ‘Hang tough.’ ”

The younger Bill was swayed by his father’s 6-6, 310-pound build.

“My dad wanted me to get an education and since he’s bigger than me I do what he says,” Schultz said, laughing.

About three weeks ago, Schultz decided he would play and study at Glendale for at least a year. Glendale Coach Jim Sartoris is happy to have him.

“He’s going to be a dominant player,” Sartoris said. “There is no question he’s Division I. He’s a can’t-miss prospect.”

Schultz is hoping to make up for lost time at Glendale.

“I wish I would have listened to my coaches and everybody else back in 10th grade,” he said. “My brother (Dean) is going to Kennedy next year and I’m going to make sure he takes the right classes.”

At Glendale, Schultz will be taking plenty of math and English.

“I’ve got to hit the books,” he said, “and get good grades. We’re talking A’s. I need to learn how to study.

“In 10th grade, all the guys would come over and we’d sit around working on cars for a few hours. Then we’d go out and have a good time.

“My senior year, I figured, ‘Hey, I’m going to college. I need those (college-type) classes. I just didn’t have enough time to get those in.”

Schultz would like to attend a four-year school after a season at Glendale. If he isn’t offered a scholarship after a year, he said he might play again at Glendale or at Pierce.

Would he attend Washington if a scholarship was offered?

“I don’t know,” he said.

He would prefer to stay in Southern California and play at USC.

Andersen said Schultz has to excel both academically and athletically for the Trojans to be interested in him next year.

“He has to be as good as the guys we bring in,” Andersen said. “If I were a betting man, I’d say he’ll find a way (to succeed). It’s just a question of him having his priorities straight. Does he want to be a JC player or one who plays in the Rose Bowl?”

Washington’s Tormey said the Huskies would be interested in evaluating Schultz if things worked out well at Glendale.

“I don’t know why more people didn’t recruit him,” Tormey said.

Schultz’s chances for a scholarship next season, though, will not be very good, Tormey said.

“The thing with us is that we’re freshman-oriented in recruiting. We don’t take a lot of junior college players,” he said. Plus, the Huskies will lose few seniors from the 1985 team.

“I believe Bill will be successful in college football and in academics,” Tormey said. “Five years from now, I think everyone will look back and see we were right.”