By SEAN KEELER
REGISTER SPORTS COLUMNIST
The legend can’t find the exit. He’s been in the car a while now, driving to another speaking engagement far from home, and you had to go and get him started on the whole Iowa-Iowa State match, and …
No. Wait. There it is. Up ahead.
“You almost made me miss my speech, “Dan Gable says.
Sorry about that. The Cyclones …
“It would probably be this meet that would get me sick and thinking I was dying, “Iowa’s assistant wrestling coach says of the Hawkeyes’ tussle with Iowa State today. “And as soon as things smoothed out in the end, I got a day of relief or two.”
Now?
“It’s different. I’m sure there are some of those feelings, but I’m not running the show, so it’s not quite the same. I have time to take a breath. That’s why, right now, I’m traveling.
“I’ve got this family passion and I’ve got this wrestling passion and the older I get, the bigger my family gets. Something’s got to give. So instead of me being the man in charge, there’s somebody in charge who’s good and I have a break in my life to really do what’s the right thing to do in most people’s lives and not be just totally immersed.”
Old Gable was immersed. Always priming the pump, always raising the bar another cold notch, then raising it again. During his 21 seasons as Iowa’s head coach, through 21 Big Ten titles and 15 national championships, every drop of blood and sweat, every tear, bore Gable’s unmistakable stamp.
But this is the 21st century, Tom Brands’ program, Tom Brands’ time. And if there’s still any doubt in your mind about that, well, we give you Iowa State Week.
Gable spent some of Wednesday in West Des Moines, shooting a commercial. On Friday afternoon, he scheduled a public appearance with his old friend, congressman Jim Leach, even though it conflicted with afternoon practice. And he made sure to ask Brands’ permission first.
“He still had to go ask Tom if it was OK, “notes Kathy Gable, Dan’s wife. “He didn’t just go and do it.”
See? Different.
“It’s definitely not as stressful, “Kathy continues. “Maybe a little bit, but nothing like it was when he was a coach. Maybe it’s just because it’s just the two of us. Maybe we don’t talk about it like we used to with all the kids here – they were always so into everything.”
Gable turned 58 Oct. 25. The nest is empty. In the eight years since he officially stepped down as the Hawkeyes’ coach, two of his four daughters got married. The kids are having kids of their own – Gable’s first granddaughter, Elsie, was born Monday afternoon.
“They’re probably pretty excited about going back and seeing a competitive meet (today) or whatever’s going to take place, “Gable says. “And if it doesn’t take place, I’m going to hear about it, I’m sure, from everybody that’s close to me.”
Especially the grandchildren. Most 3-year-olds wear out SpongeBob Squarepants DVDs. Gable Mitchell’s perfect afternoon is watching the biopic “Dan Gable: Competitor Supreme, “over and over again. The Grandpa Show, he calls it.
“I enjoy watching it, “said Jenni Mitchell, Gable’s mom and Dan’s oldest daughter. “But once I started memorizing the words and what everybody was saying, I started thinking to myself, ‘I’ve got to get him watching something else for a while.’
“Now he gets to watch The Grandpa Show live. It’s fun now that my son is able to kind of experience what we experienced as kids.”
When former Iowa athletic director Bob Bowlsby floated Gable a chance to return to coaching last spring, he put the offer on the table for the family to discuss. While most endorsed the move, Annie, Elsie’s mom and Dan’s second-oldest daughter, remained skeptical. She wondered about the time commitment. She worried about her father’s artificial hip.
“I said, ‘Let’s take a look at this and make sure this is really what you want to do,’ ” Annie recalls. “I thought that at this point in my parents’ lives, they could just focus on being grandparents and doing things like getting a place in Florida or going to Minnesota more. I thought this would be a perfect time for him to relax.
“But the guy can’t relax. He can’t. Finally, his life was about to slow down so he had to get something in there to make it busy again.”
Busy. But working. A nice, slow fade to winter. Day to day. Year to year.
“I don’t think it’s something he wants to do for very long, “Kathy warns. “He kind of got used to being able to run his own schedule. That was nice.”
Nice. Different.
“I think I used to fool my wife into thinking I used to be an unbelievable family guy, “the legend says, chuckling. He’s pulling up to his destination now. “I don’t think I can do that anymore. I don’t think I want to do that anymore. Because I think, where I’m at in my life, now I have a way to do both.”
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