When I entered the sports complex and asked where to find coach Otterbein’s office, the receptionist asked, “which one?”

Though many just know the head coach, Keith Otterbein ’79, there are two more Otterbeins on the coaching staff for Charger football – Keith’s two sons, Steve ’07 and Brad ’11.

In his undergraduate days, Keith played football for the Chargers and he has been coaching the team since 2002. Later, his sons played for him while they attended Hillsdale. And now, they’re his employees.

“That’s what we do. We do Charger football and have for a long, long time,” Keith said. “You know, it’s just kind of cool to be here and be with them on a daily basis.”

Between his college graduation and his homecoming to his alma mater, Keith coached at other schools for 23 years right until Hillsdale hired him back.

“I had come from Ball State, which is a Division I school, and the face and the direction of Division I football was kind of heading down a path that I didn’t necessarily agree with philosophically,” Keith said. “So I came here, and it just felt right – the size of the school, the balance between academics and athletics – it was there.”

He didn’t ever think he’d end up back at Hillsdale – until he did.

“Once I graduated and started my career, it was never a real aspiration to be back at my alma mater, but when I was contacted in 2001, I knew I needed to take a look at it,” Keith said. “I came back, and the connections were just right. The feeling was there. We talk in recruiting all the time about the right fit, and it was just the right fit for me.”

As for the younger Otterbeins, their paths away-from and back-to Hillsdale were shorter. Steve, the defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach, spent three years away from the ’Dale coaching football at Eastern Michigan University before he came home.

“This place, as a student, leaves such an impression on you that when you get an opportunity to come back and be on the other side of it, it’s nice to do that,” Steve said. “It’s had a special place in my heart and it’s an honor to be able to be a part of it and represent the school through our football program.”

Brad is the quarterbacks’ coach. It only took him one year coaching post-grad at another school before Hillsdale called again.

“It’s just a special place, as probably anybody that goes here knows,” Brad said. “The people are different, the pride in the school is different than anywhere else. It’s just a special place to be a part of because of the pride I take in it – the love for the school, the love for the people that are around the school.”

Their experiences away from Hillsdale were helpful, though, especially since the only college coach they had ever known was also the man who raised them.

“We were fortunate that after graduation, in both boys’ cases, they were able to go away from Hillsdale and have an experience before they came back on the staff,” Keith said. “I think it helped kind of broaden their horizons and let them compare what we do – what Dad’s program is – versus what someone else’s program is.”

Brad always knew he wanted to coach, no matter where he was or who he was working with. It just so happens that Keith and Steve are the type of people he likes working with.

“It wouldn’t be different if it was not my dad,” Brad said. “His personality and my personality – that’s the kind of head coach I want to work for. And the same thing with my brother. If he wasn’t my brother, I still think he’s a really good coach.”

He’s learned a lot from the both of them – especially Steve.

“I always looked up to him and wanted to be like him,” Brad said. “I never talked to Steve, that I remember, about, ‘hey, I know I want to be a football coach, do you want to be a football coach?’” Brad said. “But I knew in middle school that I wanted to be a football coach, and now the fact that my brother’s here and my dad’s here, it’s kind of the icing on the cake.”

Steve’s learned a lot from the two of them as well, in some ways that he never expected.

“It’s funny because I catch myself using the same phrases and the same verbiage that my dad uses, especially now that I’m getting older and everything,” Steve said with a smile. 

But he’s learned more than his old man’s catchphrases.

“I’ve always had coaches that have been very impactful in my life, and my dad’s definitely at the top of that list,” Steve said. “So it’s definitely very, very special to do that with him every day and get to come to work and be around my dad and be around my brother.”

Their closeness – a closeness they could only have after having grown up together – helps them work together better.

“I think our views on the current state of big time college athletics are similar because we’ve grown up as a family with values and they know what’s important,” Keith said. “So, the words that are important at Hillsdale College – honor, integrity, loyalty, dedication, hard work –  that’s what they grew up hearing me preach as kids and then as players.”

Keith doesn’t take the credit for their successes, though.

“They have both developed really close relationships with their players. I think their players feel very comfortable talking to them about football, but also about what it’s like to be a college kid growing up and all the things that kids your age go through,” Keith said. “It’s a crazy world that you guys live in, and they’ve done a good job of stepping up and staying connected to the kids.”

For all three Otterbeins, their work all comes back to the college’s mission of improving minds and developing hearts.

“Ultimately, you know, we’re trying to make better men of our players,” Keith said. “I can see that my sons are better men having been in our program and their opportunity to mentor and be a role model for their players is a great thing.”

It’s also just plain fun.

“I’ve got the best job in college football. I honestly believe that,” Keith said. “When you get to represent a school that stands for the things that our school stands for, and coach young men that have phenomenal character and integrity and work ethic, that are not caught up in themselves but are very humble in their efforts, and then you get to coach with great guys and two of them happen to be your sons – how much better can it get?”