Stand-up guy

Outside their front door is a welcome mat in the shape of a football. Inside, Shock coach Adam Shackleford and his wife Migdalia’s Spokane Valley home is the fresh smell that comes with a new house and an animated 10-month-old boy named Elijah rolling around on the floor and laughing.

On the television – naturally – is an On Demand replay of Spokane’s first-round arenafootball2 playoff victory last Saturday against the Austin Wranglers.

In the Shackleford household, what you see is what you get. Adam Shackleford is a football coach, a father and a husband – none of which he takes for granted.

The same guy who paces the Arena walls and calls plays on Shock Saturday nights is the same guy who wouldn’t let his wife change a single diaper for the week after she gave birth. The same guy who has guided Spokane’s young af2 franchise to 28 wins and six losses over the past two seasons – including his first playoff victory as a head coach last weekend – is the same guy who would never consider accepting a job until his wife said it worked for her, too.

The same guy who would like nothing more than to bring an ArenaCup championship game to Spokane later this month is the same completely approachable and laid-back 31-year-old family man you’ll meet away from the field.

“He’s a great father,” Migdalia said. “I never even have to ask, he helps me all the time. He’s very supportive of me, and he knows how much I miss my family at times. He’s there for me. When (Elijah) came, it was a huge adjustment and (Adam) stepped up completely.

“Even now, he’ll wake up and make his bottle while I change him, so I’m not up for the 20 minutes it would take to do both. It only takes us five minutes when we do it together.”

The two met in 1997 while attending Anderson (Ind.) University – he, a Cincinnati native, was a center for the football team and she was a transfer student – and became friends. They didn’t date, or even keep in touch over the years after Migdalia graduated and moved around.

She eventually ended up back in her hometown of Coldwater, Mich., working as a supervisor at a residential treatment facility for kids. He stayed in the Anderson football family after his playing career ended in 1998 when he became a fifth-year student assistant coach.

“The head coach I played for had been fired and I walked into new coach Steve Barrows’ office and said, ‘Hey I played last year, I’ve got one more year of school and I really want to stay involved. Is there anything I can do?’ ” Shackleford said.

He coached the tight ends that season for $500 and a campus meal plan. The following season he was promoted to coaching the offensive line – which he continued to do until 2006.

Along the way, he picked up a job in the af2 – first as the offensive line coach for the since-folded Cincinnati Swarm in 2003 and for the next three seasons as the offensive coordinator for the Louisville Fire (the same team that knocked the Shock out in the first round of last year’s playoffs).

He continued to pull double-duty until 2006.

“I was living on another coach’s couch for four months out of the year (while in Anderson) and then in hotels for the rest of the year (while coaching for Louisville),” Shackleford said.

Also along the way, he and Migdalia began to date. They ran into each other in 2004 when she returned to Anderson for a wedding and went to greet him one day when he was coaching. Fort Wayne, Ind., was the middle point between Anderson and Coldwater, so they would each make the one-hour drive and meet once a week for dinner.

In addition to both coaching jobs, he was driving back and forth to Coldwater. The couple had become engaged, so he also attended the premarital counseling at their church. In 2006 he was finally making enough money in the af2 that he was able to resign from Anderson.

With the success the Fire’s offense had been having under Shackleford’s watch, he started to get phone calls for head coaching jobs.

“I was on the line with one team when I clicked over and it was (Shock owners) Brady Nelson and Adam Nebeker,” Shackleford said.

Nelson, Nebeker and Shackleford had a 45-minute conversation that night.

“They asked a lot of questions,” Shackleford said. “And I pronounced it Spo-cayne the first time – they quickly corrected me.”

He had already agreed, in principle, to a position coaching job in the AFL, but the contract wasn’t what had been agreed upon over the phone.

He came to Spokane for an interview four days after talking to Nelson and Nebeker.

Being one of the few af2 coaches to ink a two-year contract, Shackleford said he is committed to another season in Spokane next year, even though the AFL is calling again.

“I’ve had several calls the last couple of years, but I’m going to honor my contract – we love it here,” Shackleford said. “Building and buying a house should let people know that we like it here. We’re not going to pack up after the season and you’ll never see us again. It’s important to me to honor the commitment to the contract – even though I’m not bound to it.

“I still believe in a handshake.”

That’s the thing – with Shackleford, what you see is what you get.