{"id":100423,"date":"2022-04-27T15:22:57","date_gmt":"2022-04-27T20:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=100423"},"modified":"2022-04-27T15:22:57","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T20:22:57","slug":"morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Morgan Park head coach Ernest Radcliffe’s purpose remains the same in year 15"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Matthew Ritchie<\/strong><\/p>\n

Medill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n

Deep on the South Side of Chicago, at the end of an impromptu intrasquad scrimmage for the Morgan Park High School Mustangs baseball team, head coach Ernest Radcliffe gathers his players into a circle off to the side. Before beginning his customary post-practice meeting, he asks them to bring their parents to the huddle for a moment. One by one, the adults abandon the safety of their warm cars on a brisk and gusty Saturday afternoon, lining up along the fence to hear the coach\u2019s gospel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Each attendee locks their eyes onto coach Radcliffe as his booming, raspy voice cuts through the wind. He uses this moment to explain the constraints the disastrous spring weather has placed on their season, forcing the team to possibly play five conference games in seven calendar days in the coming weeks. In a long-winded manner, Radcliffe says they all must be flexible and sacrifice as they gear up for the most important part of their schedule if they hope to repeat as city champions.<\/span><\/p>\n

But in his 15th season as the Mustangs\u2019 head coach, his true goal for the team remains the same. It supersedes the results in the scorebook at the end of the game.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want them to focus on their books and play each game like it’s their last, so they don\u2019t have any regrets,\u201d Radcliffe said. \u201cIt\u2019s imperative that every kid that comes through Morgan Park gets the best coaching, discipline and become respectful young men as they move onto the next level, whatever that may be.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Radcliffe\u2019s message \u2014 focusing on building young men by sharing his love of baseball \u2014 has remained throughout his entire coaching career. His passion for the sport comes from his family. His uncle, Ted \u201cDouble Duty\u201d Radcliffe, was a legendary pitcher and catcher who played in the Negro Leagues from 1928 to 1946. Baseball was always a fixture in Ernest Radcliffe\u2019s household growing up, as he received his own set of catcher\u2019s gear at 5 years old.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His standing as an expert in the game, combined with his position at Morgan Park as a security officer, would have granted him automatic authority over his players. But Radcliffe doesn\u2019t solely rule with an iron fist. Yes, he can be stern, like when he pauses practice to bark at a pair of middle infielders who confuse their base coverage assignments. But it comes from a place of love \u2014 he wants each player to perform to the highest ability at all times. For Radcliffe, that level of discipline on the field extends to life off the diamond.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe teaches you a lot on the field, and off the field, he wants us to be better people in life in general,\u201d junior outfielder and pitcher Kyle Hudson said. \u201cAs a person, he\u2019s another father figure to me. He\u2019ll always be someone to look up to. He\u2019s funny, but he\u2019ll get in your butt if you\u2019re doing wrong. He\u2019ll stay on you and won\u2019t give up on you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Almost every player who comes in contact with coach Radcliffe mirrors these sentiments. During their four years in the Mustang program, they all can point to a way he\u2019s changed their lives for the better.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve learned a lot from that man,\u201d senior infielder Kendall Garland said. \u201cIn life, he taught me how to move around the city as a Black dude. You know, because it\u2019s not easy for real. As a man and as a coach, he means everything to me. There ain\u2019t nothing that he hasn\u2019t done for me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For Radcliffe, the sport of baseball is a tool for shaping the lives of the young Black men who step onto his field. The effect of his work is massive. His staff is brimming with former players who return to help him continue his legacy as a leader of men. Last year, of the 11 seniors on his team, nine went on to play college baseball. The other two are working trade jobs. Every single one graduated from high school.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As always, Radcliffe\u2019s on-field goal for the Mustangs is a city championship, followed by a state championship. He can recount each of his team\u2019s close calls in an encyclopedic manner, rattling off city championships in 2014 and 2021 and numerous state tournament appearances with ease. But when the season ends, his true purpose for coaching continues \u2014 a purpose he views as more valuable than any other.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWhen they leave our program, I want them prepared to enter college,\u201d Radcliffe said. \u201cI make sure all my players can get to college and follow through with their degrees. I try to stay with them all the way through, and I thank God for this tremendous opportunity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Matthew Ritchie Medill Reports Deep on the South Side of Chicago, at the end of an impromptu intrasquad scrimmage for the Morgan Park High School Mustangs baseball team, head coach Ernest Radcliffe gathers his players into a circle off to the side. Before beginning his customary post-practice meeting, he asks them to bring their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":828,"featured_media":100425,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,5282],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-spring-2022"],"yoast_head":"\nMorgan Park head coach Ernest Radcliffe's purpose remains the same in year 15 - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Morgan Park High School Mustangs baseball team are led by coach Ernest Radcliffe, whose goal of helping his players graduate always comes first.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Morgan Park head coach Ernest Radcliffe's purpose remains the same in year 15 - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Morgan Park High School Mustangs baseball team are led by coach Ernest Radcliffe, whose goal of helping his players graduate always comes first.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-27T20:22:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/04\/23CoachRadcliffedugout-3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"matthewritchie2022\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"matthewritchie2022\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15\/\",\"name\":\"Morgan Park head coach Ernest Radcliffe's purpose remains the same in year 15 - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/04\/23CoachRadcliffedugout-3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-27T20:22:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/5175af84d45f4c381d5a486d10580d79\"},\"description\":\"The Morgan Park High School Mustangs baseball team are led by coach Ernest Radcliffe, whose goal of helping his players graduate always comes first.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/04\/23CoachRadcliffedugout-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/04\/23CoachRadcliffedugout-3.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Coach Radcliffe chats with his team in front of the dugout at Brooks High School. (Credit: Matthew Ritchie\/Medill)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Morgan Park head coach Ernest Radcliffe’s purpose remains the same in year 15\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports Chicago\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/5175af84d45f4c381d5a486d10580d79\",\"name\":\"matthewritchie2022\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70f5e47926d792d2af4803da4d76e335b1196cf658631af65b81d190767f11c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70f5e47926d792d2af4803da4d76e335b1196cf658631af65b81d190767f11c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"matthewritchie2022\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/matthewritchie2022\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Morgan Park head coach Ernest Radcliffe's purpose remains the same in year 15 - Medill Reports Chicago","description":"The Morgan Park High School Mustangs baseball team are led by coach Ernest Radcliffe, whose goal of helping his players graduate always comes first.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Morgan Park head coach Ernest Radcliffe's purpose remains the same in year 15 - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"The Morgan Park High School Mustangs baseball team are led by coach Ernest Radcliffe, whose goal of helping his players graduate always comes first.","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2022-04-27T20:22:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/04\/23CoachRadcliffedugout-3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"matthewritchie2022","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"matthewritchie2022","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15\/","name":"Morgan Park head coach Ernest Radcliffe's purpose remains the same in year 15 - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/04\/23CoachRadcliffedugout-3.jpg","datePublished":"2022-04-27T20:22:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/5175af84d45f4c381d5a486d10580d79"},"description":"The Morgan Park High School Mustangs baseball team are led by coach Ernest Radcliffe, whose goal of helping his players graduate always comes first.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/04\/23CoachRadcliffedugout-3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/04\/23CoachRadcliffedugout-3.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"Coach Radcliffe chats with his team in front of the dugout at Brooks High School. (Credit: Matthew Ritchie\/Medill)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/morgan-park-head-coach-ernest-radcliffes-purpose-remains-the-same-in-year-15\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Morgan Park head coach Ernest Radcliffe’s purpose remains the same in year 15"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/5175af84d45f4c381d5a486d10580d79","name":"matthewritchie2022","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70f5e47926d792d2af4803da4d76e335b1196cf658631af65b81d190767f11c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70f5e47926d792d2af4803da4d76e335b1196cf658631af65b81d190767f11c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"matthewritchie2022"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/matthewritchie2022\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/828"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100423"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100432,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100423\/revisions\/100432"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}