When the Game Stands Tall: Twelve years in making, DLS movie is here

There's only one person who knows De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) defensive coordinator Terry Eidson better than former head coach Bob Ladouceur.

She, of course, is Eidson's wife, Aggie.

Both Aggie Eidson and Ladouceur arrived at the same conclusion after watching Terry Eidson and actor Michael Chiklis interact on the set of "When the Game Stands Tall."

For more information, visit the Sony Pictures "When The Game Stands Tall" website

Chiklis plays Eidson in the motion picture, based on the Neil Hayes book about De La Salle, which opens nationwide Friday.

"They both said we must have been twins separated at birth," Edison said.

Both are high energy. Both are huge sports and rock and roll fanatics. Both are extremely vocal. Eidson and Chilkis connected immediately while shooting the film in Louisiana during the spring of 2013.

"It was like they were married for 32 years," Hayes said.

Said Ladouceur: "The first day we were there, they were taking a break on the set and (Chiklis) was eating a burrito. He bites down and dribbles all over his shirt. That's Terry (Eidson). He's like a carbon copy of Terry. How well they got along was kind of amazing. It was perfect casting."

Eidson said last week that director Thomas Carter more than once gave he and Chiklis "death stares."

"He said we were too loud on the set," Eidson said.

Like two school kids being separated during class.

Their rapport has definitely translated to the big screen. De La Salle insiders, who have attended pre-screenings, say that Chiklis, known largely for his TV work on "The Shield" and "American Horror Story," is Eidson personified on screen.

"Even my wife said, ‘That guy is spot on,'" Eidson said.

Eidson and Ladouceur on a movie set, let alone the big screen, seems preposterous. Ladouceur took over a floundering program in 1979, and three years later when Eidson joined, the Spartans won the first of 29 North Coast Section championships.

Ladouceur piled up an almost ridiculous 399-25-3 record, including a national-record 151-game win streak from 1992-2004, and at least eight mythical national crowns before stepping down as head coach in 2012 (he continues to coach as an assistant).

Not just their winning, but their unique humanistic teaching methods, inspired the 2003 book by Hayes, who started the project a year earlier and eventually hooked up with movie producer David Zelon ("Soul Searcher" and "Never Back Down") in 2009.

It took four years to put together all the pieces – funding, directors, crew and actors — but when Ladouceur and Eidson were finally contacted, that a movie was actually going to be made, they were largely shell-shocked.

"I think when we first heard about a possibility of a movie, we were like, ‘Sure. Right,'" Ladouceur said.

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A documentary on the program "Perfect Effort" – directed by former player Stephen Lilly - was already released in 2007 and numerous short features had been produced by national media.

"We had already received more than our 15 minutes of fame," Eidson said. "So when Neil told us that this really could be a movie, we were more than a little skeptical."

So imagine how surreal it must have been earlier this month when they were doing junkets in Hollywood? As if they were Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise. A couple of no-nonsense high school football coaches.

Absurd.

But for eight hours, clad in Jim Harbaugh khakis and De La Salle polos, they met with entertainment and sports reporters and answered the same questions. Well, largely the same questions.

"A fashion reporter wanted us to compare a fashion faux pas with a penalty on the football field," Eidson said. "I think that was the strangest question."

When each 15-minute exchange was done, the longtime friends must have thought they were in some odd dream or time warp.

"When we started on this path more than 30 years ago, Bob and I had the same vision," Eidson said. "We just wanted to be teachers. We loved coaching and if done right, it was a great vehicle to teach and change lives.

"Our goals early on was to get to the NCS finals and win one one day. And each year after we won the first, we tried to win it again and again. But we never thought about setting records. And we definitely never thought about any of it leading to a movie. Not in our wildest dreams."

Said Ladouceur: "Terry and all the coaches labored away in anonymity for years, which we liked. We didn't want to call a lot of attention to ourselves. I guess if you do that and things go right, the attention kind of comes to you. It's not exactly in our wheelhouse, but people say it's a good story to tell. I think so too."

Being thrust into the limelight presents its own set of challenges. The program is built on more inner workings, like brotherhood, accountability to one another and love.

Showboating and drawing attention to oneself is more than frowned upon. When Maurice Drew purposely somersaulted into the end zone for the first of four touchdowns in De La Salle's landmark 29-15 win at Long Beach Poly in 2001, he was warned sternly by Ladouceur - before he even reached the sideline.

"If you ever do that again, you'll never play a down in this program," Ladouceur said.

Drew never did it again. He was one of Ladouceur's favorite players, and one of the poster players of the program.

So, how have Eidson and Ladouceur justified their visits to Hollywood? How, with a national movie premiere just days away, will they curb their current players' temptation to seek the spotlight?

"It will be a challenge and we spoke to it as a team," Eidson said. "We're looking at it as we're honoring all our players, and that's a lot of guys, and coaches who have put in a lot of hard work over a lot of years. We believe the movie captures the spirit of what the program is about and shedding a good, positive light, so we're all for that.

"For Bob and I, it (promoting the film, going to Hollywood) wasn't something that came natural. But we took the approach that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we should enjoy it."

There were some side benefits as well. Eidson's wife received a cameo role in the film — "and it wasn't cut," Eidson said with a smile — and his daughters got to meet teen heartthrob actor Alexander Ludwig ("The Hunger Games").

"My family was pretty ecstatic," he said.

The current Spartans are pretty ecstatic that their football program is being featured worldwide. Countless programs throughout the country are planning to attend the movie Friday. The Spartans watched a premiere of the film on Sunday.

"It's not every day you see your school and football program displayed on the big screen," De La Salle senior and Northwestern-bound Simba Short said. "It's great for our school. It makes me proud."

Senior linebacker Cameron Lissarrague said the movie won't distract the Spartans from having another superb year. The Spartans are No. 5 in the Xcellent 25 National Football Rankings.

"The movie sheds a bright light on the tradition we've built and that's great," said the 6-foot-2, 225-pounder. "If anything we'll be more focused. We don't want that tradition to fall short this season. We're all going to pull together and make sure that it doesn't."