On Saturday morning, Tom Anthony was engaged in one of the great American pastimes. He and his 9-year-old son Michael were on the couch watching College GameDay, settling in for a day of conference championship games in FBS and playoff action in the lower levels.
This had been their routine over the past few months. Anthony was not working, instead taking a season to focus on his family, Michael and his 11-year-old daughter Becca.
As they watched GameDay, the phone rang. Eight hours later, Anthony was the head football coach at Pittsburg State University.
That turn of events was almost surprising for Anthony to live it as it was for you to read it.
After three seasons on staff as defensive coordinator and associate head coach, Anthony resigned over the summer. Pitt State termed the move as Anthony resigning "to pursue a non-coaching professional opportunity in Ohio," but that wasn't really the case.
"We got to a point, my wife and I and our kids with the age they were at, I was just missing so much stuff that they were doing. Really just made the decision as a family for me to get out of coaching," Anthony told FootballScoop. "There really was no other job opportunity."
The Anthonys moved to Cincinnati to be closer to his wife Kelsey's family. Kelsey took a job at a bank while Antony made up for lost time. "I had the best job in the world: I was a stay-at-home dad. We moved into an older house I spent the past five, six months tearing it apart. Just doing all that, making breakfast every morning for the kids, taking them to school, picking them up, taking them to practices, sitting there watching football, soccer, basketball, just spending time doing that with them," he said.
That arrangement worked well for Anthony and Pitt State until Saturday. The Gorillas went 11-2, won a share of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association title, and reached the second round of the Division II playoffs, falling 24-21 to No. 2-seed Grand Valley State on Nov. 25.
Pitt State's success earned head coach Brian Wright the Northern Arizona job, something Anthony didn't know until he picked up the phone Saturday morning. "I had no idea anything was happening," Anthony said.
Anthony remained in touch with Pitt State AD Jim Johnson throughout the fall, but when Johnson called Saturday, Antony assumed it was to go over other options to replace Wright.
"I didn't think, if and when Coach Wright ever left here, I would be the call they made," Antony said. "When I did get the call and the AD filled me in on the situation, my first thought was, 'How can I help you guys?' That's how I felt about Pitt State. Do you need names? Do you need me to help vet some people? 'No we want you to be the next head coach.'"
"There has been a lot of behind the scenes action taking place in a short period of time, but two constants are intact: the Pitt State football program remains in good hands and the Gorillas remain one of the elite NCAA Division II football programs," Johnson said.
Anthony accepted the job Saturday night, and by Sunday he was back in Kansas. Kelsey, Becca and Michael hope to join by spring break. The head coaching job at Pitt State was the only job he'd have left his other job for. Anthony completed a dream career move with a six month vacation in between.
"It was just the perfect storm the way it played out," he said.