Illinois coach changed shy teen’s life, years later he thanks him

A Zoom reunion brought Chris Wurl back to the coach who first saw past his nerves and gave him a place to train. Years after that decision in Champaign, Illinois, Wurl, now 23, thanked Joe Yager for helping change the path that led him from a socially awkward high school freshman to a graduate student and football staffer at Tulane University.

Wurl said he entered high school as “a scrawny kid … really socially awkward,” and baseball alone did not give him much confidence. He was pointed toward Yager’s gym in Champaign, where the first conversation did not go smoothly. Yager initially told Wurl and his father the gym was “invite only,” then, as they were walking out, stopped them and said, “Hey, wait a minute,” before deciding to let the teenager train.

That choice mattered. Wurl said Yager “invested in me when no one else did,” and that he was the person who reached out when Wurl was too shy to ask for help. Under Yager’s coaching, Wurl made the varsity team and earned a spot in the starting lineup. Yager said the change was visible far beyond the field, explaining that “his whole personality just really came alive.”

The effects have lasted into adulthood. Wurl earned his master’s degree in sports studies in May and had worked in football video operations at Tulane. Tulane said he joined its football staff in June 2024 as a graduate assistant in video after previously serving as a student video manager for the University of Illinois football team from 2022 to 2024.

Yager, who owns Perform Every Day in Champaign and has worked with youth athletes and professional athletes, has built a reputation for helping young players move forward, including high school students who have earned Division I scholarships. During the reunion, Wurl said he now tries to pass that same encouragement on to others. Yager answered with a line that captured the heart of the exchange: “it’s kids like you that give me an opportunity to coach.”