NEW PALESTINE — An injury fast-tracked Austin Keele into the starting lineup.
A freshman, Keele suddenly found himself starting at right tackle on the New Palestine offensive line almost as soon as he got to high school.
He was thrust into a prominent position and started there from Week 2 until season’s end, a heartbreaking 64-61 loss in the state championship game in 2015.
“At the beginning, it was kind of nerve-racking,” Keele said. “I’m a young kid that kind of has to take over a lot of responsibilities. The linemen my freshman year really set a good example for me of what it took to be the best line in the state. Every day at practice you have to come in and be your best. You can’t really take any days off.”
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The New Palestine coaches could see right away that they had an incredible player in their midst.
Almost as quickly as he became a starter, Keele became a leader. He set the standard every day. He lifted up those around him.
He was a dominant force for an entire four years, leading to a Top 50 All-State selection after his senior season ended.
“You realized you had a special player, but I think it was his leadership ability and maintaining that standard of what it means to be a Dragon football player, but especially on the offensive line,” New Palestine coach Kyle Ralph said. “He was a leader. He really was the leader for us for three years, honestly. He was just such a stalwart there in the middle at center. I can’t think of any player who has maybe impacted more people around him positively than what Austin has done. How many lineman have played with him or played next to him or played behind him that have excelled in their craft because he maintains such an incredibly high standard and demanded it from other players?”
He maintained his standards while playing both sides of the ball, almost never getting a play off.
He started at right tackle as a freshman and center the rest of his high school career. He also started on the defensive line, meaning he was in the trenches all day, every day at practice and all night, every Friday night during games.
“We’ve really tried to limit how many guys in the trenches play both ways in the last couple of years, but one of our program standards and mottos is the best players are going to play,” Ralph said.
That, without a doubt, applied to Keele.
Helping hand
The senior stalwart learned something new about himself once the 2018 season ended.
He found out he isn’t claustrophobic. He learned that information during an MRI performed in early December, shortly after the season ended.
Keele had known for months that he was injured. Something had felt wrong with his shoulder since Week 4. There wasn’t a lot of pain, but there wasn’t a lot of stability, either.
He saw a doctor. The doctor said he could play with a shoulder brace. For most of the year, Keele played — on both sides of the ball — with a torn labrum. He is scheduled to undergo surgery today.
The brace was a necessity. It basically held his shoulder in place. It also made it so he couldn’t put on his own pads or jersey for the majority of the season.
In stepped his friend, 170-pound quarterback Zach Neligh, to lend a helping hand.
“That’s probably one of my favorite memories from this year, always helping Austin put on his pads,” Neligh said.
“He had to help me because I couldn’t get my shoulder pads on without messing up the brace,” Keele explained. “I put my shoulder pads on and strap ‘em, and he would come over and put my jersey on over the top.”
That wasn’t the easiest task for the quarterback. His friend is 6-foot-1, 258 pounds. And Keele had a certain pregame quirk that made assisting him a bit more challenging.
“The worst part was, Austin would always put on his eye black before he put on his pads,” Neligh said. “You can imagine with a white jersey, before an away game, trying to put on this white jersey without smearing it all over.”
“You about killed me at Harrison. I couldn’t breath,” Keele said. “It got stuck.”
The two shared a laugh about that. Keele appreciated his friend’s help, but they both recognize how ridiculous the situation was.
Still, Keele needed that brace. He couldn’t play without it.
Naturally, the week of the state championship game, the day the Dragons practiced at Lucas Oil Stadium, Keele lost the brace.
“Wednesday before state, he puts his brace down on the counter in Westfield and we go home,” Neligh said. “We get back, and the next day, he didn’t have his brace. They were closed Thanksgiving, and they tried to find it Friday. Somebody took it.”
Keele played in the 2018 Class 5A state championship game with a brand new brace he’d never worn before.
Commanding respect
The Dragons had an absolutely dominant offensive line this season. That all started with their center.
Keele was surrounded by great players, with Jacob Brittsan and Noah Mack to his left and Alex Cotterman and Kyle King to his right.
But there needed to be a leader. There needed to be someone there to hold them together, to teach them, to guide them.
That task fell to Keele.
“That group is so special, and has to be so tight knit,” Ralph said. “There has to be somebody there that commands the respect of the people around them. It’s important. All those attributes of an offensive lineman, the toughness, the physicality, the ability to just keep pushing forward, the understanding that you’re never going to be recognized and that the glory of playing football in that position is essentially zero — your joy has to come from other people’s success, from knocking someone on the ground, from seeing someone score a touchdown, and then get your high-five and come back to the sideline. It takes something special, and Austin’s just been a great leader. He always has been.”
New Palestine’s coach firmly believes that there are times when Keele could have been surrounded by anybody — literally anybody — and they would have succeeded because the senior was there to lead and motivate them.
“When you see a guy play at that level, play that hard every play, play both ways, never take plays off, never loaf, you have no choice but to play to that level or you’re cheating him and you’re cheating the team,” Ralph said. “He had everyone’s respect; that was so important. Those guys looked up to him.”
It also helped that the offensive line is a group that Keele considers some of his best friends.
He said he trusts them with everything. He’s tried to help King, help mentor him, since eighth grade. He’d drive him home to Greenfield sometimes after lifting. He considers Cotterman one of his absolute best friends. He’s known Brittsan and Mack for a few years, and has tried to welcome them and teach them while becoming friends.
Those five took a beating in the 2017 season. They powered through, together, and excelled in 2018, helping the Dragons to a Class 5A championship.
“They are just some of my best friends,” Keele said. “We’ve been through a lot together. Junior year was a rough year for us. We got through it, but it was rough. I’m pretty sure we all had some tears through it, but it just makes our bond stronger. We know we’ve been through so much together.”
Big shoes
While he doesn’t plan on being done with football, Keele’s time as a Dragon standout has come to an end.
What he’ll miss most might be the post-game hangouts with his friends. Some of his teammates would go to his house following games, and they’d all share battle stories from the game and just hang out.
He is currently looking at different college options, taking some visits. He intends to play football in the future — he’s looking at Division 2 and NAIA schools — but he’s being picky on where he goes. He wants a school that has a good engineering program.
He fell in love with football early on, watching Notre Dame and the Indianapolis Colts with his dad. It was a big part of his childhood, and that has continued as he has grown up. He’s not about to stop now.
With his new-found free time, he will probably spend time fishing with his dad and being around family as much as possible before he goes off to the next chapter of his life.
An important aspect for the New Palestine coaching staff is turning their players into better people. It is about more than football, and that’s something Keele embraced and will take with him as he moves forward.
“Off the field, I want to be known as someone who, if you ever had a problem or anything or needed to talk to anybody, you could always come talk to me,” Keele said. “Life can throw a lot of things at people, and football can be tough sometimes, but it’s bigger than football. Some kids don’t have the best home life, but you can always be there for them. We’re all teenagers. You never know.”
On the field, his impact was almost immeasurable. His example, the high standards he set for himself and those around him, helped mold the offensive line into an unstoppable unit that operated as one.
He made those around him better. Many of those players, his friends, will return to next year’s Dragons team to carry on his legacy.
“Kyle King has become a great player because of Austin. Noah Mack, Alex Cotterman, Jacob Brittsan, those guys behind him that are young guys like Ethan Sturgeon, some of the guys in the previous years that have played next to him … He has done so much to uplift that position group that I don’t think he’ll maybe ever realize that he’s done,” Ralph said. “But as a coach, you just can’t appreciate enough what he’s given that position group in his time here. He’s a guy that will be sadly missed. But you hope that what guys have learned from him now becomes that standard of the next year and that continues to give, and give, and give to the groups behind. He’s a special one. Big, big shoes to fill.
“You hope that legacy of what he’s left behind as far as what it means to play offensive line here is going to live long beyond his four years. I think it will.”