After 33 years as a college football coach, life has been good to former University of Toledo coach Tom Amstutz.

Between riding in airboats through the swamps looking for alligators with his 4-year-old grandson, fishing, and even prison ministry, the retired life has made it easy not to go back to the grind of college coaching.

With multiple opportunities to get back into collegiate coaching, none have wrestled Amstutz away from his Palm Harbor, Fla., home.

However, recently Amstutz got an offer that was too good to pass up. He is now the head coach of the USA football team that will go to China for the World University Championships on June 14-24 next year.

“For 33 years as a Division I football coach, football is something that I know,” Amstutz said. 

“This opportunity gives me a chance to work with more young people, which I enjoy doing, and to encourage them to make good choices in life and to apply the principles of football to their life. I think it is going to be a really neat experience for the players to go and play football and see a foreign place.”

Over the next year, Amstutz will assemble a coaching staff, recruit about 60 college players to join the team, and install an offense and defense before heading to China for the third edition of the Championship.

Mexico won the World University Championship in 2014 and ’16, first in Sweden and then Mexico. The fact that Mexico won both tournaments shows how much the game has grown globally.

“I think the real neat part of the story is that it is American football with American football rules, but it is growing across the world at a clip that I had no idea about,” Amstutz said. 

“There are right now 61 countries that play American football. For example, Japan has college football and they put together a college all-star team and go play. 

“Mexico, they have a really strong American football program, and they are starting to have players training with the idea of NFL possibilities.”

Amstutz is already making the rounds, talking to coaches about which players might be interested in playing for the USA team. He said he went to spring meetings for Conference USA, and the coaches were receptive to the idea of having players compete for their country.

Amstutz wants Ohio represented on the team, and hopes to have at least one player each from Ohio State, Toledo, and Bowling Green.

One player from Ohio State has already committed. Jarrod Barnes, a former Buckeye safety who walked on to Ohio State after three seasons at Louisville, will be one of the team’s defensive captains.

Barnes, who will pursue his PhD in sports management this fall, was mainly a special teams player at Ohio State. He said after working out at Ohio State’s pro day and after an invitation to minicamp for the Detroit Lions didn’t pan out, he thought his playing days were over.

After an invitation to play for team USA, Barnes said it was a no-brainer.

“This is a huge opportunity for me, and I would label it as once in a lifetime,” Barnes said. “I still had that itch as a competitor to keep playing, and I had worked so hard. When coach Tom Amstutz approached me about the opportunity, it wasn’t even a question. I said, ‘When are we going?’ I think as far as expanding the game of football to the world, what an incredible opportunity, and I think it is something that he doesn’t take lightly and I don’t take lightly.”

“I’ve grown over my career, and right now I’m in the best shape and best playing ability I’ve ever been in,” Barnes continued. “It was just so unique how this opportunity came up, and it’s a huge blessing to where I’m at the peak of my career now and will continue to train and sustain that through the game.”

Amstutz, who led Toledo to a 58-41 record in eight seasons (2001-08) as head coach, has made a good impression on Barnes.

“Having the opportunity just to get to know Coach better as a person, he’s really just impressed me with his integrity and character, and love for the game and love for people,” Barnes said. “He’s been really, really passionate about this whole thing and, in the short time I’ve known him, he is taking a very selfless approach to it and doing everything he can for the players.”

At some point, Amstutz and the coaching staff he assembles will have a seven-day training camp where he will install offensive and defensive schemes. He said he will probably email players the playbook in advance in hopes they will pick up on the plays in a short amount of time.

“I have said no to a lot of college jobs,” Amstutz said. “I don’t want to do it anymore for a profession. I think this is a great one-year project that I can have a positive influence on young men going over there, and just be somebody that encourages them in their lives after football. I think it’s a really worthwhile project, and I’m excited to be back in it, even though it is just a temporary situation.”

Barnes, who competed at the highest level collegiately, said he is looking forward to the international competition.

“I think sometimes we are very narrow-minded in America and we have to understand that there are a lot of other people out there,” Barnes said. “I think it will be really cool to play against players from other countries. I was blessed to play at a really high level at Ohio State, but there are also really good athletes elsewhere. We are going to play to win though.”

Amstutz said he is seeking sponsors to help cover the costs of sending the team to China. Anyone interested in sending a tax-deductible gift to support the program, send a donation to AIA Football, 651 Taylor Drive, Xenia, Ohio, 45385.

Contact Brian Buckey at: bbuckey@theblade.com or 419-724-6110 or on Twitter @BrianBuckey.

First Published June 26, 2017, 4:45 a.m.