Donnie Campbell didn't start watching the Apple TV+ series until hearing a fellow teacher pass him in the hallway, saying, "There's the famous basketball coach that inspired Ted Lasso."
Campbell can see himself in Sudeikis' portrayal in "the way he tries to take each situation with his players and make it a life lesson."
Campbell remembers coaching Sudeikis at Shawnee Mission West, saying that the point guard was a good player, shooter and teammate, but "he didn't play the kind of defense that I wish he would play."
When it came to academics, however, Campbell says, "He didn't particularly like going to school . . . I wish he'd worked a little harder in the classroom."
Campbell's love of athletics came from his youth in Lyons, Kansas. "There really wasn't a lot to do," Campbell says, so he turned to playing multiple school sports.
He credits his coaches there, and later at Kansas State University — where he played both football and basketball — as his eventual career inspirations. Campbell did play professionally for a short time, and "I knew when I got out of playing that I wanted to be a teacher and a coach."
Had a great time working with these future basketball stars at today’s camp! pic.twitter.com/uwMuzHTj11
— Donnie Campbell (@Coach_DCampbell) January 3, 2020
Campbell says his parents valued education highly and wanted their children to do better than they had. He remembers them telling him that teaching would mean working hard and never having any money.
"I never really was worried about making money," Campbell says. "I just wanted to try and make a difference."
And with Sudeikis, it seems Campbell did just that.
- Donnie Campbell, math teacher and basketball coach, Lee's Summit North High School
During the interview, Up To Date host Steve Kraske mistakenly stated that "Ted Lasso" is available on Netflix. It is available through Apple+TV.
