Before the last game of the regular season kicked off last Sunday, Thomas Kösling stood in the middle of the football field in the stadium on Bornheimer Hang. Together with managing director Eric Reutemann, the Frankfurt Galaxy coach held a neon yellow training sweater in front of him with “2024+” printed in large letters.
It was the same sweater that Kösling was wearing. A sweater like the one he has worn on every game day for years, whether in the sleet or under the scorching sun. He has become his trademark, just as Thomas Kösling has become the Galaxy’s trademark. He will also lead the franchise next season, that’s what the sweater announced. And probably the following season too.
When he was still playing football, Kösling moved to Frankfurt Universe in the fifth division in 2007 – and he stayed. In 2014 he became defensive coordinator and in 2019 head coach, when Universe had reached the top German league. When Kösling talks today about the journey that he and his long-time players are on, he also means his time at Universe.
The best in the league
In 2021 there was a break, Kösling and a large part of his team joined the newly founded Galaxy to play in the newly founded European League of Football (ELF). They won the title in their debut season, but missed the play-offs the following year. This Saturday, Galaxy will once again be competing in a knockout game; Thomas Kösling and his coaching team have once again formed a team that is one of the best in the league.
How does Kösling do it? And what do those who have accompanied him in sports say for years?
Patrick Griesheimer has been at Kösling’s side as offensive coordinator since 2019. There is a photo circulating in the trainers’ cell phone group that is significantly older. It shows Griesheimer playing as an O-liner in the second division in the noughties. And it shows an opposing linebacker about to crash into Griesheimer. The linebacker is Thomas Kösling. The other coaches tease Griesheimer with this image when discussions arise. “It’s about to hit you now,” they then write. Football humor.
“It’s still legendary today.”
Kösling also knows how to have fun, but he often doesn’t make a face, which takes some getting used to. His preparation for the 2018 championship final with Universe proves that he can put himself on the spot. Kösling showed his team a video with heavy music. Highlights could be seen, not from the team, but from Kösling’s playing days. “It’s still legendary today,” says Joshua Poznanski, one of the coach’s closest confidants among the players.
Humor has a function on a football team. When sixty players are playing contact sports, it’s good to laugh to diffuse tension. Anyone who jokes about themselves or others also negotiates their own position in the hierarchy. And the military is perhaps more hierarchical than a football team. “The coach can’t be the puppet, but he can’t scare his players either,” says Poznanski. Kösling usually finds the right line.
Patrick Griesheimer also says that, although he clearly sensed at the beginning that Kösling was the boss at Galaxy. Kösling determined how the offense should play, and that’s exactly how he let them play. Today Kösling gives him free rein and constantly asks him for his opinion. The boss has found trust, which is also reflected in Griesheimer’s job description. As of this season, he is no longer just an offensive coordinator, but rather an assistant coach. Kösling wanted the players to respect his partner’s word as much as his.
Passion does not need compensation
Griesheimer has experienced numerous head coaches, but “there has never been anyone who has taken football as seriously as Thomas.” Kösling speaks like that, saying several times this season: “You can’t cheat football.” It sounded religious, as if the coach was making offerings to the football god. And in a way that’s true, because he dedicates himself to the sport during the season almost all of his free time (he works as a police officer on four days) and all the energy he can muster. He hardly has any balance, he said a few weeks ago, but that’s okay.
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Because you can’t cheat on football, you have to follow rules. It’s not the rules of the game that the referees monitor, explains Sebastian Gauthier, the linebacker who has known Kösling for five years. Rules like: “In a duel, the one whose center of gravity is closer to the ground wins.” In summary, the rules result in Kösling’s mantra: “Alignment, Assignment”, loosely translated as “Stand up and stick to your task”. “He says that at least ten times in one day,” said Gauthier.
Functioning under pressure
Repetition also has its purpose, as shown by Galaxy’s greatest success, the ELF title in 2021. She turned the game around with her last attack. Afterwards, O-liner Yannic Kiehl said to his coach: “I was wondering why we kept going through the plays for the last two minutes in training. Now I know.” Under pressure, the players did what they had internalized. This drill also causes discussions, says pass receiver Lorenz Regler, who has been in Frankfurt since 2019. But Kösling is not too proud to listen to his players when the stress becomes too great.
A football team is a complex structure, and leading it in the long term requires community spirit. “The ELF title was of course something special, but because of the path we have taken.” What sounds like a phrase is taken from Thomas Kösling. Whether Galaxy wins or loses against Berlin Thunder this Saturday (3:15 p.m.) in the stadium on Bornheimer Hang, the journey continues. 2024 and beyond.
2023-09-09 10:14:59
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