'Never quit': How one coach forever changed Jaguars' Luke Fortner's perspective on life

It only took a few visits to the University of Kentucky for Luke Fortner to know that he would be in good hands if he decided to join the program and its offensive-line room led by former Kentucky OL coach John Schlarman.

During one of the visits Fortner took to Kentucky, an interaction between Schlarman and a Kentucky Wildcats offensive lineman during practice stood out.

The offensive line was struggling and in a moment of frustration, one of the players threw their helmet on the ground. Schlarman tore into the player, but what happened after left an impression on the then-recruit.

"After that, he was like, 'Oh, [it's] just practice, so and so had a rough day ... love him to death. So, even hearing that, and the way he spoke about his players and the guys he coached just really kind of locked it in for me, like, that was a guy I wanted to play for."

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Joining the Wildcats turned out to be one of the best decisions that Fortner has made. Ultimately playing for the program from 2016-22. Fortner was selected by the Jaguars in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, one of six Kentucky offensive linemen to be drafted since Schlarman's second stint with the program that began in 2012.

Schlarman ushered in an era of Kentucky offensive-line play that went on to be known as the "Big Blue Wall," and continues to be one of the top schools for offensive linemen in the country.

Schlarman left a lasting impact on Fortner both on and off the gridiron

It wasn't just football that Schlarman taught the rookie center. He passed down plenty of away-from-the-gridiron knowledge to his players, too. From how to approach life and relationships and everything in between. That knowledge is just as important as how to pick up a blitz, or understanding what play a defense is running.

"He was just always asking about family, always asking how my brother and sister were doing, how my parents were; what I was getting into off the field and trying to make sure that we had a good balance between," Fortner explained.

"Obviously, you have to work your butt off in football but being able to be a college student for a little bit and making sure that it wasn't too much on the football side and you were enjoying yourself and having fun doing it. Because you could tell he did."

On Nov. 12, 2020, Schlarman passed away after a two-year battle with cholangiocarcinoma, a rare form of cancer in the bile ducts.

The imprint that Schlarman left on Fortner and the rest of the Kentucky football program will last a lifetime, or several.

"I used to always think the whole, 'He was like a father to me' thing was just cliche until everything with him happened and I lost him," Fortner said. "He was my offensive line coach for five years and he taught me a lot more about life than football. He always harped on how hard life is and how you have to take everything and earn everything and are given nothing. He taught me a ton."

Even after being diagnosed with cancer in 2018, Schlarman continued on as though there was nothing to be worried about. He continued to coach his players, as usual, showed up to every meeting in between chemotherapy sessions and made sure his guys were taken care of.

It was his way, Fortner explained, of not letting the diagnosis weigh on the players, never wanting them to worry about him or what was going on.

"It's kind of the way he approached it all the way through," said Fortner. "He never made it about himself. He never made it about anything he was doing. It was always about us and how much he could give us and what he could teach us."

Still, it wasn't hard to miss at times. There were days when Schlarman would show up to practice just after a session of chemo, scream at someone, turn around and throw up and get right back to coaching. That was tough to watch, Fortner said, but it epitomized something that he had known about his coach for some time even before his diagnosis, specifically his toughness and never-quit mentality.

"Every day he was preaching about 'never quit,' 'keep chopping wood,' and 'there's times when life's gonna suck, but you just got to continue to push through,'" Fortner said.

"Many people say those things, and whether they do them or not, you never really find out, but for him, he preached all those things for a couple of years and then he put those things in action and showed us that he believed everything he said. He truly practiced what he preached, and just to see him live by his words that he always told us, it was incredible."

The teachings and how Schlarman carried himself even through his battle have left a lasting impression on the entire Kentucky football program.

On the field, Schlarman taught Fortner and his teammates to lean on one another. One offensive lineman can't make an entire unit, it takes all five to perform at their highest level.

"You see so many offensive lines, whether in college, high school, the league, whatever, that they have so many great individual players, but they just struggle to be a cohesive unit," Fortner explained, noting that his high-school film isn't anything to be impressed about, but what happened after he learned from Schlarman made him into the player he is today.

"He made me a great player because he taught me to lean into my teammates and find chemistry within them."

But, it wasn't just about X's and O's for Schlarman. While, of course, it was important to understand the ins and outs of playing the game on the field, it was also important to play with heart, will and strength.

In 2018, when Kentucky played the Florida Gators, the song "I Won't Back Down" played throughout the stadium at the end of the third quarter. Though that song is often used to pump up the Florida sideline, Schlarman utilized it to give confidence to his own offensive linemen.

During the song, former Kentucky OL Drake Jackson attempted to ask Schlarman questions about how the team should attack a certain look given by Florida. Instead of answering the question, Schlarman asked the lineman to "soak this in," Jackson said via ESPN in 2020.

"Man, we have a chance here to do something neither of us have ever done. You better believe it, man, we're never gonna back down."

The Wildcats ended their 31-game losing streak against the Gators that night, winning 27-16.

"It only matters so much the X's and O's and the technique and the, where your hands or your feet are," Fortner said when asked about that moment in 2018.

"What really matters is what kind of man you are and just your will and your strength. It's about, 'How bad do you want it?'  And that was something he always fell back on and I think that just exemplifies that."

Ultimately, Fortner has learned a new perspective on life and just how short it can be from what he saw his OL coach go through.

"I think it's so important for people to just understand how short life is. He was diagnosed in 2018 and that whole year you forgot he had it, he made you forget that he was battling something like that," he explained.

"Then we came back after COVID and he'd lost so many pounds and he was a different man. You just never know when it's gonna turn. So live every day to the fullest."

Fortner helps pay it forward through NFL's 'Crucial Catch' initiative 

This month, teams around the NFL are joining forces with the American Cancer Society to help fight cancer through awareness, especially in under-resourced communities with its 'Crucial Catch: Intercept Cancer' initiative.

For the Jaguars, their Crucial Catch game will take place on Sunday against the New York Giants, an opportunity for the club to help spread awareness and give back to the community.

Earlier this week, Fortner, along with teammates defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris and cornerback Gregory Junior took part in an event for a night of fun for survivors and their families. On Tuesday, Oct. 18, the Jaguars hosted 10 nonprofit organizations that support individuals battling cancer.

The event included bowling, arcade games and a chance for those in attendance to receive a few autographs from the Jaguars players.

"Football's a vehicle for us to help people and we're put in such an incredible situation as players and elevated [with] such a platform that any chance to get to give back to people who elevate and [their] day gets made by interacting with you, it's incredible, it's priceless," Fortner said in the locker room on Thursday.

Serving the community wasn't always on Fortner's radar, but as he grew older he realized the situation he was in was unique. His mom, a special-needs teacher, and his dad, who works with people who have been incarcerated or struggle with addiction, are part of the inspiration for how much community work he's done now.

Though he doesn't have anything planned specifically for Sunday's game, Fortner says that he always thinks about his coach when he takes the field.

"Every time I sit down in the field, I think of him and continue to do that. And I know he's, he's in good hands now."

Center's growth continues as Jaguars get set to face Giants

Set to start his seventh game this season for the Jaguars this Sunday, Fortner continues to progress in his role. He's yet to allow a sack through seven games, according to Pro Football Focus, and his pressures given up have steadily dropped, including zero total allowed during the team's Week 4 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

In Week 1, Fortner was thrown into the gauntlet, tasked with handling two of the best defensive tackles in the league, Washington Commanders tackles Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne. His growth, though, according to Jaguars offensive line coach Phil Rauscher, has been in learning where his help is.

"He's made the jump of learning how to finish," Rauscher told the Times-Union after practice on Thursday. "And really where [his] help is. Really good linemen, they know where to help is. You know, how can I make this situation easier on me?"

Fortner is currently bookended by right guard Brandon Scherff, a five-time Pro Bowl (2016, 2017, 2019-21) player and first-team All-Pro (2020), and Tyler Shatley, the longest-tenured Jaguar on the team and a do-it-all lineman who has played in the league for nine years. That is some good help, Rauscher explained.

Having a player of Scherff's caliber to help Fortner with things like learning where to line up in practice, understanding how to take care of his body in a 17-game season, how to study the tape and everything in between. They're all things that Fortner has taken an initiative to learn from guys like Scherff, Shatley, and even tackles Cam Robinson and Jawaan Taylor.

Fortner has been the team's starting center since the start of camp. The team made a calculated decision at that time to give him as many reps as possible, but also took the initiative to give him as many reps as possible with both Scherff and Shatley.

Though Shatley didn't ultimately earn the starting left guard spot — that job went to third-year guard Ben Bartch, before Bartch was placed on season-ending injured reserve after sustaining a knee injury during the Jaguars' Week 5 loss to the Houston Texans — Jacksonville wanted to give Fortner two players that have "played a lot of football," Rauscher explained.

"So then, they can kind of help push him through on the field because there's things that they've seen in life that that will help him," Rauscher explained about the decision to go with Fortner early at center.

"It's like getting an extra rep without actually having to do it. The other thing is, [if] you want to swim you have to jump in the pool. So you just throw him in there and you live with the early growing pains and now you get happier and happier with the results as they go on."

There was never a question about Fortner's physical abilities. At 6-foot-6, 307 pounds, the tools are all there. But, where young players typically struggle is with the mental aspects of the game. That's where Rauscher has seen improvement from his young center.

"Now the mental aspect is starting to catch up with the physical," he said, "and that's why he's improving every snap."

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on Twitter at @Demetrius82.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars OL Luke Fortner reflects on coach John Schlarman's impact