Linfield's Eminence Grise
Leading the defensive line in subtle ways has earned Chris Stinchcomb the respect of coaches and peers
This article appeared in September 2018 via the official website for Linfield Athletics (golinfieldwildcats.com). It was reprinted with permission from Kelly Bird, Sports Information Director for Linfield College. The article highlights Brother Chris Stinchcomb (Delta Alpha/Linfield 2019).
On the Linfield College football team, Chris Stinchcomb is perhaps the best example of an éminence grise — an influential leader who’s not readily displayed for the public. And it’s been that way since the first time he stepped foot on Maxwell Field as a Wildcat three years ago. Now, this season, things are changing.
When Stinchcomb came to Linfield as a freshman, he was quickly taken outside of his comfort zone and asked to move from linebacker to defensive tackle. He lettered as a freshman while making an early impact on a team stacked with talent and playing alongside and learning from some exceptional role models.
“The older guys —mainly the guys in last year’s class — really showed me the ‘right’ way to play and practice,” Stinchcomb says with a reminiscent smile. “Those guys went hard all the time and never took days off. I looked up to them as role models and they just showed me how to be on the field. And that also translated off the field because they were all pretty successful off the field too.”
Having a group of players to look up to gave Stinchcomb the opportunity to observe and learn while his own leadership talents came to fruition. It wasn’t long before he solidified himself as one of the team’s strongest quiet leaders.
“I’ve never been super vocal or the ‘rah-rah’ guy who tries to motivate guys,” he says. “I have always been more a lead-by-example type of guy and have always given my full effort and hopefully people see that from me.”
Stinchcomb, one of only two seniors on the defensive line this fall, has suddenly found himself in a new position that inevitably brings new responsibilities.
“The last three years I was playing, there was a huge senior class above me,” he says. “So when I was with those guys, I was always the young guy. Even when I was a junior, I was like the young guy still. Now they are literally all gone, and I am one of two seniors in my position group. So I went from being the young guy to ‘The’ older guy.”
As a senior, Stinchcomb has been focusing on using more vocal leadership skills to help direct his teammates. Encouraged to push himself out of his leadership comfort zone, he has continued to excel as a leader in the eyes of his teammates.
“His role as a leader on the D-line has been extraordinary the past three years,” teammate Sam Gomez says. “It is really cool having Chris by my side because he is able to help me with the playbook, but he is also there to fine-tune anything that he thinks needs critiquing. He is just always there to offer help and is never exclusive or just focused on himself. He takes the time to stop and ask what's needed to make everyone around him better.”
Even while placing an emphasis on improving his vocal leadership, Stinchcomb’s strength will always be his quiet leadership. And falling back on that, the one message that he is trying to instill in his teammates is: Never stop seeking ways to learn and improve.
That — the desire to always learn and improve — is something that helps him direct his own life.
The environmental science major from Vallejo, California, is deeply involved around Linfield’s campus and every facet of his on-campus life has positively helped his self-development process. In addition to football, he serves on the Theta Chi Fraternity executive board as Marshal, is president of the Cozine Creek Conservation Corps. and has worked in the Linfield mailroom for the entirety of his tenure at Linfield.
“Being a part of the fraternity and serving on the executive board has really made my time better at Linfield because it has added another faction that I can take pride in,” Stinchcomb says proudly.
As president of the Cozine Creek Conservation Corps, Stinchcomb, along with fellow Linfield students, has been working tirelessly to restore and maintain Cozine Creek — the shallow waterway that runs through Linfield’s campus. His goal is to establish the Cozine Creek area as a peaceful retreat on campus that students are able to regularly utilize.
“I’ve always had a love for wildlife and the environmental science major is really the best route to help me find a career I love,” he says.
Yet, the most impactful element of Stinchcomb’s Linfield experience has been his association with the football team. When he walks away from Maxwell Field at the end of this season, he’ll depart with an uncanny ability to use quiet leadership to better those around him. No matter where Stinchcomb’s life takes him after graduation, you can count on Linfield football’s éminence grise to continue leading others as a quiet example of excellence.
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