Getty Sebastian Joseph-Day grasps onto Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson during a December 2020 NFC West game.
The first head football coach to see potential in Los Angeles Rams nose tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day wasn’t Sean McVay or former Rutgers head coach Kyle Flood.
It was a coach who saw a massive lineman standing on the sidelines not playing when breaking down film: His high school football head coach at Stroudsburg High in Pennsylvania Joe Bernard.
Joseph-Day reflected back on his prep football journey in a Rams video released on the team website during the weekend of June 25. Bernard joined the video to share what he remembers of “Bash.”
The fourth-year nose tackle recalled a former Pittsburgh Panther strength consultant who had the task of resurrecting a football program that was enduring a regime change from a man who directed 13 conference titles at the school. And “Bash” recalls little warm fuzzies about Bernard.
“First impression of coach Bernard: Hard a**, hard a** boy. He was playing no games,” Joseph-Day said in the video.
Yet, Joseph-Day eventually saw a side of his new head coach that unlocked his potential.
“It was a blessing in disguise,” Joseph-Day said. “In every life story, there’s always a pinnacle and always that high point and that peak, and I hit that peak with him.”
The First Sight Bernard Saw Watching Stroudsburg High Film
Bernard’s first thing he said he caught on film? A kid who stood on the sidelines.
“The first time I had an impression of Sebastian was actually not meeting him,” Bernard said in the video. “Once I got hired as the head coach of Stroudsburg High School, the first thing you do is you go start watching tape from last year. Coach (John) Feener and a couple of the coaches who I retained are in there watching film and the first thing that caught my eye was ‘Who was the big kid standing on the sideline not playing? That kid should be on the field.'”
Bernard eventually took a program that had endured five consecutive losing seasons to 9-3 in his first campaign. According to MaxPreps, the 6-foot-3, 245-pound Joseph-Day finished the 2011-12 season with 33 tackles, 27 solo stops and six sacks through nine games played. With “Bash” controlling and wrecking havoc in the trenches in his final two prep seasons, the Mounties went on to win 19 of their 24 games.
The program turnaround accompanied with trench dominance led to college recruiters flocking to the campus to visit “Bash.” Joseph-Day admitted in the video he couldn’t fully grasp on how to handle the recruiting process. But credits Bernard for alleviating the stress he and his family had before parlaying into a career at Rutgers then the NFL.
“Honestly, he helped me get recruited,” Joseph-Day said. “I didn’t know how to process it, at all. Coach Bernard was my parent when I was away when I was at school: Making sure my grades were good, making sure I was always behaving, making sure of everything because you know me, I’m a little out-going, I’m a little talkative.”
Bernard Praises Joseph-Day’s Attitude
Bernard first saw a sideline standby when he saw No. 51 on film. But now he sees where Joseph-Day’s ambition and drive took him.
“Since the first time I met you, the one thing you understood was you weren’t going to be handed anything, you had to earn everything. The thing that set you apart has been your attitude, your ability and your drive,” Bernard tells his former player.
Bernard, who has since returned to the NCAA DI realm as the defensive coordinator for Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) program Albany, lauds Joseph-Day’s personality.
“He let his actions on the field speak for his leadership, and that’s what we kind of taught him. And then off the field, he was the perfect role model not only for his peers his age, but for the younger guys behind him,” Bernard said.
Joseph-Day credits Bernard for his coaching and belief in him, stating “If he wasn’t there, I wouldn’t be Sebastian Joseph-Day with the L.A. Rams, I wouldn’t be at Rutgers and I wouldn’t have done any of the things I’ve done here.”