#WhyICoach - Coach Carnes

I went to Wabash College to play football after high school. At the end of my football career, I realized I wasn’t ready to be done. The game had completely changed my life and had such an incredible impact on who I had become. Football taught me that no matter how physically and emotionally exhausted I was, I could always push on a little bit further. It taught me the importance of character, leadership, working together for a common cause, how to deal with success, how to deal with heartache and failure; it taught me about life. The game of football gave me the confidence that if I could make it through everything I conquered on the field, even those things I thought I couldn’t do or thought I wasn’t strong enough to do, surely nothing else in life would be that difficult… at least not physically. My coaches pushed me way past anything I was comfortable with or thought I could do on my own, and showed me the power of dreaming big and not settling for just good enough. I can name every football coach I have ever had, exactly what he taught me, and how he changed my life forever and made me a better man. I was lucky enough to have the greatest parents in the world, but those men who invested in me played just as big of a role in my journey from being a boy to becoming a man. They taught me more about life and the right way to do things than any other single thing, person, or life experience with the exception of my father. They invested incredible amounts of time in my life and my success. Those coaches showed me a selflessness that I still admire to this day. Some of the people I most respect and admire in this world today were at some point my football coach.

That is why I coach. I feel a deep, inner debt to those men and what they did for me that I will never be able to repay. But that doesn't mean I can’t try. If I can have half of the impact my coaches had on my life in the life of one of my players, it will be worth all of my time, energy, sweat, and tears. The time a coach is required to be away from his immediate family is incredibly straining and difficult, but when that time is spent with your extended family that you love just about as much, it makes it much better. Not easier...but definitely worth it.

I love teaching and working with young men on the practice field. I love the community I work, teach, and live in. I consider myself extremely blessed to be able to do something I love every single day.

I don’t want my players to like me or be my friend—I want them to look back in twenty years and think, “I am glad Coach Carnes was in my life,” and know how much I loved them.

That’s why I coach.