For me, coaching was always something I wanted to do. When I was younger, I was looked at as sort of a “coach on the field” for whatever team I was on. I never had a problem telling people what I thought needed to happen, stepping up, and being in control of the game. This was the case for my entire athletic career. It was then that I thought I would enjoy coaching... I mean who wouldn’t? Being in total control of the team was what I thought I always wanted.
Little did I know that as I matured, my views on WHY I wanted to coach would completely shift. As I realized the affect that the game of football was having on me as a man, an overwhelming sense of obligation came to rest on my shoulders. With all that it had done for me, I owed it to the game of football to give back. It wasn’t about a power trip. It wasn’t about being able to tell players what to do. It had nothing to do with “control” at all. It was about life lessons; initiative, doing the little things, teamwork, completing tasks the right way, leadership, responsibility, accountability, hard work, and the list truly could go on and on. For as much as I thought I was molding the players around me to complete tasks that I wanted finished, the players around me and the game itself was shaping the individual that I would become.
I have been blessed with a wonderful family; I have two parents who I would argue are the best parents on the planet, and a brother and sister who I am extremely close with and know I can count on in any situation. I am even very close with my brother-in-law, and I’m not sure how many people can say that with confidence. The amazing thing about football is that I describe my “football” family using the same enthusiasm and the same adjectives. We are close. We can trust each other. We can rely on each other when times get tough and life deals us a hand that we thought we would have to play alone. My football family at every level has helped me grow, solidify the principles that my parents initially instilled in me, and cultivated me into the man I am today. It is not up for debate: I would NOT be the person I am today without football. I would have missed out on meeting the people who have become my true best friends, and my extended family without football.
I hear all this talk about concussions, about how barbaric our game is, about all the potentials for harm, and I can’t help but think of some of my favorite of John Wooden’s “Life’s Little Puzzlers.” They read, “Why is it so much easier to criticize than to compliment? Why is it easier to give blame than credit? Why is it so much easier to be negative than it is to be positive?” I relate all of these ideas back to the topic at hand. Why is it that we are so quick to criticize the game of football while we remain blind to its positive attributes? Why during these talks does not one person speak to the long term benefits of the game, while they tear down and condemn every step taken on the field? Just like you feel the need to step in and protect a family member if they are being attacked in any way, so too do we feel this obligation to our game. I coach because I could never repay the debt that I owe to this game. I coach because when used effectively as a tool, football WILL help create society’s next generation of successful men. I coach because if I aid just one of our kids to have the same experience that I had, then I know something as simple as High School football can not only be one of the best experiences in a young man’s life, but can have the impact to change a future for the better. I love this game.
Thank you, and God Bless.
