Don’t Lose Your Wedding Ring, In Your Pursuit Of A Championship Ring!
Updated: Mar 5, 2021
I love everything about the game of football; the competition, the chess match, the violence, the game planning, practices, film study, off-season strength and conditioning, two-a-days, the countless relationships forged, and most importantly, the platform we as coaches have to change lives for the better!
All that being said, I DO feel coaches need to make sure we have our lives in order, before we start trying to tell others how to live theirs. We have to keep things in balance, and not only define success, but share what success looks like to others. And no, I’m not just talking about success in terms of wins and losses, but more importantly, success in ALL aspects of life!
Now I’m not saying we have to be perfect (‘cause obviously none of us are), but I AM saying that we need to lead by example, and that that example has got to start at home.
I’ve been blessed over the years to have been coached by (and to have coached WITH), tremendous individuals who DO lead by example, but I have also coached with coaches who brag about their commitment to “the game”, while at the same time, not fully realizing the damage they’re doing to those they claim to love the most.
All too often (in my 22+ years of coaching high school football), I have heard coaches bragging about their families knowing that they are “football widows/children” during the season. You know what I mean; coaches who brag about spending countless hours breaking down film, and being in the office while putting their families on the back burner.
Now don’t give me wrong, I know all too well the demands of being both an assistant coach, as well as a head coach of new, struggling, rebuilding, and powerhouse programs!
It can often be a “thankless” job, one with countless struggles, trials, and tribulations, and there’s no doubt that the demands are greater than most will ever know. The hours are sometimes incomprehensible, the sleepless nights are too many to remember, and the prayers said, and deeds done are both a blessing, and a challenge. And still, we do it because we love it…. It’s in our DNA!
We love knowing that we have the opportunity (every time we step into the classroom, into the weight room, onto the practice field, and every time we stand before our young men), to empower and change lives forever!
If one of our main goals is to in fact help build young man of character, and to teach them about the “important” things in life, we’ve gotta lead by example.
Make sure you put your families first! Talk with your spouses, talk with your children, and as often as you can, LISTEN to their wants, needs, and desires! Make Football a PART of your lives, not the dictator of your lives.
Let’s teach those we are blessed to coach (and coach with), that as passionate as we are about the game, we are more passionate about the people, and the opportunities we have to be, and to LIVE with them!