I am forever thankful for some of my old coaches. My old football coach was one of the best running backs in West Virginia high school football. His name was Mr. Springer...we affectionately called him hound-dog. He had some jaws that drooped just a little and he always had a big wad of Levi Garrett in his mouth. It was often hard to understand him. His chewing you out often sound like this...
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But man could he inspire me to play some ball. It was Coach Springer who taught me to lower my shoulder and run people over. He made me want to rip someones head off on the defensive side. His coaching even spurred me to a 56 point basketball game my freshman year. There's one thing that old hound-dog still preaches today if you have a desire to be good at something....
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My wife hates when I get talking about my old coaches because she never knows what might come out of my mouth. Through the years coaches and teachers made more of an impact on me than just about any other professional group of people. I always admired them as they seemed to push me to desire greatness.
Old hound-dog would take our chin strap off and beat it acrossed our helmet while he screamed in our face. His staff was equally as influential. If coaches today coached like they did we would either have men coming out of high school or the whole coaching staff would be in prison. With our culture probably the latter.
His assistant coaches were Mr. Wells and Mr. Eskra. Mr. Eskra never took any crap...my cousin called him by his first name one day and Eskra put him to the ceiling with one hand and informed him if he ever did that again he would be suspended...guess what I still don't call him by his first name...and he has given me permission to do so. Mr. Wells was always the encourager...he wanted hard work but he told you when you did good. It was off the field that coach Wells said something to me that I have carried for years. He put this in my yearbook, "Mike, you have the world at your fingertips and all you have to do is go after it."
I have learned that it takes both personalities to truly motivate me...someone who will get in my face and at the same time encourage me along the way. Coach Springer taught me that constructive criticism is good. But the thing I love is....
ARMPITS ARE LIKE EXCUSES WE ALL HAVE THEM AND THEY ALL STINK!!!
2 comments:
I love it. Yep, coaches have a way of sayng things that will stick with you the rest of your life. When I was in the fourth grade playing soccer in Williamsburg, Va., a college student was our head coach. He was a motivator and one of the most positive people I have ever met. I played goalie for the Earthquake and Coach Pete would always tell us, "Yes you can." He called me Ken "King" Tuck - King of the Goal. He coached me into being the best goalie in the league. Including a shutout against the best team in the league. I stopped five penalty kicks in that game, including four by the best scorer in the league and one by my best friend with just second remaining in the game. I remember when I made the all-star team and hit a tough time of where I was struggling as a goalie. Coach Pete wasn't my coach then, but he wrote a letter to me that I still have today. He said he heard I was struggling and thinking about coming out of the goal. He told me that I was the best goalie he had ever seen at that age and that I can be the same great goalie at the all-star level. "Yes you can King," he wrote. It might sound kind of corny now, but that meant the world to me then (and still does), and I kept playing goalie. Later, I played every position, including halfback in college. But I give Coach Pete a lot of the credit for my success. He instilled confidence in a kid and it has stuck with me all of my life.
Another coach, Coach Tim Coleman, was my JV basketball coach at Courtland High School in Fredericksburg, Va. He always told us to "take care of the little things, and the big things will take care of themselves." In other words, box out your man to get the rebound, put a hand in the face of the shooter, slide your feet on defense, keep your head up when dribbling, etc. If you do all of those little things, then the big thing of winning the game will take care of itself. I remember being out of position on potential game-winning play he drew up. That final shot missed. He jumped in my face, because by being out of position, my defender was able to slide over and defend the last shot. He was right. I didn't take care of the little thing, which was to clear out and take my defender with me. I never got out of position again. I also remember how he always led us in the Lord's Prayer before each game.
You will never convince me that leaders don't have a lifelong influence on people. The question is, are you going to be a bad leader or a strong leader who pulls every ounce of potential out of people? Be a good one and make a lasting, positive influence on people.
My dad use to say to me, "Brian, life does not meet you half way. If you want something, you got to go all the way for it." This advice, and others, has really stuck with me through out the years. It is totally true. Pursuit is the proof of true desire. We can not fulfill our God given destiny without going all the way with all we have.
I tell the following to my sons, "Remember to fulfill your God given purpose, reach your highest potential, and sow seeds that benefit others." To me, these three values is what life is all about.
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