My Coaching Philosophy

This is one of my blogs from one of my previous blog websites. It’s interesting because I was wondering how I was gonna post this. I was wondering what kind of opportunity would arise that I could post this. The Lord is obviously faithful and His Timing is Perfect. I actually, while interning here in Roswell at Christ’s Church, have had the opportunity to be an assistant coach of football. It is their equivalent of VBS, but it strives to reach out to different kids than just the kids who would go to VBS and only that. We have a sports camp session in the very beginning, then we have worship and a message, then another sports camp group before sending them home. It is so wonderful to see these kiddos have a commitment to learning and getting better at their sports, and then for The Lord to give them the opportunity to hear more about Him during something they enjoy. I pray that this blog touches you and The Lord shows you something from it!

I’d like to first apologize because this blog post will be pretty long, but I just wanted to show people the impact my coaches have had on me. So, a little back story as to why I have written this post, I had to write a paper about my coaching philosophy for my College Coaching Class. A coaching philosophy is what you believe will be most important if you were a coach. Coaches believe that different things are most important, such as winning, having fun, or investing in the future of their game (whether playing for college or the NBA). Here is my paper that I wrote to explain my coaching philosophy. 

My coaching philosophy is strongly based on the ways I was coached throughout my life. My coaches have always been more than just the coach of a sport. The coaches have always been Life Coaches, despite not having the “Life Coach” title. There is a song by Kenny Chesney titled “Coach”, which says, “You were a teacher, a preacher A mother, a father A lot less taker than giver A keeper of secrets And constantly making Believers outta quitters.” This quote is the definition of “Life Coach” to me. They were our teacher, not just a teacher of football, volleyball, track, or baseball, but our teacher of how to be a useful adult. The teacher of how to be able to survive in this crazy, hard, and confusing world. They were our “Preacher” because they taught us right from wrong by having consequences for doing stupid things. All the while, they would praise us for the good that we did, so we knew the right thing to do. A mother to the ones who didn’t have a mother to take care of them and nurture them the way they need to be cared about. A father to teach them how to grow up to be hard-working men and women in a world that constantly begs to have their needs met for nothing. They were “a lot less taker than a giver” because they constantly gave everything they had, regardless of the family that they had to go home to, or the class/es that they had to go teach day in and day out. They gave not just a small portion of themselves to us, but they gave 110% of themselves to us. They stayed late to watch the film from the previous game, so they could tell us what we could do to correct our form, plays, and technique. They gave their whole heart to the game, but more importantly to the boys, and girls who they were coaching. They don’t get to get back out there on the field or the court to play, so they have to part their wisdom to their athletes; in order to help them have a passion and love for the game, team, and commitment just as they once had, and continue to have. They don’t take the credit for the win because they give it to the team and the players, and praise their athletes while still telling them to keep trying to get better. The last lyric I want to touch on is that coaches “constantly make believers outta quitters.” This is the truest thing because even when we want to give up at halftime of a game where we are losing by three or four touchdowns; they somehow wake us up and tell us to pick our heads up and go fight harder than we did before. Coaches especially like to make sure we aren’t quitters during the hardest part of practice (conditioning) by making us finish through to the end. “Don’t stop til you cross that line, or we are running another.” Sounds harsh, but we are all humans and tough love is sometimes the only way to teach us how far we can push ourselves. I had a coach who always told us, “Life isn’t all about football, but football is all about life.” This is true with many sports. Teaching these athletes that just because it is hard right now doesn’t mean it isn’t worth it. Showing us that when we do something to give our all, no matter how hard it is we will reap the benefits. I had another coach who always asked us, “Why do something if you’re not going to give everything you’ve got? Why would you want to waste your own time like that?” He said this to tell us in football, track, job interviews, or just our everyday life to live our life by giving 100% of ourselves. Whether or not we enjoyed conditioning, to do it with everything we had, so we could get something productive out of it. My many great and inspirational coaches that have influenced me throughout my life have made me want to do this too. I had the opportunity to coach the Special Olympics team in my hometown because I wanted to be able to have this effect on my athletes and to help them grow up to be strong adults, as my coaches had done for me. One thing about the Special Olympics that I was honestly worried about was what their motto would be. I was worried about this because I have been taught that we are practicing to win. I don’t agree with the quotes that say stuff about having fun whether you win or lose. The goal is to win, and the last part of my coaching philosophy is this quote that is used as the Special Olympics motto which says, “Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.” This is my coaching philosophy. This is my life philosophy because “Life isn’t all about sports, but sports are all about life.”

I am so beyond thankful for everyone who has helped me get where I am, but I am especially thankful for all the coaches that have helped shape me into the man I am today. I want to thank all the coaches who work day in and day out tirelessly to show your athletes how to be an adult and to be the role model that we need.