Dedication, dammit!

Good day, all.

A few things I want to say about dedication. Take a look at this inspiring story of Washington Redskins QB Kirk Cousins. True Dedication

He didn't let something as mundane as his child being born keep him from his dedication to the team. He's an example of the kind of commitment it takes to rise to the upper-kinda-middle of the pack!

I'm reminded of my experience of when my own wife, Constance, was undergoing complicated surgery after a automobile accident (her fault, but, that's irrelevant).

Her surgery was scheduled at 9am, during our regular coaches meeting, so, I rescheduled the surgery for 10am. Turns out, our meeting went long and I had my assistant, April, call the hospital to push the surgery another hour. The hospital flat-out refused!!

I was forced to conduct the remainder of the coaches meeting from my car. If any of you have ever tried to hold a call with assistants and coordinators while operating your over-sized SUV, you know what I'm talking about. Not easy! Especially with a full coffee and donut in-hand!

When I got to the hospital, I used the time Constance was in surgery and, subsequent, recovery to game plan, make phone calls and prepare notes for our evening team meeting and practice.

Due to the surgery taking longer than anticipated (thanks, again, Doc!), I was forced to let my lead assistant run practice for the first ten minutes....and anyone who knows coaching, knows how critical those first ten minutes of practice are! I missed the entire 'milling around' period where I get to feel the 'vibe' of the team. By the time I got there, I felt like I'd missed a week!

Needless to say, the next game, we lost by two touchdowns.
But, hey, I didn't blame Constance for the loss.

That said, I couldn't help but wonder if I'd just been a little more dedicated that week, we might've won.

My team's motto is D-E-D-I-C-A-T-I-O-N.
"D" is for determination
"E" is for Elite
"D" is for determination
"I" is for No 'I' in 'team'
"C" is for Commitment
"A" is for Action!
"T" is for Tenacity
"I" is for Intensity
"O" is for Oh! Yeah!
"N" is for "Not Gonna Let up"

It's what we do. It's how we are. Football!

Coach

Football Is Life....and Vice Versa

Wow. It's been a long time since I got back on the blogging horse. Since my last post, I have taken exactly two days off. The season never stops, folks...never.

One of my vacation days was to see the wedding of my beloved daughter, Angie. I can't believe she's grown up from the little girl I used to watch football with to the mature, smart, well-adjusted bride that made sure her wedding date didn't conflict with the beginning of rookie camp.

Her husband (I think his name is Rick) seems to be a nice enough fellow with a firm handshake. I, also, believe he is a member of an organization of some sort. Real estate agency comes to mind....Don't quote me on that.

The second day-off was for last year's Christmas Eve. I invited some of my players to the house  - much to the delight of my wife. She couldn't have been more hospitable to them!

Name another woman who would run back out to the store, grab another $450 worth of groceries, battle last-minute shoppers, get back in her car and drive the two miles back just to cook another entire meal for ten 300-pound men? My wife, Constance, that's who!

When I complained about the second turkey being a bit dry, she didn't even blink! I mean....literally, she didn't blink....just stared at me for 48 seconds. What a trooper!

So, the season is underway and I have a few seconds before I go through game plans with my coaching staff. It's always somethin'.

Sadly, we had to fire one of our assistants, Jared, for missing too much time. It's not easy for me to let someone go after they've undergone major surgery, but, two weeks is a long time to be missing prep work and we had a conference game coming up. Godspeed, Jared!

All right...until next time, remember. Football is life and vice versa. Chat soon.

Peace and gravy.
Coach.