I have always enjoyed the strategy involved in sports. Jocks get a bad rap for the most part when it comes to the “dumb” stereotypes. While there is certainly a difference in common sense and being a polished thinker, sports takes a surprising amount of brain power to master. I have made up for quite an underwhelming amount of athleticism by being sports smart. I’m 5’10, corn-fed, slow and can’t jump. Wow, that sounds even worse than it did in my head. Even with all of that working against me, I’ve managed to enjoy several sports throughout my life and continue to play in my late, late 30’s. I’m no superstar but I’m content with my abilities. I’ve done it by knowing where to be, what to do, how to exploit my opponents weaknesses, learned from mistakes, understood my limitations and maximized my strengths. I’ve seen so many super athletic people struggle because they don’t use their melon. That has led to a real passion for coaching. I can’t get my own body to do it so I tell someone else how.
My first foray into coaching was with Uncle Greg in the Newton Women’s League. Anybody who remembers that league will probably shutter at the very mention of its name. I learned some very important lessons during this first experience. There is a lot more to coaching than just practicing, setting lineups and managing the game. There are personality conflicts, distractions, inter-league drama, hurt feelings, hurt players and multiple egos to manage. That season was a tough one to navigate and it was an eye opening experience. I realized that if I really wanted to be a successful coach on any level I was going to have to develop a thick skin and be tough but fair at the same time.
My second venture was RA basketball. This was really fun. After all the years of playing with Coop in the backyard, I became his coach along with Dino Radja and several others that I had grown up with. Unlike baseball or softball, you can get creative with play calling and scheme in basketball that makes the pace of coaching more difficult. In baseball, you can put your players through reps and situations but ultimately, your game day plan is less flexible than in basketball. This coaching experience taught me how to adjust quickly and recognize and exploit matchups.
Later, I tried my hand at football with some rec league action. I coached the defensive unit on a 10 year old football squad. In addition to being a different sport than the two above, the introduction of 10 year olds as players created a very unique experience. At that age, you aren’t teaching plays as much as you are teaching the basics like tackling, offsides, face mask penalties and what not to say in a huddle. That was when I realized what sort of impact I could have on a player though. Kids that age look to you for guidance. There are no egos, no motives, just kids learning the game and having fun. Our defense was stout that year. I’d like to take the credit for that but I was helped by a stud defensive player who happened to be the younger brother of one of my oldest friends from school, Joel Jackson. Joseph Jackson was a beast among the league and was responsible for leading that defense. I can still see him in that gold helmet he wore. He will always be one of my favorite players. He passed at a very young age and was taken entirely too soon. RIP young man.
In 1999, I got my big break. While watching another great season of Mitchell-Baker football, I met Coach Rodney Bullard, assistant football coach and head baseball coach. He graciously decided to give me a shot at assisting him at the varsity level and leading the JV team. First, a little about Coach Bullard. While there have been many coaches I have looked up to and admired, Coach Bullard has had the most impact on my coaching life. I’m obviously not a full time coach but still dabble here and there. I learned principals of coaching from him that have carried me along every step of the way. A truly genuine human being who loved the kids and the sport above any personal recognition he ever received. He was an excellent ball player himself, playing infield and pitcher at Bethune-Cookman and is found in various areas of the NCAA record book. I couldn’t have asked for a better coaching mentor.
That season was one of the most fun sporting experiences I’ve ever had. It started with a coaches clinic in Atlanta where I got to spend a few days with all of the coaches around Georgia and even met the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs at the time, Ron Polk. We then went through winter practice and began assessing our team. We were not blessed with numbers but we had a team of gritty players that got along well and enjoyed playing the game. At the time, the 7th-8th grade team consisted of Mike Lamb, Jeff Henderson, Eric Snow, Jeremy Lowery, Brandon Marcus and others that I was able to periodically snipe to play on my JV team. I believe Eric and Brandon played most of the year on that squad. Varsity included Narada Kelson, Bobby Sharp, Jamie Ross (E6), Corey Gibson (Sad Dog), Shane Staines, DK Grissom and Shauntay Walker among the group. I spent every day of the week with these guys and developed a special bond that still leads to hugs and handshakes today when I see them. They each had unique characteristics and were great kids to be around.
Early in the season, Coach Bullard threw me into the fire. We traveled to Seminole County to play the Indians and very early in the game, Coach Bullard and the umpire had a bit of a disagreement that led to one of his only ejections of the year. As he passed the dugout, he just looked at me and said, “it’s your time, I’ll be on the bus.” Up until this point, I had coached first base and called a select number of pitches. That changed quickly as I found myself in charge of the entire show. I think I actually needed that early in the season because it gave me a tremendous amount of confidence. I’ve always wondered if Coach Bullard did that on purpose. There are other cool memories that I still have of that season almost twenty years ago. I remember Shane hitting a home run in Brooks County, Shauntay walking home down a long dirt road late one night after an out of town game and a 6’6 behemoth named Josh Dukes cracking my forearm with a foul ball in Cook County. That one really hurt. I was kneeling at the opening of the third base dugout in my usual spot to call pitches. DK was not known for his overpowering pitches as much as his pinpoint control and movement. Dukes got around early on a change up and ripped a screamer at the dugout that no one could have gotten out of the way of. SMACK, right to the forearm. Still one of the worst pains I’ve experienced on the baseball field.
I experienced some pain off of the field that season as well. I had a brand new pickup, all decked out with a sound system and rims. One season of hauling baseball players around with steel spike cleats and it was nicked up all over. I was even able to identify two suspects who took my truck to the store during a JV game thanks to spike marks on the inside of the door. Remember that Narada and Shane? One of the coolest guys I met that year was Derrick Silas. He was our equipment manager and we became friends almost immediately. While he was our equipment manager for baseball, he was also a 6’6, 300 pound offensive lineman nicknamed “Big Show”. It was quite comforting going into enemy territory knowing that Big Show was there and had my back. Derrick was a great guy and went on to play college football and later turn to coaching himself.
The experiences I learned from during that year have had a major impact on who I am today. I still have my love for coaching today and take any opportunity to jump on a sideline or in a dugout. Coaching is a rewarding experience, win or lose. So many sports lessons can be applied to our every day life. If coaches do their job, the rewards are immense regardless of final scores. Never has my coaching experience been more meaningful to me than my meeting Zibby last year. All of the years of coaching led to being able to provide something to someone that needed it at just the right time. It also led to me and her becoming great friends. Coaching has provided me with a lifetime of friends and memories. And it has provided me with a lifetime of situational motivation. Sometimes when I am having a stressful day and I feel like everything is working against me, I can go back to that game where I stepped out to the mound to calm Sad Dog down after some wild pitching. I remember looking him in the eye and telling him that none of what had happened mattered anymore. This was now about him and Bobby playing catch. Nothing more. No fans, no batter. Just him and his teammate playing catch.
That’s life isn’t it? None of the past matters. What matters is the here and now. When you focus on having fun with the person you are with or people you are surrounded by, that’s what makes you happy. It’s easy to get discouraged in life. We have to learn from each moment of each day. We have to get better, we have to improve. We are really only competing with ourselves from yesterday. We win and we lose but we get better every day.