magazine.foriowa.org
I think most coaches genuinely care about their kids and would do most anything to help them grow into men and be successful. There are exceptions, but I think most college football coaches are there because they love the sport and they love their kids.
I also don't think coaches always consciously realize the effect they have on their guys.
Thanks for posting this!!! Hell of an article. I admire writers that are story tellers and that can put something together like that. The going back in time and contextualizing everything is so needed when talking about someone like KF. So well done and we should be thanking our lucky stars that he's been our coach all this time. I know I doThis is an excellent read.
Playing the Long Game: Kirk Ferentz's Enduring Impact
As college footballs longest-tenured coach nears the Big Ten wins record, former Hawkeyes reflect on how Ferentz transformed their lives.
Nailed it! I look back at my high school coaches and have to say that their impact on me was huge. Specifically my baseball coach. The life lessons I learned along with the game itself were things I carry and passed on to my own kids. In a day where wins and losses are prioritized over character building, many don't value having a quality human being coaching or teaching our young people.
Be grateful you had good coaches and mentors, because not everyone on here has had that experience. My coaches in high school were horrible, self-centered and one very abusive. Our football/basketball coach (since retired) has been arrested multiple times (drugs and drinking) recently and we all knew the kind of shit he was into over the last 30-40 years. Sleeping with female students as well... That S.O.B. was inducted into the Iowa Coaches Hall of Fame too. Makes my blood boil.
This is a fair point. I had a couple asshole assistant coaches in football. I remember one ego maniac picked up a kid and threw him to the ground because the kid questioned the coach. What was the kid supposed to do, fight his coach. Think how guys like Bob Knight and Bear Bryant were celebrated? They were assholes who sometimes physically endangered their players.
I had one coach in HS I didn't like and that was my freshman year in baseball. He wasn't a baseball guy and even as a 13 year old I could tell he was only in it for the summer money since he was a teacher. He wasn't a POS or into bad stuff, and was actually a pretty nice guy. Just lazy for the most part as a coach and didn't care very much if we won or lost. Luckily after my freshman year he quit and another teacher who had sniffed the minors with his brother took over. We went from scheduling like 15 games my freshman season to playing 38, 39, and 38 the rest of the years I was there. Senior season we made state. We played in tournaments every weekend and we all (except for a couple guys) loved it. All the non-conference games he scheduled on his own were against better schools than us with better pitching. We lost a bunch of games but by the end of each of those three years we had all been through the trenches and were like brothers. And also by the end of the year we were playing as a single unit and started winning a lot more than we lost. I still hold that to be the most important thing a team can do is just play a lot of baseball. There's no replacement you can get in the cage or practicing. It was great.
I'm pretty sure as long as you leave on good terms you're part of the family for life. Which is how it should be. You go to war for those coaches, and Spence had WAY more than his share of mud slung on him from his own supposed fans. That's worth something to me. Getting booed by tens of thousands of people wearing the Tigerhawk on their hoodies can't feel good.
That's so horrible to hear. I agree, I was blessed and grateful. You hear stories of young athletes quitting and walking away from sports because of a bad coach. It's terrible. Having positive memories and moments that help shape who you are so important to a young person. And the negative ones, impact you as well.
