Winning Edges and Mental Healing: Athletics and Mental Health- Day 5

If you read enough of my writings, this will seem like a broken record, but it is become some of my core principles in life. The term 'winning edges' was actually coined for me by Coach David Cutcliffe. He is the man who introduced me to the attitude and effort needed to compete well and the core values that support the effort in a sustainable way.

For me, 'Winning Edges' are 'little things'... details that matter and must be executed within the context of my faith in Christ and the truth of the Bible. Knowing my life is secure BEYOND my death is the ultimate 'winning edge' and it is a 'can't fail' .... even if I do. My sin is great, but HIS GRACE is GREATER!

I'm not sure if there is an order of these things.... they all need to be in place at once and will ebb and flow with the storms of life.

CAPTURING EVANESCENT 'SOUL DEEP' BEAUTY- Literature and music helps me.

So this one may sound strange.... but God wants us to take time to absorb the beauty and elegance of things. I have a  love for music and poetry. And I still get awestruck sunsets, mountains, and stars.

The William Wordsworth poem, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, captures this concept as much as any poem I have ever spent time with. It portrays a speaker who has encountered a field of daffodils waving in the breeze who seem to be 'dancing' in the breeze. The beauty of nature in that moment is so powerful that the image is burned into his soul. And later, all alone, quiet and even blue- he hearkens back to that moment as it 'flashed on his inward eye'

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

When I am teaching quarterbacks, I will stop a drill and make them notice a sunset. I tell my young anglers to stop and appreciate the beauty around them. I will say, "Look at that fish, see his shape and colors!" And they sometimes look at me strange when I say it.... but experiencing beauty at the core of your being is an experience with God as you contemplate that He is the great designer and artist.

All of this is a minister to me and it washes away fatigue, pain, and sorrow. The beauty of any rich experience that is more than therapy to me.

COUNTRY MUSIC SINGERS

I had to add a little quip here. The lyrics of wry, witty country music captures the blues of life, but can leave us with a smile.

Try it and you may like it!

RELENTLESS OPTIMISM

I have never liked negative people, naysayers, cynics, critics, doomsayers, or people with 'loser's lean'. I'm not pointing this towards people who occasionally suffer the blues or go through hard patches. But negative people NEVER contribute towards winning. Also, when I am suffering from acute depression or anxiety... these are the people I need to GET AWAY FROM!

I don't know where my endless hope comes from... but it has made me a really tough competitor ... because I feel like all I need is time and I will win. And I get up after a loss and believe I will find a way to get you eventually.

A come from behind victory when all looks like a loss is the most satisfying win of all.

I could write volumes on this.....

Every significant achievement in my life would have never happened if I listened to the naysayers in the midst of the struggle, personally and professionally. These voices get louder when the clouds roll in and the doubts and fears creep in.

Thankfully, I compete well against all of those and though they are ever present.... I have learned to press on in spite of the contrary winds of negativity.

THE LONG GAME

The 'long game' goes hand in hand with relentless optimism. It takes time to finally bring in the victory, especially those victories that seemed bleak and unlikely. It is the best part of my competitive winning edge... I may not beat you today, but you are going to see me coming back to try it again, and again, and again. Part of this success is not letting a loss be the end of the world. It hurts to fail... but if we embrace failure as a natural course of life that is meant to teach us how to be better, then a loss is just a rocky patch on our way to a championship. Significant success usually takes decades.... you can't measure it in days.

If you put 'relentless optimism" with 'the long game' you get one of my favorite Bible passages:

Romans 4:18–22

 In hope he (Abraham) believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” [19] He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. [20] No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, [21] fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. [22] That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” (ESV)

We miss the fact that many of these Bible victories took an extraordinary amount of time. Twenty years is the minimum and 40 years is the average! Moses did a double forty year stretch of doubt to victory.

Winning Edges are so small... but they majestically multiply when consistently applied over long periods of time.

ENCOURAGING AND FORGIVING ALL PEOPLE

This is the most rewarding of the Winning Edges. For some people it is extremely hard, but I think it becomes easy when you really grasp what the gospel is really about. Again, this one could take an entire book to explore... and boy, do I have some stories!

Let's explore the opposite of this for a moment. If I choose to tear down people and hold grudges, I am really only destroying myself. Sadly, I have known too many people who show this trend in their lives and I don't have words to describe their torment and misery.

I call these people 'fist swingers'... they go through life punching every single person they meet with a flurry of venom and destruction. And the result? All they do is make enemies.... and they stay tensed up in conflict, and their minds constantly calculate the deficits... and before long, they crumble under the weight of it all.

When you chose to forgive.... you take all that weight off of you and you don't feel the lust of vengeance. When you choose to be an encourager, you adopt a mindset of encouragement. You actually 'self encourage' as you encourage others.

An encourager and a forgiver finds the opposite result of the aforementioned 'fist swinger'. Open hands are less stressful. The encourager loves.... and wins more friends than he has enemies. He isn't a victim because he doesn't dwell on the wrong suffered.

I am in tears as I write this.... I wish everyone could find Jesus. When He forgives, it releases all of the poison we hold and all of the weight of condemnation and it becomes actually quite easy to live out this 'winning edge'.

TAKING BLOWS 

Unfortunately, there is no easy path or shortcut here. Life will absolutely smash you in the teeth. It will beat you down with the intent to crush your dreams. My greatest fear in this generation, is we so protect out children that thy have no context to receive the inevitable blows of life- and they sometimes come in spades!

Of course, the greatest inspiration of this comes from a later Rocky movie, Rocky Balboa- 

Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth then go out and get what you’re worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!

~ Rocky Balboa ~

FIDO

Short for "Forget it, Drive on". This is a huge winning edge for competitors. WHEN you make a mistake, it is ok to learn from it, but DO NOT dwell on it. And never let a bad play or game beat you twice.

Every Qb I have ever coached has that 'STORM' moment in his career where the bad things happen in bunches... when it rains it pours- and all of a sudden it looks like all of the stars are align against you. It is such a spotlight position! You throw a pick six, then maybe fumble.... the crowd starts booing, the players are doubting you, and the coach starts to think you bet on the other team before the game... in those moments, you just have to play your way out of the crisis... one play at a time.. you HAVE to never show bad body language, you NEVER blame anyone else, you just make the next one. 

In fishing, I tell them, "Just put your head down and fish".

To me, how a young man responds in the storm means more to me that how he handles success- though both scenarios need coaching. FIDO works for wins as much as it does for losses.... you have to forget the past and move forward.

FIDO is a very Biblical concept:

But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, [14] I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. [15] Let those of us who are mature think this way.... (Philippians 3:13–15 ESV)

ONE DAY AT A TIME

Just as optimism and long game go together- FIDO and One Day at a Time go hand in hand.

To win a tough competition- you just can't get in the past or in the future. You just fight as hard as you can one play at a time! If you are in a life struggle one day at a time. If it is life and death... you just make it one more step, one more minute, one more hour.

Here is how Jesus said it:

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6:34 ESV)

HUMILITY AND GRATITUDE

Humility is the hardest and most misunderstood virtue of the human experience. In the south, we have what I call an "Aw shucks" fake humility.... 

“ Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels…These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.” (Col. 2:18,23)

Biblical humility is not self-deprecation, this so-called “aw-shucks” false humility resonates so emptily in relationships. You know that person. He is the one who can never take a compliment and always understates an achievement or accomplishment. “Aw shucks, I am so poor and lowly, and I am absolutely worthless.”

 I think the Biblical model of humility is selfless. It seeks to build God and others up, but not bring yourself or your institution down. True humility is not afraid of proper, Biblical boasting. Biblical boasting is an active desire to point out the Excellencies of the Father. It is a decision to give up a right or entitlement for the glory of God and service of others. 

“Thank-you for that compliment, but I couldn’t do it without the Lord, isn’t He great!” or “I am so thankful to be the teacher of the year, this award deserves to be shared with all my fellow colleagues. They give me inspiration daily to pursue excellence, as unto the Lord.” 

A telling sign of false humility is how one responds to questions of concern or criticism. A truly humble person is not reactionary, but patient and loving in conflict. A person of false humility cannot keep a gentle spirit in these circumstances. 

A person of false humility is generally negative, and leads complaints or dissensions. A person filled with false humility does not have very many deep or loving relationships. 

Our model of course is Jesus. The glorious passage in Philippians Chapter 2 teaches us that Christ willingly let go of His rights for us. A test for this humility is found only in by searching the inner man. How do you feel when a friend gets a reward or a break? How quickly do you defend a team mate if a student or a parent is criticizing him? How often do you get upset if it seems that you are not being noticed or you have to give up a privilege? How quickly do you volunteer to help a need, knowing it may cost you some time and effort? May the Lord grant to all of us through His spirit the attitude of submission and humble service to the Lord.

Humility and gratitude exist together- instead of being upset about what I don't have or that someone 'owes me'.. I learn to be thankful and count my blessings!

ETERNAL LIFE

[11] And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. [12] Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. [13] I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:11–13 ESV)

[16] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16–17 ESV)

Romans 6:23" For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (ESV)"

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV)"

Coach Bobby Bowden used to tell a great story about a time he hit an inside the park home run. He rounded the bases and slid into home plate... SAFE! But the other team appealed and asked the umpire to rule on whether or not he touched 1st base. And sure enough, he had missed it! The other 1st baseman, touched the base and the umpire called "OUT"!

Coach Bowden said, 'Men, Jesus Christ is 1st base. If you miss him, even if you win the whole world... you lose".

The ultimate and most important Winning EDGE is a personal relationship with Christ. A trust in Him for all things. And the security in knowing that Jesus is a sacrifice for your sin.  His blood was shed so that we can have life. We receive Him as a gift by faith. We acknowledge our sin and failures and trust in Jesus as our ONLY HOPE to be right with a Holy Father.

If you know Christ in this way... the other Winning Edges follow in time.... that is a process called sanctification. We are being set apart for God's glory. And one day, we will meet HIm... and that will be the ultimate win... glorification and restoration.

These are high bars that are difficult to maintain.... is there a winning edge when you don't feel like you are winning? I believe there is... and it is embracing your identity... I will explore this in the next post.

The Real Enemy: Athletics and Mental Health Day 4

 

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.      2 Corinthians 10

Just the title of this post will likely create concern. 

But we need to realize that PEOPLE per se are not our enemies... and we have a kingdom and ruler who is powerful and intent on destroying us. We wage a daily battle versus the world, the flesh, and the devil. The older I get, the more aware I seem to grow at the intensity of the battle and the devious and devastating attack of the enemy.

His tactics are small whispers of doubt and deceit. He is the greatest one on one enemy of all time. His first on on one loss was in the desert of temptation.

I sometimes avoid this topic because we tend to get a little squirrely when it come to spiritual warfare- but as I grow older,  I am more aware of his influence and have felt and experienced the attack in intense and very tangible experiences.

I also think that we tend to get a little too self focused in this subject. I sometimes adopt a 'woe is me' when the wicked weapons take flight in my direction.

Contrast this to Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount when He basically says, "Congratulations (blessed) when you a persecuted for righteousness sake."

I want to start with good news: if you are being attacked, it is a sign that you are effective and dangerous. When George Whitfield visited the early days of Princeton, he made an interesting prediction in 1739:

“The devil will certainly rage against them; but the work is of God and will not come to nought”

A quick story: I used to teach literature at a Christian school in Birmingham. We had a teacher leave mid-semester and I was asked to teach his Bible class to finish the year. It was an interesting scenario because I had the same students for literature and then a few periods later for Bible. The difference in the two classes was amazing. There is something about teaching Bible that brought out attacks and attitudes from some students that I didn't encounter in the English class. It made me realize that if you plan to be a Bible teacher, you better have prayer support and take it very, very seriously.

Fortunately, that prepared me for later years as a Bible teacher- but I will tell you that it is still a battle in many ways. I had to get much better at making every minute count and providing very little idle time.

I have some good friends who have taught or are teaching Bible and I will tell you that they all have stories that describe struggles in confidence, pain in marriage, accusations and lies, and the whisper of the enemy..... 'you're just a fraud' or 'you just need to give up'.

Another point is that we need to be aware of the tactics of the battle when it comes to the insurgency versus institutions. Part of the attack is to corrupt and deceive and the other part uses gossip and rumor to destroy reputations. This is done in so many complex and insidious ways.

Here are some examples:

The attack on concepts: think how our enemy has taken on important things like "marriage"- "fatherhood"- "Bible"- "Jesus"- think how good things have been corrupted and even how humor is more of a mocking of good things.

The attack on leaders: Satan's whisper campaigns flow as an undercurrent to erode confidence in the motives and integrity of godly men and women. We tend to pass along negative rumor and innuendo, usually without any factual support.

The attack on knowledge.. especially reading: This one really frightens me. As our reading scores fall in our culture, we lose the ability to read and use the Word- our only offensive weapon. Remember that Jesus responded to Satan with Scripture, but very few Christians today can handle Scripture in ways to respond to his deceptive questions and half truths.

But we often DON"T consider spiritual warfare in the arena of mental health.

As you read the verse at the top of this post- remember that we are fighting on the winning team- we are guided and protected by the winning captain. So we should walk in confidence and victory. Wage the war well!

Because we are in a war, there are real casualties. There is real pain. War involves sacrifice and there is both a fog of war and a battle hum that often creates doubt to winning or losing. Though we WILL win, we often feel loss in our own minds and spirit.

If you read I and II Timothy along with Philippians sometime, you get a picture of Paul, after years of faithful fighting- recounting the casualties.

I Timothy 1:3- certain men  teaching false doctrine, involved in controversy
1:5 they wander from love, pure heart, and good conscience
1:19 some have shipwrecked their faith
1:20 Hymenaeus and Alexander handed over to Satan
II Timothy 1:15 'everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me' including Phygelus and Hermongenes
2:17 Hymenaeus and Philetus wander away- godless chatter spreads like gangrene
3:10- Paul's persecutions
4:10 Demas deserted Paul because he loved the world
4:14 Alexander the metalworker did Paul great harm

And yet- he never  gives in to despair.. Paul continues to be filled with hope and joy.

Re-read Philippians and remember, this is Paul IN CHAINS
vs 3 I Thank God
vs 4 I pray with joy
vs 6- confident of victory
vs 12 what has happened to me has advanced the gospel
He says over and over I rejoice......
He says 'cheered', 'confident', 'eager'
Read chapter 3- wow - One thing I do- forget the past and strain toward what is ahead...I PRESS ON
Read chapter 4- rejoice- rejoice- rejoice- do not be anxious- pray with thanksgiving- peace will guard your heart and your mind- rejoice- I can do all things through Christ- I am amply supplied- your gifts are a fragrant aroma......

That is why we need to gathered in small groups-  To share the battle... there is pain and worry and persecution. And we need to pray together. I looked over my LONG list this morning. I have never had a time in my life where there are so many spiritual and material needs. We have some real pleas for breakthrough.

But God is good. He is always faithful and he is the King and Victor! Let's keep pressing on!

The harder the struggle, the more glorious the victory.

We see this in Scripture- Jacob clinging to the Lord, "I will not let you go until you bless me". Jesus setting His face toward the cross for the joy set before Him, Paul finishing the course, Shaddrach, Meshach, and Adendego saying the Lord will deliver us, but even if He doesn't, we will not bow before you O King.". It is a mindset that says, "Though the whole world leave and forsake the Lord, I will yet stand."

Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest
Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest.

There a couple of application points to this:

Patience- We have to have a LONG GAME perspective in order to find some semblance of mental healing. Time allows us to leave idealistic hopes behind and rest in reality. My doubts, fears, depressions, and anxieties still live in me, but I have learned to embrace them and still hope in the gospel. Their existence doesn't hurt my belief in God, rather they prove His existence. My longings don't drown out joy... they increase my thirst for eternity.

Perseverance- we have to consider growing in grit and learn to dig in and stand firm when momentum swings against us.We tend to relent way too early in the game. Think of a goal line defense. We teach the defensive linemen to get low and hunker down. Go low and grab grass and push with all you have. Is there anything more exciting than a defense holding on a 4th and 1? Pushed back all the way down the field, but holding the other team out creates great energy and momentum. YOU SHALL NOT PASS!

How many more marriages would survive with this mindset?- 'I'm going to endure a little longer and see if the tide may turn- Lord, help me.'

In the Book of Revelation- 5 of the 7 churches are not getting good marks from Jesus. He says to them, 'repent'. These churches have become loveless, distracted, materialistic, and full of false teachers and immorality. Yet, nowhere in the 7 letters does the Lord say to the believers.. "Leave and go find a better church."

No- He indicates to stay, repent, and strengthen the things that remain.

I will tell you that I have never seen Satan more visible in His assault on the faith. 

Financial hardships, job loss, cancer, disease, divorce, false rumors and gossip, immorality, drunkenness or substance abuse, pain, regret, quarreling, apathy, laziness, selfishness. At times, it almost feels like Satan has been set loose as found in Rev. 20:7. We have brothers and sisters in real pain and dire circumstances. We need to pray and love and serve.

But the message never changes..... STAND FIRM.
Tell the Devil.... YOU SHALL NOT PASS

And the result of that kind of faith and that kind of fight? I Corinhtians 15:58"Your labor in the Lord is NOT IN VAIN."

And what about when we fail and fall? Mental health issues aren't just pick yourself up by the bootstraps... mental health issues sometimes  prevent you from seeing bootstraps.. or even hands! 

 BUT There is good news in the gospel. It matters not if you try and fail and try and fail again- what matters is if you try and fail... and fail to try again.

May God's grace and peace keep us steady in the storm! It's a glorious day to battle in the joy of the Lord!

A Culture in Crisis and An Early First Step: Athletics and Mental Health- Day 3

 

“So the final conclusion would surely be that whereas other civilizations have been brought down by attacks of barbarians from without, ours had the unique distinction of training its own destroyers at its own educational institutions, and then providing them with facilities for propagating their destructive ideology far and wide, all at the public expense. Thus did Western Man decide to abolish himself, creating his own boredom out of his own affluence, his own vulnerability out of his own strength, his own impotence out of his own erotomania, himself blowing the trumpet that brought the walls of his own city tumbling down, and having convinced himself that he was too numerous, labored with pill and scalpel and syringe to make himself fewer. Until at last, having educated himself into imbecility, and polluted and drugged himself into stupefaction, he keeled over--a weary, battered old brontosaurus--and became extinct.”

― Malcolm Muggeridge, Vintage Muggeridge: Religion and Society

We live in times of great conflict. Understatement of 2022. And we can't address mental health awareness without evaluating the culture that we are in and how it impacts our life.

Is there more conflict now than in the past? Or are we simply reaping the rotting fruit of mass communication technology? The speed and shallowness of most information coming our way has interrupted and changed our pattern of life- and this frenzied pace of life has concerning consequences.

As communication and informational technologies (CITs) explode; a big casualty is TIME.  David Lyon, in his book, Jesus in Disneyland, gives a remarkable summary of what sociologists are seeing in the compression of space and time for over four decades.

The speed of life has passed warp dimensions. Instant communication, insatiable consumer appetites, and the extended present of cyberspace has put us in a world more liquid than solid. A rolling stone may gather no moss, but our culture’s tread is fractured without any signs of slowing down. 

There is no long lasting stability. No life long careers or marriages. And change comes so fast, we don't have time to evaluate truth through logic and discourse.

 “To disrupt time is to generate uncertainties, to loosen anchors, to dissolve meanings.” Life becomes more disposable. 

Is it any wonder that stress and exhaustion is at an all time high? 

This destabilization of our warp speed world of consumption has put an incredible strain on our society and it is paying horrible dividends to our youth. 

Can anyone but me hear the creaking of broken foundations and fear the weight of sin about to cave in on itself? 

I there any hope for long term success?

I still believe there is... and though there are a lot of things that need to happen, I can think of one fast fix and that is a return to a corporate commitment to the local, Bible-believing church including regular Sunday morning attendance.

One important aspect of God’s Sabbath command is a need for pace. God set the pattern- 6 days work and a PAUSE. That pause is to reflect and gear our minds toward Him. To have our souls cleaned and missions adjusted. It helps us to see eternity. 

Is there anyone left who remember what we called the blue laws?   

I lived for 7 years in Nashville and in an NFL town and Sabbath ends at kickoff (or 2 hours before if you tailgate). 

Travel youth sports jump right in to this rapid stream of the rapidly mobile information, activity, and achievement overload.

 The stereotypical 10 year old is being molded by his parents for success by meals on the go, the chalice of college scholarships, credit card swipes, motel bills, and virtual headsets to fill in the down times. 

Any wonder why a 55-minute worship service is “boring”? We have squeezed minutes into seconds and pushed God out in the process. 

I’m sorry – but when I drive to church on Sunday morning and see athletics fields buzzing with activity at 9:15 A.M., I get really discouraged. I’m not afraid of getting behind. I worry about what happens when we leave God behind.

How does church participation help? When you wake up on Sunday morning, what keeps this activity from being just another block on our already overloaded schedules? Actually, it is crucial at every point- regular church attendance cancels out and corrects much of what society is blasting us with 24/7.

Worship helps us- even if at times we feel like it is only a ritual or routine... the discipline of it allows authenticity and perspective to find us when we most need it.

REGULAR CHURCH ATTENDANCE MAKES ME ACKNOWLEDGE GOD

It is easy to slide through a day with little acknowledgement of God. "Many hours for the world and few minutes for Christ" There are times at the end of a day I come to a disappointing realization that I rarely addressed the Lord, if at all. There are times I realize I have gone a short season with little prayer, thought. no Bible reading.

But there are other times where I have had that 'prayer without ceasing' time of a day long conversation with the Lord. Usually spurred on by Scripture, or listening to a good sermon or devotional, Christian music.

I wish I INITIATED this invitation more often and I realize without the Holy Spirit prompting me, I likely would not do it. But I am slowly improving in my practice of asking the Lord to be with and engage in whatever I am doing

 "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."                     I Corinthians 10:31

REGULAR CHURCH ATTENDANCE HELPS ME IN PRAYER AND SCRIPTURE PREP

Jesus: God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth. John 4:24

Part of my journey in understanding the nature of acceptable worship is the process of learning from God's Word the truth...who God is, the grand narrative of history, the covenant promise, the act of redemption, the growth and function of God's church.

The craziest aspect of this is that no matter how well I know the Word, I must keep re-visiting it over and over- because it is a dynamic and living Word. Without worship, we shrink and without God's Word, we starve.

Prayers and petitions, supplications... the discipline of prayer- prostrating before the King in submission, yet pleading with Him at the same time.


REGULAR CHURCH ATTENDANCE CREATES IN ME AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

Philippians 4 says "with thanksgiving" let our requests be made known to God. When I count my blessings it keeps me in a positive frame of mind. Observing/experiencing life positively allows me to love better, to hope better, to bear better, to overlook more.

When I get weighed down with how unfair and hard life is- I see things more negatively and I become more cynical and sarcastic. It is hard to grow a tree of worship in such foul soil.

REGULAR CHURCH ATTENDANCE CREATES CAREFUL ATTENTION TO THE GOSPEL OF GRACE

The message of God's grace has to be central in this quest for worship. We don't worship to somehow earn a merit badge. We don't do it because we are good. We don't do it in our strength. We have to be aware that worship could become an idol. We have to be suspicious of our on sinful hearts to slide... prone to wander.

REGULAR CHURCH ATTENDANCE HELPS ME TO UNDERSTAND THAT RELATIONSHIPS MATTER

We can effectively worship God alone. But God has designed us to fellowship with one another. My best friends deepen my thirst for God. I can play golf alone. But it is always better with a friend. Even better with 3 friends. And even better when we all commune with God-glorifying talk in the process.
Life goes better when I learn to enjoy it with others and focus on them more than me.

PRETENDING/ PRACTICE/ PATIENCE/ PERSEVERANCE

Finally, as much as we would like for it to happen- a powerful worship experience will not always take place. And it is good that it doesn't, because our expectations spoil reality. We are still swimming upstream in a now but not yet existence.

I have learned to not be so cynical at religious routine. It is a dress rehearsal that points to future fulfillment. God gives shadows and hints of this in this life.

C.S. Lewis makes an astute point in Mere Christianity:

     Why? What is the good of pretending to be what you are not? Well, even on the human level, you know, there are two kinds of pretending. There is a bad kind, where the pretense is there instead of the real thing; as when a man pretends he is going to help you instead of really helping you. But there is also a good kind, where the pretense leads up to the real thing. When you are not feeling particularly friendly but know you ought to be, the best thing you can do, very often, is to put on a friendly manner and behave as if you were a nicer person than you actually are. And in a few minutes, as we have all noticed, you will be really feeling friendlier than you were. Very often the only way to get a quality in reality is to start behaving as if you had it already. That is why children’s games are so important. They are always pretending to be grownups—playing soldiers, playing shop. But all the time, they are hardening their muscles and sharpening their wits so that the pretence of being grown-up helps them to grow up in earnest.     Now, the moment you realise ‘Here I am, dressing up as Christ,’ it is extremely likely that you will see at once some way in which at that very moment the pretense could be made less of a pretence and more of a reality. 

I think Covid isolation and worship wars and highly mobile lifestyles has made us attend church with less regularity than any previous generation.... and it doesn't help us counter the poison darts that riddle our souls.

We often wring our hands and wonder if there is any escape from being worn down and worn out... full of anxiety and defeat.

An early (and easy) first step is to recommit your participation in a Bible believing and teaching church.

So try this- for 3 months, make it a priority to attend a corporate worship service on a Sunday. See if you don't feel more invigorated....

You will discover living water that you didn't know you were missing!

Pain With Purpose: Athletics and Mental Health Day 2

Whenever you take on a topic and begin to read, pray, and think about it- it begins to shape you and can even overwhelm you in the shadows as you spend an inordinate amount of time on it.  At least that is my disposition.

It can drive my wife crazy. Even after all of these years, she will still interrupt the chaos going on inside my head with a simple quip....'You're so quiet". And she knows... I think it is her rescue plan to pull me out of that internal state and help me escape the mental thought experiments that I perform over and over. That is the common experience of a 'highly functioning introvert' as my children label it.

This topic has truly fascinated me because I see it so tangibly. I have never seen so many young people weighed down with anxiety. It even seems to effect how they interact in the hallways. I see more pain on the faces, less eye contact, more weariness. Not on them all.... but more who visibly wear the mask of stone. An emotionless face to me feels more like the scar of a hurting heart.

There is a lot of laugher and loud greeting as well- and I know that sometimes those are also coverings.

I have to be careful here- our dispositions can be projected onto things that are opposite and neutral. In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne hears the babbling brook singing a song of sorrow while the little Pearl expresses to her mom that the brook is telling her about joy.

Back in 2017, I stumbled onto something that has been an important tool that has helped me immensely. I wrote about it in a somewhat clumsy post entitled The Lord of Anxiety

It was one of the first things I read when I wanted to spend some time blogging about coaching and mental health.

And this is where I want to start as I re-visit this topic 5 years later, with more reading, prayer, and experience to better focus the idea.

This is the best and most simple way to explain it.

The quickest recovery for any anxiety is to not waste time trying to escape it. The best and quickest way to find some semblance of victory is to embrace it. Embrace the moment as a planned moment with a greater purpose than the moment itself.

To be clear- anxiety will remain, losses will still hurt, but there is a lot of unnecessary energy and wasted time as we utilize impotent self defense mechanisms to avoid these moments... and if I may be bold enough to express them as 'opportunities'.

As far as a Biblical foundation for this, there is no more better example than the growth of Jacob. He fled, hid, escaped, pushed his family in front... trying to avoid the confrontation with Esau. Got jumped in the night and wrestled... but the wrestling energy changed. 

My guess is that in the early hours, Jacob tried to flee this attacker in sheer panic... but as dawn was breaking, the attacker was asking to be 'let go'.

And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. [25] When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. [26] Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” [27] And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” [28] Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” (Genesis 32:24–28 ESV)

Embracing the situation... pushing through... and then there is a discovery. There is a PURPOSE for the struggle. In a sense, it is "anti-Sisyphis" who rolled the rock with no purpose but to press with defiance. And though I have often admired the rugged resistance, it can't be found in Scripture.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [2] looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1–2 ESV)

I was watching the new ESPN 30for30 broadcast called Shark which spends a lot of time analyzing Greg Norman and the uncanny losses he endured in his career. So uncanny, that some use to call him 'snake bit' as dramatic hole outs from bunkers or the famous Larry Mize chip in from way off the green on #11 in the playoff that instantly robbed him of glory. 

The show culminates in one of the most nauseating moments in major championship history as Norman 'choked away' a seemingly unsurmountable lead on the final round at Augusta in 1996. I remember watching that train wreck... what a tragic moment.

There is a great quote at the beginning of that broadcast - 

“The tragedy of man is not that he loses, the tragedy is that he almost wins”.

And almost any competitor will attest to the reality that we would rather get beat by 35 than lose by 1 in those championship moments.

Then the 30for30 takes an interesting twist. The dramatic painful loss actually became noteworthy and even 'inspiring' because of the grace that Norman showed in defeat. Even to the point that he can revisit Augusta and watch the replay of the event with perspective.

This isn't a gimmick. It still hurts that Greg Norman doesn't eat at the champions dinner or has a green jacket. Jacob still limped.... Jesus kept His scars after the resurrection... but the acute pain doesn't become chronic... it ebbs into a deep eddy of acceptance.

And for a believer in Christ... the eddy is actually a balm of peace. Yes, it was painful, but I fully embrace that there must be purpose. And I'm ok, still alive and blessed.

Back in 2012, I stumbled through this concept again in this post: A Beautiful Letdown

It boils down to taking time or possible allowing time to develop perspective.

So how do we make it DURING the process? That is a great question and this is where I am going to spend some time analyzing the tools available to get us moment by moment, day by day when we are overwhelmed by thoughts, anxiety, sleeplessness, depression, despair.... if we can keep pressing INTO the moment, use the tools to help us survive the moment, then we do gain freedom in the perspective that there is a purpose in the pain... even if we don't see it.

I also need to quickly suggest the best book I read on the subject during this time of reading a reflecting. 

"Finding Quiet" by J.P. Moreland is a real treasure and I found it be sympathetic and therapeutic on this subject. 

More coming......

Athletics and Mental Health - Day 1

The month of May is traditionally set aside for "Mental Health Awareness" and in the last decade I have become more acutely aware of making sure that coaches understand the need to include education and training in their respective sports.

These posts are meant to deal with early awareness and milder cases... before the issues become acute or chronic.

In April 2020, the Alabama High School Athletics Association central board passed a resolution requiring a mental health course as mandatory professional development and requirement for coaching credentials.

This is NOT an easy topic. If you ever read articles online or social media posts, you see a lot of hurt, pain, misunderstanding, and pushback. I am merely bringing the issue to light for coaches and athletes in particular.

Over the course of this spring, I have had some dialogue with individual students and coaches about the need for this awareness and we discussed important helps and strategies.

Those conversations, along with a lot of reading and research on the topic will culminate in a series of posts throughout the month.

Obviously, I am not a certified counselor or expert in these areas and we must always be prepared to send concerns to proper professionals in this area. Not many people are aware that you can even dial 911 if there is concern over any kind of mental health crisis. And most emergency rooms are equipped to handle crisis events as well.

Mental Health Awareness isn't just about suicide ideation.... it is more comprehensive than that. But suicide is something we can all be trained in being alert to the warning signs.

As far as statistics go, according the the Jason Foundation website (https://jasonfoundation.com/):

For middle and high school age youth (ages 12-18), suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death. *

For college age youth (ages 18-22), suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death. *

Over-all, suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for our youth ages 10-24. *

(*2020 CDC WISQARS)

In ages 10 – 14, we have seen an alarming increase in suicides. The number of suicides for this group has more than doubled since 2006, making it the second leading cause of death for that age group.

More teenagers and young adults die from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease, COMBINED.

Each day in our nation, there are an average of over 3,703 attempts by young people grades 9-12. If these percentages are additionally applied to grades 7 & 8, the numbers would be higher.

The Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System (YRBS) is a survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that includes national, state, and local school-based representative samples of 9th through 12th grade students. The purpose is to monitor priority health risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death, disability, and social problems among youth in the United States. The surveys are conducted every two years to determine the prevalence of these health risk behaviors. Behaviors that contribute to unhealthy lifestyles and those that indicate possible depression and/or suicidal ideation are included https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/index.htm

Throughout the month, I plan to do 8-10 posts that outline some analysis and help. 

Please feel free to reach out to me if you are willing to participate in this month's series of posts. 

The more coaches who are aware and educated can truly be life savers on the front lines of an epic struggle!

We All Have Pre-Suppositions

 

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.2 This is what the ancients were commended for. 

3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 

6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. 

You are considering the 'story' you have been told your whole life. All around you is evidence that this story has a long history with humans. So you ask, "Tell me why I believe it is no mere myth."

'Let's assume for the sake of the argument that the Creator does exist. He not only created all of the natural world- but He also supernaturally revealed, watched over, protected his written communication to mankind. This narrative is the creation, fall, redemption, and ultimate consummation of all things. The story is pieced together in a variety of ways- Nature itself is a piece- The history of Israel and their Sacred writings are a piece- The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the apex of the story- The God-breathed writings of eye-witnesses are another important part- sealed with martyrs blood. According to John Calvin- knowing yourself is a piece of this mystery- the shared deep inner life and complex outer life of human beings throughout history.

I want to mention another important part of this tale. There is such a vast difference between the Creator and the creature that He must reveal Himself in an accommodating way. Our first mistake is that we think of "God' like He is some sort of super-human..but He is something beyond ALL OF OUR UNDERSTANDING. God's  'teaching technique' (revelation) is NOT pretense for it does reveal truth and reality. But it is revealed truth in a way that can be understood. And the understanding takes place in time and history. And it is so simple yet complex...it takes TIME for it to make sense.

The grand story contains another plot development- this is where you and I come in- we show up in the story and find ourselves in a world gone wrong. How did that happen you ask? The Creator created a good world (without Him we wouldn't even really know what 'good' is)- part of life's goodness was pure freedom. The capacity to love and have relationship is maximized in the power of choice. The King gave the subjects unbound freedom- not only the 'possibility of evil' but a 'probability' of evil because of the amazing talents and powers of these creatures.

Previous to the human story- there seems to have already been those who chose the 'NO' option:' I will do it my way'- the true character of the Creator requires consequences for violation of His nature. Notice He does not choose here- this is what He is.

This fateful rebellion also happened in the human realm. SO that all of creation bears the marks of a 'curse'. One result of this curse and rebellion is the emergence of three distinct enemies to the Kingdom of the Creator. The world ( the unified system of rebellion)- the flesh (the default mode of the rebel)- and the devil (a supernatural leader of a powerful army of rebels).

One more item in this story is a 'transferable disease' in the creature- a natural desire to rebel - which results in a separation from the Creator. Indeed, the core of this message is the Creator's actions to restore the divide.

The great character in this story is the Hero- the Creator/King/Father- giving up His begotten (not created) Son- who emptied Himself of His Royal Rule- becoming a creature Himself- living in perfect obedience in the face of enemies- and then paying the punishment of a rebel- fulfilling the shadows of the sacrificial system that has been practiced throughout human history- appeasing the wrath of the Creator by the shedding of blood and offering sacrificial worship.

The Creator accepts this great sacrifice as a substitute for rebellion. His wrath is satisfied in the blood of His Son. This King affirmed His acceptance by raising the son from the dead and bestowing on Him universal honor- salvation is in His name alone.

So there is now a way back to the King. Those who were once rebels may lay down their arms and come home. The creatures have been redeemed by the precious blood of the Son. The once sworn enemies are now not only cleared of their crimes but even adopted into the royal family. These sons are now heirs. The terms of this covenant? A willingness to be ruled and a trust in the Son's sacrifice.

Though many still refuse- they will get better and better at refusing Him- ultimately sealing their eternal state. The Creator Himself overcomes the rebellious spirit of some- allowing many to accept restoration. Their stories are strikingly similar "I once was a rebel determined for death but now I am a royal son and a high priest to my Father the King. What a gracious ruler He is."

Be very careful in this part.... push yourself a little here...."Am I willing to be a little suspicious about my judgements and opinions ?".... you can do this

Though you have been exposed to the narrative, you come to point in your life where you begin to weigh whether this story is real or myth. How on earth can you validate a Creator who is seen only by the accommodating structures He has used? People tell you all kinds of things, but who is trustworthy? How can you know what path to choose? Is it important.

And this is a race against time- all of us get captivated by the fact that one day, we will no longer be here. 

A huge problem is that IF the story is true then you are going to be infected with the attitude of resistance. If that is true...you are trying to judge based with  a pre-wired attitude. One friend whispers 'hogwash'- 'another man says 'trust'- your inner voices are pulled and there is a mighty battle being waged way down deep- so deep that we have to use a metaphor... the heart. Yes-I'm telling you that you should also regard yourself with a healthy suspicion.

This battle takes place over time- it is a fight for years- there is weariness and doubt and inconsistencies all around.

But once again you come to a quiet moment and ask the most dangerous question a man can ask- "What if I am wrong?"- "IF the story is true then I am deceived and cannot judge the validity of the message in a neutral way- I am biased- I don't evaluate evidence- I twist it- I rationalize it- What am I to do?"

Soon, though, the thoughts slip away and you notice something- you are stronger now in your doubts. You meet others who are stronger still. It is not long before you meet some who reject the story as myth and even mock the claims.

You see that there are staged debates where each side offers up their arguments and evidence- but no one is ever swayed. The loyalists celebrate their 'slam dunk win' and the 'rebels roll their eyes at the foolish faith of the 'believers".

Then you read this, and you somehow venture into this battle that now only feels like a routine of ideas in your 'heart'. It doesn't take long to see that I am a 'believer'. After a series of meaningless points and counter points, you ask me the deadly question: "Aren't you just biased and hiding behind your 'faith'."

My response feels like a win for you at first, but also pushed your first angry button. 

"Of course I am biased. Of course I am living by faith. But you are too!"

This frustrates you: "I am not a person of faith- I have facts and science."

I respond again: "You are confident in your evidence. I am confident in my evidence. But do we really have proof as we discuss evidence? If we stop here, we both are left with probabilities."

Something strange begins to happen- you are opening yourself up just a little. You feel weak on the inside but would never show it on the outside. It is a quiet thought- He's right- we are both biased and I am putting some faith in my logical arguments and evidences.

Then the most dramatic question you have ever pondered comes screaming into your soul.

I say, 'Let's try something different- You know, we have spent all of this time arguing the King's narrative of why the things are the way they are and why we are here.

'Try this- let's remove the Creator completely out of the picture. Tell me your grand story. How did all of this get to be. How do we even have grounds to share our story. Where do the rules of logical analysis come from to evaluate the story? Where does the will to reject the story come from? Why does it even matter? Remember- no miracle allowed."

You know that there has to be a big bang in there somewhere- but other than that - you realize that you have a lot of fantastical statements you are about to make. And deep down you know that not even you will buy it.

You look at me and even have a sense of anger. You think I am an arrogant, foolish, prude. If I say I care for you- you won't believe it. And if you watch me long enough you will see my inconsistencies. But you also see that I really believe the message of grace.

Once more you consider the narrative- What if I am in rebellion to the living Creator/King? And you want to fight the cynic in you that says 'it just sounds too easy to be true."

I continue to pray for you. I know you can't win this battle- I am asking the real Father- the Creator- The King to shine His love deep down and open your eyes to His glorious love and truth. "Father- please do for him right now what you have done for me. I don't deserve your grace- please welcome this lost son home."

You attack again with questions: 

What about the hypocrites? I say look at the Son. 

What about injustice? I say look at the Son. 

What about those who never hear? I say "You have just heard- what are you going to do? Look at the Son."

And a little tear forms in your eye- you want to come home- it is too weary a fight and without hope. You want the despair and fear to leave. You want an embrace. It is no longer about an argument of ideas.....

 It is now about the deepest thirst of your soul......

So pray... reach out... maybe start with thanking Him. He is that close to you....

What Are the Pieces in the Team 'Trust' Puzzle?

In the fragile process of becoming a team that can sustain the storm of competition, 'trust' may be the most important factor. There are others.... a competitive team must have a work ethic, confidence, perseverance, patience, toughness.... but without trust (which is a component of love as well) I don't think the other qualities have a foothold to stand firm in the storms of competition.

For decades, in the 'training camp' portion of seasons, I repeat this phrase over and over- if you are around me for any length of time you will hear me say it like a well worn mantra, "Players trust players, players trust coaches, coaches trust players, coaches trust coaches". Like a lot of things I say, it originally came from David Cutcliffe. And it takes a lot of work, mistakes, conversations, and time to develop this and keep this in place. 

So.... Let's dig in here a little bit, what is the level of trust needed from the player? How do we get there? 

CHAMPIONSHIP LEVEL TRUST

Every championship level team I have ever had ranked super high in the trust category. I will state it again: "Players trust players, players trust coaches, coaches trust players, coaches trust coaches"

So what does this mean? Is it only a factor of continuous success? 

I say that you HAVE to have "trust' to have success, but "YES" it is strengthened as well when success accompanies the process.

Also, the trust factor is not measured in wins and good times....  this type of trust shows up in the tough times, when doubts and questions begin to rise.

TRUST DOES NOT MEAN THAT A PLAYER IS A MINION

True "TRUST" is nurtured in human reality and flourishes in a worldview of mistakes, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Have you ever been in a competitive dog fight? I reckon it is a mini-version of the chaos we call 'the fog of war'. Testosterone fills the air, bravado overwhelms passivity, and the intensity glows red hot. Do you suppose that there can be tempers and mis-understanding in that context? Would it shock people to know that we have occasional fights at football practice?! They generally don't last long, the guys have on pads and it doesn't take but a few times to realize that punching a helmet is pretty stupid.

We call this 'mess up, fess up, and grow up'. We don't condone the fight... but competition is more warrior than gentleman. We have to work really hard on those boundary lines. And it helps those lines to not get crossed during games.

Championship level trust is that a player will grow to trust a coach has the team's best interests in mind and is making tough choices. Championship level trust is when a coach will put a kid back in after a mistake and keep giving him a chance to grow in confidence, even in the storm.

LOCKER ROOM "SIDE" TALK

Do you want to know what I believe is the best evidence for team trust? What do the players say when no other coach is around?

Now this is harder than we might believe. As a teen matures, the peer group begins to supplant the authority structures in their life. And that stays in place throughout life. I suffer as much from peer pressure as the 16-18 year olds I coach. Sure, I would love for one of my players to tell me that I am a good coach... but nothing makes me happier as when a fellow coach tells me I am a good coach. 

And in the exchange of these structures, there becomes a 'questioning' of authority structures. If that side talk is rooted in a lack of trust for the coaches, then it can become a real drag on the performance of a team. Healthy teams always have some of the griping about the boss as some comic relief, but it never doubts the intentions or the expertise of the coach. 

I believe it is a mistake for a coach to be paranoid about the 'side talk'... don't demand trust... if you are demanding it, it won't blossom anyway. Instead do what you can to build trust on your end. And forgive immature kids when they doubt.

Remember what Jesus would say? "Of ye of little faith"!

The 'Side Talk' piece doesn't mean the team agrees with every call, but the overall talk is 'do what the coach asks' and the team has an overall obligation to obey. I think this is ultimately the greatest evaluation of player leadership. Good team leaders demand that the head coach be faithfully followed.

It is also a mark of spiritual maturity... am I willing to trust God when His Word counters what my peers are telling me? That is not just a question for a teen, it is more important today for me.

 A MISSING PIECE ? 

"Players trust players, players trust coaches, coaches trust players, coaches trust coaches"

What missing here?

What about parents?

Well , for the success of a sports team,  parents are a factor in how easy or hard it is to develop team trust- but their trust is not required. And even as I write this, I can feel the pushback. And this is where I want to be clear and careful.

I want parents to trust me, and just the opportunity I have to coach their child already indicates that a high and special 'trust' is in place.

But the team trust I am writing about is deeper.... it come from time together, tears together, celebration together, hours of meeting, film, weights. And the TIME it takes to build that level of trust will likely NEVER take place between a parent and me unless we are friends beyond the world of school and sports.

A parent will love their child more than I ever can, the "LOVE" word I use is different from the "LOVE" word a parent uses. In the same way, the "TRUST" needed for me to coach a player to championship level competition is way deeper than any level of trust I could hope for or expect a parent to have in me or my program.

A parent can't be at every film session, meeting, coaches meetings, practice... and the sheer lack of time will prevent team trust.

However, I have had some amazing parents who by faith pressed their sons to trust me, even when it seems illogical or hard to do so... and that support does help the trust to deepen at a faster than normal rate.

So know that I am praying for all teams... 'keep the faith"- keep hope in place... and build trust. Teams who grow together in trust will never regret the process and find a great culture that lasts a lifetime!

Coaches: Be Master Motivators, Not Master Manipulators

Hollywood normally does not treat coaches well in movies. There are exceptions of course, but many of the early 'football' movies in particular that I experienced in my developmental years tended to portray coaches in a negative light.

A little more recent example was the 2004 film, Friday Night Lights, based on the book by the same title. The film is based on the Permian High School program and the iconic head coach is played by Billy Bob Thornton. The final locker room speech is a great moment in the film, but the overall treatment of Coach  Gaines in the movie is that he is rather manipulative and largely uncaring about his players. It shows his habitual choice to shade the truth and leaves doubt and questions about the overall integrity of his procedures.

My personal experience with coaches, both as a player and as a 30 plus year coach hasn't encountered this very often. Most of the men I played for, coached with, and coached against had incredible motives and character. Human? YES! Perfect? NOT EVEN CLOSE! But they were trustworthy and had great empathy for their players.

Now, I do have to readily admit that a teen can mis-read, pre-judge, and carry an opinion to the opposite. I often find that these players can create an 'echo chamber' where they can take a mistake or a flaw and magnify it. This will sometimes carry over to parents and other players.

I have experienced that personally. I have had some difficult parent meetings over the years where the player's opinion and report about me questioned my care and concern for the young man I was coaching. And to be honest, nothing hurts more than a player who believes that I am a bad person or that I have treated them poorly.

The majority of the time, a player will not tell me this to my face- but he will be quick to tell other players or even his parents.

I have to be extremely honest here, I have made mistakes with players in my past, especially my early years as a coach. There are times I have lost my temper, judged too quickly, accused too harshly, and used sarcasm or shaming techniques to send a message to others. I even would use some techniques with the excuse 'that was how I was coached' thinking it is justification for some motivational tools that have long lost their effectiveness.

I have had to pick up the phone in my past to call a player and apologize for something I said to him at practice. Thankfully, these moments were not a trend, and as I grew as a coach, the more rare they became. Keep trying.. never give up and sadly, you can't win them all. For those hard cases, seek to have others on your staff to reach those that you aren't gelling with. Learn to practice forgiveness and seek authentic conversations.

Today, it seems to be even more of a challenge. Players today have great empathy towards classmates who they think may be getting singled out or mistreated. I advise coaches to jump on the team in general, but be careful about calling out individuals in front of the group. You can end up winning a battle, but could lose the team in the process. Spend time looking at all of the players on your roster and find ways to make all of them successful. The talent level is never the same- but they all have worth as humans created in God's image.

Coaches who do succeed in sharp words are usually very relational and communicative. If the players KNOW you care for them, they tend to give more allowance for tongue lashings. But the average player today will tune out a coach who only has one volume all the time. The coach who gets away with it is usually seen as fair, caring, and will pass out praise as well. But these are rare exceptions in today's world.

Also- COACH THEM- don't scream at them to block...teach them the techniques about how to block!

Consider this...parents like my dad don't hardly exist anymore. My dad was TOUGH on me. And if a coach roasted me in practice or a game, he backed that coach up at home. I learned quickly that my dad was not a complain safe zone. 

One of my favorite stories was one that Coach Yancey told about his dad. When he was a young player in Memphis, Coach Yancey came home and was bellyaching about how his coaches were treating him. Coach Yancey's dad looked at him and said, "Well why don't you be a suck egg hound and quit."

I laughed when he told me that story, even though I didn't know what a 'suck egg hound' was... but it sure sounded bad!

Today can be a very different story...there are GREAT parents out there and I never count it as a negative that parents love their children. Try to win them all! I still believe that a successful development of an athlete needs to be as much of a partnership with the parent as possible. A coach can never guarantee playing time, but they should guarantee that a player will be treated fairly and compassionately.... even though the love is sometimes 'tough love'. You can be team first and still care for individuals. Here is a winning edge...win the kid and you will likely win the parent as well.

The main purpose of this post is to make us a coaches WARY of our motivational tools. A young person is impressionable and we need to understand that 'a disciple when he is fully trained will tend to be just like his mentor'. I tend to coach the way I was coached- and I need to be cognizant that my players will likely end up coaching like I do... even if it is just their own children.

And in motivating my players... I need to motivate in truth, not pretense. I also don't need to overcook the emotional rollercoaster ride. If I'm not careful, I can take a pre-game talk and create inappropriate mechanisms like anger, hate, revenge, or life/death scenarios that create unintended consequences.

Don't get me wrong... I love a good pep talk. And a skilled and beloved coach can create a mindset and motivation with a flair for the dramatic. These are great stories to tell as the years go by. But the emotion of the moment at some point will melt away to real game ebbs and flows. And if we tap the emotions too much, our players can become numb at a time you least wanted it.

Here are some examples:

• Never tell a false story to pump up a team
• Tell them the truth- you can be honest without being negative.
• Constantly evaluate the messaging in the music that your team uses to get them fired up. 
• Hold your opponent up as worthy competition- don't make them an enemy. It is OK to have a big rival...but be careful about 'hate' or character assassination.

If you aren't careful, you may create a monster that you regret later. 

INTENSITY OVER EMOTION

Our football team will often lose the ‘warm-up’. I can’t tell you how many times we have been preparing to play teams and they are ‘fired up’. Some teams really put on a show with all kind of pump up antics. One year I remember a team coming out of the locker room for warm-ups and barking like a pack of wild dogs! 

My experience has convinced me that all of the pre-game hype lasts about 15 seconds into the game. Once the game begins, any manufactured emotion melts into the intensity of battle. I love emotion, but I want real emotion based on what is happening on the field. Teams that live on emotion will have games of highs and games of flat lows. It is hard to get pumped up week after week with emotion. The players end up feeling unprepared if it is all based on pre-game hype and they ‘don’t feel it’. We want something more reliable. 

We teach this as ‘intensity over emotion’. The feelings may come and go as the momentum changes, but we demand fiery focus and a commitment to lay it all on the line for your brother in the trenches. And this doesn't mean there isn't room for emotion... but let it be emotion that lifts up and not tears down. We have to continue to preach sportsmanship and class in a culture that seems to be losing it in many areas.

THE BEST MOTIVATORS

Over my course of time, I have admired and even been jealous of those larger than life, charisma saturated, 'kid magnets' who can hold a team in the palm of their hand. But I also plead with those types of coaches to never abuse that power.... always point upward and lift up those around you.

Even though human nature hasn't changed, the cultural pressures do call for wise adjustments to motivate and encourage. And the bottom line... it is the relationship that matters. Not buddy buddy, but a compassionate mentor who is in it for life.

One of my dear friends, Lee Hall, is one of the best I have ever seen to love his players for life. Not every coach has that ability.. but we can all seek to build bridges of communication built on love and care for the long term success of our athletes.

And though it is tough at times, pressing your players to honor their parents and others in authority is important as well.

For the coach who desires to have a ministry.... consider this passage.

TITUS 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

 This passage in Titus contains many of these the exact sentiments- notice the focused intensity. Paul writes for us to be’ trained to say NO’ to worldly passions and have a steady, disciplined, steadfast hope which is ‘zealous’ to serve the Lord in our lives through good deeds of godliness. 

I know some Christians who live their spiritual lives on feelings. “I don’t feel close to God” or “I don’t feel like my prayers are getting through”. Please keep in mind that your salvation is not based on feelings but faith in the fact of God’s promise. 

Feelings will come with the natural flow of life, but they are very fickle and totally unreliable. God’s grace is the trainer. It melts our stubborn worldly desires and washes away our shortcomings. God’s grace props us up to walk one more day in hope. God’s grace marks us as His and eventually makes us desire to produce works for His glory. 

For spiritual living, my challenge to all of us is to get up each morning and get steadied by the truth of God’s existence and encouraged by His gospel message of salvation. Let it be these solid facts that carry us through the day and not have to rely on warm-up pep talks or motivational music. Those things will come in time, but we don’t need them. We have our hope in Christ and that is enough. In fact, it is much more intense than we could ever imagine.

I would love to hear your stories and ideas to help us in this great profession....

A Theology For Losing?

"We were flat." "They wanted it more than us.""The officials were terrible." "Our coaches aren't playing the right people." "That other team is a bunch of cheaters."

It is amazing how many things you hear right after a loss. Some words are healthy and healing, but a lot of 'talk' after a loss is senseless mumbling. Our natural human response is a desire to know 'why's' , we need to see 'reasons', and often we want to cast 'blame' as natural responses to the feelings we have when a team loses a game.

Is there a correct response to losing? I believe there is! I believe that wins AND losses are a great time to display our core values and priorities and can serve us well in the future when life throws victory and defeat our way... and often these life situations are more serious and consequential. And we always point to the truth of the Bible (including Romans 8:28) as help and hope in these moments.

A QUICK TIP TO COACHES- my advice is to say very little to your team after a loss. Take some time and carefully craft your response... this is a fragile time and it takes time to formulate the response. Don't squeeze toothpaste out of the tube by a scorched earth speech that you will have to do damage control later.

BALANCE- A VERY NARROW TIGHTROPE

Spend enough time with me and eventually you will hear a 'quip' that I have quoted for decades- "Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser." It normally gets a good chuckle from my audience and it has a history found within the cultural literacy of our society. It is normally attributed to Vince Lombardi. In Alabama, it is attributed to Coach Bryant and has been linked to many people from Richard Nixon to Tiger Woods.

Unfortunately, it is often used to justify an inappropriate response to a loss. But this is NOT an excuse.

One of my high school coaches quoted Coach Bryant as saying, "The only thing you learn from losing is that you don't want to do it again." Then, my freshman year I heard Coach Bryant say it differently when he told us, "you have to learn from losing so you do all you can to not experience it again."

When I use the quote I am referring to the reality that 'losing hurts'... and if it doesn't hurt, it may show the lack of a component necessary to be a great competitor- "winning matters'. The desire to win is an incentive to work hard, compete hard, and that the prize of victory is 'worth it'.

I Corinthian 9:25 has this 'desire for victory'  in the context of "Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever."

But this verse also shows why the quote 'show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser' CAN"T be used to justify inappropriate reactions to losing- "They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever"

In other words, we train to respond correctly to losing BECAUSE we are competing for a higher reward and responding appropriately to a loss, means we respond with an acknowledgment that there is something higher and more important.... EVEN IF WE DON'T FEEL LIKE IT. That is what 'strict training' actually means.

So let's explore this a little bit more.....

On my desk I have another Lombardi quote: "The harder you work the harder it is to surrender." So let's be honest with ourselves... LOSING HURTS! And if it doesn't, then it is likely that you really didn't care enough to REALLY go for it. Now, to be clear, it may not show on the outside because some humans are wired to NOT show pain. My warning to coaches is to not judge a player be what you observe on the outside after a loss. And we do need to explore the balance that losing hurts... so there has to be an allowance for emotional responses. Can I really get on a player who cries after a loss? or screams? or has an outburst?

Another great challenge to coaches is "What have you done to educate your expectations to your team right after a loss?" "What are your procedures in walking your team through a loss?"

And it may be something like this- "You are going to hurt if/when we lose one day. It is going to really hurt. But in your disappointment, there are things you just cannot do. You will not throw your helmet, you will not scream profanity, you will not lash out at your teammate or opponent. But I also realize there will very hard emotions... sometimes kids hit a knee, lays down, or sits down and they don't want to get up. Sometimes there are tears. Sometimes there is a desire to blame or lash out. We have to be a TEAM at that time. It is OK to hug and comfort a player who is crying. It is OK to help your brother get off the ground. It is also OK to restrain or lovingly correct or instruct a teammate who crosses the boundaries because their emotions got the best of them. And, this is important, there will be consequences for violating our clear and reasonable boundaries. This discipline is good because it is a help to grow and help you to not do that incorrect behavior again. I'm not disciplining you because I don't like you, I am discipling you out of a care for you. "

I may end up writing a separate post about 'team discipline when rules are broken' with more detail later and I believe all coaches should meditate on Hebrews 12 in this important area.  But my suggestion is to restrain and correct quickly when the inappropriate behavior occurs (and it is usually an understandable 'hot' response or reaction) but save the consequences for later after the emotions have had time to cool. When I was a head coach, I would often give consequences to a player on the next day or even the next Monday to keep the punishment as business like as possible and give me time to think about the best tools for correction.

The bottom line is that, unfortunately- losses do come. No one is undefeated except Jesus. (Note: I have said this for years and then one day a friend of mine mentioned the disciple, Judas and said "Even Jesus didn't win them all- He was 11-1" - I will let the theologians argue that one)

BUT WE NEED TO BE CAREFUL HERE- THE PENDULUM CAN GO TOO FAR

I have often had to critique Christians in this arena as well. I have had to deal with some rather bizarre theories and applications of Christian living and sports. I have had Bible teachers tell me that 'competition is antithetical to New Testament living and yet I see competition, warfare, battle, and other types of struggles all the way through the Bible. Christian living IS competition... a war between two kingdoms, a battle with sinful nature, and opposition from Babylon on almost every page.

There is also what I term the "Kumbaya Klub" where Christian teams show up, get beat really bad, and walk around with 'Jesus loves you' stickers and you make the other team feel good about beating you.

I also have to be careful with the "Win in your heart but not the scoreboard" mentality. No, the scoreboard counts. And at the end we want to experience victory and we don't like defeat.

A final critique regarding Christian views of loss includes the one I like the least... "sin in the camp".

We lost a quarterfinal football game one year and we ended the season with that lone loss- 13-1. I rarely cry after a loss (though it crushes my soul to lose), but one of my good friends walked up to me and put his hand on my heart and said "Coach, what a season! Thank you SO MUCH for all you do! Love you!". When he touched be, it was like turning on a water faucet and tears just exploded out of my eyes! It shocked me and probably was the first time I had cried in a long, long time. We just didn't grow up that way.

The next Monday, I had another friend come up to me and here is what he said. "Coach, tough loss! I have been thinking about it this weekend and here is my thought... there must have been sin in the camp." which is a reference to Joshua 7-9 when little Ai routed the Israelites because they had sinned against the Lord. My response? "Well we are in DEEP trouble then. Because as long as I'm coaching here, there will be sin in the camp." 

STREAKS AND LESSONS

In 1998, we went 15-0 and won the state championship and then went 13-2 to win a back to back state tile again in 1999. It was a culmination of an amazing winning streak where we had our fourth 10-0 regular season and at then end of that year we had a four year record  of 51-4. In those kind of streaks, you just feel like you will never lose.

As a coach I have only experienced 4 'losing' seasons in 30 years. (4-6, 5-6. 3-7, and 5-6). The 3-7 and 5-6 record came in back to back 2009 and 2010 as a head football coach (and that was my last year to ever be a head coach). Just as I felt like we would never lose in that 96-99, losing began to feel like a habit during those last two years and I sometimes wonder if I would ever win again. 

But I also learned something important. 

In that 98/99 streak we lost a tough game down in Mobile- Friday, Sept 10, 1999 to UMS-Wright 26-31. It was our 1st regular season loss since 1995 and broke our streak of 17 straight games that went back to 1997. After that loss the next Monday, I met with a heartbroken group of guys and simply said.... "Guys, so far, all that most of you have learned from football is winning. If that is all you ever get from this game, then it has been a dis-service. You also need to learn about responding to a loss." And this team did.... and went on to that 2nd championship.

But another important lesson I learned was how much I grew to love and appreciate the 3-7 team. It was comprised of a lot of young guys who lost a lot of close games. They came out and fought like warriors every game that year. They loved one another well and I never ever felt like they were 'losers'. The next year, they were better and we just had some unfortunate injury situations that season.

We tend to define success by the scoreboard.... a win is an achievement but isn't always 100% a success.

A loss is not an achievement, but it can end up leading someone to becoming a 'success'.

'REASONS' FOR A LOSS

After any loss, a coach has feelings and circumstances to process. We tend to think in terms of things we could or should have done that would change the outcome. Indeed in many sports competitions, the outcome falls on a hand full of plays or circumstances. We live by a motto that "the team that makes the fewest mistakes will win" and that is why we practice with a pursuit of perfection- but I have never seen a perfect game of a perfect practice in my 58 years of life. I might possible say 'near perfect' but how close or far away is that? It is similar to trying  meditation on eternity.

One year we suffered a very difficult loss in Nashville after a nice winning streak. As I was grading the tape it became very clear that the outcome was in some ways a result of a mistake that we had been making during our previous wins, it just didn't show up as a fatal flaw until we played an opponent who could expose and use that mistake in their favor. Ouch! Those kind of losses hurt because I should have recognized this mistake and worked to correct it BEFORE it cost us.

The last thing we tend to do in analyzing losses is to actually give the opponent credit. I get it, a competitor never believes that he couldn't have found a way to win if he had gone harder, prepared better, been smarter, had better luck, or felt like the clock just ran out... but guess what? Sometimes the other team is just better and "a beat is a beat". Coach Fred Yancey used to love telling a story about his brother Bob who very successful and was one of those  'relentlessly positive' coaches. His team lost one night 49-7 and Fred called his brother to console him. Bob's response? "Fred, we were right there with them until they scored 42 points!" And we all have to love that attitude!

So there are quite a number of factors that can contribute to a loss, many of them are actually out of a team's control- other team better, bad bounce, unfortunate injury, controversial or missed official's call, weather impacted, team illness, emotional crisis... and others

But let's explore some components that can contribute to a loss that we underestimate or miss or could be improved or controlled..

MENTAL FREEZE UP OR NEGATIVE VOICES

I have written on this before, but athletes who are burdened by expectations or consumed by mis-guided, results oriented validation will under-perform in pressure situations. Because I work with teens, this is the hardest hurdle to overcome because the immaturity of the individual hasn't allowed for a solid development in this arena. It takes a starting varsity QB a full 3-5 games in the heat of battle until I believe they are adequately pressurized to handle a do or die situation.

My experience with athletes over the last two decades has shown me that the issue is more prominent today than in previous decades and I primarily blame the pressure on kids to earn a scholarship. And I believe they play in too many meaningless games where winning or losing is of no consequence because it is simply a have fun and showcase 'my stats' to get noticed by the scouts.

The problem with coaches today is that we are too quick to label a kid as mentally weak or a poor competitor and we don't persevere enough with a kid and let them grow up in their ability to focus and fight with freedom. As long as a kid is focused on himself and his reward, he will rarely pull through in the clutch. We have to create TEAM concepts- "I am fighting for my brother. I am going to lift him up." Then my stats don't matter, we celebrate a win together. Starters, stars, role players, and sideline personnel all come together and win together.

I usually cringe when a college scout shows up at one of our games. It almost always will cause the athlete to freeze up and underperform, because they are playing for an audience of one.... and it is the wrong 'one'.

The real winners... free to win because they aren't afraid to fail. I call it "free to miss means you are free to make."

BAD MATCH-UP

Some teams lose because it is just a bad match-up...  Superman's kryptonite. It isn't always personnel, I'm usually taking here about scheme/philosophy. When we were a veer option team, we would always struggle with a good 3-4 'Okie' front with 4i tackles. You have to prepare for those bad match-ups...but you know it will be ugly! A win is a win!

TEAM DIS-UNITY

Over the years, those teams that had the habit of 'snatching defeat from the jaws of victory' were suffering primarily from a lack of unity. I identify two key factors in building team unity:

(1) PLAYER LEADERSHIP- Coaches have to identify the leaders in each grade and seek to develop and train that leadership over time. I believe that waiting until the senior year is too late. I also believe it is appropriate to give leadership training to all athletes- most of them will be leaders in their sphere of influence. But I see it all the time- if the coaches are the only positive and persevering voices in the locker room... the team has no real shot at becoming unified.

(2) TRUST- Deep trust is the bedrock of team unity. David Cutcliffe was the first person I ever heard say it this way "coaches trust players, players trust coaches, players trust players, coaches trust coaches". A loss will strain these relationships more than any other. A hard loss will divide a team more than anything. I always watch players deal with a loss and it is the 'locker room whispers' that say more to me than anything. It is a fragile time and can sink a season. As soon as the grumbling and murmuring and questioning begins in force- that team will cease to grow and improve and the decay will begin.

One last point about unity..... unity does not mean 'universal agreement with all decisions' but it is a willingness to trust each person to fulfill their role. I think a player can question me in terms of who I play, what I call, or even how we train. The key is that the difference in opinion doesn't erode our relationship. It also means there has to be a level of trust to discuss these things. I'm a little unusual in that I give senior players the right to bark (even at me) but I also demand that we meet after those moments and discuss it. I need to be humble enough to listen and then they need to be trusting enough to make a decision work. 

Some of my greatest conversations over the years has been when a QB sits down with me and really gets honest... "On 3rd and long, when you call (any play- screen, draw, post, dig, out, etc), I just don't like it."

And then, instead of being mad, I simply say, "why?" and then we have a terrific conversation. And we end with a promise, I have listened, "let's work on it, but when things are called in the game... do it with your honest best effort and don't worry about the results... keep competing".

So now we close; is there a theology of loss?

For a follower of Christ... yes there is. We trust God to use every failure to produce a fruit of growth. Even if we don't see a 'reason' we have to trust that there is an opportunity.

I don't have to LIKE LOSING to EMBRACE THE LOSS.

The long term loser has it the toughest... but also has the greatest chance to become the toughest winner when the circumstances change- EVERYONE LOVES A COMEBACK!

What we DON"T DO is pout, blame, quit, gripe.

Instead-  we get up, we keep moving forward, we learn, we help others

And we don't listen to the critics, the doomsdayers, the naysayers... 

Those people have never won anything significant in their entire lives.

Further reading on previous posts:

http://www.jayopsis.com/2011/11/how-football-pain-points-to-gospel.html

http://www.jayopsis.com/2005/10/we-lost-praise-lord.html

http://www.jayopsis.com/2009/08/going-for-two-and-providence-of-god.html

http://www.jayopsis.com/2021/07/the-only-way-to-lose-is-to-quit.html

Signaling In Plays

I have been thinking a lot lately about the strategy of signaling.

Getting the call into the offense is a balance of time, efficiency, accuracy, and security.

Former Alabama QB and kicker, Danny Ridgeway was Coach Bryant's messenger. He would run onto the field, tell the huddle, and run off to the sideline before the NCAA changed the rule that if a player came onto the field, he had to stay for a play.

I remember how Bob Finley, (the hall of fame high school coach of Hoover back when it was Berry High School) would have Stan White would run over after every play to the sideline and Coach would tell him the play and he would run back. There were no play clocks back then and I don't remember many delay of games.

Most teams used to (and a lot still do) run in the play with players from the sideline.

All teams had signals for 2 minute offense- but with the rise of no huddle teams which led to nascar pace teams created the need to signal.

Stealing signals is as old as baseball.

I know personally of coaches and games at both the HS and college level where a big part of the win was the stealing of either offensive of defensive signals from the sideline. All an offensive coach needs to do is know the coverage and whether the defense call is a base or blitz and you can scheme wise make a good call.

Of course, most offensive coaches today just check snap and look to the sidelines where the defense has tipped where it is anyway.

I do know of some teams who change or bluff change the defensive call after that.

Stealing an offense's signals requires a longer study but I know it happens. 

I think teams who are vulnerable are those who signal all the time, even in pre-game, at freshmen games, at JV games, in 7 on 7 tournaments- if you watch a team for any length of time in those situations you will know their base runs- what are their runs, their slip screen calls (dangerous to get that one), their pass concepts, and their boots.

I have been coaching long enough to have run the gamet of how to signal.

We have used:

• colored hats- no joke- we had three guys who wore different hats to signal our quick game.
• colored cards- same system but less cumbersome
• wristbands using numbers- and we either put up 3 numbers on a whiteboard or put them on flip cards and poles which I made at Home Depot
• wristbands using a pod system- ex: signal NOSE 1 or Golf 2- and players would find the nose pod on their wristband
• signal live the play- have a signal that is associated with the name of the play
• use combination of signals and pictures- the pictures are fun because you can get all kind of random stuff (we have used Oregon Ducks logo, Big Plane, Bush, Obama, and even one time a picture of the opposing coach)
• Barrage of cards, numbers, charts, multiple signalers, and pictures (sometimes a big bluff): it turns the sideline into a zoo.

Problems with the 'systems'

• Running in from sideline is slow and requires a player change, can be especially slow inside the 25 yard line and far hash, and you better hope the guys transfers the info correctly. A mouthpiece and a missed syllable can be tough. You have to have a 2 min system anyway.
• The whiteboard with numbers is hard to see and can be a failure in the rain
• Wristbands are slower that live and can get mis-read if all 11 players are getting it- the play caller has to turn his call to the code, the code is signaled, the players must find the code on the band. I also worried that other teams may get the wristband card or make their own as plays are called (tough in the number system if you signal 3 numbers- but doable). Or the card gets soaked and becomes unreadable. I also had a player with poor eyesight who had a hard time reading the foggy band.
• signal live- it is too easy to find the primary signaler and you can decode his signals fairly easy.

SO what do I suggest?

• Use multiple signalers and have them either signal 2 plays (1 live and 1 dummy) or use an open signal/close signal system like baseball.

• IDEA: Instead of a spread, no huddle- line up in an attack huddle (4yds) with everyone but the 2 wideouts. That way only 3 players need to get the signal- QB and X,Z who stand on the #'s. Signal, say it, break and go fast. You can go as fast as a no huddle because the officials have to put the ball in play and it creates more panic on the defense.

• Use multiple signals for the same base plays. Teach your guys that you have 3 ways to call inside zone or 3 ways to call tunnel screen. Don't use multiple signs for ALL the plays- just the ones that you use over and over.

• Have a universal signal for "do it again, same play"

• Have a universal signal for "flip the formation and do the same play"

• Have a universal signal for "quick play" and change what that play is every series.

• Have a secondary signal system- card, picture, or wristband handy- and use it for a series.

• Do NOT use your normal signals in 7 on 7's or pre-game. I wouldn't even use them in Middle School, Freshmen, or JV games. Run kids in... get more people playing time or use a different system.

Psychological Warfare:

If you play a team that signals and you can't break their code- act like you know their code- it demoralizes the other players. I had an offensive tackle in full bore panic one game because he said "THEY KNOW OUR SIGNALS!". Our guard looked at him and said, "No they don't, they have been saying stuff like that the whole time and mostly wrong"- but it did impact that player's confidence.

If you do crack the code- try to NOT SHOW IT- take the cheese all night without ever displaying that you know where it is.

Finally, there is the story of Tennessee playing UCLA one year where the offensive line coach from UT had gone to UCLA. It caused a debate among the UT coaches of whether or how much to change checks and calls because UCLA would know a lot about their language and signals.

Coach Cutcliffe and the staff decided to do nothing different and it stayed that way for 3 quarters. But in the 4th quarter, Peyton Manning checked to the quick game hitch like they had done ...forever. But the coaches, counting on a steal, had instructed to run a double move, hitch and go.

Sure enough, The Bruin corner bit hard and the UT receiver scored the game clinching TD.

You better be careful- LIVE BY STEALING THE SIGNALS, DIE BY STEALING THE SIGNALS.

I DO GET JEALOUS OF THE HELMET RADIOS IN THE NFL- THAT WOULD MAKE LIFE SIMPLER.

Hope this discussion helped stir some ideas...what do you think?