Building Men for Others: Loving One Another

As most of you know, I went back to West Virginia to see my father as his health was failing. I was lucky enough to see him last Thursday and Friday. He was very sick, yet he recognized me as his face lit up when I talked to him. I told him I was coaching back at Patrick Henry and he squeezed my hand as if to say he was happy to see I returned home to San Carlos.

He could hardly talk, but he still was able mumble the words, "I love you." My father passed away on Saturday at 8:30 am from heart failure. I was happy to be able to see him before he passed away. I want to thank you all for your prayers and thoughts through this time in my life. I also want to thank those of you who signed the sympathy card that I received when I came back to practice yesterday.

I wanted to share a part of my experience with our players. Before practice started, I took the opportunity to Build Men for Others...

I explained how my sister LeAnn made her tearful goodbye. The thing she told our father struck a chord that will live with me for the rest of my life. LeAnn said, "I know you love me, I just wish you would have told me more." Amen.

We live in a society in where it is not accepted to tell one another, "I love you", or at least not in public. It's not macho or cool. As young boys, we were loved, coddled and nurtured in loving environment by our parents. Somewhere along the timeline of life and as we got older, we as men were taught to that it is not proper to show love to one another. Society has taught us to dis-connect the heart from the mind.

Being a Man Built for Others, that is not how I want to live my life. That is not the example I want to leave with my children, my friends and my players.

I explained to the players that life is too short. It shouldn't take us to be on our death bed to finally convey our love for the people that matter in our lives. That is why you will hear exchange on the field: I ask, "What's the coaches job?" The players respond in unison, "To love us!" I then ask, "What's your job?" The players respond in unison, "To love each other!"

In football, like in life, to be successful, you surround yourself with good people, you work hard and you tell them you love them. I gave our players an assignment. They were to go home and tell the people that were important in their lives that they loved them... Life is too short.