If I were to be so lucky as to earn a chance in the National Football League, mastering the mental game would take me further than raw physical ability ever could; if playing the game would end for me after college, I knew that I would pursue any opportunity I could to enter the coaching profession, and that this would likely include entering a Masters program as a Graduate Assistant collegiate coach. In either case, the crux of my progress would balance on a process of education. Years now into my postgraduate career, I have hand the opportunity to identify three goals that encompass what I hope to be my future as a teacher, coach and student: First, I want to everything there is to know about the game of football and how to coach it. Second, I want to learn more about academic support for collegiate athletes, and in doing so, develop new ways of approaching student athlete learning with an eye toward a standard of vibrant success. Third, I want to expand my knowledge beyond the football field and beyond the collegiate classroom into areas that, once understood through dedicated education, will feed the curiosity of my soul, and ground my academic experience in broad appreciation for all things.
Footballscoop.com is a web service that advertises jobs openings in college coaching. Truthfully and humbly, I do not expect that my eventual employment goal of becoming a Division I position coach will be serviced by an internet jobs board, but this page is representative of my first aspiration in continuing my learning through education. All the programs that post on this board employ coaches who have mastered, in their own way, their knowledge of football. That some of these jobs are posted, however, speaks to the fact that the never-ending process of improvement will identify those who do not learn their craft in this competitive trade with mastery. Those who do not approach football, or any sport, as amazed learners are doomed to develop the false security of ignorance, and the game will pass them by. I include this jobs board at http://footballscoop.com/the-scoop/ as a reminder to myself both of the possibilities that lay before my best efforts as a learner and a teacher, and of the pitfalls that exist should I fall into the trap of believing that I know it all.
Every season there is a story about a wonderful collegiate athlete who falls through the cracks because of poor academic performance. Even more often, for those of us engaged in recruiting student athletes, there is the very common story of a great high school or junior college athlete who fails to qualify for an NCAA athletic scholarship because of poor test scores or grade point average. If there is one area in which I want to enrich the experience of collegiate athletes I encounter beyond the field, it is in the classroom. Many will recognize this trailer of the Netflix program Last Chance U, which follows the football athletes of a junior college in Mississippi as they try to navigate the field and classroom in pursuit of an NCAA scholarship. Beginning at the 1:08 minute mark, the program’s academic advisor is highlighted:
Simply put, the woman comes across as something of a saint-made-badger, rallying disinterested kids into classrooms and monitoring their progress with the dogged tenacity of a dedicated teacher, friend and mentor combined. Though I find her efforts outstanding and actually astounding, there has to be a better way, one that energizes student athletes in the classroom in a way that mirrors their passion for the game. I plan to research best practices for engaging student athlete support as I continue my education.
Paul Alexander is the Offensive Line coach for the Cincinnati Bengals. In his book, Perform, a Journey for Athletes, Musicians, Coaches and Teachers, Alexander engages many aspects of his education in football, education and music. It is the music, though, that is most interesting to me. Coach Alexander is a lover of classical music and took it upon himself not only to highly develop his musicianship on the piano, but to study music theory and take lessons for a concert pianist. The lessons he learned in his efforts were, as his book explains, transferable to the field in many ways. They were also important for his personal enjoyment in life and for his soul, which has never been limited to the narrow scope of simple competition. Though I could never match Alexander’s passion for music, I want to deeply educate myself in that which I am passionate, and in this way engage my education beyond that which will aid only my profession. Alexander’s website can be found here: http://www.perform-coach.com/index.html