From Gold to Friday Night Lights to a New Path

Today I saw a smile on the face of a woman who was not used to accomplishing things like pulling weighted sleds around, let alone inside of cones at a football practice. She smiled as her teammates cheered for her. Inside, she cheered for herself. She wasn't going to finish every rep or run faster than anyone else, but she saw something inside herself tonight - and I think she'll be back for more on Wednesday. When I saw her smile, it reminded me of why I love this game. Sitting out tonight with my neck tied in knots of major proportion, I wanted to be doing all of it - the running, the stupid circuits, the pulling of a sled. I don't want to retire, but I play to feel that smile spread across my face as my teammates yell for "Extra Point"or when someone does something truly unexpected .... and right now, I haven't felt it yet this season. That makes me sad. It's too much controversy, too many opinions, too little information, too many good intentions and

B ig things have been happening lately with football. After my experience last fall with the traveling football team, I decided to ask for an adjusted role with more responsibilities this year to learn more about being a good coach. I was offered a job with the WRs for the 9th grade, and I took it with some apprehension. After all, I'm a center. But, we worked in the wing-t last year, which is not all that pass-driven, and I can certainly teach blocking. Then we had a coaches' meeting last weekend and I learned we are working with adding a component of the spread offense. Sweet. My weekends from here until spring practice will need to include some serious studying, whiteboard drawing, video-watching, talking to WRs and WR coaches and going to early AM meetings. I can't wait to see how this turns out, and I'm sure it will be ok. After all, I'm a center. Learning offense is what we do. Stay tuned.