“Yeah, I have some people in mind.”
“Now, what I want you to do is to give your leaders clear expectations. As an example, I want you to work with the training staff to measure everyone. Get a baseline of them physically; you know, height, weight and so on. I also want to know what workout program everyone’s on and how to keep records of that program. A good example would be the bench press: what weight and number of reps.
“Once we have this information, what benefits do you see?” Coach asked me.
“After a period of time, we can see improvement.”
“If they improve, what does that do?”
“Makes them able to compete harder.”
“What else?”
“They’re less likely to get hurt.”
“Good one. Do you see the benefit of a healthy football team?”
“Yes, sir. I think they’ll also feel better about themselves.”
“Excellent. That’s the one I want to focus on. If they’re feeling good about themselves, they’re more self-confident. They have a mindset that they can accomplish something. What else?”
“Keeping records will give them accountability.”
“Bingo. That’s the big one. If left to their own devices, they’d be home eating junk food and lounging around. What do you think the other teams on our schedule are doing right now? I bet you they’re not getting up early to lift and staying after to get in shape.
“Let’s go back for a moment to them feeling better about themselves. Do you think them knowing they’re an elite group will make them feel special?” Coach Hope asked.
I was starting to see his vision. I nodded.
“I’ll tell you a secret. I knew I was going into the military. The reason I picked the Marines was because they were the toughest group around. They’re the cream of the crop. They also had the best uniforms. Do you think teenage boys and girls might be attracted to something like that?”
My mind was going a mile a minute.
“In high school, playing sports gives you a certain status. What if you created something that was beyond that? Something that has to be earned to set them apart. Think for a moment about being a state champion. Besides the trophy for the school, each player gets a patch in the shape of the state that says State Champion on it. You put that on your letter jacket. How cool would it be to have three of those?”
“Wow, you’re blowing my mind, Coach.”
“Can I ask you a personal question?”
“Of course.”
“Why does hardly anyone wear their letterman’s jackets? Do you even have one?”
I was embarrassed to say that I didn’t have a letterman’s jacket. I’d won a letter in football but I’d put it in my sock drawer.
“You’re right, I don’t own one.”
“David, I’m not getting on you. I wanted to show you what I was talking about. You know why you don’t have a letterman’s jacket and wear it?” Coach Hope asked.
“No, sir.”
“None of the seniors are wearing them. We have to find ways to build pride in being a player for Lincoln.”
“You’re right, Coach. Only a handful have a letterman’s jacket, and even fewer wear them.”
“Finally, you need to have a plan and work towards that plan.”
A big smile came over my face. This I’d learned from my summer in exile. Uncle John had worked with me to map out my life.
“This I understand, Coach. My uncle helped me establish my life goals.”
I thought Coach Hope’s eyebrows were going to go into his hairline.
“Okay, I’m sorry, but you have to tell me about your life goals.”
“Last year I got into a little scrape with the law. Without getting into details, it caused a problem at home. I was sent packing to my uncle’s farm for the summer. His plan was to break me down by working me until I was exhausted. I didn’t have time to be a little jerk. Once I broke down, he built me back up. Something he did was help me decide my life goals to give me structure.
“If I ever start doubting myself, I pull out my goals and see if what I’m doing aligns with them. It helps me sort out the bullshit and focus on what matters. It also reaffirms why I’m doing certain things with my life.”
“Can you tell me what they are?”
“Sure, but what they are isn’t as important as having them,” I said, and he nodded to me in understanding. “There are four main goals: the first is financial stability, second is physical fitness, third is a solid moral foundation, and the fourth is a healthy sex life.”
He about choked on the last one.
“Yeah, you’re not dating my daughter.”
I just laughed at him. We heard the early birds hit the showers, which meant I had to get going. I felt like I understood Coach Hope better after today. I was starting to see his vision, and it was aligning with mine. We just needed to make it happen. To do that, we would have to get the team of helpers together. Uncle John had told me that I should get people I could delegate to if I ever wanted to make a big change.
For the team members, I was thinking my current team of Kendal, Lily and Tracy. Okay, I wasn’t a hundred percent sure about Tracy. In addition, my seven-on-seven team members would be part of the core group. A wild thought hit me. My best friends should be involved. I would get Alan, Jeff and Gina to help. Of course, Tami would be the puppet master, pulling my strings. I was starting to get excited. Nevertheless, I still had a question I had to ask.
“Why aren’t you doing this with Brad? Why me?”
I could see he was struggling with this. I think our meeting had evolved into something more than he intended. My concern was that he was setting me up to be Brad’s rival even more than we already were. A football team couldn’t have two groups and be a team. If I had to face the situation and let Brad lead, I could swallow my pride and do it for the greater good.
I’d figured out that Brad was Coach Hope’s blind spot. If it were anyone else, he wouldn’t be putting up with next year’s seniors tearing down the team’s chemistry. He also wouldn’t have walked into Lincoln the first day and anointed Brad as quarterback without a competition.
Coach Hope gave me a hard look. I don’t think he was used to being challenged.
“I have Brad organizing the juniors.”
I waited for him to say something more, but it wasn’t forthcoming. I knew that Coach Hope had more life experience than I did. You don’t become a major in the Marine Corps without knowing something about leadership. If anyone could pull our two groups together, I was sure he could. I just had a bad feeling that this wasn’t going to turn out well.
AT LUNCH, I CONFIRMED that the guys all wanted to play in the tournament. Magic was excited that he would get to coach us. Plans were made to get everyone over to State’s indoor practice facility this weekend. I explained that I wouldn’t be there; I had a job in New York this weekend, so Magic volunteered to play quarterback. I had copied the seven-on-seven section of the materials that Bo Harrington had left me, and gave them to Magic to look over.
After that was done, I left the lunchroom to call Kendal. I explained what Coach Hope had told me. She was on board to help. She explained that getting me to the NFL was one of their goals. I just shrugged it off.
“Now for the hard question: do we include Tracy?”
I heard Kendal sigh. She was in a tough spot, working for Tracy’s dad. So she tried to weasel out of the question.
“I don’t know. What were you planning on her doing?”
“Wimp.”
“Bite me.”
“I’ll see what I can do this weekend.”
“You better not. I’ll have Chuck take you out.”
“Please, he’s an old man. I’d be afraid he’d stroke out.”
“Like how I got out of answering?” she asked.
“I noticed that. Back on track. Is she going to wig out?”
“You know she will. She can also be an asset. While you were telling me all this, I started thinking: ‘What’s in it for them?’”