Kevin

Kevin
Kevin Lewis is a retired NFL linebacker.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Urban did the right thing.


Coaching has long been a stressful job. Coaching has always been filled with the ideology that says, out work your opponents. In coaching,
that language means spend more hours in the office than your opponents and your coworkers. The idea that working long means working hard in the coaching ranks has been going on for years. Many have given this credit to long time NFL coaches George Allen and Sid Gillman who believed, "Every time you win, you're reborn; when you lose, you die a little." Like everything else in the NFL, this attitude filtered down to the college ranks. As college coaching salaries continue to increase, the time dedicated to these jobs multiplies. College coaches have a little more added pressure; they have to recruit talented players without paying them… College coaches first job is recruiting. If you can't recruit, you will find it hard being a collegiate coach. Collegiate players in any sport will tell you they each had a coach on their staff that couldn't coach. They always wondered how in the world he/she was able to have their job only to find out that most of their best players came to the University as a result of that particular coach. While coaches are game planning for an opponent, they're recruiting. When a coach is on a game trip, they're recruiting. When coaches are on vacation, they're recruiting. Coaches are always recruiting! Due to this 24 hour recruiting cycle, coaches families suffer. Some have even said, people who coach don't like they're families. Urban Meyer is trying to give the coaching profession a better name by giving up millions in order to be a better husband and father. Many believe that the 30 arrest during his tenure, or the fact that he can see looming disaster in the Gator program up ahead as factors in his resignation. But, you have to respect a man who believes that his family is much more important than winning another sears crystal football. I've had the opportunity to play with several coaches kids and a lot of times they are in the same position as kids from single parent households. They weren't able to see their dads in the stadium. They even found it hard at times to get help from them in the same sport they were coaching.
Coaches and their own personal health has suffered as a result of the job. Coaches have fainted during and after games and also have had heart attacks. The price paid by coaches families can be high. Coaches have dealt with suicides and seen kids going to prison right before their eyes and never knew what had happened. Urban Meyer doesn't want to fall into this statistic and would much rather be called dad right now. The hours that take coaches away from the home can sometimes blind them to the most important coaching job in their life, coaching their family.

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