The Real Heart of College Athletics

I have had people say to me, “You have the best job in the world.  You get to sit around and watch sports all day.”  While I agree that my job has perks that revolve around athletics – like getting to go to the Minneapolis Metrodome for a baseball game – those people miss a good portion of the truth.  They miss the fact that coaches and athletic staff often put in 60-plus hours a week, spend days at a time on the road away from family – the accommodations, food, and rest are hardly five-star vacations – and most often do it all for pay that is hardly upper class.


So why do we do what we do?  Is it for love of our sport(s) alone?  Is it just the most tolerable job we could find?  I can guarantee that those who get into college athletics for those reasons alone, do not last long.  It may hold someone for awhile, but the hours and the road trips all catch up far too fast.  With that being said, this is not a post to complain or to sell the negatives, instead it is a plea for understanding of the real heart of college athletics.

In my experience and opinion, the heart of college athletics is built around two facts.
Think about your four years (or more, it’s alright to admit it) of college.  Think of who you were when you entered your dorm room for the first time and then think of who you had become by the time you walked down the aisle to receive your diploma.  My guess is that they often seem like two different people.  College is often the time in a person’s life when they develop the most into who they will become.  In normal development, it serves as a transition from childhood to an adult.  That is the first fact.  Those four years (or more) are critical to who an individual will become as an adult.

The second fact is that athletics provides a backdrop for development.  I know that some will disagree, but where else can you fail, succeed, set attainable goals, work as a team, lead, follow, teach, experience, be challenged, overcome obstacles, be kept accountable, learn responsibility, develop toughness, learn to concentrate and improve discipline as much (and as safely) as when you are on an athletic team?  Those traits naturally develop in the sports arena, but they are not exclusive to athletics.  Those are areas we all need to foster to be successful in all areas of our lives.
Put the two together and you get student-athletes in some of their most developmental years in a situation (athletics) that naturally is conducive to growth.

Let me illustrate with an example.  At the beginning of my coaching career, I had a student-athlete that I will likely never forget.  He was an intense individual, but was at times quiet and slightly awkward in social situations.  During his freshman season, we often had our guys pray as a team.  While he was more than willing to participate, he often stumbled heavily on words as he struggled to articulate his thoughts in front of even a small group of peers.  His intensity led to positive moments on the field, but it also led to trials on and off it.  On one occasion, the student-athlete got in a verbal confrontation – almost turned physical as well – with an assistant coach.  The incident resulted in severe consequences, but eventually led to that same coach hiring him for summer employment.  While there were numerous failures and difficult times on the path, the student-athlete grew tremendously (as did the coaches and staff who worked with him).  By his senior year – now married – he and his wife led a mission and service team to South America.  He went from a kid who could not even put words together for a simple prayer in front of a group to a man who now leads a small congregation as their pastor.

I do not take credit for that development, not even for a second.  While I failed that student-athlete on countless occasions as a coach, I hope that he can look back and see that as a friend, I did everything in my power to provide opportunities for him to develop into the man he is today.  That is why I do what I do.

I love my job, but not for the reasons you may have thought.  I love my job because I get a front row seat to the development that will set the stage for the rest of a student-athlete’s life.   I love my job because it makes a difference.  That is the heart of small college athletics.