As I walked through halls of my old high school, a flood of memories came back. The friends, the teachers, the crushes I was too nervous to say anything to… I was still nervous today. Although, I was nervous for a different reason. I had received a call from my father, he had been coaching football at Poplar High School for 30 years. He had recently had a heart attack and my mother told him it was time to retire. He knew it was time, but he had one request. He wanted to coach along side his son for the final game.
“Dad, I’ll do whatever you tell me to do.” I recalled saying to him on the phone.
“No, I want you to tell me what to do. This is going to be your team to coach.” He said in a choked up voice.
There is nothing quite like Friday night high school football. The band was playing, people were cheering, they still used the same cheers I did when I was in high school.
I knew the playbook like the back of my hand as I had helped my dad when I was kid and helped him study film in high school.
We were down by 27 to 20 with 2 minutes left on the clock. We had running the ball fairly well all night, so I decided to mix it up with a play action pass and try to catch the secondary encroaching. They bit on the run and the Quarterback had a man open 30 yards down the field… but he underthrew him and the opposing team intercepted the ball.
After they knelt it down to end the game, I was running out to shake hands with the other coach when someone grabbed my shoulder. I turned back to see my dad. He put out his hand looking for a shake.
“Great game coach. I think you have a real future in this gig.” He spoke.
“It was a blast.” I said as I took his hand and pulled him in for a hug.
“I learned from the best.”
“Dad, I’ll do whatever you tell me to do.” I recalled saying to him on the phone.
“No, I want you to tell me what to do. This is going to be your team to coach.” He said in a choked up voice.
There is nothing quite like Friday night high school football. The band was playing, people were cheering, they still used the same cheers I did when I was in high school.
I knew the playbook like the back of my hand as I had helped my dad when I was kid and helped him study film in high school.
We were down by 27 to 20 with 2 minutes left on the clock. We had running the ball fairly well all night, so I decided to mix it up with a play action pass and try to catch the secondary encroaching. They bit on the run and the Quarterback had a man open 30 yards down the field… but he underthrew him and the opposing team intercepted the ball.
After they knelt it down to end the game, I was running out to shake hands with the other coach when someone grabbed my shoulder. I turned back to see my dad. He put out his hand looking for a shake.
“Great game coach. I think you have a real future in this gig.” He spoke.
“It was a blast.” I said as I took his hand and pulled him in for a hug.
“I learned from the best.”