I was talking to a highly successful and long time former college football coach “Boots” Donnelly from Middle Tennessee State University the other day. He told me that it wasn’t enough for a coach to simply have passion for his job. He also had to be smart enough to do the job.
He told me about an energetic, passionate high school coach that he knew who had one of the fastest runners in the state on his team. Nobody could touch him, but when Boots went to visit the practice he saw that the kid was playing in the line at right guard.
So Boots said, “Coach, he’s the fastest guy in the state. Nobody can touch him, and you’ve got him at guard?”
The coach replied, “Yeah, that’s right. You ought to see him pull out to block.”
Boots remarked, “Well pull him out of the line, put him in the backfield, and don’t ever move him again.”
Passion isn’t enough. You also have to be smart enough to coach.
