S2 #10. Rodney Saulsberry is in his 25th season at White Haven High School (TN) and 19th as a head football coach. He has an overall record of 180-48 with two TN 6A state titles. Over 200 of Coach Saulsberry's former players have gone on to play college football and 15 of them have become coaches. Saulsberry, who also serves as a math teacher, has earned many awards over his time as head coach, such as 2x Tennessee Titans Coach of the Year, 3x Regional Coach of the Year, and the 2022 AFCA Power of Influence Award.
My takeaways:
- Coaches have an obligation to help athletes in the recruiting process. Hold workshops, assist in course scheduling, and expose kids to the different levels available (how else will they know what a D1 athlete looks like?)
- Teach student-athletes to use the sport as an avenue to continue their education rather than allowing the sport to use them for their talent
- Coaches should work collaboratively w/parents to hold kids to set standards
- When asked what kids need most from their teachers/coaches, Coach responded with, "...LOVE. They need to know that you care about them...There's so much pressure on teachers to perform that we forget we are teachers and we're growing young people...They need to know that somebody cares about them beyond what they can score on a test." 🎯
