Providing Big-Time Experiences | Terry Harrison

Terry: 0:00

and whether that's your high school program, you're going in the doors every day, or a college football program that you choose to coach at the way "I sum it up, It is the state of your heart.

Luke: 0:20

Season two of The "I" in Win continues with today's guest, Terry Harrison, who is that football coach at Friends University located in Wichita, Kansas. And Coach Harrison has developed a reputation of rebuilding programs prior to Friends. Coach Harrison took over a 1-9 Bethel College program in 2018 and turned them into a nationally ranked team in just a few short years, and now he's kind of faced with the simmer situation at friends. So Coach "I have to ask you, what is it about rebuilding programs that really captivates you?

Terry: 0:53

Well, you know, "I, uh, there's probably "I, don't know, there's probably some psychiatrist out there who could probably pinpoint it a little better. You know, "I, just "I, just, um, in the end, I'm just a football coach, right? And, you know, it's, it's a pretty unique deal. You know, "I, I'm a little bit of a unicorn "I. Um, my whole professional careers been in and around Wichita, Kansas. So "I was a high school assistant coach in a suburb school of Wichita head coach in a Wichita City League school, Wichita Heights. And then Bethel College is about 30 miles north of Wichita. And then obviously Fringe University's the closest university to my house. So I've never moved. My wife's had the same teaching job this whole time, so, Part of it is, uh, proximity to my life professionally was, was certainly played a factor in coming to friends. And then also, um, like you mentioned, just, just having a chip on my shoulder. Um, you know, "I, "I wasn't fortunate. "I "I grew up in Texas, um, but did not play for great high school football program. In fact, my. My high school football, um, experience was not, "I not one that "I look back at like fondly necessarily, you know? Um, and so "I learned a lot of lessons as a high school player on what "I wouldn't want to coach like. Um, and then came to college, had a similar experience my first three years, um, of playing college football in this conference, um, in Kansas. And then man met, uh, senior year, had a, had a turnaround, had a new coach who kind of changed my idea of what coaching. Um, what kind of impact you can have on players. And we, and we kind of turned it around, you know, immediately when, when we had a new coach come in and any, and ultimately that kind of re-sparked my interest in coaching and, and, and made me kinda wanna do that professionally. So having said that, "I think that's a part of it. "I, because "I played in poor programs as a high school player. Um, "I say poor struggling programs. And then as a college player, Man, "I, "I, "I had that change for me as a senior in college and "I, guess "I. Think there's a part of me that just, you know, loves providing that opportunity and showing kids that, you know, when. Losing football games is really hard, and it hurts and it's embarrassing and it causes all kinds of emotions, anger, and frustration. And for some kids, there are kids that, that is their whole experience with football. And, and hopefully in a, in a way, we can, as a staff, you know, all my good friends are all coaches with us. We all do it together. Hopefully we provide an experience for kids that, that, um, "I Dunno, that makes football a little more fun than maybe, than maybe what it.

Luke: 3:12

"I Wanna go back to the Texas experience in a few minutes, but before "I do, do you think there's such a thing as an UNSAVABLE program? Like do you, do you think there are schools out there at the high school or the collegiate level that maybe they're just not capable of success?

Terry: 3:30

Uh, "I. Think that's a complex question. "I Wish "I knew the answer completely. I'm the, my, my gut "I mean. When you first asked that "I "I think "I was shaking my head. No. "I "I don't believe so. Um, obviously there's limitations everywhere, right? And as a high school football coach, you, you're limited by who walks through the door. You're limited by that community. Um, "I. Think we all know "I, "I, "I. I'm not that familiar with your area. Right. But "I "I know there's certain schools that are probably traditionally in and out year after year. You know, maybe blessed with players that maybe some other schools aren't. So "I think there's a, there's a, there's a part of that that it'd be crazy not to acknowledge. There just are some towns that, you know, maybe it's people live there, maybe the type of community and, and depending on how, how it works locally with jobs and, and factories and this or that, that, that maybe provides more town as far as people. Um, so "I say that. But "I know in the college level, "I don't necessarily think so, only because, you know, I'm a small college football coach. Our previous school won back to back conference championships, didn't have a locker room, it flooded. Um, we moved our locker room to a metal building that was an old track storage shed, and we went back to back conference championships there in a place where no one really thought she could. And so, uh, you know, "I think the recruiting though is there's a piece of that that, you know, "I. Again, that, that, there, that's its own thing, right? It's separate than coaching in my opinion. There's coaching and there's recruiting two different things. and so "I don't know "I, "I don't know that about saveable, but "I certainly do this. You know, "I "I do believe in creating big time programs as far as, uh, providing a big time experience. "I think you can provide a championship, big time experience at any school, at high school, middle school, little league or college across the country. Um, how that materializes and wins, uh, "I think could be dependent on your talent, especially as you get later in a season in a playoff.

Luke: 5:06

That's a great way to put it. And "I want you to go a little bit deeper into creating that big time experience that may not necessarily. Directly equate to the outcomes and cuz "I agree with you. So can you kind of explain your vision? Imagine I'm a parent, you're recruiting my son right now. Cause I'm sure you talk to parents about that all the time. Like take me into that vision of what you mean by that statement.

Terry: 5:30

Yeah, so I'm a big frosty western guy. So "I, don't know if you're familiar with Frosty Western or not, but he wrote a book back a long time called Make the Big Time. We were at "I, think it's Outta Print. Um, but essentially to, to be very brief, frosty was a former Marine who came back in ko "I football, Pacific Lutheran. And won of a couple national champs. But anyway, wrote a book called Make the Big Time We're at. And, and to sum that up, in a sentence is the big time is not a place or a building or a weight room or facility. It truly is the state of your heart. and so that's what we focus on. The heart of the player, the heart of the parent. We do that in recruiting, but also in that and how we, how we operate, right? And we approach our, we we approach every day. Like this is a big time program here. And "I "I attack every day. Like I'm Nick Saban or whoever you perceive to be the biggest time guy you know out there. And "I. Do think that's a state of your heart. "I was very fortunate. Spoke at a clinic at Ohio State, "I, don't know, three years ago now, something like that. Um, but the first day in the shoe, right in the the Orlando Pace, hall of Fame room. And we talked to parents about this, right? Because most people don't. There's so many people who don't understand any "I football or Division "I two Football or Division "I three football. They just do not understand it. They don't know what it is. They don't know what it means. So immediately they think it's just less than or something like that. Right? And so you have to explain that in a way. Um, the way we try to do that is, you know, what happens is when you, when you choose a school or you have a program, and whether that's your high school program, you're going in the doors every day, or a college football program that you choose to coach at the way "I sum it up, It is the state of your heart. And so when, when you say that, when "I walked in the Orlando past room, the first day "I was there with Coach Kelly, our recruiting coordinator, and we were in awe. We were taking pictures of the N F L Shield, you know, "I as just like you would be, right? If you walk in the horseshoe "I, it makes your heart kick a beat. "I mean, just like if you walked into any of these sta, you know, pick your stadium, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan, big house, whatever. Your el, your heart rate elevates when you walk in the room. Just because it does "I mean. It's this, it's this iconic place, right? Um, it almost saw like a monument rather than a football field. So anyway, that happened for me in Ohio State, and "I was there three days. So day one, heart rate's elevated, taking pictures everywhere, this and that, and just like, oh man, can you believe that? Eddie George picture here, Orlando Pace, there, all these greats, you know, and by day two when "I went upstairs, we're in this room, "I noticed there's like a water stain up on one of the ceiling tiles. No different than in my office at Bethel College at the time. Right. Um, then "I go around, you know, day two going, going to the first bathroom was super fancy, but "I "I think it was occupied. So "I walked around another hallway going in the bathroom, 1940s, tiles that had broken tiles and the, the toilet was leaking and it's like, You know, this place is, it's just a place. Right. By day three, "I missed my family. "I was ready to leave "I, walked up the stairs, saw a crack "I. Saw a cobweb, excuse me, in the corner of this hallway walking up the stairs to the Orlando Pace room. And, and it does make you realize "I was, it was just another place. It just became a new normal By day three, "I, my, my heart rate didn't elevate when "I walked into the horseshoe. It didn't elevate when "I walked into the stadium, any of that, right? And so "I think that's what happens to all of us. So if it's fringe diversity, If you play at Ohio State, "I mean, think about that. Those coaches, well, I'm sure they are grateful for their "I, mean "I "I. Understand there's a level of gratitude when you're coaching Ohio State, but their heart rate doesn't elevate when they walk in the stadium anymore. Their heart rate doesn't elevate when they see the, they have a practice facility with all the trophies up on the glass case, if you've ever seen it is awesome. You see it from the road, but it just becomes your new normal. It becomes, it's, it's, it is your job and it's just your, your new every day you walk in and, and it almost becomes background noise, right? And so in the. What you have to ask yourself. Those coaches there every day, you can work there and not have a big time heart and have this gracious heart. This, this, this idea of gratitude to work with young people every day. You know, hopefully provide life changing experiences. And so for us, what we say is, Hey, we don't wanna have a program that a hundred thousand people just kind of like on one. like Ohio State, when they win, you know, we wanna be a pro, we're gonna be a program that 120 families absolutely love. and that's kind of this idea of having a big time hardened and what we provide for kids. And so, you know, we, we talk about that, you know, what it means to be big time. And, you know, we do think we provide big time experiences. Our kids have phenomenal experiences here. So, you know, it's kind of this idea. You talk about you're a parent a little bit, if I'm recruiting you, So many kids here. D one, D one, D one, D one "I mean you understand it. You probably live it every day. There. Reality is, there's coaches out there that think D one, D one, D one, D one "I mean honestly, it's crazy, right? They, they, they think if you don't coach division "I football, you're not a good football coach. It's craziness, right? Um, and for some high schools, maybe it's one a coaches think if "I can just coach five A or "I mean "I, don't know, pick your classification, right? And they think then "I will have. All right. And so what we say is, look, if we're recruiting your family, people aren't being jerks when they say that, by the way. They're just misinformed, potentially. and they need to be reframed kind of what they're thinking. So what we talk about, um, is you're not, if you're saying you wanna be a Division "I family, that's okay. "I. "I had the same goals and dreams. "I wanted to play for Mack Brown at University of Texas. "I thought that was, that was big time for me. Okay? And so we tell families are, Hey, that's not you. That you're not selfish. It's not bad that you want to be division "I. The reality is, I'm not division "I football coach, "I coach "I football French University. Okay? Now, what "I can tell you is we can provide a big time experience. So when you say division one, what do you really. Okay. You mean you want, you know, elite academic support, "I mean that's what these guys, you hear about it all the time, right? The academic support that these division "I big time athletes have, right? Well, we have that. We have a full-time student athlete, academic success coordinator with four GA's who monitors everyone's academics, right? So you are getting a big-time experience, right. And then obviously if you want a big time football experience, you expect physical development, right? So strength staff, that are experts in their field, not just me as a D-line coach or whatever. Some position coach at a college. Who works in the weight room so that he can be a football coach. That those are two different things. Right? Uh, well, what's cool here at Fringe Adversity, we have two full-time strength coaches along with a, a four, excuse me, might be three, excuse me, GA's, but some three or four full-time GA's that is their whole life is their, their whole professional life is devoted to developing these strength and speed, all that good stuff, right? So you get that experience. You want networking, right? So if you hear the name like Ohio State University, right? And we're just using that one today. My goodness. "I Love Ohio State. I'm not like knocking 'em. The, the example today, sometimes it's Alabama, choose Ohio State today. Um, you expect like this, this network, right? This Ohio State network. So these opportunities postgraduate Well, what's really cool here, we're in Wichita, which is the biggest city in Kansas. It's not Chicago, so don't judge me there, right? But it is the biggest city in Kansas. Um, man, our kids have paid internships opportunity. We have kids that signed contracts prior to their senior year of football. So what a great opportu. to get a big time experience for kids to leave this place with a job, with a return on their investment. Right? And then lastly, we, we say, you know, people want big time coaching. Uh, or they think division "I means better coaches. You know, I've been lucky enough to have great players and be coach of the year a couple times. Um, we had the defensive, we had the assistant coach of the year. We've had a, uh, oh, coach Kelly, who was our recruiting coordinator, was a finalist for the football scoop offense coordinator of the year. So you do get elite coaching, right? And "I think when you frame it that way, families see. Hey are, do we not have D one in front of us? Absolutely not. But we do have big time coaches here. And not only are you gonna get so these big time, benefits of our program, but then also right what we talked about, we're gonna coach the hard and, you know, there is certainly an element of passion, um, and gratitude and toughness that is required to play at the n e "I Division, "I three division, "I two level, and however you wanna rank those up. "I don't care. Small college football, really kind of all encompassing. Um, and so when you do that, man, you, you, you have life changing experience and you, you make life, uh, lifelong friendships and you know, obviously that's what happened for me as a player and now as a coach. And so obviously I'm pretty passionate about it. Cause I'm rambling on now for like, feels like forever. So there you go.

Luke: 13:13

your, your passion just, it's permitting through the screen. It's phenomenal. "I mean you gave a, you gave a big time response explaining what a big time college experience is, and, and I'm sold. You have my son. He's only in seventh grade, but you have him if you

Terry: 13:25

"I what class that is, but offered on the.

Luke: 13:29

So "I mean here? You know, you brought some good things. First "I have to tell you, and I'm shocked it took 10 minutes in before you may even Mack Brown in Texas reference "I was thinking, this guy's from Texas, he hasn't even brought Mack Brown yet. You're bringing up Ohio State and Nick Saban. And, but uh, but no, it "I it really is true. And your your point when you're talking about Ohio State and noticing the water stain. The old bathroom and stuff like that. And, you know, so you brought up the Chicagoland area. I'm at a Catholic school and, the Chicago Catholic League. It's, it's fierce competition. It's fierce competition to get kids to go to your school. Uh, we're all fighting over the same kids. It's very much like recruiting at the college level. cuz if you don't get kids your school closes, the only money you have coming in, you have tuition and donations from alums. So it's very fierce. And then athletically, we have some of the best sports teams in football, basketball, baseball, you name it. And, um, that, that's why the conference is so well known across the country. And that's one thing that I share in your vision. "I talk about it too. If you're only coming here because you think we have good facilities, this isn't a good fit. Or if you're only choosing to go somewhere else because you think they have good facilit. That's not a good fit for either. It should be about more than that. You talked about touching people's hearts. "I could not agree more with that statement because that's why we enter this business. You said you entered because you didn't have a great experience, so now you want to give great experiences for kids. And "I share a similar story in that "I had the best coaches in the world and "I had some that should not have had that title in front of their name. And that's why "I did it. Cuz "I "I know what it felt to be. Spiritual, uh, spiritually and emotionally and mentally by a coach and. That other experience, right? So I'm like, man, "I want to do this because "I wanna be the guy that moves the needle for somebody because we all have the opportunity to move and touch someone's life no matter what profession it is that we choose. And "I agree that is the big time experience, but it's just crazy because "I. In today's world, the kids are being taught completely the opposite and these photo shoots, and it's starting to happen in the, like on the high school level, like people recruiting the high school level. So now you have eighth grade kids like having these ridiculous photo shoots. I'm like, "I, "I, just. "I "I can't. I'm just, I'm just not. Because at the end of the day, there's one thing "I know that you and "I do agree upon. It's about the treatment of people. That's what's really important. "I know, that's, a foundation of how you coach and how you rebuild these programs that we reference when we started this. So, how do you treat athletes that maybe is a little bit different than some others in our.

Terry: 16:12

Man, "I. You know, "I the hardest part. You know what's crazy is you. you're only an ex. I'm only an expert at what we do. You know, I'm not an expert at what anyone else does. And you know, "I think "I "I. It is a dangerous game when, and, and we all fall into it, assuming what maybe some people are doing to other spots. Cuz there's so many great places to play including in our conference, by the way. but yeah, "I know what we, we try really hard to, um, In the recruiting process. And then when our kids are here, be the most genuine, transparent coaching staff in the country. "I mean really that's, and honestly, "I just don't know any other way to be. So, you know, it's kind of one of those deals sometimes, like we catch ourselves all the time, like, Something comes up, you know, an issue or "I mean "I. Don't even know "I. Something comes up, right? And it's like, man, how are we gonna tell the kids alright this? And, and then it's like, you know what? Let's just tell 'em the truth. And this is what it is. "I mean, you know, whether it's a fundraising effort, like, Hey, we gotta raise money because this is X, Y, and Z. Instead of trying to dress it up and, you know, play a game with kids. We're just, we're just really honest. Like, Hey man, "I hate fundraising. Our kids have heard me say "I hate it. Ridiculous. "I hate asking you to do it. It's embarrassing. "I ask you to do it, but hey, we gotta do it. So hey, let's have fun and knock it out as, as fast as possible. Right? Or whatever, or something like that, right? Um, so "I hope "I at some level, "I "I. Think kids do connect that you kind of talked about a little bit. Like the, the world we live in, societal changes. I mean at some level. "I, "I, "I do agree. It is just, it's a crazy world, you know, and all the, especially the world. I'm talking the football world, it's a crazy world in football. What's cool, what's not cool, the expectations that, that, parents and kids may have or, and really what they've been told to have. "I don't, "I don't think people really know. They just get told, Hey, this is what a program should do for you. You know, or, or like you mentioned, like, and they see someone else do it and they wonder why you're not doing it. So anyway. We try to be very genuine and, and very, very upfront and honest and "I and "I. Think, um, when we sit down and we have families, you know, we recruit, we kind of do a little different, you know, we don't do the group visits where there's 90 kids. You know, we, we do a lot of individual time with families and, and, and they get to know us and see who we are. They get to come watch us. And see how we interact with players and we challenge 'em. Play. Look, if you watch us coach a game and you're gonna be 20 feet away from me, right? Or you watch this workout in a weight room. And, and, and if I'm, if I'm not, these things don't come to school here if we're not coach. So we, we talk about these, this idea of this Christian warrior, right? That we want create "I. Think the world lacks tough Christian men. So we, this could be another podcast, sorry. But "I do think that "I "I really think a lot of the issues you mentioned are a lack of tough Christian father. Tough Christian men, tough Christian coaches, tough Christian employers. And unfortunately we live in a world where, people when when you put Jesus' name on something, they mean they think that means soft and. In my opinion, and in our philosophy, regardless, "I, it is the polar opposite of that. Um, if you're gonna put Jesus' name on your programs, if you're gonna call yourself a Christian football coach, it requires excellence. both in knowledge and schemes and success, you know, all those things, how you treat kids, it absolutely requires excellence and that is really hard. "I. It is harder to do that than to be a kid blamer or, you know, negative Nancy, whatever. "I is so much hard. to be a Christian warrior, right? And we, and we talk about that and, and what that means. We try to model it every day. And um, you know, on some level that's how, that's how "I hope. "I hope. My kids see that. Like my children, I've got three kids. "I hope our players see that and they see that man when "I, if we get our butts kicked and I've had my butt kicked plenty, man. "I walk around, my chest is big. Um, my chin is up. "I look, people square in the eye and "I have a firm handshake and um, we get back to work the next week. And "I think if you do that, it does create this level of toughness. And so anyway. Long story, "I, "I, start chasing these rabbits on this tough Christian warrior. That's so, that's another passion of mine, right? So "I talking about big time hearts, big time people, and then tough Christian men. And, um, you know, we don't outsource "I, don't want, you know, "I had a, "I, had a conversation with our, with our golf coach yesterday, other day, who was a friend of mine, "I known a long time and come with my own kids like my children. "I, don't wanna outsource my kid's faith to a pastor. Well, certainly we go to church, by the way, and we've been an awesome church here, here in Wichita, and, and we take our kids a youth group and man, "I, "I, just talk as we talk about being a tough Christian warrior man, a tough Christian man. so many people outsource their kids' faith to other people and "I don't wanna be that. Right. And that's a hard, that's hard to do by the way, you know? Um, because it requires a little bit of excellence on your own, right? Just like we don't wanna outsource our team's toughness. You have to model that. You don't, "I don't wanna outsource our team culture. We have to own that every day. And we meet with, we, we're not as organized even as "I may be coming across, but "I. We do have a group of young men that we meet with that changes by semester. We call it the upper room. So 13 kids. And man, we just, we just don't want to outsource that team culture. We don't wanna outsource anything of our programming and let it depend on people outside of our program. and so yeah, "I think when you do that, uh, I'm pretty sure we're talking about, you know, Relationships with players, building relationships with players. That's how that happens. "I think and they see it every day. They know it. We laugh at ourselves when we screw up. If "I, if "I call a dumb play "I, tell 'em, that was really dumb. My bad. You know, and "I think kids do respect that and "I think this generation's athlete more than ever respects that. Um, because "I do think kids know no coach is perfect. Kids know, Hey, you have flaws. "I have flaws. And when you can be honest about it and own those flaws, at least in my experience now, especially at the college level, "I. Think that's been game changing really at Beth Bethel, "I. Think we had a really tight group of kids and we got really close and um, it was really hard there, really small school, one of the small schools that played college football in the country. like "I told you our locker room's in a metal building. I think that alone just generated some toughness, right? In this, this, these strong relationships. It was super hard to leave. but "I can tell you that same thing is happening here at Friends because we just, sometimes you have to go through hard times together. And we, you know, this year we had a couple games we should have won that we didn't. Right? And "I think those are some of the hard times, right? And so, you know, "I think when you do that and you do it in a very honest and genuine way, um, and you're not trying to, "I can't re. Uh, Nick Saban, "I, "I can't, you know, keep, there we go. "I can't replicate. "I can't be Mac brown. "I can't replicate Bear Bryant. "I just can't be that person. I've tried "I, honestly. I've tried "I mean I've read a book and motivated and "I just can't pretend. "I can't fake that. All "I can do is lean on my own experience, try to model to the best "I can my, my approach after proven winners, and you. Great coaches, but in the end it's gotta be me. And anytime "I Venture outside of that number one, it doesn't last and it goes away. And "I kind of give up on that. Uh, and then number two, it's not real. And so we've really honed in on this like, like you talk about big time experience like this, this big time program, big time hearts. And then tough Christian warriors. Right? And that's what we do. And we're not, we are a faith-based institution, but they're, if we have everything on our team from a non-believer to, we do have a couple kids that are in the, faith formations degree. So we are not, you know, it's not a team full of kids who wanna be pastored by any means. We have everything in between. So, um, and "I and "I certainly will let you down, if, if you gimme long enough. But we really try hard to do that.

Luke: 23:08

So really at its core what we're talking about is establishing, establishing relationships, and that's something that any coach who wants to be successful or who has been successful know that that is key. That is, that's one of the first steps to get. A program in any sport at any level to really get going. So take me through your first action steps to establish relationships and earning the trust of your players.

Terry: 23:34

So "I, I'll tell you the two "I, think "I kind of approached it two different ways. "I know. Uh, so my last job when "I first got there, "I, "I got, the timing of that was over like Christmas break. So "I didn't even, "I couldn't go and have a team meeting, you know. and so we did get access to the team huddle. We called every player on the roster. Um, me, "I, not we, "I, called every player on the roster, introduced myself. Tried to just have some energy like, Hey, you know, you inherit bad programs by the way. You better, you know, you gotta fake it till you make it at, at the initial GetGo and every coach, every kid's been told we're gonna win. You know, whatever. They've been told, some, they promised something that they can't ma, you know, uphold right? But caught every player and just make sure they knew who we were. Um, kind of shared, Hey, "I know you've got all kinds of anxiety, but man, the main thing is, You know, we're gonna focus on team culture. We call it the brotherhood. But you know, just this, just brief under five minutes and just, hey, excited to be your coach. Honored to be your coach. Proud to be your coach. "I. Think kids, especially kids in a program that struggle, just hearing those words. But I'm proud to be a Falcon. I'm proud to be, you know, whatever. Honored to be your coach. "I think that and, and because "I "I am truly honored to be these kids coach, right? "I think that's a big deal. So the timing of that was Christopher Break. So that's initially how it started. Started there, and then, so that was the, previous job currently at Friends. It was, uh, in the middle of the fall semester. Um, so it was right after Thanksgiving. And so "I, it was a team. We introduce ourself, you know, just briefly, Hey, this is who "I am, this is what "I believe, but more than that, you know, talking about how, you know, football is about culture. That's a great, it is actually why football is so awesome, right? It doesn't, it's not every time the best team wins, right? It's the best team cohesive. The most cohesive team wins, right? The, the best. Wins way more than just the most talented win. And sometimes you have both and those are special seasons, right? Um, but talking about that and educating kids on that "I think that's what's cool. And then what "I try to do. Um, and, and, and we "I feel like we did a better job of that here at Friends than I've ever done. We observed, but then we just modeled what does it mean to be a great teammate And we're just in there high fiving kids being never walk by somebody without, uh, fist bump ever. That's a rule in our program. You will never walk by a football player at fringe univers and not get a fist bump. Or if you, when we know our teammates, man, we do that. and say, you how, you know, how, how much of a jerk do you have to be to walk by a teammate and snap your eyes down and your kids have to be coached on that, by the way, cuz the, this generation, when they're uncomfortable, they look at their. Or if, if they walk by someone they don't know, they look down you, you just have this automatic excuse not to make eye contact with someone. You can just look at your phone and it's kind of not offensive. You didn't flip 'em off, you didn't, you know, you weren't being, you just looked at your phone. And so man, we that, that sort of thing, right? So that developed, teach kids that. And then when you get kids doing that, think of how much different that feels. Then when you get kids doing out on campus in the cafeteria, man, it's just this, this idea of program change. And then the last thing we do, you know, outside. Uh, "I. Mean "I. Think it would stand out probably at the college level especially. We take our team and we go to the basketball and we invest in another program, and that's when we start teaching about entitlement. Okay? Because everybody wants everybody at their game. If I'm a football player, "I want the stands packed. "I want the band, "I want the everybody on campus to be at my game. Well, if you expect that, but then you're not willing to go be the craziest student section at a basketball game. You, you have some entitlement issues, right? That, that is entitlement. You want, you want something from someone that you're not willing to give. Okay? And so we go to the basketball games, we, uh, do the wrestling tournament. Like we have a wrestling team here. We go to the wrestling team. We take a championship belt. Everybody dresses up. We're putting their pictures out on Twitter. Essentially, we promoted every other program on our campus. That's what. And it wasn't about football at all, and you wanna talk about making a huge impression and a huge splash, especially if you're somewhere that's never happened. It is just, man, you wanna talk about night and day and honestly, you don't even get anything from it outside of you get a little bit of momentum. right? You just see a little bit of momentum. You get, you get some fans out there that you didn't have otherwise, and they find out, hey, this guy is serious about what he talked about in his interview, right? When we talked, when "I talked to the president of the school, talk about, Hey, how we're gonna change this culture, how hard it is and how football is, you know, like, love it, like it, hate it, not. Football drives the culture of a campus, especially at the small college level and, and most high schools, right? Especially a private, Catholic school like you're at. It just drives the culture of the campus and not even in wins and losses. While that's important, more so how do your football players treat other people? And if you can get your football play players, treating people on campus really well, not having a hat on in class college, that's a bigger deal. Not having a hood on in class in college, that's a bigger deal. Taking your headphones. Looking people in the eye. "I mean, just simple things like that. If you can do that, that that's what, that's the most feedback we get and people are proud that we've won some games this year. We're gonna win championships here. "I know that sounds very arrogant to say that will happen "I hope it happens next year. But at some point that's gonna happen here. We're gonna win championships here. But more so than that, we are creating a championship culture on campus and somewhere that people want to be. and so that's, um, That is what we do initially though, so that that does an "I, mean "I. Know, I'm kind of going off a little tangent again, "I again, just "I love this stuff. That's what we do. We, we treat other people really well and we model that as coaches. And when kids see you do that with 'em. "I don't know. If you're "I, don't know. If you're not, I'll put you on the spot. But do you know the difference between corny and cool

Luke: 29:10

"I do not.

Terry: 29:11

if everybody does it, that's the difference. If "I expect players, hey. "I want you to go be "I. If we, we have three players try to go lead a student section and there's just three of 'em out there going nuts. Absolutely corny, corniest thing in the world. But when you have an entire team of football players going nuts, it's really cool. And then people talk about it, right? Well, the same way post practice, we do these things called put ups. We say a cheer for each other. It's pretty unique when everybody does it. It's really cool, right? But if there's just one guy, like in the weight room, we, it's required every set, every player on our team has to say, somebody's. at least three times. You have to clap or count their reps 1, 2, 3 out loud. If one guy's doing that, it's like this weird guy on the corner who's going nuts in the weight room. It's super weird with a hundred guys in, they're like, there's just one guy over. They're like going absolute nuts. What's going on now? Maybe you hit too many smelling sauces. Right? But if everyone does it, it's electric and then everybody's about five pounds stronger on their lift, right? And then when you walk in, people walk by and they look in, they're like, what's going on with those guys? Um, and that's kind of. You know, that's what we're doing. So that's the difference, right? The difference between corny and cool, if everybody does or not. "I mean ll cool J back in the day, he rolled his pant leg up, one pant leg up. Then all of a sudden, what "I mean? Corniest move ever. But then what happened? Then a couple other guys start doing it. Then every middle school in the Midwest, kids are walking around with one pant leg up. LL Cool J made that cool, right? And the only difference was everybody started doing it crisscross, right? You remember that group?

Luke: 30:38

yeah.

Terry: 30:38

What were people.

Luke: 30:39

"I. "I. Sadly, "I actually know

Terry: 30:41

Well, sadly, that's "I don't know where that example, I've never used that example before, but here we go. But they turned the, and then what was do, and then everybody, every, every middle schooler in high school across the United States of America were wearing overalls backwards. You know what "I mean? Like that became cool. It's crazy if we told our kids that today, they'd laugh us out of the room.

Luke: 30:58

Yeah. Especially cuz they were, they were like eighth grade kids at the time or wherever they

Terry: 31:02

But the, but what I'm saying though, that's the difference, right? Corny and cool. And. Instead of making those things backwards clothes or front roll leg up. You. What we make cool is eye contact, shaking people's hand with a firm handshake, investing in other programs, creating an electric. So when you do that, you feel it. And so, you know, "I don't know and "I think when you do it that way, right? It, it is not something that's disrespectful, right? When you, when you, when you make something cool that honors God in, in our opinion, a tough Christian man should. All of a sudden, man, that's, program changing for the academic department here. That's, that's, that's game changing for classes. And so, you know, "I think a coach would be wise to, to focus on those things. You know, especially building rapport on campus with. Faculty members, uh, fa you know, in the cause of our teachers, whatever, professors, faculty members, whoever the academic side of campus. And so, "I Dunno, that's what's, that's what's happened for me. And, and, and I've certainly, you know, probably learned that, you know, as a younger coach at the high school setting, probably didn't do a good job as good a job as that. And "I man, "I wish "I, "I, wish "I would have.

Luke: 32:03

Yeah, "I couldn't agree with you more that these types of behaviors, once they become cool, they definitely become contagious and that a organization can impact a larger organization. And, especially like you talked about the behavior football team dries the culture. "I think there's a lot of reasons for that. It's, it's a physically a big team. There's big guys on it that's large in number. and it's one of the first sports to start the school year. So if things are going in the right direction, that, I've seen it "I live in "I, live it "I. See it in high schools, like it could really impact how everyone else treats kids. So, my rule thumb, very similar year "I talk about the, the basics of hood off. No AirPods, say hello to each other in the hallway when a coach comes by and says hi to. don't be like, Hey, like, say, you know, hi, coach Merton's. You know, like just these little etiquette things and it, it really does impact an entire building. "I tell my team, no one should ever eat alone, ever should a kid eat alone at the lunchroom there, there should be someone that sits by them. even if it's just from the optics of it. "I don't expect you to go hang out with them on the weekends, but no one needs to be sitting there alone in the cafeteria. With everyone else watching him or her. So, uh, it's very much on, on the same page with that. And you know, for the most part, kids will, "I, "I, don't wanna use the word fall in line. Uh, maybe buy-in's the better word. Like they agree. Like, yeah, "I mean because "I do think we are wired that way as human beings. "I. Don't think human beings are wired to treat each other poorly. "I actually think we're wired to treat each other properly. And it's, you know, like that's more inherent in us. Okay. Someone teaches us. These bad things that we do to each other, to be honest with you. so with that said, at least that's my opinion. "I don't have any scientific backing on it. But with that said, what do you do with resistance to these things and maybe resistance to you, resistance to your philosophies, just not buying into, to what you wanna do. How do you keep, cuz you don't, you can't give up on the kid, but what do you do to keep breaking down those walls?

Terry: 34:02

Yeah, that's, man, that's, you know, the funniest part. Resistance or someone who doesn't fit. That's the battle. And, and every, the hardest part, and, and it's hard to say this, this is what "I do, only because. Man there, there's just so many unique examples. What are we resistant to? Um, what does that look like? You know? And, um, that's a, that's a really hard one. But "I will tell you, you know, the, the, the benefit of college is that, look man, this is not for, it is not for everybody. And the hard part in college, when you inherited players, they. Commit to you. Um, they didn't come to play for you. and we give grace to be honest with you in that regard. Um, I'll, I'll tell the kid like, look man, "I, "I know I'm a stranger, you know, "I. And we try to, even in that first meeting or so, like the kids at Fringe University, so like we have some kids now that are, if they're going to their senior year, they have more invested in friends than me. They've been here. they've played more games here. and "I think just not being so arrogant, not to acknowledge that there are kids at Fringe University that have invested much more into Fringe University than me. as far as time is probably a safer way to put that. Right. And "I think being, understanding that. So as a high school coach, the, the school, um, my mentor was our head coach. "I was the coordinator. "I became the head. And "I asked him that same question and he said, and about seniors basically mush. He goes, well, you better hope they just tolerate you cuz they've been here a lot longer than you have. And "I thought that was a, that was pretty good advice. And that was old school advice right here. Hope they tolerate you a little bit. Right? But "I do think that "I, think "I always think about that. You know, like, man, "I, hope those guys tolerate the cool part is, I do like what you mentioned I. Think the cool part is, and, and luckily the schools I've, the places I've taken over have struggled, and. timing is everything, right? But when you take over a struggling program, what you just talked about, I don't know if there, there isn't science and data, but it just feels better to be a part of our program than maybe another one, So if a program that's simply outcome based, that's simply result-oriented, that is simply just, focused on win loss score stats, that don't, it is not very fun. It don't feel very good unless you. But man, what does that feel like in the off season? You know, how do you, what is that about? Right? Um, and so when you have a, program like ours, it's this idea of a growth mindset and built, um, about the process over, result, all that good stuff. "I think that feels better, right? And when we, we don't just celebrate good players, we honestly celebrate all the stuff. That results in winning great effort. Um, great teammates, um, We celebrate. Like if a kid would do put up like, Hey, this kid helped me study for my chemistry test. I'm not that great at. We celebrate those kids. That kid may never play it down for us, right? So when you celebrate that, it just feels better. and so we honestly haven't felt as much resistance as you might think. but what we do, what "I will tell you is we "I believe in second chances. Um, "I believe in third chances, um, "I think there's something to a kid's heart. And, and, and at the college level, it's a little, little easier than "I think at the high school level. So "I, if there's a high school coach, he's gonna be thinking, well, that'd be nice, right? But for us, when we call a kid in, if a kid makes a mistake, but he's got a great heart and clearly. made a mistake and still has gratitude about being at friends and a willingness beer. That's, that's handled very differently than someone who walks in and it's like Stonewall resistant, clearly doesn't want, doesn't have a grateful spirit. Let's leave it that way. Then "I, then "I think we, we, we do, we, we react differently to that, right? But there's certainly not a "I. Don't, zero tolerance is easier for. Um, but "I don't necessarily know that. That's right. because everyone has different circumstances. Kids on our team at the same school from the same city have very different circumstances, and so you have to take out all that in accountant. The cool part is "I know "I will say this, the college with kids we deal with are 18 to 23 years old. "I think that age group is a little more, has a little more empathy for those type of things than maybe a 16 year old. It's like, but you said, you know, "I, "I, think "I. Think there's something to that. "I "I know our kids have some empathy and they, and they, they don't want kids just kicked off the team every other day. You know what "I mean? So "I do think they, they understand and they're also close. They live together in the dorms. They work together off campus. They know each other's stories. They know each other's struggles. Um, and so if a kids fall short of, so. Man, we just kind of take it as it comes. And, and honestly, deal fi, you know, like you talked, like we've already talked about kind of the heart, right? Some kids have great hearts and they make mistakes. And thank goodness, man, "I, whew, you know, if "I had zero tolerance, "I may not be here today. You know, and so "I think that's, um, "I, "I think it's always good to keep in mind, we, the older we get the, you know, you forget some of the mistakes you made as a kid too.

Luke: 38:38

Yeah, for sure. And "I, "I, "I. Want to go back to, we talked about your Texas roots and obviously high school football and Texas is well documented. "I mean there's books and TV shows and. Movies about it. And a lot of those high school coaches from Texas have gone on and they're guys that we now watch on television. And you know, the one thing that we know from being in a profession that "I think surprises, just the casual football fan, is a lot of what you watch on Sunday afternoons, it comes from the bottom up. Football's a pretty unique sport. So you have a lot of these high school coaches are really coming up with innovative schemes. And I'm not just saying that to. Brag about high school football coaches "I on, but it's like, it's the facts and they either elevate because of those unique schemes and the success they do. Or college coaches will take notice cuz they're out recruiting. and they see what's going on and they watch all the film "I "I, like, what that guy's doing. So they start doing it, and then the NFL is watching college film. Well, you know how it all goes. That's more an explanation to the casual fan. So with that said, "I wanna talk about your offense, the Flexon. and we're not gonna get into the X's and O's about it, but "I mean that's a great example. And there's, there's a lot of debate on. Where it fits. It's sometimes labeled as a high school offense and it's not gonna have success in college. which "I know you've had success at the collegiate level. We know obviously the run with Coach Johnson and Georgia Tech and you look at Army and Navy and what they're able to do, "I mean there's a lot of success to it. With that said, "I have to imagine it gets tough recruiting sometimes out there because it is contrary to the offenses that these kids thinks are trendy and sexy and cool and all those types of things. Despite the fact that the flexible wins, you can't argue with that. So "I. What do you do to, to create, buy-in from players on your current roster? And bonus question, what do you do when you're out there recruiting a kid that maybe just doesn't understand the offense and, and the benefits to 'em? Because at the end of the day, the one thing we know is. No matter what scheme you run, it's not gonna win or lose games. It's the belief in the scheme and mostly important, the belief in the man next to you and the whole team. So, "I know "I threw a lot at you, but "I know you're passionate about the flexibility too. Just curious as to what your, thoughts are creating that buy-in. What's an offense that is not seen as cool anymore?

Terry: 41:01

Yeah, well, the cool, luckily we have a bunch of highlight films where we're scoring about 46 points a game, and we just kind of pop that on for a couple minutes. Like, oh, that's what it could be, you know? And so, It's a really fun thing to talk about. We could probably do, we should prob, we could do an hour long, like just Flex bone talk there. There's nothing like it in all of sports. "I, actually. "I only have, there's only one other thing like it, in my opinion. Right. It's like how has Flex Bone become whatever it's perceived as. It's the craziest thing it makes and it makes absolutely no sense. Right? And while that is what it is, it's true. "I. Think the only thing you can even, like, how can you equate that to something is maybe a knuckle ball pitcher who's won 90% of their games, but you don't want a knuckle ball pitcher. Now it makes no sense. Right? Um, "I "I. So, you know, "I still on that. You'll think about that one later. Like, what else can you compare it to? There's nothing like it. There's no offense in basketball, there's no defense in basketball that you could compare it to. Right? Um, and so you know why it is. who knows, but, but "I will say, For us, right talking about our current players, number one, we have really fun practices. Our practices are awesome. There's so many people that that may perceive it as like, we don't beat each other up at practice. We are actually hit, we hit foam pads way more than we ever hit each other. we truly aim to train our kids to play on Saturday and not trick 'em. Um, and so "I think when you do that, our kids going every game. More com, there's absolutely nothing you can do on defense to trick our. They're gonna know how to block everything that we do. and so "I, that does instill some confidence in our players. Um, and this idea that, Hey, man, like you're not gonna stop us, if we perform our technique well and fundamentals with all that good stuff, right? And so that's kind of cool. um, "I know we run a very different version of it than, than you might see Army, Navy, and even, even Paul Johnson to some level. We line up in the same formations, but we have a different flavor. "I think, we've thrown a bunch of play action touchdown passes over the years, or we had a quarterback who his congress play of the year. So when you throw the film up, "I guess is the point and you put up the stats. It's kinda like, look man the goal in office is score points, and we score more points than anybody in our conference over the last three years. So, "I. Don't know what else to tell you if you don't like You know, like that's what we do, right? And so "I think some of that comes from a misunderstanding. more so than it does kids love or hate something. "I. Think "I. Think adults. Specifically, you know, we're in this football world because it's not, not as many people do it. even a high school coach can almost say some things about it that are negative. not even knowing that, that they're, they're doing that right because it's not what they're passionate about. So, "I may be passionate about option football. You may be passionate about five wide, Tony Franklin air raid stuff, right? And just because of those two things, my passion's gonna be shown through. and it can make the others seem like it's less than "I. Think some of that happens, not even people trying to be negative. but like "I talked about when, when you win championships somewhere, no one else can win 'em and you win, score a bunch of points that kind of sells itself. And then you talked about how do we sell kids on it? You know, we tell like we ain't got nothing to sell. Um, kids come to practice and hey, talk to our players. So we have every quarterback we have. and maybe a different office in high school. Every alignment asks them every slot, every receiver asks them. and when they do that and they hear it from our players, "I, it's, it's a non-issue. you know, the people that try to, dance around that as far as at a division, at a FBS Power five job, it's because they're trying to get it their self, you know, and they're probably wanna run the spread somewhere. So "I, you know, you gotta be careful who you listen to. "I don't buy into that stuff. "I. Think if you win it, if you win, um, and you prove yourself as a winner. "I don't think that, you know, "I "I think people can look past the scheme, especially, you know, for us, our retention rate is through the roof. Like, so we, we get kids to come and they commit sign letter retention. They stay. that's what we do really well, "I. And we think that's because how we treat players and families and how we recruit. And so when you do that, you know, it, it don't matter what offense you run. The cool part about us is we know how to fix it. We our, we teach our kids to be experts in it. and we can come in at halftime and it's just a, Hey, short, this, this, this. Hey, let's go make it happen. And you know, when you do it, it's one of those deals. It's the most, in my opinion, is pretty "I. It is just one of the most exciting things to. because you know how it is, it's "I and you watch the other teams, you hear the other coaches yelling from the sideline. Like it's the same place. Like, well, not really, but you know, just, just because it started, we lined up in the same formation but not the same place. So that's cool. And, and we, and so anyway, man, "I, "I can talk about that forever, but "I will tell you, we educate people on it. We educate parents on it, on recruit visits. We have our kids out there and, and honestly, what we hear most of the time from recruiting visits, whether it's a quarterback or receiver, and we start talking about, Hey, this is how we do these things. They say, man, coach, I've. That's the most I've ever heard, like as far as diving in the scheme of any coach they've ever been around. And so when you do that, they realize that, hey, this guy's an expert at this. These coaches are experts at this. Their practices move faster than I've ever seen. And all their coach and all their kids say they love it here and love what they're doing. "I mean when you do that, quite honestly, "I, it sells itself. And look, the reality is it's what we're gonna do. So if you don't wanna do it, don't, don't come you know, go somewhere else. You know? And so when you do that "I "I, it makes it a lot of fun. And, and we wanna be the best at it, you know? And so you, the schools you mentioned, there are some awesome schools out there, um, that, that we, that we like "I friends of. But we wanna be the best at it. We don't just wanna be a team that runs an offense. We wanna be a team that we, we want to be the elite team in the country that does what we do. And that's saying a lot. Cause there's so many phenomenal coaches out there now. There's less and less of us right now, right there. There's, you know, there's less of us in the, the club is getting smaller. but we wanna be the best at what we do in the country. And "I, "I think every coach should aim for that right? To be, to be lead at something. And so we think that's attainable for us. Um, we think we can win a national championship, with the schemes we run on, both on offense and defense. and so "I mean, what else can you ask for, man? Great school. Big time school. Like we talked about. with this opportunity to compete for national championships within a scheme that we can recruit players to, like "I mean for me, it's a no-brainer. And our athletic director and president love it. And you know, there's a reason why we're here And, um, yeah, so we're excited about that. And, and love, love option.

Luke: 47:01

Yeah, and like "I said before, it's all about belief in the system. That's really what works "I mean. If there's one system that's best as "I, tell my players all the time, everybody would run that system. It's all a matter of. Number one, believe in the system. Number two, the coach's ability to teach the system. And three, the player's ability to execute it. And "I don't mean in that order. "I just mean all three of those things need to happen for it to be successful. And we're, we're nine minutes over, but "I just have to ask you one

Terry: 47:25

No, Hey, I'm good to go now. My kids are getting in bed, so life is good. But "I "I you, I'll ask to add to what you just add and, and can you practice it effectively? You know what "I mean? So that that's the deal, right? So not only can you draw up a cool play, but can you practice it in a way that your kids prepare all the time. So yes, agree. Sorry about that Last

Luke: 47:42

No, no. Great point. So "I "I really like knowing what other people are doing. That's a big part of this podcast, and you have a very unique perspective being a collegiate coach because you get to recruit and you get to go see the good and the bad in all these different high school football programs that you've recruited. Some of 'em, even across the country, I'm sure. With that said, and you don't need to name any names specifically if you don't want to, just what are some things you have seen or learned from some of these top high school coaches that, you know, like what are they doing differently that allows them to be so successful? Because those are the nuggets that I'm always looking for. Like, what's that guy who's won nine state championships in West Virginia at the high school level? Like what is he doing to be successful? So, so what have you seen out there, Koshi, you could share.

Terry: 48:31

Yeah, "I mean, "I. "I, "I think recruiting has been very fun and it's been so eye-opening cuz "I never "I. "I didn't, "I wasn't born. To be a college football coach necessarily, or whatever that means. "I didn't think I'd be a good, better, better way to put it. "I never thought I'd be a college football coach. "I wanted to be a high school PE teacher and a football coach. That's what "I wanted to do. it's actually what my mom wanted to do. She wanted to be a PE teacher and a coach, and, and she ended up joining the Army and, and life had another, you know, life went another direction for her. So in a way, "I was kind of fulfilling her dream when "I, when "I got my teachers certification, all that good stuff. So anyway, but "I never thought I'd be doing this right. And so, What happens is when, when you are a high school coach, you can get in these little bubbles like you, you're, you, it would be easy for you. Now it's kind of cool, like you're, you're way braver than me. "I guess you, you're doing this podcast and you're talking to people all over the country in this random stranger in Kansas, right? Um, but you, very easy for you. It would be easy for you to get in the Chicago Catholic League bubble. And just be stuck in that bubble, right? And you never venture outside of it and you really never find out that other people's going on. Right? Same is true for me. It'd be very easy to get in the what, what we call the city league bubble. And that's just my world revolves around that bubble. Um, so what's been cool? Not necessarily even being a strength of mine. I've had to get outta that bubble cuz "I, we go out to California, we've had kids from Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, like you mentioned Nebraska. We got kids from everywhere. you get outta that bubble and you fi you see teams, you don't recognize you. They, you put a highlight film up and you have no idea where this team is from. And so what I'll tell you is some common themes is kind of what your podcast is about, number one. the teams that focus on team Coha, Um, that's with the way we term. So "I, if you're not 3D coaching's a big part of our program. So three team cohesion is the 3D Institute's way to team kind of team culture, right? But it teams that focus on that, you know, there's a local team here. they're in, they've played in every state championship game in forever, and we recruit their kids. And when "I played against them, "I was like, they just have better players. And then now I'm recruiting their kids. I'm like, oh, well, no. They, they just, they do a really good job with, with, uh, with their team culture and, and some of the things they do. So, "I think finding your own, finding your own way, right. to have a great team culture, team cohesion, whatever you wanna talk about this idea, this identity as a program that is embraced for your whole program. And that could be anything. It could, it could kind of start with the scheme and then that could morph into your whole team's identity. Right. And so it doesn't have to be scheme or, or just something you do outside "I. Think it all melts together. And so the teams that, that focus on that and the coaches you meet, you can see it in their players. "I, I'll be honest with you, when you recruit, The kids, when they talk to you, you can just tell like, yeah, they, they do a great job on kids know how, like, like we talked about how to be a, how to present yourself well in a way that a man would present themselves, shake hands, firm handshake, all that good stuff. Right? Well, when you do that, right, wrong or different, it translates to football and how they approach practice and these things. So if that's, We have seen some, you know, one of the unique things we've seen or some schemes out there, like defensively, we changed our defense two years ago. Um, because there's a school that was like, they were having no defender with their hand down. On the, on the entire defense within. And then sometimes they wouldn't line up within five yards of the ball. So you'd see the offensive line of scrimmage and then the defense over here all the way, and then timing the snap. And so we did that for a year and led the country in sax and tackles for loss. That was really cool. We stole that from a high school. that guy's name is Clarence Holly outta steer. If you want to, if you want to be entertained, Google Steelwater High School football's huddle and watch their defensive highlights and, um, "I think that stuff's phenomenal. So little things like that, that if you haven't watched that, it would be "I know, uh, coach Holly speaks a lot at, at at g Glacier Clinics. Too as well. And he has a little bit of a system. He does. So we saw that on a highlight film. We were recruiting a kid from Steelwater, Oklahoma, and we saw that. I'm like, we're gonna do that. And it was the craziest thing. Fun. We still, we still dabble with it a little bit, but we went all in on it for a little while and that was super fun. And our conference had not, no one had done that. So it was a big advantage for us. Um, so that's kind of cool. "I "I think And then, man, outside of that "I, "I is simply like, like we talked about a little bit earlier, Some coaches we've seen do such a phenomenal job. Like you can go four and seven or seven four and be the best job. Like just, you see these teams that get the most outta their players and then they run into a bus. All the play, they just can't. They're just outmanned when they get a little later. And so those are the coaches that's super cool to see. And that "I, honestly, "I try to be that, that that's what "I hope, "I can be that type of coach, right? To where, you know, maybe it's not a state championship every year, but man, for us to get to this. Every year and be competitive and be in games in the fourth quarter and give ourself a chance to win when maybe we don't have the manpower other teams have. That's what's super cool to see. And "I think "I think coaches realize that, that the hard part, you know, recruiting's its own thing and, and you want the best players you know, all the time. And you see that and. Oh, that's super cool and it is amazing, man. There's so many "I "I. Guess there's more really good coaches out there than "I realized. When "I was just a high school coach. "I. "I. Just that sounds really me. When "I was a high school coach, "I didn't realize, you know, "I, of course "I was 29 years old. "I as a head coach, my first head coaching job and "I was pretty sure "I was the best coach ever, you know, born. But, but,

Luke: 53:40

Aren't we all

Terry: 53:41

now, yeah, exactly right. But now "I, real "I mean. There's just so many great high school coaches out there who are good people. Who give back and are, you know, that's what's cool. And we get to go around, by the way, we, we get to go around and we do install camps where we teach people how we practice and we, you know, we show 'em how to do stuff. We coach their kids a little bit. We do those for three days. That's been fun because you do get to see these, just like you see coaches in sometimes maybe a rural community or they could be in a more populated area, but just man, they're, that are coaching young men to do all the things we talked about, you know? Um, "I think that's what's cool and "I think that's what, that's what we need, man. "I think, um, it truly is a fight and Being, what's considered cool now may not, you know, "I, it's just hard "I guess. There's so many options. "I, I'll leave it at that. There's a lot of options out there for kids that aren't football, you know, and "I think we need football. Football was invented, for, keeping that edge, you know, "I think there's a book about it, but, you know, and peace time, just keeping kids. Football's embedded because of violent game to keep our, keep our young men tough. and so while we don't want kids to get hurt, certainly, and football's not war. You, you, we do, we do need football and we do need a level of toughness. Um, and "I hope we're providing that. And, and you see it happen across the country.

Luke: 54:48

Yeah, and "I "I think you're talking about Sal, PA Antonio's book is what you're thinking about is "I. I've read it's phenomenal talks. "I "I. America is in love with football. It was just, he just draws all the historical connection between "I mean, even just why we huddle up and "I. It's just a really, if you, if you love football and you love American history, like that's, that's the book to read for sure. So, um, well, coach, you've been extremely generous with your time, your, your passion for coaching, your passion for working with kids, your passion for making an impact on someone's. It's very clear, like "I said, just permeate through the screen. "I know we could, we, there's so many more topics we could address and keep going with this. So, uh, we might have to do a part two. look forward to following your success. "I, have no doubt just given what we talked about just today and doing my research on you. It, a lot of successes come your way at Friends University and, uh, "I really appreciate you. Sharing your knowledge with us, it really goes a long way and the coach is gonna be able to take a lot from this episode, which is why I'm doing the podcast. So best of luck. And for any coach that's out there that wants to get in touch with, Coach I will have his contact information in the show notes as well. If you wanna shoot him an email and, and talk flexon or more importantly talk about culture and team cohesion. So with that coach, I'll let you get back to your film and your family and "I, appreciate you for coming on the "I win.