John’s Last Class

Today is a very bittersweet day as it brought with it the end of John Gagliardi’ s Theory of Coaching Football course.  On one hand, I will no longer spend my days off from teaching making the 160 mile round-trip commute to campus.  Further, I will no longer spend my evenings trying miserably to catch-up on the rest of my life.

On the other hand, I will no longer have guaranteed time with John every other day.  I will no longer have the 70 minute class periods filled with humor and life lessons.  And I will no longer have the 2-3 hour debriefing sessions with John after class when he is on a post-teaching high.

The end of this class also means that the research phase of this project is drawing to a close and the writing phase is getting closer.  That realization is as exciting as it is intimidating.

John’s final assignment for his students was to send him an e-mail discussing what they liked about the course and what they learned.  I told the students to feel free to copy me on those e-mails if they were comfortable in doing so.  I’ll end today with just a small sampling of the comments that John received.

“One thing that I truly admire you for, is how you are genuinely interested in all of your students and the people around you.”

“I also learned that if I surround myself with great people and people I love, I will have a better chance to become successful.”

“It was truly an honor to not only be taught by you but to get to know you and really understand why people just can't run out of great things to say about you.”

“You do a great job teaching students how to be confident in themselves.”

“I learned multiple things those afternoons with you, especially what type of person I want to be.”

“So, thanks again for what you provided me in the last four years.  It is something that I will value for the rest of my life. “

“I also learned, through John’s example, the value of humility.  It is more important to learn about others than to broadcast all of your accomplishments and strengths for the entire world to see.  People do not need to be told how great you are; if you are truly a remarkable person, it will come through in the way you treat others and conduct yourself.”

“Throughout your stories, I learned many valuable lessons that I will take with me for the rest of my life.”

“I am a graduating senior and will always remember your tips: Always introduce yourself to new people, have a firm handshake, be interested (not interesting), and most importantly be confident. If you don't take the initiative to introduce yourself, you may never gain anything from available opportunities.”

“You put it so simply by saying you must be confident to the point of ignorance where you don't even realize that failure is an option.”

“John, you have personally shown me that I can achieve great things, and my self worth is immeasurable as long as I have confidence, ignorance, I work intelligently, and sustain my efforts.”

“You have to be ignorant to the possibly of you losing and you have to be confident that you're going to win.”

This final quote pretty much sums it up…

“In this class I learned a little about football and a lot about how to conduct my life.”