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AFM Magazine

AFM Magazine


Letter From the Guest Editor
Hot Coaches

by: Grant Teaff
Executive Director American Football Coaches Assocation
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Hot or not, it’s how you play the game. Or, in the vernacular of coaching, it is how you coach the game. The obvious definition of ‘hot’ is a coach that is being looked at and considered for a major coaching position, or at least is on a short list. In other words, it means that as a coach you have bloomed where you were planted, and someone inside or outside the profession has determined you do your job with excellence, integrity, and confidence.

For every so-called hot coach there are hundreds just as good, but have not been at the right place at the right time. In my position as executive director of the American Football Coaches Association, I do hundreds of interviews a year on every issue that affects our game and our profession. The emphasis by the writer or the interviewer is always focused on Division I-A. The media in general think football, by and large, is Division I-A. I try to remind each interviewer that football in America is made up of many different groups. College football, which includes junior colleges, has approximately 700 institutions. There are around 18,000 high schools that play football, and 32 NFL franchises.

Out of those groups that play football there are literally thousands of coaches that embody the best of human traits and more. To be called ‘coach’ is an honor and a privilege; it is a title of trust. Young men through the years have come into our profession because they wanted to give back for what they had received.

Winning
Is in the way you coach the game each and every day.
It’s in your attitude and in the things you say.
It’s not in reaching wealth or fame.
It’s not in reaching goals that others seek to claim.
Winning is having faith and giving confidence to a friend.
It’s never giving up or never giving in.
It’s in wanting something so badly you could die.
Then if it doesn’t come, be willing to give it one more try.
Winning is being clean, and sound of mind;
It’s being loyal to and serving all mankind.
Winning is in your team, friends, family and what they learn from you.
Winning is having character in everything you do.
Winning...it’s how you coach the game.

Coaches on all levels are driven to reach the highest pinnacle through their expertise and their personal development. Some will become hot commodities in our profession, others will not because of their circumstances. Many coaches have a deep commitment to a specific age group. Some feel that they are blooming where they are planted. Many coaches chose to invest their life where they are. They are happy, content and, in many cases, ultimately successful.

A case in point is Larry Kehres of Mount Union College, a Division III coach who happens to be one of the most successful coaches that has ever coached our game. In ten years, Larry has lost one regular season game while winning 99. He has won six national championships and been selected the AFCA Division III National Coach of the Year six times, as voted by his peers. In my opinion, Larry Kehres has it all: a great personality, a leader who is humble, articulate, honest and caring and has the technical skills, ability and motivational expertise to be successful on any level.

It pleases me greatly to see coaches work their way into a position of being looked at by the world as a hot prospect, and we should all honor and respect those coaches who have chosen to bloom where they are planted.






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