The Story of How I Became a Football Coach
Somewhere in the fog of the meetings that is Planning here at Canvas a few weeks ago, there came the idea of potentially helping out with sports teams at the university. I think I said something about getting involved with the American football team. Or maybe it was Robert. Maybe it was someone else. I have no idea. I just know that I said that I would like to do that. I remember joking in that meeting, which took place almost 2 months ago, that it would be really funny if we ended up as coaches. Obviously, that could never happen.
Well we kept talking about it. And finally, Robert and I both, without any communication, decided to take the leap and contact someone on the team. Robert followed the path of looking up the coach on Facebook. I went down the road of emailing that “info@yourewebsitenamehere.com” address you find on the contact page of a website. I heard back from a guy named Ryan who was apparently an assistant coach. All the while, Robert is talking to the head coach.
We were both saying that we just wanted to get involved with the team and help in any way possible. We’re still just following different streams, talking to these different coaches separately. Robert gets invited out to a practice on Sunday and I am told to come to the sports center on Tuesday night for a little chat.
Robert came back and called me Sunday evening. He showed up and after wowing them with his American accent, he was being called “coach” by the end of the session. Apparently, Robert is translating his experience as a wide receiver for Georgia Tech CCF’s intramural team onto the field for the Birmingham Lions.
Well, I showed up last night and had a brief chat with one of the coaches. I went in to meet the head coach, who asked if I wanted to play. I politely informed him that I was not a student and was, in fact, 28 years old. He said, “Oh.” About 10 minutes later, Coach Tony was introducing the coaches to all of the potential players. At the end of it he has Robert and I stand up. He makes a joke about our accents and says that we’re from Australia. Then he told them that Robert would be working with the wideouts. Then he looks at me, a person that he met 5 minutes beforehand, and says,
“And then there’s….. um… was it Jacob? Jason! Yes. Jason will be working with the defensive line.”
So the players found out that I was a defensive line coach at the same time that I found out. Robert and I will get our team-issue gear sometime next week.
Also, and this is the best part, this team is the Two Time Defending National Champions in Great Britain. They haven’t lost in a couple of years.
If anyone wants to send me some coaching shorts and a whistle, I would really appreciate it.
