Coaches have it tough. Let’s be honest. There’s a stigma that we are all ex-jocks and not very good classroom teachers. There are many stereotypes about coaches: “They are teachers who get all the breaks without really working hard in the classroom…They get to miss faculty meetings…They eat meals with their teams that are paid for by the school…They sit down all day and hand out worksheets to their students…They think winning ballgames is the most important thing in the world.” For some coaches, these stereotypes may be true, but I know many where that is not the case.

I believe a Christian coach has an awesome responsibility. We get to form and shape and mold the minds and bodies of our nation’s future—mentally, physically, and—most importantly—spiritually. The most incredible thing about that responsibility is that we have “God’s Game Plan,” the Bible, to lead us. If we truly try to understand it, study it, claim it, memorize it, meditate upon it, pray through it, and apply it to our lives and the lives of our athletes, God will be glorified. Lives will be changed and the negative stereotypes mentioned above will not be said about us.