Peace & Wisdom....New Focus... Ready for 2021

Our family dog finds peace by listening to Led Zepplin, Jimi Hendrix & the Beatles

This may be the most anticipated New Year's Eve in my lifetime. Good grief we are all ready to see 2020 be over. 

COVID has forced us to recognize that we really don't have control of the circumstances in our lives that we thought we possessed. That has been a tough one for me. I like to plan and prepare, way ahead of schedule.

 This season, twice on a Thursday, after a practice, I told our guys..."I THINK we will play Team A tomorrow night, 7:30. It may be somebody else. It may be a different time. It may be Saturday. It may be a different opponent. We may not even have a game!"

While the calendar may be changing, we will certainly have challenges in the year ahead. My focus going forward. 

1- On the things I can control, I will do what is right and do the best I can. 

Viktor Frankl was a concentration camp survivor and is the author of Man's Search for Meaning. He makes it clear, we have little control over our circumstances. However,  NO ONE can take away the freedom we have to choose our response, our attitude, how we treat others, and our opportunity to serve others. 

2- I will pray daily and ask GOD for HIS peace & wisdom.

Ever have a problem to solve and you just can't figure it out?  Peace & Wisdom go hand and hand. Prayer and God's Word will lead you to the BEST solutions (Wisdom). Peace can come before the Wisdom (the knowledge that God will provide) or after (Problem solved!). The source of both is ultimately our Creator.

Everyday in 2021 we will have an opportunity to serve Christ and serve others.  

Happy New Year!

 

Assistant Coach Interview Questions- finding the good ones is getting tougher

There aren't many out there, but I was fortunate to interview an outstanding assistant coach candidate this morning!

Here are the interview questions we use. 

1- Why do you want to be a football coach at Mercer County HS?

 2- What coaches have been the biggest influence on you? Why? What did you take from that coach? 

3- If you are somewhere in town, and people begin to bad mouth the football staff and program, what is the loyal way to respond?

 4- Will your schedule allow you to be at all practices and workouts? ( Provide overall schedule and expectations) 

5- We want to practice fast. We also want to maximize efficiency in practice… very little standing around and watching, everyone involved, working and getting reps. Can you make your coaching style fit that philosophy? Can you coach on the run, make corrections as needed after practice, etc? 

6- We do a bunch of dirty and extra work. Washing uniforms, sweeping the locker-room, getting equipment put away…. Is that beneath you as a coach, or are you willing to help with the part of the job that is menial and outside of the spotlight?

 7- We do not cuss on the field (this is a work in progress). Can you handle that or do you think that cussing is necessary to get a player’s attention at times? If so, this will not be a good fit for you or us. 

8- We want our players to be corrected, pushed, and to become the best they can be. In doing so, we want this done in the most positive way possible. Can you be demanding AND positive as a coach? 

9- Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a football coach? 

10- Are you a big picture guy, detail guy, or combination of both? Explain.

If you have better questions, email me at coachdavidbuchanan@gmail.com. Today was a really busy day. The most important thing I did was the interview. There is no substitute for surrounding your kids with great men as their coaches and mentors. At the end of the day, that is really what we are all about. 

Merry Christmas!  🎄⛄

Victory in Christ.... How I will remember my Mom

 

1966, Alexandria Drive- Lexington, KY

Yesterday my Mom passed away. It was a joyous day because it ended decades of suffering. My Mom has fought severe mental illness  for many, many years. Ever since I was ten years old, I would pray that God would heal my Mom. The way that I wanted her to be healed, it never happened. 

I sure don't have all the answers. But, through my Mom's fight with mental illness, I  did witness God's strength and love.  I saw it in my Dad and the way he loved my Mom... no matter what she would say or do. No matter how sick she was.

I saw God's love and strength in their Sunday School Class, and their Pastors,  at Centenary United Methodist Church, in the way they supported my Mom and Dad when my Dad was fighting cancer.  

God's love and strength was alive and well in the Maysville Nursing Home. In December of 2018, my mom was placed under Hospice care. She lived two years after that! Unheard of. But, they loved her so much, and worked so hard to care for her, they kept her alive even though all indications were she would die in a matter of weeks. 

I will recognize Jesus when I get to heaven because He will look like Lynn & Steele Harmon. We moved to Danville in 1969. Steele was the football coach at Centre and my Dad was the coach at Boyle County. They became lifelong friends. During some of the rockiest times these past 50 years, Steele's friendship kept my Dad going. Lynn and Steele both went above and beyond to love my family through some of our toughest times. 

My Mom's illness was incredibly difficult for her and our family. I didn't get the healing that I prayed for while she was on this earth. But, I did get to witness and experience, over and over again, God's unfailing love. And, today, my Mom is healed by the blood of Jesus Christ. The victory that was won yesterday, only Christ could win. She has eternal life. She is with my Dad. She is now more whole, happy, and herself than she has ever been. 

I could tell you some pretty awful stories about things my Mom did or she said. When I saw her on Thursday, the accumulation of hurt and illness was apparent in her face and her body. It was overwhelming. It was a burden that only Christ could bear. But, all that hurt and illness... that is NOT my Mom. 

When I was 4 years old, December of 1969, my Dad had just finished his first season at Boyle County. One Friday night after a basketball game, we had a Christmas party for my Dad's players and their girlfriends. I remember that night well. We might as well had the Green Bay Packers at the house. Those guys were my heroes.  I remember my Mom and Dad being so happy to have those kids in our home, the Christmas tree up, and my Mom in the kitchen making those Christmas cookies. I am not sure I ever remember my Mom & Dad happier than they were in that moment on Carrigan Drive in Danville. 

My Mom that night... that is EXACTLY how I will remember her. Stephanie told me today.... the way she was that night, that is who she WANTED to be. Today.... she is that person, but even better. 

The hurt, the ugliness, illness... sure, I know that all happened in the past. But, they will not define my Mom. I will choose to remember her at her best. I will choose to live in the knowledge that TODAY and for eternity, she is healed, well, happy, & with my Dad. 

God's timing is not our timing. But, nothing can overcome the love of Christ that lead Him to the cross. 

This Christmas, I will remember that December night, the kids in our home,  my Mom in that kitchen, making those cookies, and how happy she and my Dad were. I will thank God that He sent His Son, over 2,000 Christmases ago because He loves us.  All Praise, Honor & Glory to Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas! 

The Folder...Time Saver Tips....Finances & Responsibility

 This past Friday night our season ended against a very good CAL football team. As much as I wish we were still playing, I could not be prouder of our guys.  They worked, adjusted, and adapted to make 2020 a very successful football season. All of the KY HS football coaches and players did an extraordinary job to make fall football work in the middle of the 2020 Pandemic. I have never been more proud to be a KY HS Football Coach. 

Whenever the season ends, my "punishment" is to get out this folder, postgame:

Over the years, I usually start working, cleaning, etc. immediately after the game. There is no way I can go home and go to sleep.  In a step toward better mental health, this year I went home after the game. JCB & Caroline were here to watch Trosper play. They were leaving the next Saturday after lunch. Emma was home also. I don't want to be cleaning up after the season if my family is at the house... especially if they will not be there very long. Having my kids home has helped me understand better what is most important in those moments and forced me to make better decisions than when the kids were little.  It has been fun in 2020 because the kids come home to watch Trosper. That forces me to get home faster than I would in the  past. And, it did help in 2020 that we only lost twice. Trosper and his teammates played well.  Our team played some very good football this fall. Friday nights at the house after the game...most nights, we were celebrating a win. 

Due to Covid, we made a really good adjustment to our Monday meeting to turn in equipment. There was no meeting. We brought our guys in by class, separated by 30 minutes so that everyone would be staggered. They walked in the door for screening. After screening, they immediately went to the classroom and Coach Heasley instructed them how to vote for Captains and the council. After that, they went to the lockerroom to turn in gear and clean out their lockers. They had to be out of the building in less than 30 minutes.  They left out another entrance than the one they entered. It went great. Much smoother and faster. 

A couple timesaver tips for the young guys :

1- After you do the 2020 inventory ( I use an excel spreadsheet), make another copy of the same document and call it 2021InventoryPrep. In that document, make all of the numbers in gray instead of black. Go ahead and print it. Put it in the folder. When the 2021 season ends, you are ready to begin your inventory. You can see what you had last year at the end of the season, but since it is gray and not black, it is easy to write over it and document the new amount for each item as you inventory.

2- The "plenty" check mark. I use to count every single knee pad, thigh pad, etc. It was insane. If you look at an item that is relatively inexpensive and you have abundantly more than enough for the next season, don't count every item. Put a check mark in the column and keep on rolling. 

Also to the young coaches, and I cannot stress this enough, taking care of your football equipment is a huge responsibility. All of the coaches and student-athletes in your school are depending on you. If we don't take care of our stuff, we have to buy new stuff more frequently. That diverts money from other sports and those kids. I sure wish we had won on Friday, but I can tell you that Saturday morning, every single game jersey, all three sets (blue, white, red), was in the equipment room. The cost of a football helmet is going through the roof. Coaches Mike Johnson, Brian Rowland and Brian Sims made sure every single helmet made it to the equipment room.

A football program can't hide. You have to make money and you have to take care of your stuff. Every other sport is depending on you to do so. There is a big difference in replacing a tennis ball or a set of shoulder pads. We have a very small margin of error. We have to get it right. And, if you don't want that responsibility, you don't need to be a head football coach. 

So thankful our guys had a season. It was crazy, unpredictable & exhausting....  but it was 100 % worth it. 

Merry Christmas!