Were they all great guys....???

My Dad & Coach French together at Mercer in the mid 70s

This morning at the complex, Bruce Ashford's name came up, along with the Horn brothers, Jimmy Ashford, Brookie Peavler, and a few others. Tommy Hollon played for my Dad at Boyle and he helps our program as the owner of Little Caesar's and sponsors our bowl  game to start each Titan football season. Richie Bottoms is our Commonwealth Attorney and also played for my Dad at Boyle. He will meet with our kids in early July and give them some great advice on how to stay out of trouble. Whenever I talk about these men and many of the others, I always say, they played for my Dad and they are great guys.

Anna Robinson, who takes care of our complex said, "Was every player your Dad coached a 'great guy'?  You say that about all of them!"

I told her that for the most part, yes, they were!  My Dad ran a tight ship. He had his hands full with a few players here and there. But, would he say they were a bad guy, I don't think so.

And, then as a staff, we talked today, is there a "bad guy" in our lockerroom now?  I think the answer is no!  We have some that are still growing up into young men, learning responsibility, respect, etc. But...."bad" ... no way.

To be clear, we don't run people off. But, we try to set up our program so that the ones that don't belong eliminate themselves or they change to behavior that will make them successful men. I can't control anyone. But, I can hold people accountable & if I don't do that, if I use kids to win football games and ignore the rest, then it is ME that is the bad guy.

Even though it is almost two years since he died, I still struggle and really miss my Dad. But, remembering these old Rebels & Dogs brings back great memories and I am very thankful for those "great guys."