Coaching Football's "Little Things"

I just wrote a coach to encourage him to “stick with his plan.” He’s a new coach who’s trying to run the Wing T offense like we do. He’s experiencing some problems (like we are!) so I told him: “don’t let the naysayers talk you into abandoning your system! It works… it’s a proven entity. Keep working your plan.” As I wrote to him I realized that I was writing to myself also! I am in the first year of running a program and the system is brand new to the players AND the coaches. I know it works. We won over 160 games with the system at the school where I used to coach. As the Bible says, we cannot “despise the day of small things.”

Everything big begins with something small. Our attitude in the beginning often determines our success in the end. We need to delight in what God gives us to start with, because He does! Thank Him for your small beginnings.

Before the drought ended and the rains came, Elijah saw a cloud the size of a man’s hand. That’s pretty small, but he rejoiced over it because it was a sign of bigger things to come. We can’t destroy our seed by doubting its potential. God gives us a seed of hope, something small— but something is than nothing. Take that seed and plant it, pray over it and believe God for the increase. A lot of us, unfortunately, throw our seed away. When we “despise” something small, we diminish it potential; we don’t care for it, we take no notice of it. When we don’t care for what God gives us, we lose it. And if we lose our seed we never get to enjoy the harvest.

I was ready to resign my head coaching position in 1989. I was frustrated and my AD was giving me little support. I had written my letter of resignation and was going to deliver it to my principal on Monday. But God spoke to my heart on Sunday after church and impressed upon me that “your ministry isn’t finished there yet.” I stayed. We finished 5-5. The next year was another break even season too. But the next year, we went 7 and 3 and it was the worst record we had over the next 15 years!!! 5 championships later, I retired knowing that I had “fought the good fight” with God leading the way.

The Bible tells us to be content with what we have, then goes on to say in Hebrews, “For He (God) Himself said, ‘I will not in any way… let (you) down.'” That’s why we can be content during our small beginnings. We know that what God commences, he completes. So be patient, be expectant and keep moving forward. “Do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise” (Hebrews 10:35-36.)
Amen? Amen!