2. WHERE DO WE WANT TO BE?

Before Coach Washington could cap his dry erase marker, Coach Smitty answered the question on the board.

“This is an easy one! It's the same goal we've had since we first got here: build champions and win championships. That's what the Six Pillars and Commitments are all about. Everything, and I mean everything, we do is to help us reach that one goal.”

“Exactly!” Coach Washington agreed. “That's our culture. And we both know that culture is a top-down thing; it's a reflection of leadership.”

Coach Washington continued, “But what happens when you, as the head coach, have a vision of where we are going—but the team has a different vision? Or worse, multiple different people on the team have multiple different versions of that vision?” Coach Smitty was quick to respond, “We both know that there cannot be more than one vision. Otherwise, it's like the tug-of-war drill we do in the off-season, with the big battle rope.”

The tug-of-war was a favorite team-building exercise in the off-season, because it brought out every ounce of effort each side could give. It also taught the valuable lesson that after all of the chaos, effort, sweat, and tears, there could only be one winner. It was a zero-sum game!

“You're reading my playbook,” Coach Washington said with a wink. “Now contrast that with the truck pull event at the Lineman Challenge our boys did last summer.”

Coach Smitty was known for thinking outside of the box with his team-building exercises. The previous summer, he had bought a massive, old-time army truck that probably hadn't been driven in 50 years. He had it towed to the parking lot behind the practice field and had one long rope tied to its front bumper. Unlike the tug-of-war, which saw the athletes pulling against each other and in different directions, the truck pull required the linemen to work together as a team to pull the truck 100 yards in the same direction.

Coach Smitty immediately saw the point Coach Washington was making. “When a team doesn't agree on where they are going …” he said, drifting off.

“… then the only place they can arrive at is a broken locker room,” Coach Washington finished.

The longer the two men talked by the whiteboard, the more Coach Smitty realized what a big deal this was. On Saturday morning, fear and doubt had kept him from doing what was right, and his team had suffered because of his inaction. So many people depended on him to do the right thing.

Today, however, through a difficult locker room conversation with his best friend and offensive coordinator, he was no longer living in fear; instead, he was living in faith. Faith that humility and grace together can both heal, unite, and overcome adversity.

Coach Smitty had been on a roller coaster of emotion over the course of their conversation. He wondered what his friend was feeling. How many times had Coach Washington, or his players of color, had to give grace to people who did not understand that their experiences in life were different because of the color of their skin?

He knew that there was no way he could imagine what Coach Washington was thinking or feeling because at no time in his life had he ever experienced anything similar, due to his race.

But, as a human, he could empathize.

“Rod, we've gotten pretty deep today at the whiteboard. Are you okay?” Coach Smitty asked, with concern.

“Yes, yes we have. We've definitely gotten deep,” Coach Washington said, taking a deep breath. “But this has been good. After our conversation Saturday, when you decided to handle this privately, I was angry. Besides feeling ignored, I was angry about the potential harm and distraction this would create for our team, our family. Today, however, I feel like we are going to come out of this thing stronger than before. That feels good.”

“I'm truly sorry, Rod. No one wants to feel ignored,” Coach Smitty said.

“I appreciate you, Smitty, for being humble enough and open enough to actually listen. To be honest, I have friends and family who get so discouraged and frustrated because they feel like they are always having to show grace and teach white people about race. If I had a nickel for every time a Black parent felt like they did not have time to teach a white person about racism, because they were too busy teaching their Black kids how to survive, I'd be able to buy us that indoor facility we've been dreaming about,” Coach Washington said with a chuckle.

Coach Smitty responded, “I owe it to these kids, to you, and to myself to live out the Six Pillars. Especially when it's hard. You asked, ‘Where do we want to be?’ I'll tell you where I want to be: in this locker room, shoulder to shoulder with you, drawing up the winning plays to fix this broken locker room. Call me crazy, but I think going back to the Six Pillars is exactly where our locker room needs to go.”