Charger Nation: Game #9

CHARGER NATION: GAME #9

Charger Nation,

            I want to congratulate our JV Football team on a job well done.  Last night they won their last football game.  That puts them at 6-1 on the year.  I want to thank Coach Dale and Coach Jerry for the hard work and commitment they have put into your boys.  The future is bright with that group coming up to be varsity players the next few years. 
            Within ELCA football, we have tried to turn “Win the Day” into its own philosophy on how to conduct business.  There are five parts to winning the day and each are vitally important: Commitment, Consistency, Intensity, Execution and Perseverance.  To get out boys to be average I believe I have to constantly preach commitment and consistency.  If you are just going to be an average person you have to show up and do so consistently.  In any endeavor of life, the bottom 50% are going to be people who won’t commit and won’t be consistent. 
            My goal as a coach is to have a team that every year will be in the hunt for a state championship.  I don’t make the state championship my goal because so many factors come into play in actually winning it.  One year we should have won it but our QB broke his leg.  I don’t control that stuff.  However, I do feel I have lots of control over being contenders each year.  If we are contenders each year then over time we will win our share or compete for our share of state championships.  So here is my question to myself and our players all the time:  If just being average requires commitment and consistency, what will separate us from being average to becoming a contender?   The answer is in the last three parts of the Win the Day philosophy: Intensity, Execution and Perseverance. 
            Success is not just about showing up to work, it’s about coming to work to get better and improve.  It is coming to work with a sense of urgency and a purpose.  It is coming to work with an intentional commitment to excellence.  This is intensity.  I define intensity as focused effort.  It is hard enough for us adults to focus our minds on a task.  So you can imagine how hard it is for young boys to focus their minds.  I correlate their brains to a giant explosion.  I have no idea what is going on up there.  God has put me in the process to try and help parents get the dust to settle after the explosion.  High school boys, they just want to get to Friday night.  But it isn’t about Friday night.  It’s about getting better Monday-Thursday.  If we cannot be intentional in giving great effort and great focus on these days then we aren’t going to like where we are Friday night. 
            I get aggravated as a coach when we go out to practice and our steps are wrong.  To me, when I see kids using poor technique, that means they are not practicing with intensity.  If we aren’t practicing with intensity then we are just practicing to be average.  That doesn’t make any sense.  We film practice Tuesday and Wednesday and are trying hard to coach our boys up on their intensity in our film sessions.  It’s a hard thing to do with young boys.  I feel like I could just record myself Wed and Thursday mornings and just replay it each week as we watch practice.  Here is what it sounds like:  “This is bad effort; You’re not stepping right; Be more physical:” now just repeat that 50 times.  However, if want to be any good we must practice with intensity and I can never give up on demanding it. 
            In the same way, our growth in Jesus Christ requires daily commitment, consistency and intensity.  If I am going to grow in Christ and put on the character of Christ there is no way I can do this with an intentional pursuit of Christ daily.  An intentional pursuit requires reading God’s word and prayer.  The Bible tells that if we want Christ to abide in us we must abide in him (John 15:4).  Can we be good Christians and not be in God’s word and spend time with him in prayer?  I would ask can we be a good football team and not practice daily with intensity?  It’s not for me to answer who is a good Christian or who is not a good Christian.  But I do know we will be very average if we do not practice football with intensity. 
            I love how football and our daily pursuit of Christ correlate.  I am so often convicted of my desires to be great on the football field not matching up with my desires to pursue Christ.  Christ, our Savior and our King, is not to be neglected by worldly things that are passing away.  It is very important that we use the things that God has given us to point to Jesus Christ.  To me, football does this. I know how to be intentional in my pursuit of excellence in Christ because I learned the importance of intensity through the game of football. 
            Finally, as we discuss the five parts of the Win the Day philosophy, those five parts actually are not specifically about football.   Football is our tool to point to Christ and build young boys into men for Jesus Christ.  We are instilling values in them that God is going to us to take them so much further than what happens on a Friday night or in a game. 
At ELCA, our Win the Day philosophy first and foremost exists to identify how we are to pursue Christ.  First is my commitment.  This is my acknowledgment that I am a sinner in desperate need of a Savior and acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of my life.  Secondly, I know must be consistent in my pursuit of Christ.  Third, I must pursue Christ with intensity.  It must be important that we grow in Christ and we have a sense of urgency each day to grow in him and live for him.  Fourth, this intensity each day will lead people to see Christ in our lives as Jesus Christ starts to live through us.  This will open up the door for us to love, serve and live out Jesus Christ.  This is the actual execution.  It is what people see.  This is similar to Friday nights except as Christians we have Friday nights daily.   Lastly, life isn’t always going to go our way.  We must persevere through the hard times.  Christ will see us through. 

Now, let’s BEAT Our Lady of Mercy!

“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the Lord.”  Proverbs 21:31

Win the Day!

Wholly for Christ,

Coach Gess

Excellence is the character of Christ.  Win the Day builds upon this concept.

CHARGER NATION: GAME #8

Chargers,

            I want to congratulate our JV football team last night for beating Woodward.  It was a very fun football game.  Our boys played hard and fought.  We scored the winning touchdown with about a minute to go in the game.  I want to thank Jerry Barber, Dale Albrecht and Bryan Shockley for the investment they put into those boys.  I count it as a great blessing that God has put it on the hearts of those men to coach our JV.  Each of them has their own business and could be working or doing something else but they choose to help ELCA Football.  I am grateful.

            In the life of ELCA football tonight is a big football game.  Landmark and ELCA is always a big game because it seems to always have region championship implications.  We both are usually in the top 10 so this only makes it a bigger deal.  They are led by a very big offensive line, a great quarterback and a great tailback.   They bring an offense tonight that is averaging over 40 points per game. 

            I believe our boys are fired up and ready for the challenge.  This game tonight is what high school football is all about.  Some of my greatest memories come from beating Landmark.  Beating them 43-0 the year after they upset us in the playoffs was a game I will never forget.  Beating them last year when they were ranked #3 or #2 after everyone had written us off will go down as one of my all time favorites.   I can’t wait to watch our boys tonight!

            One word I always hear being thrown around is the word excellence.  People like to use it but no one ever really defines it.  When I first started coaching I started saying DEMAND EXCELLENCE.  We can’t sit around and ask our kids to be excellent.  We must demand it.  Asking for it seems so passive to me as a coach.  Yeah, I get I need to ask them for it and define it for them, but then I need to meet them half way by demanding it.  It’s the same way in parenting.  You can ask your kid not to do something but if you don’t meet him or her half way with enforcing it be done they will surely fail. 

            I believe the world has a hard time with describing what excellent character and behavior is apart from Jesus Christ.  I don’t know why lying and cheating isn’t a good thing.  It seems to get people far in life.  Even though it is destructive to people in the long run it seems to get individuals worldly success.  If I view the world with a self-centered vision lying and cheating make sense.  I don’t care if I hurt people around me, as long as I get what I want.  

            I have a chart I discuss with our boys and we call it the Path to Excellence.   It’s a complicated looking chart but basically it’s a triangle that is broken into five sections.  The base of the triangle is titled “DEMAND EXCELLENCE.”  I define excellence as seeking to bring God glory and honor by giving perfect effort to become your absolute best with the talent God has given you in ALL that God has called you to do.  Jesus Christ is the standard of Excellence.  He is excellence.

            The base of the triangle represents the foundation of a man.  It is our character.  The triangle rests upon the base.  A pyramid would not stand if it were not for the base.  In the same way, if a man or woman does not have a solid foundation nothing can be built upon them.  Yes, they may achieve a little worldly success for a time but their ability to lead others and make others around them better is lost.  In fact, people who lack the foundation of excellence usually end up hurting or damaging those around them.  They are me centered people and me centered people lack character.   

            So at ELCA and within ELCA football we have an excellent standard in our conduct.  I told the boys this week that before they do anything they should stop and ask themselves this question: “Is this excellent?”  Since Jesus Christ is the standard of excellence we have his word to lead and guide us in the way we should go.  In fact, Christ promises himself to lead and guide us in the way we should go (Psalm 32:8).  If we will build our character around Jesus Christ and pursue excellence with all diligence then we will become leaders and impact others in our life for good.   We will quit worrying about our personal success and ourselves and become consumed with helping and serving others. 

            Demanding excellence on the football field is a grind.  We must demand perfection to the smallest detail.  We must push our players everyday to become the very best they can possibly be on the football field.  We cannot be ok with a bad day or poor performance.  We cannot get tired and not address poor effort.  Everyday and every rep we must demand things be done with excellence.  If we don’t do this as coaches we are wasting our time and our players time.  Our team will not achieve its total potential. 

            How much more important is it that we demand excellence from our conduct and our thoughts?  On our football team, we are going to have the highest standard of excellence in our character.  I am not going to waiver in demanding excellence from our boys in how they act and how they talk.  I know they get aggravated with me because I tell them they can’t do this and they can’t do that.  It seems like everyday I am fighting a battle that has nothing to do with football but everything to do with character and who they are as people.  And this is ok—annoying but  ok!  Cause the most important thing is investing in the souls of the players.

            It’s interesting:  After we lose a football game my soul is never grieved by an individual because he played poorly.  I’m just mad that we lost and sit around aggravated with myself.  I don’t blame you or your son.  A kid could lose the game for us but I would not be grieved or upset with that person.  However, when I find out kids are acting foolishly or making a mockery of sin my soul is grieved.  When I find out a kid has poor character and is leading others around him into sin I get very disappointed.  When I find out a kid is choosing to hang around the wrong people I hurt due to those choices.  Winning or losing a football game will never lead to a destructive lifestyle.  But poor character will lead to failure in life in everything that is important to God—our families and influencing others around us for good. 

            May we at ELCA and as parents never grow weary of demanding excellence in the character of our souls.  We have a great definition of excellence: Jesus Christ.  May we follow him and abide in him. 

           

“The horse is made ready for battle, but victory belongs to the Lord.” Proverbs 21:31

BEAT LANDMARK!

Wholly for Christ,

Coach Gess

CHARGER NATION: GAME #7

Charger Nation,

            We are fired up to play football after having a week off last week.  As we head into region play we are beginning a new season.  These games are going to determine our path in the playoffs and prepare us for the playoffs.  It is imperative we continue to get better each day, and therefore, each Friday night.  I have discussed many times with our team that the teams that are still standing in the semifinals and finals are the teams that continued to get better each day at this point during the season. 

            We have now been practicing for ten weeks.  It is human nature to start to coast.  People get in their mind that this is what they are and this is all they can be.  The word is complacency.  I call it creeping softness.  As a football team and as coaches we must rage war against that mentality.  Every single day that God gives us is an opportunity to get a little bit better.  

            As I go throughout the week I do not think much of the other team besides what we get off film with their offensive formations and plays and then the defense they run.  My mind is 100 percent focused on our execution and on us getting better.   I could feel awful on Wednesday because we didn’t improve on Tuesday.  It has nothing to do with Friday night.  It has everything to do with us improving daily.  If we are going to be any good, getting better each day is all that matters.   

            We call this "Win the Day" which I talk about all the time.

On Wednesday, Coach Graham was coaching the scout dline and spotting the ball for me.  I like to move the ball around and I kept telling him put it here and then here and I had him lost.  He jokingly (I think) said “I feel like I can’t get it right and give you what you want.” Our oline quickly said: “welcome to our world.” 

            I looked up rushing yardage through 6 games from the seasons 2010-2015.  Only one year did we have more rushing yardage through 6 games than we do this year.  2011 we had 1521 and this year we have 1482.  **Just to give you a reference point this time last year we had 882.  Our oline isn’t doing a bad job but they can always do a better job.  We can play lower, we can have better feet, and we can execute our assignments better.  All the other positions are the same.  I don’t care whether we are having a good year or not, we must get better!

           

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.  Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.  But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 3: 12-14

            The Christian’s biggest failure is NOT living each day as Winning the Day for Jesus Christ.  Just like as a coach I am to push this team towards perfection everyday and demand it from them, it is so much more important I do this daily in my pursuit of Jesus Christ.  My oline thinks I hate them sometimes because they aren’t perfect and nothing could be further from the truth.  I am going to demand from them that they do it right.  To neglect to correct flaws would not love them.  By identifying and correcting problem areas I am helping achieve their goals Friday night.  It’s with great love I address their flaws.  To not demand excellence is the greatest form of neglect!

God doesn’t reject us when he sees our failures, but his disappointment comes when we lack the desire to pursue him and put on the character of Jesus Christ.  He is disappointed when we begin to chase after the world and make Jesus the puppet master our wishes and dreams. 

            God wants us to chase perfection but he knows we will never get there.  If we could get there by our own effort then there would be no need for Jesus Christ as our Savior.  He would not have had to come and pay for our sins and become righteousness for us. 

            As we watched film Wednesday morning the oline knew they stunk on Tuesday.  But as we reflected on our Tuesday failures (mostly in effort) we were entering a new day.  It was time to put the bad day behind us and look forward to the opportunity to get better that day.  Just because I failed yesterday doesn’t mean I must fail today.  Every single day is a battle in itself. 

            Paul speaks the same language in our walk with Christ.  I don’t care what you did yesterday, what your past looks like, or how big your sin is: “but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” 

            I pray we all have this mentality as we pursue Jesus Christ.  There is no greater example of love than Jesus Christ.  He knew we needed to be saved so he saved us.  He knew we would continually fail so he became righteousness for us.  He wants our hearts and when we give him our hearts, our hearts desire will be to do his will and bring him honor and glory. 

           

BEAT Strong Rock!!

“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.” Proverbs 21:31

Wholly for Christ!

Coach Gess