Last night I attended the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet in Charlotte, NC. It’s a fun-filled evening that spotlights football and recognizes some of the top players and coaches at different levels of the game.
The big award goes to the National Defensive Player of the Year and this year's winner was Ohio State’s standout defensive end, Chase Young. The keynote speaker for the event happened to be his head coach, Ryan Day.
Day is undefeated in his first year as the head coach of Ohio State and they will take on Clemson in the College Football Playoff. I want to share some highlights from Day’s very encouraging speech.
First of all, one of his mantras for the season was “Win the moment.” As we know, teams must take it one game at a time, one play at a time. In life, we must also make the most of the present.
Day explained that if we think too much about the past, we can become frustrated and distracted. Then, if we overthink what’s going on in the future, we can experience anxiety and worry.
He said, “What really matters is right now...stay in the moment right now because if you do a good job in this moment right here, tomorrow will take care of itself. Live in the present, be right here, be right now and if you do that, tomorrow’s gonna be a great day.”
A big part of his speech also included his thoughts on “tough love.” In explaining both words separately, he compared “tough” to perseverance and adversity and how his team needs to be emotionally, physically, and mentally tough.
Day believes, “adversity is a good thing” that reveals character and builds character. He said, “How we handle adversity is going to ultimately define our character and who we are as people.”
The Message version of James 1:2-4 affirms this truth: "Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.”
In describing the second part, Day told us the importance of coaching and motivating with love. Based on his experience as a young coach who would bark at players and demand their respect, he learned he had to earn their respect by spending time with them and letting them know he cared about them.
He said, “If they love you they will do anything for you and you’ll do anything for them and that’s when you have something special.”
As followers of Jesus, we can specifically learn from Coach Day's thoughts on tough love by caring for people deeply and sharing our faith by the way we love. Jesus tells us in John 13:35 (ESV), "By this, all people will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another.”
Instead of demanding that people listen to us and barking at them from a place of pride with no meaningful relationship, we must come alongside them similar to the way Day does with his players.
Today, as we follow Jesus and lead others toward Him, let's show them we care about them and live out the challenge of 1 Corinthians 16:14 (ESV): “Let all that you do be done in love.”
I’m Bryce Johnson and you can UNPACK that!PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I pray that I would live in the moment and enjoy the people I'm with and the place you have me right now. Help me be tough and persevere during adversity knowing You use it to grow my character. I also ask that You'd empower me and help me share the Gospel with others out of love. I pray all this in Jesus' name, Amen. Discussion Questions for PACKS: 1. Which nugget impacted you the most from Coach Day's speech? 2. What would it mean for you to "win the moment?"
Comentarios