No Character, No Consistency, No Job Security

Joe Taylor Head Coach Hampton University Hampton, Va.

t is indeed an honor to have this opportunity to address the American Football Coaches Association membership. The fellowship of Christian Athletes is the only other organization that can match the rapid growth of the American Football Coaches Association in this country. Our membership is well over 8,000 to date and growing. Under the leadership of Grant Teaff and his staff, this organization and the coaching profession have undergone a tremendous facelift in image. The young and seasoned, male and female, politician to blue collar worker has accepted the coaching profession as a positive difference-maker in our society. I tell my coaches all the time, that we must be better than the guy next door to our players. They want you to be, and you must be better. Our theme for this 2000 convention is Victory with Honor. More than anytime in our existence, this theme is very appropriate. Winning at any and all cost has a stranglehold on the psyche of society today. We want to cut corners, look for short cuts, avoid the process, and diminish the work ethic. What they dont know wont hurt them mentality provokes cheating, cover-ups and a lower sense of morality. The word character is treated like the word Baptist you must be careful who you are with before you decide to bring it up. We accepted the head coaching position at Hampton University in January of 1992. Since that time, we have won five conference championships and two Sheridan Broadcasting Networks national championships. Hampton has advanced to postseason play six of the last eight years. This year, our eighth, Hampton played in a postseason game The Heritage Bowl. This tenure certainly shows consistency, it shows job security but more than anything, the foundation for our accomplishments has been the time and effort spent daily on teaching and driving home the importance of character to everyone in the program. We have a very active Fellowship of Christian Athletes huddle that meets every Friday at 7 p.m., whether at home or on the road. Our chaplain, Reverend Jerome Barber, travels with the team and attends every practice. Offensive coordinator Donald Hill heads up a group of 17 players that comprise a gospel choir. This choir performs on campus, local churches, high schools and other concerts. We attend church as a team the first three Sundays of fall camp. We pray before leaving the field

whether its practice or game day. Each week in our scouting report, the first three pages deals with: A. Cover page; B. A word of wisdom sheet; C. A sheet on character building. We put in a lot of time to choose the appropriate sheets for the upcoming week based on where we fell short the previous week. As the head coach, I take it upon myself to follow the pulse or Zeitgeist of the team. Over the years, players have told me that they look forward to getting them each week because they use them to do papers for home assignments. Thats not exactly what we had in mind, but at least they are of some use. The word character as defined by Webster is behavior typical of a person or group; moral strength. Behavior is either negative or positive based on your attitude. Your attitude is regulated by your perception of the experiences you have had in life. Too many failures in life suggests to an individual that maybe he or she is a failure. Setting and accomplishing goals tends to develop positive self esteem individuals with stronger moral values and a positive attitude. Our job as coaches is to create an environment conducive to developing strong ethics and character. An environment conducive to success in the classroom, socially, spiritually, and on the playing field. The organization of our program was developed by a fear factor. We are afraid not to see them both in and out of season. In the off-season, we have plyometrics before classes start; weight training after classes end. We invite quest speakers every Friday from the community to help connect the real world to college life: bankers, superintendents, city councilmen, professors, Doctors, etc. On Saturday mornings, we have speed school from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. It helps to temper Friday night activities. Study hall is mandatory for all freshmen and any upperclassman under a 2.4 grade point average. Ms. Sonja Stills is our academic advisor and she does a good job of monitoring this academic progress. Ms. Stills also has developed activities associated with the social skills, life skills and community involvement. We interview our players routinely with the segment coaches as well as myself. We want to know them as people, not just football players. Relationships are built on trust and accountability. The better your relationship with your players, the more

Proceedings 77th AFCA Convention 2000

cohesive and solid the program will be from top to bottom. The stronger the relationships, the more people tend to bond and respect each other. Everyone will strive to become more accountable to self and to the program. When you have a situation where no one wants to let the next person down, the energy level in the program goes up. A good barometer for measuring how the players feel about the program is how hard they play on game day. If they feel good about whats happening to them, they will show their appreciation by going all out to get their job done. Unfortunately, if they dont feel good about whats happening to them they will let you know on game day as well. We set goals for them, we encourage them to set goals for themselves, for the program and for the school and athletic department. We write them weekly during the summer months. Each coach is responsible for a well thought out message inclusive of the education, current events, importance of work outs and his view of the upcoming season. They have work out cards that must be returned weekly. Each person in the program has a psychological profile on file that we give as needed to keep everyones date folder current. The exit interview by the head coach always

includes an updated Personal Data Sheet. We start each January with a theme for the year Unfinished Business; Operational Team; Make it Happen all to create a singleness of purpose for the program. All of these different strategies are designed to build character - a strong belief tempered with class and respect for all of mankind. A belief so strong that you focus on the steps to success rather than fighting naysayers or losers. A belief that you can accomplish anything in life that you want to. A belief that disallows distractions to deter you from goals. This past year really tested the character of our program. After a loss to Florida A&M, the opportunity to win our third consecutive conference championship vanished. The treatment, although unfair, from the press, campus life, was very harsh. The players and coaches alike were disappointed. Homecoming was the next week and we had to get our spirit back in the right place for a tough South Carolina State game. We were able to win that game in front of the biggest homecoming crowd ever. The next week we dropped another conference game which dashed all hopes of an at-large bid to post season NCAA play. We had to stop practice one day and remind the players that God doesnt send us into

the valley to become bitter but rather to strengthen our faith and commitment. Fortunately, we had enough character to keep working and feeling that our hard work would not be in vain. We went on to win our season finale and receive a bid to the Heritage Bowl and defeat the SWAC champion, Southern University, who had defeated us earlier in the season. Our faith was tested but our character sustained us and reinforced a spirit of never giving up in life no matter what the challenge. In closing, the book of Philippians, Chapter 4 verses 4-9 and specifically verses 6 and 7 Paul reminds us of a prescription for character building that is over 2000 years old and still works: 1. Be anxious about nothing (Worry creates a negative attitude). 2. Be prayerful in anything (Communicate wants and needs to God). 3. Be thankful in everything. (Recognition of him knowing what we need better than we do. If we had to write the script a lot of things we would not go through but are necessary for our growth) The three aforementioned character builders gives a certain peace that allows you to focus on your goals and not waste energy. Those goals are character development, winning consistently and job security.

NCAA Position on Gambling

The NCAA opposes all forms of legal and illegal sports wagering. Sports wagering has the potential to undermine the integrity of sports contests and jeopardizes the welfare of student-athletes and the intercollegiate athletics community. Sports wagering demeans the competition and competitors alike by a message that is contrary to the purposes and meaning of sport. Sports competition should be appreciated for the inherent benefits related to participation of student-athletes, coaches and institutions in fair contests, not the amount of money wagered on the outcome of the competition.

For those reasons, the NCAA membership has adopted specific rules prohibiting athletics department staff members and student-athletes from engaging in gambling activities as they relate to intercollegiate or professional sporting events.

Proceedings 77th AFCA Convention 2000