New Year- New Life

It was the smell.  Like so many other coaches, I spent my off-season (if there is such a thing) catching up on things around the house.  If Florida, this often means yard work and sweating...not necessarily in that order.  Naturally, sweaty clothes becomes common at my house.  I must have sweated up a shirt, threw it in the back seat of my truck....and forgot about it.  The next day I opened up the door to my truck and quickly caught a familiar odor.  My daughter Kristin says that my truck smells like a locker room, and I guess that's true.  I can scrub and scrub the upholstery,  and I can spray as much deodorizer as I want... but my truck does indeed smell like a locker room., and I loved it!  

I was going to call it quits from coaching after last season....I really was.  I wanted to spend some time with the grandbabies (Kelsey-Kirby-Grice-Mason)  I wanted to watch Kelsey cheer for her school team.    I wanted to watch little Kirby compete in her gymnastics.   I wanted to watch Grice play some baseball and football.  I wanted to bond with Mason out in Colorado.  I wanted to go back to Alaska and perhaps look for a cabin or a house to get out of Florida for awhile.   Marty has been such a good football wife that I wanted to travel with her and do all the little things we could never do because of my schedule.  I wanted to sleep a little more. I wanted to rest my knee and perhaps walk normally again. Just opening up the door of my truck changed all this...I knew was not ready to quit just yet.  There was a reason that my own kids, my family, and all my friends would just say "Sure You Are" when I spoke of my impending retirement.  My daughter Kristin never believed it at all.   Then, I got the phone call.

During the off season, as usual, lots of things happened in the coaching world.  One of our young coaches Mickey Groody landed the head coaching position at a local private school.  This was a great opportunity for young Groody, and I could not be happier for him; however, this did leave a hole in our staff.  Truthfully, on our staff, I never really had an assigned position. Because of my experience, I could fill in and coach at any position Coach Jankowski (Coach J)  needed at the time.  I was sort of a coach in waiting...just learning the Vero system and helping where I could.  I really thought this is how I would be ending my career.  Then, Coach J asked if I would/could coach the running backs.  I nearly had a heart attack from excitement.  Finally, I had something to offer this great program.  Finally, I could use my years and years of experience (coaching running backs) and prove my worth.  Afterall, I learned to coach the position from some great coaches before me. I have a new energy for this coming season.  Do I have something to prove?  Absolutely... I am going to coach the hell out of my kids.

I plan on keeping this blog up-to date unlike last year.  I will fill everyone in on our schedule in the next few days... Please look back.

Thanks for reading....my writing will get better.  I promise.