Their Words. Their Terms.
Thoughts from Faith Driven Athletes.
The Road to High Point
At sixty-nine, I am still very much a work in progress. But from the farm to the top of the college basketball world to my current position, my perspective hasn’t changed.
Through the Fire
After seven teams in four different leagues in just two years, hitting every variety of dead-end you could imagine, I was ready to give up. But God had other plans.
Brothers in Christ
But once again I put my trust in God, and His plan. If there really was a time to tear down and a time to build, as the Bible verse says, I think I witnessed it that season.
Podcast Episode 27 - Staffing a Billion Dollar Industry
Darin White and Kirk Wakefield talk about preparing college students to work in the professional world of sports.
Extended Family
If my teammates and this community have taught me anything, it's that you don't have to share a bloodline to be family. After what the people here have done for me and my parents, that word has taken on a new meaning.
Podcast Episode 26 - The Bounce Back
Hear Clay Helton share how his faith helps him respond to unexpected seasons.
Never Give Up
Looking back now, it's amazing how close I was to never playing in that game. How close I was to giving up on the sport. To giving up on myself. To giving up on my dreams. But God has never given up on any of us, so why should I start the idea of quitting with my own career?
Flip the Script
When Ed Orgeron didn’t get the USC job, his world caved in. But when his wife told him, “God has a better plan for you,” neither of them knew just how right she was.
Leading by Following
Believe in what you want to do. If you want to do something, then go out for it. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it.
Podcast Episode 25 - Faith at the U
Mark Richt talks about faith in college football and transitioning from the sideline to the press box.
Discovering Shaq
Shaq was an amazing player, but his heart and his benevolence have always been greater than his basketball contribution.
Following the Path
Before I say the Lord's Prayer with my teammates, I get dressed in my helmet and shoulder pads and just sit in my locker and say the prayer individually. Near the end of the prayer it says “lead us not into temptation” and as athlete, one of those temptations is to doubt yourself.
Coming Home
As I've gotten older I've realized that God sometimes uses your adversities to catapult you higher, but the way a catapult works, it has to bring you down before it can launch you forward.
Podcast Episode 24 - Let the World See You
Hear Sam Acho describe what it means to be authentic in a world full of fakes.
Escaping Sudan Was Just the Start
Kueth Duany’s journey from Sudan to the NCAA Champion is unlike any other.
Suffering Produces Perseverance
It doesn’t matter how many mistakes you’ve made over the course of your lifetime. In my 81 years on this planet I’ve made plenty. But what counts is that you continue to battle, and to make the newest day your best.
Staying Humble
When you’re no longer on the field, you remember that your identity is really in being a child of God. This might sound hard to believe, but I’m actually thankful I tore my ACL, because without the injury I don’t know if I am able to keep those priorities straight.
Keep Swinging
They had won 7 of the last 8 national championships and were sitting on a 36-game winning streak. But nothing could've prepared NDSU Football Head Coach Matt Entz for what was about to happen.
It’s Not About Me
I don't like to focus too much on my past, because then it stops becoming your past and starts to become your present. However, my story is a special exception, because it shows people that it's never too late to rediscover God, and that we can overcome anything in our past. I like to tell people these days, if God can forgive you for whatever you have done, then why can’t you!
Walking in Dad’s Footsteps
You strive to be successful, you strive to do well and I think that the Lord wants us to do all that, but I also think at the same time there’s a reason for why I’m coaching. It’s not by my choice, it’s by His choice, and there’s other reasons bigger than football.