James Eunice, a 17 year old student at Valdosta High School had dreams of playing football for the University of Georgia. Although Eunice wasn't recruited by the Bulldogs, he wrote to CoachRicht and explained that he had been accepted by the university and that he wanted to walk-on the team.
Unfortunately, Eunice drowned last month while duck hunting and never had an opportunity to graduate high school, enroll at Georgia or walk-on the team. Coach Richt learned of Eunice's death and sent a letter to his family stating that Eunice had been added to the roster and officially made the team. At Eunice's funeral, Valdosta teammates and highly touted UGA recruits Malcolm Mitchell and Jay Rome presented the Eunice family with an official Georgia number 23 jersey (the number Eunice wore in high school) with the name "EUNICE" on the back.
Oftentimes it seems as if college football coaches are only judged by the number of titles they've brought to the university. We don't always look at the caliber of man they are and how that potentially affects their influence on our student athletes. We'll overlook oversized egos, dismissive and/or argumentative personalities as long as they're winning games and wearing the schools' colors.
Don't get me wrong, winning games and bringing championships back to the university are important and should be a top priority for every coach. However, coaches should also engage in the equally important pratice of teaching our student athletes that there's more to life than playing football including but not limited to nurturing relationships with God, family, and friends; developing respect and confidence in yourself; and learning how to be a productive member of your community. Richt's thoughtful shows he understand the importance of both winning and the importance of teaching that there's more to life than football.
For more on this heart warming story read Michael Carvell's blog at the ACJ or ready Randy Young's opinion column in the Thomasville Times-Enterprise
Unfortunately, Eunice drowned last month while duck hunting and never had an opportunity to graduate high school, enroll at Georgia or walk-on the team. Coach Richt learned of Eunice's death and sent a letter to his family stating that Eunice had been added to the roster and officially made the team. At Eunice's funeral, Valdosta teammates and highly touted UGA recruits Malcolm Mitchell and Jay Rome presented the Eunice family with an official Georgia number 23 jersey (the number Eunice wore in high school) with the name "EUNICE" on the back.
Oftentimes it seems as if college football coaches are only judged by the number of titles they've brought to the university. We don't always look at the caliber of man they are and how that potentially affects their influence on our student athletes. We'll overlook oversized egos, dismissive and/or argumentative personalities as long as they're winning games and wearing the schools' colors.
Don't get me wrong, winning games and bringing championships back to the university are important and should be a top priority for every coach. However, coaches should also engage in the equally important pratice of teaching our student athletes that there's more to life than playing football including but not limited to nurturing relationships with God, family, and friends; developing respect and confidence in yourself; and learning how to be a productive member of your community. Richt's thoughtful shows he understand the importance of both winning and the importance of teaching that there's more to life than football.
For more on this heart warming story read Michael Carvell's blog at the ACJ or ready Randy Young's opinion column in the Thomasville Times-Enterprise
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