One of the most frequently asked questions I receive is, “What do you do in a typical day?” I have to answer that no day is all that typical, but there is a rhythm to most weeks. The paragraphs below are an excerpt from this past season’s journal of Saluki Football. This was my nineteenth season to serve in this capacity with the coaches, players and support personnel of Southern Illinois University. I hope this gives you a glimpse of how I approach this opportunity and may even spark an idea for how you serve.
Friday October 5 – Due to a very busy work schedule, I was only able to attend practice on Wednesday afternoon this week. I met the buses at the parking lot just after 7:20 this morning and settled in for the ride to Normal, IL and the game vs. Illinois State University. They are ranked #9 in the nation after their first 5 and 0 start since the 1960s.
The bus ride was quiet as most of the players were sleeping. I read a book most of the way to our lunch at the I Hotel in Champaign. The lunch was quite good and we were soon back on the bus for the remainder of the trip. We arrived on time and had a 20 minute turnaround for practice at the stadium. It was quite chilly and breezy as we were on the field and some of us were ill prepared for the temperature. The practice ended with good energy and Coach Lennon shaped expectations with his final thoughts on the field.
We returned to the hotel, had some down time and then meetings prior to dinner. Dinner was at 5:30 in the hotel and the usual team meeting followed in the hotel auditorium. Coach Lennon told a story, made his final remarks for the team and challenged them regarding “Attitude” and his expectations. That helped shape my chapel comments. Then Sharon, Mark Scally, Casey True, Adam Bortz and I went to Coldstone Creamery for some ice cream.
I returned to the hotel to prepare for chapel and to watch some baseball on television. I looked at several texts for my chapel talk, but could not settle on one and finally decided to nail it down in the morning. I turned in early, as is my routine on road trips, and was soon asleep.
Saturday October 6 – I woke up just after 4:00, but stayed in bed and dozed until around 6:00. I gathered my things and moved down to the lobby to read and to prepare. I did some reading and then set out to find the best possible text for the best possible attitude to challenge the team for this game. I wrestled with this for more than 90 minutes and finally settled on the attitude of being “relentless” as illustrated by I Corinthians 16:8-9. As I further prepared, I determined that I would tell a story about former Saluki linebacker, Ryan Hallahan, and his relentless nature.
After returning to the room briefly, I headed to the banquet room to lay out the devotional letters for today. Chapel began at 8:45 and I launched into my Ryan Hallahan story, read the scripture and then challenged the team to be relentless. The pre-game meal followed and then I returned to the room to finish preparations for the day. I dressed in layers, knowing it would be about 46 degrees and windy all day.
We arrived at the stadium on time and I went to the stadium, then back to the locker room to stay warm for a while. I layered up and went back to the field for the warm up period and pre-game was pretty much as usual. We returned to the locker room for the final moments and then back to the field to begin the game. I spoke briefly with Marion native and ISU starting quarterback, Matt Brown, after the coin toss, wishing him well. I had no idea how bad this day would be for him.
We took the ball first and were soon punting the ball. On one of ISU’s first possessions, our defense held them and forced a punt. Cameron James, who was a punt return substitution for Jayson DiManche, rushed from the right end of our line and blocked the punt. Anthony Williams scooped it up and scored a touchdown. We were up 7-0 and we had lots of momentum. In the second quarter we had a good drive which stalled at the 16 yard line and we successfully kicked a 33 yard field goal. The half time score was 10-0.
At half time we had great enthusiasm and solid confidence, but knew we had to put together another good 30 minutes of football. We had exactly that. We made a strong offensive drive and scored a touchdown. The defense was stifling, intercepting Brown 4 times on the afternoon. ISU was 0 for 12 on third down on the day. We finally made a big play on third down as we had a third and short situation and we completed a play action pass to Mycole Pruitt down the middle for 32 yards. The punting game was excellent again and helped us win with field position all day.
After taking a knee twice in Victory formation to end the game, we ran to the northwest corner of the stadium and celebrated with our fans by singing, “Go Southern Go.” We then jogged back to the locker room to celebrate. Coach Lennon stood on a chair and spoke to the excited players, affirming his expectations and congratulating “the best defense in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.” We sang, “Happy Birthday” to Miss Sharon (my wife) and then we took a knee to say, “The Lord’s Prayer.”
I went outside and spoke to Connor James and his family as well as a few other fans, then returned to the bus, gathered my post-game dinner from KFC and then relaxed on the bus, checking scores from other games on my phone. The bus ride home was relaxed and full of laughter. We watched two movies and arrived in Carbondale a little after 9:00.
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