Today i lost a coach.
It wasnt even up for a vote.
It just happened.
Out of the blue.
39 YEARS of AGGIE FOOTBALL.
I got 1.5 out of the 39 and i still cried.
I have had many coaches in my life.
Some i was happy to see go.
Others, it was just a shame.
This was a shock.
This was a blow.
This coach is IRREPLACEABLE.
And he wasn't even "my"coach, but then again he was MY coach.
Of course there are reasons.
Understandable, logical reasons.
There is always a reason.
But something about the emotion of football, and the coach-player relationship, dims the logic of it.
I wish my coach the best.
He is a great man.
Some people tell you they are "great" by the way they act and carry themselves.
This man told me he was great through the mouths and testimonies of others, those who's lives he touched.
A multitude.
Some say crying is outside the "manbox".
i disagree.
When you see someone pour out their heart to a football team.
Everyday, for almost half a century.
And now the path of life must take them elsewhere, and you see the pain that this causes them.
Something ought to rise up inside of you.
It did in me.
When you leave someone, something that you LOVE.
Tears are shed.
And there is no "manbox".
The vacancy will never be filled.
There will always be a cavity, a hole where he belongs.
Nobody can replace that humor, that goofiness.
Nobody can replace the ideals, the integrity.
Nobody can replace the work ethic, the one liners.
Nobody can replace the kindness, the Heart.
Nobody can replace our coach, my coach.
Nobody.
Time is the enemy.
Time is always on the move.
But time will not take from me what you have given to me, coach.
The memories, the lessons, the advice, the handshake, the pat on the back, the final hug.
Those are enshrined.
So coach.
I am disappointed that the remaining years of my football career will be spent without you on the field with me.
But know that the remaining years of my football career will be spent with the lessons you taught, and the example you were.
Of AGGIE PRIDE
Exemplified to the fullest extent.
I will see you around.
And i will always appreciate and respect you coach.
You will always be.
MY COACH.
