It was in my junior year at college that I was elected player coach of the TKE fraternity football team. For the TKEs inter-fraternity football was important. The TKE fraternity club was not an athletic one like the SIGs who were members of many of the sports teams on the campus. Nor like the LUKs another fraternity whose members were mostly from the famous rowing teams at Marietta College. To the TKE´s, the stigma of winning the inter-fraternity league was important at least in their eyes, for their own self esteem and dating prowess.
My first and most important decision as coach was to appoint the quarterback of the offensive team. The quarterback is the player who calls the plays and organizes the offensive. As coach, I wanted a quarterback who would listen to my advice and who was respected by the players. I needed a person who the other players would do their best for. Of course, the quarterback also needed to be able to pass the ball, run and be a general all around athlete.
Before making the decision on who would be quarterback, I was feeling the pressure from different elements of my fraternity. Some thought Levy, from Long Island should be quarterback. He was a talented athlete, very agile, fast, quick moves, a good arm and as a senior should get first pick, some thought. Then there was O´Neil, from Ohio. He was a junior and a powerful athlete. He was strong, muscular, domineering figure but also with a great throwing arm. Then there was Terry, from Pennsylvania. He was a quiet Christian, a good athlete, but not as obviously talented as Levy and O´Neil.
In the end, I chose Terry. The reason was simple. Both Levy and O´Neil had the tendency towards pride. They both had big mouths and therefore offended others. The quarterback needed to be a person who would bring unity to the team. He also needed to be a person who would work well with the coach. It was not really a difficult decision to make, but I did get flack from both of the other player´s supporters.
We had a fantastic two years while I was coach, remaining undefeated. I used Levy as halfback who often ran with the ball and O´Neil as fullback. We made plays to give both these boys a chance to use their good throwing arms. Many of the players on our team were elected Inter-fraternity League All-Stars.
Another hard decision for me was to make myself center, the first year out. The center is the player who hikes the ball back to the quarterback. It is an important position as a bad hike can jeopardize a game. The original center was not proving very reliable in the first game. I decided to take the position. It was humbling for me to promote myself, but I knew I had to do it. At the end of the year I was elected All-Star center. It seems I made the right choice.
What I learned from my experience as football coach was the showy, loud-mouthed personalities are not necessarily the best for leading a team. Even a quiet guy like Terry, yielded to his coach, could do an excellent job and promote unity and teamwork which is what a good team needs to win the game.
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