Take 'Em Where They Can't Get Themselves

I. Love. This. Picture. It hits a nerve with me. I love it because race doesn't matter (African American and Polish). I love it because age doesn't matter (22, 70). Nor did socioeconomic background matter (rich kid from private school in Washington DC and poor kid from tough Chicago public school...I'll let your process that one. You might be surprised which is which)
I love it because it is a player with his coach, and that matters.

I'm a New Jersey Native and my office at my previous school in NJ was about 1 mile from the Rutgers Athletic Center. Much to my dismay, Rutgers' Men's Basketball isn't very good (My son and I still root fanatically for the Scarlet Knights) but for about 1 week in 2013 the entire nation was glued to Rutgers basketball because of the scandal involving Coach Mike Rice's treatment of players. Note: I actually coached against Coach Rice in 2016. His Patrick School team destroyed my Timothy Christian School team in the state playoffs. Coach Rice couldn't have been nicer. In my opinion, he just had a bad stretch at RU under a ton of stress and it got the best of him. God bless the rest of his coaching career, he cares about kids and the game.

Back to 2013 though...I spent some time really reflecting on why in the world every sports network and social media account cared so much. One of the reasons was because I believe our society trusts a coach to take us somewhere that we can't get on our own, and that's the look on Quinn Cook's face. His coach got him to that special place. Don't forget: Quinn Cook gave up his point guard spot during his senior season to an unproven freshmen. Cook became a three-point shooting, defensive specialist. Quinn Cook's unselfish act and leadership allowed a group of talented freshmen to take center stage. Quinn Cook did NOT trust those freshmen; he trusted his coach and as a result he trusted those freshmen. And his coach helped him get to a place he couldn't get to on his own.
And the look on Coach K's face? I think he is realizing that Duke couldn't have gotten there without Quinn Cook. I also think it's the deep satisfaction that comes from knowing that he will always be Quinn's coach.

I love this picture because I know I will always be 'coach' to my players.

'Next to Mom and Dad there is no other term as endearing as Coach.'


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‘Bite Down and Don’t Let Go’ is a collection of writings on being intentional about life in a way that produces great persistence. Read about it more here.

Dr. Chris Hobbs is an educational leader and Director of Athletics at The King’s Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida. He’s earned a few degrees and won some awards. He’s happily married to his high school sweetheart and they have three teen age children. Life is messy and complicated most of the time. You can follow him on Twitter for all sorts of inspirational thoughts and good laughs.