The best place to start off is by saying thank you for everything that you do. Some of you probably realize, and some of you probably don't, just how much you mean to your team. The team may not always reflect that they are grateful, but deep down we are always thankful for you and everything you do.

You are more than a coach to us. You are someone we look up to, someone we go to for advice, someone we can count on for support and encouraging words, but most importantly you are someone who pushes us to do our best on and off the field. We are lucky to be able to call you our coach.

There are coaches out there who do not like to get involved with the athlete's life outside of practice, games and team events, but we can't say that about you. You truly care about us and what is going on with our lives, to make sure that we stay on the right track.

You are always looking out for us, even when we don't realize it. Whether it is letting us out of practice early so we can eat before the good food is gone, holding study sessions so we can get work done or talking to other faculty members for us when there is a problem.

You go above and beyond for us. You always make sure to put in extra effort when planning activities and things such as spring break. You do way more for us than we probably deserve, but you always make sure we have what we need, and then some. You don't miss an opportunity to bring something fun into practice if we work hard enough.

You trust us and give us room to better ourselves on our own time rather than constantly pressuring us. Instead of forcing us to do team workouts all of the time, you trust that we will condition ourselves and work out on our own time. You trust that we will conduct ourselves in an appropriate manner, so instead of setting limits you provide the opportunity for growth.

Just like everyone else you make mistakes, but you are honest about it and use them as learning experiences. You always apologize when something happens and don't take it out on all of us. There are things that you could do better, but we are willing to grow with you and make those changes as a team.

You act like you are part of the team sometimes and we all thank you for that. You always are ready to jump in and play during practice when we are down people, and you are never afraid to get up, to sing and dance with us on the bus.

Most importantly, even if we don't always say it, you are the glue that holds the team together. Without you, we would be one giant mess, but you bring order to that mess. You are always an ear to listen, a helping hand, an endless support giver, and most of all, our biggest fan.