Since the day I was born my dad has been a coach in some sport. He's coached baseball, softball, girls and boys basketball, and most importantly football. He's been a football coach for a total of 27 years. This fall he just kicked off his 18th season as a head football coach.
Since I was four years old my dad has been a head coach. Of course when you tell people that they usually think it's glamorous and that you probably get everything handed to you. That is one of the downsides.
When I was little I thought everything was great and that my dad was literally the best thing since sliced bread. Now I still think he is pretty freaking awesome, but at about the age of 13 the wool got yanked away from my eyes and I really saw what it was like to be his daughter.
For the first nine years of my daddy's head coaching career losing games came few and far between. When we lost I was devastated but it was okay because I knew we'd bounce back. If you've ever seen the movie Remember the Titans, the little girl played by Hayden Panettiere is me. Even to this day I still act like her sometimes just not as intense.
Like I said at age 13 the wool got yanked away from my eyes. At that age is when I started to realize everyone thought I got the position I wanted on a sports team because of who he was. It didn't really hit until I moved to the school he was at.
When I moved to Scottsboro, is when I realized that being the coach's kid wasn't everything. Their football wasn't really successful. My dad took on a program that in the three years he was there won five games. That was honestly miserable.
What made it even more miserable was hearing the people talk about your daddy. Hearing he's not a good coach. Hearing he needs to do this better. Finally hearing we need a new coach is what got to me. It was beyond hard to hear that about the man you thought was the best coach there ever was.
That is when I realized that the coach can't please everyone and he's not made to. We moved back to Gaston, where he had been for nine years previous. That first year back we won. We won every year until last year. I've been out of high school for four years now and I still hear the negativity.
The negativity reminds me that it's not all glamorous and it's not all rainbows and butterflies. The negativity reminds me that no matter how bad others might think he is that to me he is still the best.
Him doing what he does get me in the door to honestly my dream job. That dream job has to lead me to be able to stand on his sideline and take pictures and video of not only his football games but, football games across East Alabama.
Even though being his kid may involve the glitter and dust to go away I'll still come out shiny because no matter what I'm proud of who my daddy is and what he has accomplished in his eighteen years as head coach. The glamorous parts still exist and will for the rest of my life.
