Whether you like sports or even know anything about the game of football, this story is one that can touch all of us. I had never heard of a college football coach named Max Spilsbury until I stumbled across a book written in the late 1950s that had advice that is as true today as it was then – and was true before him and will be true after we are gone. Each generation, each individual, needs to discover this sometime in his/her life. Read what Max has to say and discover one thing that we all need to understand.

What does a football coach remember most vividly over the years? His undefeated seasons? His super stars? The electrifying 95-yard touchdown runs?

Not me.

Indelibly stamped on my memory is the sight of one of my players on the receiving end of the most vicious block I have ever seen. I still shudder when I recall it. Yet, strange as it may seem, it is a moment that I like to relive.

After being all but annihilated, the player lay still on the grass. Naturally, a substitute was rushed in. My heart was in my throat, for it appeared that the boy could have been seriously injured. He finally staggered to his feet and made his way, unaided, to the sidelines.

“Did you see that guy hit me, coach?” he asked, still trying to get his eyes in focus. “I nearly killed him!”

This scene symbolizes our team’s spirit more than anything I can put my finger on. Under the most adverse conditions, this player still had the winning spirit. Despite his getting clobbered, he was still king in his own mind.

It wasn’t difficult to understand why we went undefeated that season. That, in a nutshell, was the attitude of the entire team.

Many fans and fellow coaches believe that success lies strictly on the victory side of the ledger. I say there is much more than that, including the moral and academic aspects involved. Victories are important, certainly. That is why someone invented a method of keeping score. But we stress the other values just as much as we do the victory angle.

Pride in belonging to and representing a school is of tremendous importance. We have a sincere, friendly faculty who will do everything in their power to help the players. If our athletes show an interest, there is not a member of the faculty who will not go more than half-way to help a youngster.

After a year with the team, a player has developed great team pride. He likes being associated with such a wonderful group of young men. He is proud to represent his college on the playing field. He is determined not to do anything that will reflect unfavorably on his school or his teammates. He is serious about this outlook.

There are many ingredients that go into the mixture that makes for success. Each person has in his mind the ingredients that he feels are essential to his success. As he goes through life, he finds that he adds an ingredient here, cancels one there.