The Origin of Coach & Doc

“All of us are smarter than any one of us” - David Cutcliffe

I’ve heard this quote from my dad countless times, but  I don’t think I truly appreciated it until I became a head coach.  My first season as the head football coach at Oxford High School was 2016.  I was 29 years old and eager to see our program succeed.  I realized after my first season that I couldn’t do it all by myself.  I knew I needed to do a better job of empowering our assistant coaches, but I wasn’t exactly sure how to go about it.  Enter Dr. Hunter Taylor.

Hunter had recently come on board as a professor in the Ole Miss School of Education.  He reached out to me and shared his research on common traits of some of the most successful high school coaches and football programs in the state of Texas.  I was instantly intrigued.  We set up a plan for Hunter to come observe all aspects of our program for a week.  Hunter came and sat in on staff meetings, player meetings, weight room sessions, practices etc.  The following week, Hunter and I met to review his notes.  He confirmed what I had suspected - we were doing things well, but could be so much better with some intentional and purposeful planning.

Hunter’s week with our program turned into weekly meetings where Hunter and I would work together to discuss ways to continue improving our respective programs.  In regards to our Oxford football team, we launched a leadership council, improved staff and player meetings, increased our efficiency, and began what we call our Charger for Life program.  This program really is the cornerstone of what we do at Oxford.  As part of Charger for Life, we work with our players year round on a weekly basis on leadership and character development.

Hunter and I work together so well because we are both hungry to help our teams improve.  We are not afraid of hard truths and always open to honest feedback. There is no doubt that both of our teams have benefited from this growth mindset!