ABCs of Me

A. Age - 25 (I'm Old)

B. Bed Size - Queen but I want a King

C. Chore you dislike - cleaning the bathroom, I hate it with all my heart and soul

D. Dogs - I had the most precious dog in the world but I had to give her away for adoption, still hurts!

E. Essential start to your day - Breakfast otherwise I'll pass out

F. Favorite Color- I have 3 Blue, Black, and Old Gold

G. Gold or Silver - Silver

H. Height - 6'2 or 6'3

I. Instruments - I played the Baritone Sax

J. Job - Leasing Manager and Football Coach

K. Kids - 0

L. Live - Indiana

M. Mom's name - Lela Kate Fields

N. Nicknames - Hen Dogg, Hendo, Craigy, Big Craig, Craig n nem (Sheets lol)

O. Overnight hospital stays - None so far!!!

P. Pet Peeves - Selfish People, BSers, and Fake People

Q. Quote from a movie - If you know me then you know I can quote a MILLION MOVIES.  My favorite is probably from Life "You skinned your land lady" "Thats what they say" "A Lot of people say it though" or Anchorman "I'm going to punch you, right in the ovaries, right in the baby maker" and Step bros "So many activities!!!"

R. Right or Lefty - I am ambidextrous I write with my left hand but throw a ball with my right

S. Siblings - Ryan 30, Cory 21, Cordale, 13, DeRon 10, Shelby 7

T. time you wake up - 8:00 during the week 9ish on the weekends

U. Underwear - Boxer Briefs

V. Vegetables you don't like - I don't like ANY vegetables except salad lol

W. What makes you run late - Watching TV (Sports Center Top 10)

X. X-rays you've had - WOW there are a lot.  In Kindergarten I broke my left wrist and my right in 5th grade.  I broke my foot my sophomore year of high school (but didn't tell my coach) My Knee my senior year before surgery.  My ankle the first day of practice at Purdue.

Y. Yummy foods you make - I am a MASTER on the BBQ Grill so anything there is amazing

Z. Zoo Animal Favorites - Lions, Tigers, and Bears (Oh My) and Dolphins and Penguins they are so well dressed lol

Thankful!

I want everyone who reads this blog to stop right now and think of how much you have to be thankful for!  Too many times in life we try to focus on the bad things and we overlook the good.  With that said I want to say thank you for all the opportunities I have been afforded in my life.  I would love to be a head coach right now, but maybe God is telling me he has something better planned or maybe he is telling me that I may not be ready either way I am thankful that I still have the opportunity to coach and to make and an impact of kid's lives everyday.  So as you read this I want you to think about all that you have to be thankful for before you complain!  Think about also that without the trials and tribulation there would be no blessing!  You have to go through the valley before you reach the mountain top!

Patience

I think the Lord is trying to teach me a valuable lesson right now concerning patience.  And like many people who are learning a lesson I am struggling with this one.

Everyone knows me knows I want to be a head football coach and they also know I want to be one like yesterday, but it's been a struggle with this whole process.  The thing holding me back is my youth and lack of experience, now I know I am able and capable to do a great job but schools just don't see that yet, so I have to pay my dues and be patient.  i think my youth will help me as a coach because a lot of these issues the high school kids are dealing with I can relate to because I was in their position not that long ago.

I also was hoping to find a job close to Indy so I can move home and be close to my family and my friends.  My mom recently has found a new boyfriend who makes her so happy and I am so thankful for that, but I know soon she will be moving home (Tennessee) which I can't blame her, but I was hoping to get home to be closer to her and her new bf so I can spend good time with them before they move.  Now the only issue with this is, if I move home I will have to find a new job, and then a new job that will allow me to coach, I could work at a school but since I don't have my teaching license I would just be an hourly employee and I wouldn't get paid when we are not in school (Summer vacation, Christmas, snow days etc)  So I think the best thing for me is to stay at my job (which is a good job) and try to coach around here in Lafayette. 

Overall i think God is telling me I need to be patient either because I am destined for so much more or that I am just not quite ready for the blessing he has in store for me.  Either way I will stay faithful!  I know that no matter what my girlfriend supports me!  My family has my back! and my FRIENDS will ALWAYS be there for me regardless!!

Coaching Update

Mail Time!!

So, I found my top 4 schools I want to apply to and I am sending my coaching packages off this week.  I have had them read and critiqued and I got a good reaction from them so now lets just hope I can land an interview and sell myself as the best option to turn these schools into a State Title Contender!!

School is going good.  I have been doing a good job staying on top of my assignments and I even have been finishing a majority of them early which is good so I can spend the weekend playing X Box 360!!!.

I also have started working out! 3 weeks in and I am staying strong and working hard!  I start every workout with 30 mins of cardio and then I lift.  Just trying to stay motivated and dedicated!

My next goal is to find exactly what school I will do my Transition 2 Teaching at and also taking and passing Praxis Exams!!!

Well I will try to do a better job of keeping up with my blog!  One of my friends threatened me with bodily harm if I didn't haha!!

R&B Slow Jam of the day!

OK I know I have been slipping, but I missed you guys and to show how much I missed you....

Aaron Hall - I miss you

Coaching Update

First off let me say, what a great national championship game!  I had no ties to any team and I didn't care who won it was just good to see a great game played by two great teams!  Congrats to Auburn for pulling it out!!

OK so coaching update!

I finished my first coaching package and my coaching resume.  I finished my defensive playbook, but I am still working on my offensive playbook.  Let me just say this takes a lot of work!  I have put in a lot of hours in putting these things together, I am just hoping that it all pays off for me.  I have been helped a great deal by my mentor and a man who is like a father to me Kevin Wright, his advice is always helpful and I love how he keeps it 100 with me no matter what, because sometimes you need to hear the truth regardless of how it will make you feel.

On another note school starts this week, so go ahead and shoot me now!  I don't think it will be that bad, I have 6 classes and one of them doesn't start until March so that gives me a little breathing room until then.

My next step is to send my coaching packages off to perspective schools and let's hope I have enough experience and charisma to land an interview to let them know how great I am and how great I can make their high school program!!

Until next time...

"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever." Lance Armstrong

My Coaching Journey

At the advice of a friend of mine, I decided to chronicle my journey to become a head coach!

For those who do not know me, my dream is to one day be a very very successful head coach of a major high school.  I would really love the opportunity one day to move to Texas or Florida and become a coaching legend there.  I also want to become a high school counselor.  The reason I want to do this is because I see a lot of kids who need someone to show they actually care about them and they need positive black male role models in their life.  I want to to show my players that sports is a great outlet and a great way to stay in trouble, but that it is not the only way to improve your current situation.

I finally feel like I am ready to become a head coach so I have started my search.  There are a few smaller schools I plan on applying to so I am hoping for the best.

The first part of the process for me is finishing school.  I am taking 18 credit hours this semester and 6 credit hours during the summer so I can start my teaching classes in the fall.  I know this will be tough especially working full time but whatever it takes for me to achieve this dream I am willing to do!  When I start my teaching classes a school will be able to hire as a contracted teacher.

Over the next coming weeks I will continue to update you on how things are panning out and also on what I am doing to achieve my goals.