Swing Your Sword: Leading the Charge in Football and Life

by Mike Leach

Cars whizzed past at speed; up ahead Wylie spotted, rollerblading down the middle of the highway, what he took to be a lunatic. He drew closer and thought, “that looks like Coach.” Then … that is Coach!” Leach, it turned out, was perfectly sober. He’d thought it all through. He was learning to rollerblade, he explained, and the middle of this highway was the flattest, truest surface in all of Lubbock.

My freshman year, I wrote a folklore paper on prank phone calls. I got so into it that I wrote up about 60 prank calls. I would also dial up random numbers. I wouldn’t say anything really offensive. I’d start talking: “So what are you doing? What’s going on?” They’d ask, “Do I know you?” “No. I doubt it. I just randomly dialed this number and I figured I’d introduce myself and talk to you.”

“Why worry about rat turds when there are elephant turds flying around everywhere?”

have learned more from the honesty of my dogs and kids than from my supposed wise elders. “The greatest gift we can give our youth is to confirm that they are unique and worthy, that they are special in this world since there is no other like them, nor has there ever been. They should be encouraged to follow their passions. I take it that Mike followed his into coaching. His gift to himself became a gift to many others.”

you’re not loaded down with reasons why something won’t work, the reasons why it can work become much clearer.