Introducing… The Coach’s Box

I’m excited to bring you The Coach’s Box, a column centered around the culture of sports! It’s been a long time coming since my very first article for Christ and Pop Culture about Coach Hugh Freeze and Lamar Odom. Fast-forward some five years, and here we are!

So why The Coach’s Box?

When I coached high school football, I was in a press box (in the coaches’ “box”), which allowed us a broader view of what was taking place at the field level. When I coached basketball, there was a specific area (a box if you will) that I was allowed to coach from to put my players in the best defensive and offensive positions. And now coaching track and field, there’s sometimes a “coach’s box” where we’re allowed to coach our athletes from for field events (shot put, discus, long jump, triple jump, high jump, and pole vault primarily). 

On a practical level, these boxes give us the opportunity to see the game from a particular vantage point that help us make in-game (or event) adjustments that other coaches and players on the field can’t see.

Although we strive to win as much as we can, my primary goal as a high school coach is to help people realize more of who they’re capable of being. With this specific perspective on sports and a general goal to help build, motivate, and inspire confidence in people, The Coach’s Box can help us evaluate our approach to sports (as fans, athletes, and even coaches) so we can make the necessary adjustments that will improve our witness and participation in the culture of sports.

I use various methods to help athletes pull the goodness out of themselves that they can’t always clearly see. I hope to translate that formula for everyday people who enjoy sports—or at least are interested in a Christian perspective on sports happenings.

Okay, but who are you?

I’ve written for Christ and Pop Culture for seven years. I’ve also featured some culture pieces for Christianity Today, Rapzilla, and The Witness: A Black Christian Collective. 

I’m a full-time social studies teacher and coach (going on ten years). I played (practiced) college football at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. I played high school football, ran track and field, and practiced powerlifting at Shoemaker High School in Killeen, Texas. One of my greatest achievements was advancing to the AAU Track & Field Junior Olympics in 1997 when I was seven years old (I didn’t get to go; I’ll share why in a later feature). 

I am currently the head girls track and field coach and assistant cross country coach at Timber Creek High School in Keller, Texas. I coached football for seven years there, basketball for five, and golf for one. 

My wife (who was also an elite basketball star at Hardin Simmons) and I (married nine years) are usually watching or talking about sports at some point in the day. It’s been a part of our lives since we were kids, and it’s what’s connected us to each other (another story I can share at another time). 

I bring all of this to attention to let you know who and what to look forward to in The Coach’s Box. I’m not necessarily an expert in all things sports, but I’m definitely not a novice either. I know the power that the culture of sports has in bringing us together and its ability to help us grow. It’s what I do for a living.

Coach’s Tip!

Culture is only built when we interact with one another, share ideas, debate methodologies, and build relationships. So I hope The Coach’s Box can be a place where we can interact on social media (Twitter: @Timothyt_T or @christandpc) about what you disagree with, events you would like to see covered, or just good things in sports that make you go “wow!”