Turning Setbacks into Stepping Stones: A Coach's Journey of Faith and Resilience

This episode explores the journey of a coach learning that setbacks can be setups for a greater purpose, driven by faith in God’s timing. It emphasizes the importance of resilience, personal growth, and recognizing the unseen details guiding our paths.

• The significance of divine timing amidst uncertainty 
• Personal experiences with the coaching application process 
• Turning disappointments into opportunities 
• The impact of faith on individual performance in sports 
• Lessons learned from coaching young athletes 
• The importance of mentorship and personal accountability 
• Encouragement for listeners feeling lost or undervalued 
• Closing reflections on trusting the process and God’s plan

Chapters

• 0:00 Trust in God for Success
• 8:45 Impact of Trusting God in Details

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

You're listening to Excellence Above Talent, a podcast where we have the hard conversations about the lives of men and what leads us to achieve greatness and suffer defeat. Hear from other men's journeys as well, as we all learn and grow together to become inspirations to ourselves and those around us. And now your host, Aaron Thomas.

Speaker 2: 0:35

What's up my beautiful people, aaron Thomas, with Excellence Above Talent, as you can hear, my voice will be coming in and out on this podcast. Every time I coach the next couple of days I lose my voice. So I'm kind of in like that tweener period where it's coming back, but it also sounds raspy too. So I wanted to jump on because I want to be more intentional in releasing podcasts, having conversations. I have a few guys lined up that I'm excited to hear about talk to. But today I want to talk about God being in the details and how, when you think that you've done all you could in a situation and it doesn't work out the way you want it to, you could get frustrated, angry, upset. But it's funny how God works. What we think is a setback is a setup for what he wants from you. So last year around March there was a coach leaving Nimitz and we all knew he was leaving and I wanted to coach, wanted to. So Nimitz had a person willing to not get paid a lot of money for extra work early morning, late nights, you know, dealing with student athletes. They had a person wanting to do it. So I went to the principal and the coordinator and I said, hey, I want to coach. They didn't say no, they didn't say yes. It was kind of maybe like, oh, yes, excitement, cool, we want you to coach.

Speaker 2: 2:22

A month go by, nothing is happening. Or said, so I go and I ask the coordinator again like, hey, are we good? I get a definite like yes, we're good, we got you, we just got to go get some paperwork done and we'll get you in. I said, cool, I don't hear anything from him. I think I talked to the principal, maybe one more time, and at this point they're like go ask the coordinator, go ask the principal.

Speaker 2: 2:48

And I'm that type of person, like man, I'm not fitting to be begging y'all for something that I want to do. So I just made the assumption I wasn't coaching this year. So fast forward to the end of school year and I haven't heard anything. But I'm still keeping hope that they're gonna say, yes, I can coach. We have the end of the school year professional development and we're sitting there and I'm talking to the coaches and they're like yeah, oh, yeah, this is what you know. If they get you on super excited, you bring a different element to what these young boys need. Talk to the coordinator. He's like yeah, yeah, you're good to go um.

Speaker 2: 3:25

So I'm like cool sitting in the cafeteria the coordinator jumps up oh, that's the guy I'm trying to hire. So I'm like, damn, like, without saying it, they're letting me know no, you're not coaching. No, we don't believe that you are able to coach the kids that we have. And so I just made the assumption yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm not coaching. So I teach summer school. Don't hear anything.

Speaker 2: 3:51

During summer school they have a sprint and training session at Permian for the kids that are there, and you know I wasn't asked to go, I wasn't invited. So, yeah, in my head, not coaching, I'll just be teaching math. And this will definitely be my final year, because I am a person that believes in. If people that you're working with doesn't believe in you or doesn't think you are capable of doing something that you know you're capable of, it is your time to leave, and so I was going to give them one more year and then figure it out somewhere else. So summer rolls around, coming back to school, so it's like a five-month period coordinator calls me and was like hey, do you still want to coach? And I'm like like, yeah, that's a dumb question, but yeah. So he's like okay, meet me at Permian, because the coach want to talk to you to see if you could be a fit. I was like cool, so I go to Permian, talk to their athletic director. He's like yeah, you're good to go, we'll just have, we'll make a few calls and we'll get you in, mind you that I've already missed all the things that I needed to be at in order to learn plays and to teach the positions that I was going to teach.

Speaker 2: 5:14

They called the principal at Nimitz and she's like no, just straight up. No, because I am a math teacher and she didn't want to lose classes, because as a coach, you teach fewer classes and she didn't want to lose a person that was teaching math, a core subject. Now, could she have changed the schedule if she wanted to to figure it out? Yes, I mean, if you really wanted to make something work for someone that you wanted to make work, then you would have figured out a way to make it work again. I don't think that they thought it was necessary. I wasn't, you know a big deal.

Speaker 2: 5:53

So she said no. I said, well, that's what it is, and they were trying to hire, I mean, someone very quickly, because school year was coming up and I think there was one guy that accepted it, declined it and went somewhere else. There was another guy that did not want to coach. He just wanted to teach, and so they were kind of in a pickle in a jam. So I got another call saying, hey, do you want to coach? And I'm like, okay, at this point this is dumb. I'm not even sure why we're having this conversation, but yeah, if you're able to get me to coach, I'll coach.

Speaker 2: 6:31

We have like maybe three days left before school starts. I'm buying all math things because I'm going to be teaching math, so I'm buying post boards, I'm buying letters for the room. I'm trying to spruce up my room, make it inviting. That Thursday I get a text saying hey, I think it's going to happen. Be on the lookout. Tomorrow, friday is half a day, monday we start school. So I get a call to the principal's office on Friday and she's sitting down and she's telling me like hey, so essentially, without saying it, no one else wanted this job.

Speaker 2: 7:10

Do you want to coach? That's essentially what happened and I said, yes, I do, I still want to coach. So they told me well, you're going to have to go into social studies and coach. And I know I'm weird because I prefer math, but I was like, okay, cool. So I got to coach, or found out, I got to coach the weekend before school started. School starts.

Speaker 2: 7:37

I'm there in the locker room, frustrated somewhat, because now I'm teaching the offensive linemen and linebackers and I don't have what I need in order to succeed, because it was one of those things where they were looking for somebody. No one took it and the one that wanted the job, it just, kind of it, fell back to me, and it's not like a fallback, it is a to me. It's not being overlooked. This was a a God moment for me to show me that if something is yours, it is yours no matter what. No one can take it from you, regardless of whatever power they think they have, if you show up and you do what is necessary to be in a place where he can put you where he wants you to be. That just lets me know that the sky is the limit, that there's nothing that I can't do as a human being if I have God on my side, if that makes sense. So there was this.

Speaker 2: 8:45

Sometimes you let ego get involved, like I can't believe. Do these people not know who I am, what I've done, what I can do to the atmosphere, the culture? It's proven. So that's. You know. The ego wants to. You know, get involved and start thinking of those things or tell them no, I'm not going to. But I'm glad I didn't allow myself or my ego to get involved, because it has been a trying year as a first-time coach, but it's been very fruitful to have these one-on-one conversations with these young men to push, motivate and inspire, to help change the culture of the locker room, the school.

Speaker 2: 9:32

So, sad to say this, a lot of times you feel like you're not where you need to be. A lot of times you feel like you should be somewhere higher or you should be further down the road, down the road more than where you're at now. And I'll tell you this if you've already put it out there, you've already asked God hey, this is what I want. If you've already put it out there, you've already asked God hey, this is what I want and you work towards it. If it's for you, it's for you. If it's not, he'll open up another door and put you in a place where he needs you to be. So, first thing of God, working in detail is just orchestrating the behind the deal movements to get me to where he wants me. I wanted to go there, I wanted to be a coach, but if that's not where he wanted me to be, these things don't happen. I'm not sure how many people they interviewed, but I know it was at least five. Could have been more.

Speaker 2: 10:35

At least five people that they tried to interview to get to take this job and they all turned it down or they accepted a job somewhere else, which is crazy to me, which just lets me know. A guy was in the details. So I had the seventh grade B basketball team. That was the team I coached and, again, god being in the details, we had a tournament last weekend and a young man was, uh, on the bus and he was singing praise and worship songs at the top of his lungs where it was like people were like be quiet, hey, like just like be quiet, be quiet, be quiet, the, and I thought it was pretty cool. I was like, oh, that's, I, that's, I mean, sing it, young man.

Speaker 2: 11:15

The first two games he did not have good games, but we didn't play teams that were good, so we didn't really need him to have a good game. We were averaging like 71 points a game. The last game, the young man that was worshiping God and singing to the top of his lungs without fear of being made fun or laughed at. So things all have to be set up in order for things to work, and the way God works is sometimes you don't understand why things are being set up, but they're being set up for a reason. We have not lost a game all season long, and the team that we're playing in the championship game in the tournament we beat by like 13 or 14 the first time we played. So there was this, I guess, assumption that they were just going to lay down and we were just going to do what we do, and we kind of did. In the beginning we was up by 12. I don't know what happened in the second quarter. We only scored five points. I think one of the issues they had was, whenever the opposing team scored, their parents would be so loud like they had just won the game and I think it rattled the young men. So I'm calling timeouts, I'm trying to get them motivated, inspired, hyped up, so nothing's working. They're dejected. You can tell at halftime they're like, hey, I'm like hey, let's get out of it, continue fighting. Third quarter, going back and forth the young man that was singing praise and worship. When games get tight, you go to your six people that you know are going to put in the work, and so my bench had gotten a lot smaller and I wasn't playing the players that I would usually play around the time or, I guess, the minutes that they would usually get. So we're playing, we're scrapping, we're fighting. It's the fourth quarter. We are down six, with about four minutes and 30 seconds to go. Again, we are playing the worst game of our lives. We're not getting rebounds, we're holding on to the ball too long, we're letting them just drive by us and score. And so in my head I'm like dude, I don't understand how this is happening, because the way we practice, I don't think no one practices as hard as we do. I don't think anyone pushes these young men as hard as we do. The coaching staff had limits and so call a timeout, tell them to breathe and just relax. We go back in. One of my players get a foul. It's five fouls, so he has to come out. So he's coming out, and I'm looking down the bench fouls, so he has to come out. So he's coming out, and I'm looking down the bench and everyone, everybody is sitting, uh, with their back on the bench, except for this young man he's. He is um, sitting up, engaged looking at the game. And so I look down the bench and he's the only one I see. So I call his name, I say, hey, let's go. Let's go, dude, team needs you. He goes in First play, passing the ball, he hits the three and from that moment on, the momentum shifted back to us.

Speaker 2: 14:23

They go down there, they shoot, they miss. Young man grabs the rebound, passes it to the point guard, goes down there, hits the ball, makes it a two-pointer. And so at this point now we're just like everyone's losing it, we're alive. We're like, oh, this is this, we're here. Now we go down there. They go down there, get a steal, pass it to the young man. Again, he goes up, gets fouled, makes his two free throws, then we're up one. They call the timeout.

Speaker 2: 14:55

That young man we scored 15 points in the fourth quarter the young man who was praising God on the way to the basketball game with no fear, just pure praise. Out of the 15 points we scored, he scored 13 of them Flipped the game. Uh, we need to win that game by nine points. Uh, because he went in there and this is just my biases, because I I believe god and know that he's just amazing. So he went in there, completely flipped the whole entire game with his presence, because in the beginning he allowed God's presence to be a part of him. When he got into that game, his presence through God changed that whole entire game. When I sat there on the bus, I was like man, I won.

Speaker 2: 15:46

God, you're amazing because you are in the details, like when we don't see how things are going to go down. We can't see past it. We have our goals, we have the things we want to do, but there has to be a level of flexibility because it might not be what God is looking for at this moment and we can't get upset, mad or angry. We have to go with that flow of okay, god, I'm believing and trusting in you, to go with that flow of okay, god, I'm believing and trusting in you. And in these two instances, god is just showing me that he's in the details, that if you show up, that, if you give him praise, that if you say what you want you believe, but then you give it to him, it's out of your hands and into your hands, how would things work out?

Speaker 2: 16:31

We live in a world where people want to hold on to what they think is special because of how society views it. They hold on to these titles, the jobs, the money, the images, the ideal of what is viewed as someone who is making it, versus the details of changing lives, of inspiring this young generation to be more and do more, of pushing forward and holding people accountable for actions and holding yourself accountable for actions. That's what like true living is. It's not in the things, although the things are nice. It's not in the women, the car, the title, because at some point you will die. It's saying we have all been given an opportunity every single day to leave a mark, to leave an impression, to do something that is kind to someone who might be going through it. Every single day, we have that opportunity to show up for ourselves and others, taking the time to appreciate what God is doing and trying to do and going to do and not being so caught up in the in the world, to get famous, to get money, to get power, but to slow down and see the lives that you're changing because you're there. God is in the details, even when you don't think he's around. He's pulling things four months from now and creating the things that you need in order to, when you get to where you're supposed to be, you'll just fall into it. So, from people not thinking or not believing in my coaching skills 8th grade A football team won Medesa.

Speaker 2: 18:27

Medesa is the best team in Midland and Odessa. Eighth grade B we had some issues. We moved our quarterback up, so they didn't really do good this season, but they won a few games. Seventh grade A lost one game. Seventh grade B lost one game. We tied a few. We tied a few, we won a few. And in basketball, seventh grade B won the Modesto Tournament.

Speaker 2: 18:52

First year people didn't think I was or could. That's why they wouldn't hire other people or try to hire other people. So I don't say that to be like boastful, I say it to be like thank you, god, for seeing me when the human versions of other people couldn't see what you saw. And because you've seen me, you have given me a bigger platform to speak life into these young men, to push them to be great, to hold them accountable for their actions. And if that's not anything but me, this podcast, what I've been doing for the past 10 years, with the growth within myself, the going to the detention centers, the talking to the young men, the trying to make us better, it all came, it all culminated to this year, first year, coaching and teaching.

Speaker 2: 19:48

So don't give up. If you feel like you're not where you need to be or want to be, don't throw in that towel, keep grinding, keep pushing, because God is in the detail and sometimes, most of that time, the detail doesn't involve you until it's time for that detail to be shown. So if anyone hasn't told you today they love you, let me be the first to say I love you. You're awesome. You're amazing. You deserve the best this world has to offer. Do not give up, do not quit. The world does not get easier, but you get stronger. You have a blessed weekend.

Speaker 1: 20:22

Bye, bye thank you for listening. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. Weekend bye-bye. Thank you for listening. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode and for daily motivational and up-to-date content. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. At excellence above talent. And remember keep moving forward, never give up and you are never alone in this battle. We'll see you next time.