Category Archives: Athletics

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Honoring Al Dennis – The Sun Will Come Up

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Last fall I wrote an article about Al Dennis when the Baytown Sterling High School football field was named in his honor. That November day was my final time to speak with Coach Dennis. Today I gathered with my brother, my coaches, my teammates, Rangers younger and older, and with the Dennis family and friends to honor this life of deep significance.

There is no advanced math available by which we can quantify the impact he has made in the lives of his players and coaches. The lessons we learned in his program are part of us and our daily decision-making. Moreover, we have passed those values along to our own children and grandchildren. You simply cannot calculate such an effect when compounded over that many lives and over that many years.

How my heart rejoiced with every story shared today from the players who were legends in my life to those players who came after me. The stories also came from coaches, an NFL Hall of Famer and other Sun City friends, his grandson, and a famous TV personality. They were all fantastic.

However, the one I cannot get out of my mind is the story shared by a former student that did not play football. He shared that his father died when he was 14, and coaches Dennis and Kluch went out of their way to help him and show him humanity and compassion, making it possible for him to work an overnight job while still in high school. They showed him amazing respect and help allowing him to have a place to sleep while he worked and went to school. I regret not having been able to find this man after the service. I would love to get to know him.

Thank you to Scott Goodman and Martin Lemond for organizing us into a team that I am sure made Coach proud. Thank you both for your roles today in serving the family and all of us present.

Here is the story I shared today.

After my playing days were over in the fall of 1979, I watched my brother, Kelly, also play for the Sterling Rangers. I was the public address announcer for several years, including Kelly’s two varsity years (’81 and ’82). In the fall of 1982 Sterling had arguably one of the best two or three teams in school history. They had a legitimate shot at winning the state championship. After a satisfying first round win over LaPorte, they faced Beaumont Westbrook in the Astrodome. I got to announce that game, which was pretty special. My wife, Margot, was my spotter, as always.

I will not go into the details of that game, but anyone that was there will never forget it. This was prior to the high school overtime system in Texas for deciding tied games. Tied games at that time were subjected to a series of tiebreakers.

  • The game ended tied 7-7
  • Both teams were tied on penetrations inside the opponent’s 20 yard-line (which was the second tiebreaker)
  • That means the third tiebreaker would determine who advanced. Westbrook had two or three more first downs than Sterling.

They advanced and went on to win the state championship.

After the game, in the bowels of the Astrodome, I sat next to Kelly at his locker. He and his teammates were obviously upset at the result. Even though they had not lost, their season was over. Like them, I could not prevent the tears from coming. Coach Dennis came over and sat down next to me. He had just experienced what must have been one of the biggest disappointments of his coaching career, but he put his arm around me and with a smile said in that deep voice of his:

“Hey, Mr. Casey, the sun will come up tomorrow.”

You know what? It did!

That turned out to be the last game Coach Dennis coached. At that point he was ready to move on to his next challenge of leading schools and then school districts, at which he unsurprisingly excelled.

To Mrs. Dennis, Chad, Coleman, and the rest of the family, you know that Coach was a man of faith trusting in the big promises. I know it was his hope in eternal things that allowed him to remind us all that in the face of disappointments, the sun will come up tomorrow. I hope you find comfort in that. Thank you for sharing him with us!

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Big Al: I Would Not Trade You

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I played football under the Friday night lights in Baytown, Texas in the late 1970s. Most people think I am exaggerating when I tell them that we had 20,000 people watching our games against our crosstown rival. It is no exaggeration. Such was high school football in Texas in the 1970s. Our school had a lot of success in football in those days. We were not always the biggest, fastest, or most talented team, but we had some special advantages that other teams did not have. We had a system that made our team stronger than the sum of its individual parts.
 
It is my conviction that any great team has great leadership. We had great leadership. Our head coach was a man named Al Dennis. He is a legend in our little corner of the world. If he had coached longer, I am convinced that he would have gone down as one of the best Texas football coaches ever to roam the sidelines. But I am biased. Instead, after eleven years in coaching Al Dennis moved into school administration where, to no one’s surprise that knew him, he had a successful career guiding schools and school districts to excellence.
 
The first time I ever saw him I must have been a junior high football player. To me he seemed seven feet tall and in his fifties. In truth, he was not that tall and was only in his early thirties. He commanded so much respect that I would never have dared to refer to him the way many in our community did: Big Al. I guarantee you that was a term of endearment, but to me he was simply Coach Dennis.
 
His coaching philosophy permeated his coaching staff and was reinforced by the position coaches that worked with us on a daily basis. Coach Dennis had installed a system based upon discipline, precision, and teamwork. It took me a while to realize that my position coaches were truly Coach Dennis’ ambassadors representing what mattered most to him. He hired principled coaches that not only knew the game of football and the details of their position groups, but men who understood that the most important job they had was raising young men to be men of character.
 
There are many things I remember from those days playing football, but one of the things that really stands out to me is something that coach Dennis and his other coaches frequently told us. When we were facing an opponent that was believed to be more talented than we were, in the privacy of our own locker room just before we took the field he would tell us:
 
“I would not trade a single one of you for a single one of them.”
 
That always gave me incredible motivation.
 
This was not to knock the other guys. He is not that kind of person. It was to affirm us. He had spent the same long hot hours on the practice field that we had. He knew the level of investment we had in his program, and he believed in our hard work and in his own system to the point that he knew we would be successful regardless of who our opponent was. Coach saw in us attributes that he believed in and relied upon. He would take those attributes over raw natural talent. He had a relationship with us, not with them. It gave me real confidence to execute my assignment to the best of my ability. He was pulling for me to succeed, and he believed I could. That was enough for me. I certainly did not want to let him down.
 
Perhaps many coaches used that line about not trading us for them. Perhaps to you this it may seem like just another coaching gimmick. To me it was a statement of reality. I am grateful for that kind of wisdom. It is very affirming to have someone that you respect and love tell you that you are valuable enough that he would not trade you even for someone that might be considered to be “better” than you or more talented than you.
 
Coach Dennis taught much more than just football. While he had great success as a football coach, his former players will tell you that he cared about us as individuals. He knew that what happened in our lives beyond the football field would be more important then whether we won or lost on a given Friday night. He was coaching life and embedding life-long lessons in us.
 
I hope you will try to use Coach Dennis’ powerful approach with those that you care about. Perhaps it’s your children or your good friends or your spouse. When you tell them that you value them so much that you would never trade them in for a “better” version, it is very affirming. It empowers those who receive such affirmation.
 
On November 3, 2022 I and many other former Sterling football players, as well as a large group of people from our community,  gathered at the high school to celebrate Coach Dennis and to see the school’s football field named after him. This is an honor that is well deserved. I want to thank the Goose Creek ISD school board for making this happen. Thank you to Dr. O’Brien and his staff for putting it together. Thanks also to the City of Baytown for its proclamation of Coach Al Dennis Day. It was a blessing to be with Coach Dennis, Paula, and “little” Chad. It was also meaningful to be with Jimmy Creel and Richard Bethell, two of those men who coached under Al Dennis. They have also made a lasting positive impact on my life.
 
Coach Al Dennis, I am grateful for your investment in my life. There is one thing I want you to know: I would never trade you for anyone else’s coach. Every honor you receive is well-deserved. Thank you for everything, Coach!
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Life Happened for Sean Adams

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Photo courtesy of AM 1300 THE ZONE‏ @am1300thezone

Austin media personality Sean Adams passed away yesterday at the age of 46. That could be one of those impersonal headlines that you see and think nothing of. For many people in the Austin area it is very personal. It is for me.

I recently wrote about change. Yesterday things changed for a lot of us.

Sean and I were not close friends, but we knew each other and liked each other. I went to church with him for many years and always admired him. There were many exceptional things about him. He was a great son, husband, father, and friend. He took all of those roles and responsibilities seriously. He was a man of faith, and he had a remarkable breadth and depth about him. He had talent coupled with a terrific work ethic. He and Chip Brown in the mornings were a special team discussing sports. There was true chemistry there, and it was great to listen to. It was a morning staple for many of us. It was about more than just sports – it was sports generously seasoned with wit and wisdom.

I had lunch with Sean a couple of times at his favorite restaurant, Cover 3. We talked about our families, business, and he encouraged me when I was writing my book. He was also an encouragement to our children. When I got the stunning news yesterday about his passing, I looked at my text message history with him. There is nothing profound there, but I will always treasure it.

My heart goes out to Karen, Damon, Alex, and Sean’s mother and siblings. I also grieve for Chip Brown, Mike Hardge, Mike Weigand, Anthony Williams, Thomas Graham, Geoff Ketchum, and all of the other many people who shared a close bond with Sean. He had a lot of true and genuine friends all across the country. You cannot say that about many people.

My lasting memories of Sean will be his faith and his heart for elevating others to higher planes. He was famous for the wisdom in his many sayings. They will stick with me.

Here are a few of my favorites:

  • “The dream is free, the hustle is sold separately. Go to work.”
  • “Do something good for the world today, because the people who are making it worse aren’t taking the day off.”
  • “Everybody dies, but not everybody lives.”

Photo courtesy of Enrique Garza‏ @goodstuffcvms

He and I also shared a perspective on the value of sports. He spoke often of the huddle. The huddle is sacred, he would say. It is the one place where northerner and southerner, rich and poor, black and white, conservative and liberal, come together, put their arms around each other, and bond for a common goal. They sweat and bleed together, and special things happen.

Sean often said: “Life happens for those who show up.”

Sean showed up.

Life happened for him.

Thanks for showing up for all of us, brother. Rest in Peace.

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You Have Three Chocies

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RSS-Huddle_1978As a high school sophomore I sat on a yellow school bus with my football team and wiped away the tears as I listened to one of the greatest life lessons that I would ever hear. We had come so close to winning this game. We were going to win. We should have won. We had them. We were on the one yard line about to score. All that stood between us and an undefeated season (and a district championship) was one fumble on the goal line.

The fumble happened.

We lost by 3 points.

Into this bitter disappointment our head coach, Richard Bethell, taught one of those lessons that athletics seems especially suited to teach. He said, “Men, when you face defeat, failure, and disappointment you have three choices.” He laid out our choices:

  1. You can quit

  2. You can make excuses or blame others, or

  3. You can go to work

Often the profound is simple. Sitting on that bus all I could think about was football. Many times since then, however, the wisdom of these three choices has fit my life.

I am capable of each choice from time to time. I prefer #3. I try to avoid #2 at all costs. I consider #1 only if the situation makes it clear that I have been pursuing something that is not worth my effort or is bad for me — but I am constitutionally not a quitter.

After my senior year Coach Bethell sent a letter to all of us seniors who played offensive line for him that season. As we went out into our adult lives he reiterated this lesson we had learned two years earlier. He spoke of adversity we had overcome in both our freshman and senior years. Here is an excerpt from the letter he wrote us:

Bethell-Quote-1979

Earlier in the letter he called that loss our sophomore year his “greatest loss as a coach.” He had felt that sting as deeply as we had.

So the lesson remains with me in life to this day. I hope you will make it your lesson as well. When you face defeat in your life you have a decision to make about your future — your Forward Story.

You have three choices. Which will it be?