Quinn Gray, Sr. is excited about starting his job as head football coach at Whitefield next week, and shared a few of his thoughts about coaching, football, and life.
What is your philosophy on coaching?
Championship programs are not built by chance. It is not a coincidence that the same teams and the same coaches win every year. A winning program is committed to winning 365 days a year. No team can win regularly unless each person on that team is willing to pay the price for victory. A key factor in coaching is developing the fundamentals. In order to be competitive, I will require being physical; anything else will be unacceptable. In my opinion, if I can accomplish these points of emphasis, we will be well on our way to building a championship program.
What coaches made an impact on your life?
Without a doubt, my father has made the biggest impact in my life, both as a coach and as a role model. As a youth, I witnessed my father, Otis Gray Jr., take poverty-stricken inner-city kids and make them believe in themselves. He took a bunch of young men that had no advantages in life and showed them how to take advantage of the opportunities that the game of football offered. I still hear from people that he knew, telling me how much of an influence he had on their lives - sometimes that influence was only a couple of words he had spoken to them. I often say that if I can impact half the number of people that my father has impacted, I'll be doing great deeds and the work of the Lord.
What is one thing that coaching has taught you?
Coaching has taught me to make sure that I am giving the best advice and speaking the right words to our youth at all times. I may never know how much a few kind words or words of encouragement will mean to someone. There will always be that one kid who is paying close attention to every word I say, simply because of who I am. I may not even know that a particular kid is listening, or in the vicinity of my voice, but because I make it a habit to be encouraging and to be motivating to youth, I may change a child's life forever. I think it’s important to make sure you always watch what you say and more importantly, how you say it.
How do you integrate your faith into coaching?
There will never be a question of my faith in God or the focus of our team. It will be known that He is the one we serve. Our kids will understand that all the talent that they possess is just borrowed and it’s given to them to use in order to give glory to God and to lift up His name. There won't be any secret about our prayers before all that we encounter as a team, or all we do. One thing about our God is that He is never ashamed of His children. As His children and as a team, we will never be ashamed to give Him thanks and glory for all that we accomplish. When we walk on the field to play, we won't leave Him in the stands to watch, He'll be a part of everything we do.