Thursday, January 26, 2006
Joe Ehrmann and the Hard Path of Following Christ
by Brian Bolt, Ph.D.
Calvin College
I, like Dr. Walton, attended the speech by Joe Ehrmann at Calvin College last week. Much like Julie (This is my first time “blogging” so I hope its ok to refer to others by their first names like a conversation in the coffee room) I felt a mixture of inspiration and discomfort from Joe’s remarks. Since then I picked up and read a copy of Jeffrey Marx’s book about Coach Erhmann, which contains some background information on Joe and the author, and chronicles one season of football at Gilman High School. Joe’s title is defensive coordinator, but he and the head coach, Biff Poggi are very close friends and seem to work more like co-head coaches. The book echoed the speech, with understandably more detail and background information. It gave me a clearer picture of what Joe was about and the message he is spreading as he speaks around the country.
I thank Julie for opening this conversation and for her insightful comments. Julie noted a few concerns which I do not share. Briefly, I think it is perfectly fine for Joe to focus his talks on boys. Joe works with boys, Joe knows boys, and I do not think we can require him to address all societal ills at one time. Joe is attempting to bloom where’s he’s been planted, which is a good encouragement to all of us.
Along the same lines, Julie was rightly concerned that the lack of fathers in some kids’ lives may be the larger problem that Joe needs to address. Again, I would contend that Joe, in his way, is addressing this problem directly. His hope is that the boys on his football team with poor parental situations will eventually make better choices than their own fathers. As the book describes, Joe has spent significant time in urban ministry. He knows the problems, and my sense is that he is trying to light a candle rather than curse the darkness. Whether or not Joe’s methods work or are the appropriate way to address coaching situations is a valid are valid questions. Finally, Julie questioned the lack of overt references to Jesus and the Christian faith. I would say Joe walks a fine line, and he is appropriately living his faith in this setting. Christians must make these choices all the time, depending on their work situations. Also, the book makes it clear that Joe is in a private, if secular, school. He and Coach Biff employ Scripture very often, far more than would be allowed in a public school setting (please click on READ MORE!)
LOVE LANGUAGE
Sitting in that auditorium packed with mostly men, many of whom were coaches, athletic directors, and sport enthusiasts from the area, it was hard to miss the genuine warmth from the audience and desire to hear the authentic words of Joe Ehrmann. His hulking, no nonsense style is tempered by his casual cadence and penetrating pauses. Joe knows how to hold and audience, and sitting there I could imagine a group of wide-eyed high school boys awed by his stature and drawn in by his “heart on sleeve” tone. I would guess that Joe’s experiences in football and inner city ministry provides him the personal depth to cut through any high school cynicism or dismissive rebellion. Joe clearly is comfortable in front of people, regardless of age and background.
Joe’s main point is good for all of us to hear. In a loud and clear way, in the book and during his speech, Joe puts out the message that everyone has worth before God. Everyone is made in God’s image, and we as coaches at any level of athletics have the choice of “speaking life” into others or “speaking shame.” In a prayer detailed in the book, Joe puts it this way: We thank you that every child in this world is created in your image, filled with dignity, status, and potential. (p. 32) (the book by Jeffrey Marx is detailed at this website: Seasons of Life, by Jeffrey Marx
Coach Erhmann is right to point out that many coaches view the whistle as license to belittle others through verbal reprimands, threats, and fear tactics. The short video prior to his speech contrasted the derisive and demeaning approach used by many coaches with Joe’s softer and more affirmative approach. Joe’s words from the book make his point more clearly: Let us be mindful to never shame a boy, but to correct him in an uplifting and loving way. Affirmation! (p. 39)
From the video that prefaced his remarks and Joe’s presentation that night one might think that Gilman football practices and games flowed with syrupy language and mushy platitudes. If others were like me, they were questioning the reality of such discourse on their own fields of play. The book, however, gives a more round perspective. It’s true; Joe and Biff do use very emotional and vulnerable language with their team. In ritualistic fashion the coaches regularly ask the team, What’s our job?” to which they respond, “To love us.” The next question from the coach is “What’s your job?” and again the players respond in unison, “To love each other.” Still, it is obvious that both men coach football, and both men correct mistakes.
Their commitment to affirmative language is strained by a scenario described in the book. In it, Coach Biff comes down hard on his players because he thought they were playing poorly, not giving much effort, and acting without integrity. The halftime speech was described as follows: I’m so angry I can’t even tell you! Biff screamed. He was so worked up – arms flailing, eyes dancing with fire, face crimson and taut – he looked like he was about to burst. Biff yanked off his Maui Jim designer sunglasses, mangled them in his hands, and smashed what was left of them to the ground. Then he turned away from the boys and stormed off toward the field.
(pp. 93-94 ) ….So much for affirmation.
Joe’s response to this incident was to “cover” Coach Biff’s tirade by saying, You know why he’s so upset with you…because he really loves you. This exchange illustrates a point that did not surface in Coach Erhmann’s presentation. Coach Erhmann is right to point out that seemingly harsh language and expression of anger can come from love. But I think that the nuance of this point is easily abused. When asked, even the most abusive coaches generally “cover” themselves the same way saying something about how much they care for the boys. Or they say, like Joe, that they are turning “boys into men.”
I sense that when Coach Erhmann emphasizes “affirmation” language he is trying to draw a sharp contrast between his approach and the approach and others. Joe professes himself to be all about relationships. He uses football to get to know kids and to gain a forum for conversation. This strikes me as much like the Young Life model of evangelism. There is strength in this message, but it would serve us well to remember that relationships are not “one size fits all.” The love language Joe uses may work for us, but may not, and that is ok.
Given his faith, one has to assume that Joe’s relationship mentality draws heavily on the life of Jesus Christ. It’s true, Joe elevates open expression of emotions (This could not have been better exemplified by the person who stood up to question Joe after his speech and asked if he could come up and give Joe a hug). Hugging men I don’t know (and even those I do) is not that appealing to me, even though my father loves me and I hug the heck out of my four year old son. But this is Joe, and he resonates with many who have a desire to be more publicly emotive.
The call to emotion and passion is a good point, and leaning toward the affirmative is a good goal. Still, Joe would have to admit that Jesus displayed a broad range of emotions, not just those that on the surface appear “affirmative.” Life with the disciples was not always a group hug. In his book The Jesus I Never Knew, Phillip Yancey puts it this way: Jesus, I found, bore little resemblance to the Mister Rogers person I had met in Sunday school, and was remarkably unlike the person I had studied in bible college. Other people affected Jesus deeply: obstinacy frustrated him, self-righteousness infuriated him, and simple faith thrilled him. p. 23. (For more of Yancey’s writings, visit: (Yancey, Christianity Today). Although Joe’s presentation seemed to present a one-sided approach to “emotion showing”, coaches with passion and genuine care for kids can take some cover when low motivation or outright sin prompt us on occasion to use rebuke in the midst of affirmation.
BOYZ TO MEN
When thinking about Joe’s speech and the book, the question we all ask ourselves is, “Should I coach this way?” In reference to Joe’s exhortation to treat players with dignity, be intentional about relationships, and keep the big picture in mind, I wholeheartedly agree. Furthermore, Coaches who profess Jesus Christ as savior bring a unique perspective and calling, whether working for a Christian, private secular, or public institution. The call of Christ will look different in each context, but the call to follow Jesus is still the same.
Yet I do have some concerns with Joe’s approach to coaching as I understand it, and I’ll just briefly open them up here for public discussion and scrutiny. My concerns have to do with Coach Erhmann’s view of sport. Although it will sound contradictory (and may be), I get the sense that Joe takes a view of sport that is both too small and too big. Let me try to explain.
First, Joe views sport, in this case football, only as a means to an end. Consider the following quote from the book:
“Our understanding is that sports – football – is nothing more than a context to help connect with boys and teach them, one, a clear and compelling definition of what it means to be a man. Second is to give them a code of conduct for manhood. And then third is to help them figure out what their own unique, transcendent cause should or could be in this world.” (p. 34)
Joe’s approach takes a very utilitarian and small view of sports. In other words, sports are fine, as long as they serve some greater end. There are, of course, by-product of sport participation. But as Julie rightly questioned, the jury is still out on whether those by-products are positive or negative. Joe’s only concern is to use sports as a tool to “make men” and according to his philosophy, if football was not the place to do that, he would rightly scrap football in favor of some other activity.
For sports lovers, Joe’s position is a bit precarious. What if we found that Joe’s approach didn’t work? What if participation is sport makes players more narcissistic, ego-oriented, selfish, or consumerist (not a hard thing to imagine given our examples in sport)? Should we then scrap sport, or does it have some other form of value inherent in itself? Briefly put, I suggest that it does. For instance, the pure joy of playing, the sensation of learning and performing skills, or the thrill of being part of a big moment that you will remember the rest of your life is of great value. Play is fundamental to human life, and it is an expression of who we are as humans. Sport has value for its inherent goods, regardless of the by-products. Joe’s approach is not wrong, it just is not a complete representation of what sport means to those who participate. Sports are not meant to dominate life, but they can adorn it, even without an additional motive.
Additionally, Joe has taken to using sport as a means of passing out wisdom to a captive audience. This works for Joe, a pastor and fellow believer. I believe I would trust my own children in his charge…he appears to be a man of honor, wisdom, and faith. However, not all captive audience models are appealing (ever been to a time share seminar?). I don’t know if I would trust all the men in that room to pass out information about poverty, racism, and other weighty topics through the bully pulpit of coaching. Joe routinely gives talks about such subjects before practices. This doesn’t mean we should all take this on. In fact, very often moralizing tidbits shoveled out during sports fall flat and are viewed as inauthentic and out of context. This is not a criticism of Coach Erhrman, only a suggestion for us to proceed with caution.
TOUCHDOWN JESUS
My second concern is the seemingly symbiotic partnership between biblical messages and football. In this case, it seems that the coaches are making too much of sport. Joe and Biff seem to fold the Christian life very neatly into a recipe for what it takes to be a part of a “successful” football team. Of course, they are not alone in this. Roam the sidelines at any major football event and you will find players and coaches who see no disconnect between football, life, and their Christian faith. We see this in the ubiquitous God-thanking that occurs after victory. “God has blessed us and this team, so on to the Superbowl we go.” Allow me to give a few examples from Jeffrey Marx’s book for illustration.
Before one game, the coaches posted verses from Isaiah on the board and oriented the pre-game chapel talk around them. “Encourage the oppressed; defend the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” These words were prefaced by one of Joe’s signature phrases, “A man built for others.” The message: A man build for others does these things; a man built for himself does not.
The story moves on to the field before a big game. The author tells about a boy named Napoleon, one of Gilman’s best football players, whose best friend Ryan tragically died from being hit by a drunk driver. Having recently come from the funeral, understandably, Napoleon struggles with his emotions during the game. Biff checked with him repeatedly, yet after the opening kickoff he was overcome with grief and memories. In a low moment the coach suggested he dedicate the game to his friend, and Napoleon said he already did that. Undeterred, Biff prayed with him on the sideline, “Release him from the pain and anger he is feeling. Let him perform to the best of his abilities in memory of his friend.” Napoleon went out and intercepted a pass and nearly scored a touchdown. His play turned the game in Gilman’s favor. At halftime, Coach Biff didn’t’ talk football; he talked about Napoleon and Ryan: He dedicated the game to Ryan and his family. Then what does he do? He goes out and breaks open the game for us! Now that’s a man built for others!
My concern is how quickly “a man built for others” morphed from defending the fatherless and pleading the case of the widow to sucking it up and intercepting a pass. God often calls us to do hard things. However, because of legends like George Gipp and the often cited “dedicate the game to such and such,” I believe we transition too easily from what God calls us to do to asking for God’s endorsement on what we want to do…in this case, be a hero and win the game. Sports are wonderful distractions. Like all good escapes from reality, they are best when taken seriously, when we go along for the ride and pretend that winning a contest really matters. That’s part of the fun of sport. But let’s not pretend that sport heroism is life heroism. Let’s not forget that just a year ago, Terrell Owens sucked it up against incredible odds, overcoming a career-threatening injury, seemingly putting his own interests aside to help his team compete in the Superbowl. Although I don’t know him personally, I question whether Terrell is a man built for others.
Another favorite Bible passage of the coaches is the parable of the talents. I won’t repeat it here, but I encourage you to re-read Matthew 25. The coaches employ this parable in two ways: First to illustrate that number of talents does not equal worth. The person with five talents and the person with two talents are both praised and rewarded by the property owner upon his return.
The second use of the parable is another illustration of the synergy often drawn between faith and sports success. If a Gilman player or the whole team performs poorly, it is sometimes suggested by their coaches that they did not “bring their talents.” In effect, they are accused of burying them in the sand. I believe that sport performance is far too complex to give such an assessment. We all play sports, and we have good days and bad days. As much as coaches would like to say they can manipulate it, sport performance often comes and goes on a whim. But let’s just say the coach is criticizing effort. “It doesn’t look like you’ve come to play today.” Surely this is an appropriate place to invoke the talent parable? I would suggest not. When the property owner hears that one of his servants buried his talent rather than used it appropriately, the talent was taken away, and he was sent “into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Clearly, the parable had more in mind than a football game. Effort on the field of play can indicate things about a person’s character and commitment to the team, but its implications in God’s kingdom are far less clear.
Meshing sport with faith in a symbiotic partnership has been tried before, most famously by the Muscular Christianity movement near the turn of the last century. I know that faith informs everything, and my “reformedness” suggests that God is making all things new. In some ways, sport is analogous to the life of faith – and the life of faith is analogous to sport. However, I am uncomfortable with a philosophy expresses sport “commitment” and “excellence” hand in glove with the hard path of following Christ.
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