I'm by no means an expert at coaching high school football. I'm doing the best I can in Year 1. But I've already learned a lot of lessons and I imagine I'll keep learning them.
When I got fired from coaching, I started coaching high school because my son played. I realized real quick that high school football is in trouble. There's no budget. A lot of kids have got to pay to play, and every year, coaches are getting out of the profession. Kids aren't playing like they used to. It bothers me.
In high school, I was one of the cofounders of New Kids on the Block my freshman year in high school. But I also started studying theatre in high school my freshman year as well. So throughout high school, I was actually doing both.
I think the coaching and the emphasis being put on different aspects of the game is what makes Texas high school football the best out there.
In junior high school, I learned that I could be good at school. I remember liking the freedom to choose classes and the pleasure of learning and doing well. My perseverance and love of reading had somehow allowed me to overcome many disadvantages of dyslexia, and I read a lot of books for pleasure.
When I picture myself after football, it's down home, coaching high school football, just a relaxing, normal life.
Of course, I was a head coach at high school for 15 years, so as far as on the field stuff it's the same but for college football it's off the field experience you got to get used to. It was a great learning experience for me, I learned a lot and I feel very prepared coming in here.
Some of the best lessons that I've ever learned are on a ball field - basketball, football, baseball, golf. And I learned great lessons from my coaches - being on time, being mentally tough, having some discipline, and being part of a team.
High school was interesting. For a lot of people, high school was just a big social experiment, and I think the value of high school was not so much learning how to be a great student... but I think it's learning how to interact with people and be social. I would say that in that endeavor, I completely failed.
You will fail many times but in failing you'll learn and in learning you'll find your way. Remember, there are no mistakes in life but only lessons, and lessons will keep on repeating until learned
For me, coaching in the NFL doesn't fit. I coach high-school football, so I get my fix.
School of Rock. The best music school anywhere. This whole idea of getting kids not just taking lessons and learning notes and chords, but learning songs and playing with other young musicians, and getting out on stage... I was so impressed that my daughter Cheyenne goes to School of Rock on Long Island.
Most of the stuff I learned to play, I learned in high school. I had a band in high school, a jazz-fusion thing, and I was the keyboard player. I was interested in how the instruments worked and the theory behind playing with them.
Leadership is a team sport - learning to work with others is a critical skill. This means articulating a clear vision, setting priorities, giving coaching, getting coaching and learning to seek advice from the team. All these activities
I actually was the captain of the football team. I went to Catalina Foothills High School, and I played football all four years. I started on Varsity my sophomore year, and senior year I was captain.
Hollywood is a lot like high school. Everyone was interested in what the head cheerleader was doing and what the captain of the football team was doing and if they were dating each other.
I learned hard lessons in life; I had to because I had so much happen: My mother died my sophomore year in high school. The next year, same day, my brother dropped dead. Two years after that, I got married because my girlfriend got pregnant. The year after my wedding, my father - who I had only recently met - died.