Q: What are the main objectives of your job as head coach of the Guilford college football team?

A: Guilford college football is over 100 years old. We are one of the oldest programs in the country so (it’s my job) to represent Guilford college football, and all the student athletes of the past. It’s also about having our players be successful academically, having our players be gentlemen, and representing Guilford on the field.Q: What makes a student athlete (football player) successful?

A: At Guilford you’ve got to go to class every single day. And then you’ve got to be a person that when you’re not in the classroom you are attacking those reading lists. You have to be assertive and reach out. You’ve got to go to the teacher’s office hours, you’ve got to go to the Learning Commons. You have to be assertive and reach out. You’ve got to go the teacher’s office hours, you’ve got to go to the Learning Commons. You’ve got to go seek the help that’s here. When you hit the practice field in football is the same thing. You’ve got to be in shape, you’ve got to go out there and work hard and prove you’re the best through the competition.

Q: Why do players quit? Do black players quit for the same reason as white players?

A: I don’t see colors. I don’t see black and white, I see people. The guys that make it in college football are the guys that are in the best running shape of their life. The guys that quit are the ones that didn’t work out all summer and get themselves in physical shape. Everybody wants instant gratification; it’s our society today. I think when you’re in high school, and you’re a good player, you’re playing your sophomore or junior year, so you just assume you’re going to go to college and it’s going to be that way.

Q: So you’re saying that the players that quit didn’t maintain those things or put the work in?

A: There’s two parts of it. Most college players, if they contribute as a junior, play as a senior. That’s a good career. If you’re a freshman in college, you’re not going to play. Your going to play JV, you’re going to learn your trade, get stronger. There’s a big difference between someone that’s 18 and someone that’s 22. The guys that quit want instant gratification, they’re not willing to pay the price to be a college player. They don’t like the role that they have. You expect to be the starting quarterback, and you’re not good enough to be the quarterback. You can be a strong safety for us, or you can be linebacker for us . so your role changes, and a lot of them don’t want to accept that role on the team. If you go look at our Quaker forefathers and you look at our school here, if you want to sum up one thing that the Quakers really believe in, it’s unselfishness. I look at the Quaker faith: what you want to do is you want to put yourself last and put everyone ahead of you. You want to serve your fellow man, you want to respect your fellow man, you get more happiness in giving. And what’s fascinating in our world today, we’re all a bunch of takers. So to be on a team, let’s face it, it’s not about you. I wish I could wave a wand and everyone could be the starting quarterback, or wide receiver and carry the ball 100 times. But that’s not the world. So it’s hard in today’s world to have a team in a society where people are looking at “what’s in it for me?”

Q: Diversity is one of Guilford seven core values. In terms of racial diversity, the football team is one of the most diverse. Race is still part of a person’s lived experience, even if someone is colorblind. You have a lot of different lived experiences on football team. You have kids from different socioeconomic backgrounds that might not have come to this school if it weren’t for football. How do you deal with that kind of diversity?

A: A football team is always the greatest example of a total diverse community within the community of a college. On the football team, everybody respects you for your effort. You don’t have to be a great player on the team to get the respect of the team; it’s all about your effort and how much you care. It doesn’t matter if you’re white or black, poor or rich, farm kid or city kid, it’s all about “hey, what are you doing right now?”

Q: Even though you don’t see color, would you still agree or not agree that someone’s race does shape their social experience?

A: I’m Irish-Catholic and Lithuanian, that’s my ethnicity, that’s my culture growing up. That’s my religion. So you can be Irish-Catholic, you can be Italian, you can be Jewish, you can be black, and definitely you are raised in a culture, you have customs in your family, you have customs in religion, and I respect all of that. That’s your makeup.

Q: So does that define your social experience, in part?

A: I think what happens is, I respect you as a person for what your cultures are, then I watch what you do as a person. I spent 30 years in higher education. There is not a perfect world. At Guilford we really strive to live up to our core values. I like diversity plans, I like the subject of racism to talk about but I think we should stop first and give ourselves a little credit. I really do, and I don’t think we do that. We assume that there are things that are just dead wrong and I think you got to stop first and say “what’s our environment (like)?” It’s pretty good.

Q: Do black and white players face the same challenges off the field, socially and in the classroom?

A: Absolutely. If you don’t do well here, it’s because of you. We have small classes, passionate professors. The learning commons . you can go in and get a tutor . If you’re a special needs person, we have all those people to help you. You have to go help yourself. If you don’t do well here it’s because you yourself aren’t dedicated enough as a student and you didn’t work hard enough. There’s no reason why you should fail here.