TRANSCRIPT Hide − 0:00 Hey, I'm got an opportunity here to be with coach Don Carter. I'm really excited to just kind of hear what he has to say and uh give you a coach's perspective by Don Carter. Well, when it was not difficult for me to choose coaching as a profession because uh partially reared by a really good staff of coaches at Sweeny High School. 0:22 Uh my my mom died early in life when I was a junior. My dad moved away then to be with his mom in Paris, Texas. And the coaches there, Coach Buddy Hopson, uh, Coach Ken Dabs, they just took care of me, so to speak. I mean, now my neighbor allowed a good Christian friend allowed me to move in with them, but if I need anything, whether that was money for gas, I didn't go asking these coaches for it, but they knew that I could work and would do any kind of 1:00 work. And so, they would regularly call me. And I always had um a concern while I was in the service and then later on I had a concern about you know how am I going to pay those guys back and then I talked about it with some some friends and they said well look this is an option and so u you know athletics have been a part of our mind and my brother's life there at Sweeney. It was not difficult at all to decide to return to 1:33 athletics. And then uh after finding a startup in East Texas and and then work my way back and throughout most of Southeast Texas, I was single, you know, finding flowers and not trees. But uh I learned uh as you know you be that every school has different athletes has different students and and you got to be able to adjust. You got to be able to change to those and uh I was pleased that I didn't have a lot of trouble adjusting the interracial business. I'm very fortunate 2:12 that I had never had even though I went to segregated school, but through the service and through other connections with folks of different racial lands, I didn't have a trouble I didn't have any trouble adjusting to dealing with um u you know the different races that we had, which was primarily Hispanic and uh African-American. And so having a handle on those two uh and it was very well adding to that that there was some success that always helps and that success was largely attributed to everyone in our racial 2:54 mix. And so I kind of wanted to that was one of the things I wanted to do as guys left our program and a couple of times as a head coach but most of the times as a as a a line coach. uh as guys left the program, I I wanted them to have that um idea that uh despite being a racial mix, we're all in this together. And uh it takes all of us. So, uh you know uh we got we all got to honor and work with each other. And uh 3:34 so that was uh that was a lot of what coaching has meant to me and uh what and I miss it a lot. But um that's that is pretty well my favorite part. uh has always been when a student is really struggling gradewise that to be at their graduation was a uh you know and that person was an athlete. Yeah, that was that was always a good thing especially if he was one that I dealt with specifically. And then another really special part of my coaching was association with Christian 4:22 athletes for about a dozen years. We took some guys in the summertime either to Black Mountain, North Carolina or to Estas, Colorado. And that was um that was good to see some of those guys after they'd grown after they um and and see how that had um stayed with them and affected their lives. That was that was, you know, important. And I was glad that athletics, it was only through athletics that I had that and through coaching that I had that opportunity. Sure. And uh so that was that was and uh that's 5:03 pretty much that's pretty much it unless you want to get into some X's and O's and stuff. Yeah. No, sir. Uh I was just going to say and you've kind of hit on it already. you know, what what can coaches today do to help our student athletes be successful in life? And and you've kind of said a few things. Well, first off would be to convince them that athletics is not everything. other uh in incredibly important parts of a um student athletes growth toward uh taking his place in society and u 5:43 although I think athletics and the confidence that's given from it is important the first I would encourage and and always did our guys in coaching girls uh would to encourage our guys to start to decide about what's after high school. spend some time, you know, talking to him about it and to try to help get them pointed in uh at least some positive hints toward uh you know, where they might go um jobwise, you know, what what they're 6:33 going to do professionally or whatever. Yeah. Uh, and then to I really think, and of course this was in athletics all the time. I really think one of the most important things that we could teach and and I hope there and I know some are still teaching kiddos today is to not resist challenges to meet them. and when those challenges come along in life to meet them. And I think athletics provides a way to do that. And so I would hope today that coaches would continue to 7:11 uh get their student athletes to accept any challenges, whether they be healthwise or whether they be family concerns, that they would just meet those challenges and not deny them. and you know and to to meet them. Yeah. And on level ground and not turn away from them. Yeah. Yes. Okay. I guess coach, my last one would be is there anything in particular that you would want to say to a young coach or coaches in our profession just about getting into this profession about you just any of that at 7:49 all? And that'll be my last question for you, coach, if you don't mind. Well, uh, first off, I would say don't think it's something about just playing games and stuff. It it will involve uh the the hard work of coaching plus teaching. Be prepared to teach. Uh, and uh you're going to find out that teaching is whole lot better than you think it. 8:15 And the other thing is to take a personal interest in your athletes. That's right. Uh to take a personal interest in them and be with them, you know, when they need you, whether that is at a family funeral or whether that is uh visiting them, visiting them if they're sick in the hospital or something like that. Yes, sir. Thank you, coach. I appreciate it. I want you to guys know that uh Don is um so well respected by so many coaches that he's worked with through the years and and I 8:52 I know a lot of them. Uh actually we coached against each other, you know, uh and and his team were they're they were always so well coached and uh uh anyway, very well respected and I really appreciate what he has to say and I know that there's a lot of good stuff in what he's saying and and I hope it can help us. Uh so today you've heard a coach's perspective with coach Don Carter. Thank you.
