Interesting career. Playing football helps, but as we see over and over, that doesn't necessarily translate to good coaching. Now, I don't necessarily put a lot of weight on having played high school football as a requirement for becoming a coach. But being a solid manager and motivator is critical, especially with all the assistants and positions coaches and teams carry.
The best coach I had, told me during spring football, my 9th grade year, that if I could get up from my 165-pound frame to 190-pounds as a senior, he'd find me a college. He moved me up to the Varsity a few days after I threw a pretty good block on their B-Team linebacker. He left before my senior year; I only got to 180, but he got me into a small college where I started all four years.
He never played in college, but in only 3 years as a HC, he turned two programs around and turned heads before he was 25. He took over a 1-9 program to go 5-4-1 my sophomore year with a young team. We tied the 2nd-ranked SE, who hung near 60 on the previous Tarpon team the year prior. I remember the SE D being taken aback; they thought they were going to cake walk us; after beating the previous team like a drum, they were like, 'Where did these guys come from?'
Coach Goldsmith caused an epiphany. He was like a preacher at times: "Out here on this practice field, your soul is bare naked." Fierce competitor and motivator—we did all sorts of drills designed to bring the dog out (and in some guys that didn't even know it existed within) that would get a coach fired in a heartbeat today.
The next season, we played in the semi-final game; two of the guys who were on that 1-9 team, then had him as a coach for a year, left for FSU and FL. Burton Lawless, an FHSAA Top 100 player, was an All-American there and made it to three Super Bowls with the Cowboys. Coach left with Burton for Florida as a GA. But he moved along just as quickly to a long career as an assistant and HC, winning NCAA COY twice at Rice and Duke.
He was from Coral Gables. He told us he was going to make us winners; he made us believe. I always say he blew through town like Hurricane Donna, left just as quickly, but changed the program's fortunes. In high school, he had eight assistants and position coaches. My OL coach had been an All-American guard at Missouri; that was my position, and he gave me all the position coaching I ever needed. We only had four coaches in small college ball—nothing in college even approached the rigors of a Fred Goldsmith "Suck-it-up-and-go" high school practice.
By the way, he beat Joe Kinnan's pretty darn good Cypress Lake team during that 1970 run, gatorman.
The best coach I had, told me during spring football, my 9th grade year, that if I could get up from my 165-pound frame to 190-pounds as a senior, he'd find me a college. He moved me up to the Varsity a few days after I threw a pretty good block on their B-Team linebacker. He left before my senior year; I only got to 180, but he got me into a small college where I started all four years.
He never played in college, but in only 3 years as a HC, he turned two programs around and turned heads before he was 25. He took over a 1-9 program to go 5-4-1 my sophomore year with a young team. We tied the 2nd-ranked SE, who hung near 60 on the previous Tarpon team the year prior. I remember the SE D being taken aback; they thought they were going to cake walk us; after beating the previous team like a drum, they were like, 'Where did these guys come from?'
Coach Goldsmith caused an epiphany. He was like a preacher at times: "Out here on this practice field, your soul is bare naked." Fierce competitor and motivator—we did all sorts of drills designed to bring the dog out (and in some guys that didn't even know it existed within) that would get a coach fired in a heartbeat today.
The next season, we played in the semi-final game; two of the guys who were on that 1-9 team, then had him as a coach for a year, left for FSU and FL. Burton Lawless, an FHSAA Top 100 player, was an All-American there and made it to three Super Bowls with the Cowboys. Coach left with Burton for Florida as a GA. But he moved along just as quickly to a long career as an assistant and HC, winning NCAA COY twice at Rice and Duke.
He was from Coral Gables. He told us he was going to make us winners; he made us believe. I always say he blew through town like Hurricane Donna, left just as quickly, but changed the program's fortunes. In high school, he had eight assistants and position coaches. My OL coach had been an All-American guard at Missouri; that was my position, and he gave me all the position coaching I ever needed. We only had four coaches in small college ball—nothing in college even approached the rigors of a Fred Goldsmith "Suck-it-up-and-go" high school practice.
By the way, he beat Joe Kinnan's pretty darn good Cypress Lake team during that 1970 run, gatorman.
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