This is why I love coaching! Guiding them through the preparatory stages and watching them find success are the obvious joys, but watching them encounter adversity and helping them GROW through it is extremely fulfilling! Moments like these stand as evidence to me that every decision made in an effort to build a genuine and meaningful bond with my players was worth it! Learning what makes them tick and understanding how to coach the player AND the person can be difficult, but when you invest the time, energy, and intention the result is always love! If you lead with it, they’ll receive it and return it! My dude got a sack and hit a celebration, per usual! He was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. Should I have pulled him? Maybe. But the big picture is what I always try to prioritize. Let him work through it was my thought. So I let him rock! Very next play, he jumps off sides! 2 consecutive mistakes can weigh heavy on a young player! To protect him from himself, I pulled him off and this is how I handled it. Could I have ripped him? Sure 🤷🏽‍♂️ Would it have worked? Maybe 🤷🏽‍♂️ But in that moment, I trusted what I had built with him and went another route! The sum of the message was real talk mixed with a lot of love and ended with me telling him to get a quick wash because he was going back in! He later went on to have several pressures, a TFL, another sack and helped his team earn a victory! These are the moments I value as a coach! THE JOURNEY IS IRRELEVANT WHEN THE DESTINATION IS WORTH IT!