The Unforgiving Minute

Let me be clear that this was never intended to become a book. As a matter of fact there never really was any intention. The genesis of this project was a dream. Sometime in late March 2018, I woke up early in the morning on a weekend. I am unsure what my dream was about, but I knew immediately after that I needed to commit myself to write the Navy football program one letter a week for a year. Why one letter a week? Why for a year? I have no idea. It was just a dream I had. It may sound crazy, but that is exactly what happened. The following week I sent my first letter. I also want to make it clear that I am not a writer. If you are looking for some sort of literary masterpiece, you have come to the wrong place. I am just a football coach. I am passionate about my wife, my children, my family, and my profession. Nearly every one of the letters you are about to read was written during 2nd period (my off period) every Thursday. I usually knocked them out in about 30-45 minutes. I never planned the letters either. I simply wrote what was on my mind that day. In that sense, the words are very real and raw to my reality at that time. I was not until I was nearly finished with the 52nd letter and I had not received a response from Coach Niumatalolo when my uncle suggested the idea of a book. You see, I forwarded a copy of every letter to him after I wrote it. I would mail a hard copy of each letter to the Naval Academy, but before I did, I took a picture and sent it to Uncle John. He said it could make a tremendous gift that I could pass down to my children and grandchildren one day. Since I had no expectations when I began this crazy project, I figured, why not. Since re-reading the letters, I found it a bit ironic that the year I did this just happened to be the worst season of my career. It was also a rollercoaster of a ride in my personal life. All of which leads to a fascinating read. It was a year that tried me mentally in profound ways. In a weird way, I am satisfied by that. It's easy to write and sustain commitment when everything in life is going well. What's difficult, is staying committed to a project or cause when things are hard. That is exactly the kind of year I had. I feel that this book could serve as inspiration future members of my family and beyond. Don't ever give up. When life knocks you down (and it will) get back up, dust yourself off and keep pushing forward and DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP.