The Football Coach

León, Nicaragua

Sean was a former NCAA assistant football coach. He had coached Junior College in California, then Division 1A at New Mexico State, and then at a powerhouse high school in Miami. His most recent profession had been selling high end surgical equipment to hospitals. Which he had found soul-draining and quit to go surfing in Nicaragua.

I met Sean at my hostel in León. I'm not entirely sure why he was there, to be honest. There are no waves or water of any kind in León. It's very hot and inland. But Sean was waiting there for his mom to send him a new surfboard.

The story of his previous surfboard was that he had been hungover waiting for a bus in San Juan Del Sur. He had boarded the bus and passed out before storing his luggage under the bus. I guess he thought somebody else would stow his luggage for him.

Despite losing all of his belongings, Sean was in high spirits. He was living off of Ramen noodles and Toña (cheap Nica beer). I spent a few days drinking beers and shooting pool with him at our hostel. Neither of us wore shirts.

I'd never had a drunk former football coach at my disposal before, and I took advantage of the opportunity to ask a lot of questions.

On the X's and O's of football, he told me about paying attention to the play at the line of scrimmage as the most important indicator of a game's direction.

He told me about the coaching staff going out to bars the night before games - drinking, smoking, sleeping around. He had a very a la carte approach to romance.

But what stuck with me the most was his response when I asked him to give me the dirt on college recruiting.

He told me that he recruited in inner city Miami, and that all the drug dealers on the street knew him and called him "coach." He said the dealers would help him find people, because "they all wanted to help those kids get out of there too."

I was looking for him to spill the beans on helping athletes cheat their way through college. But instead he spoke about what a gift it is to all these kids who come from extreme poverty to be able to receive a college education. Many of his players were the first in their family to attend university. Almost none of his players ever made it to the NFL. But to him the chance at a college degree was a much greater reward than the chance to play in the NFL.

It's easy for me to take my education for granted. I'm always telling people how in the USA it's typical for 18-year-olds to get pressured into attending college straight out of high school and taking out massive loans. I'm bitter about the debts that I incurred as a teenager.

Sean reminded me that not everyone grows up expecting to attend university. A college education is a privilege that can open doors, especially for people from disadvantaged communities whose prospects of leaving the neighborhoods they grew up in appear otherwise bleak.

He also reminded me that even surfer dudes from California have a lot to teach me if I'm willing to listen.