At this Alabama high school, being on the football team means more than learning to spike and throwing a spiral. The coach also trains the boys to be men.
“Manly Mondays,” so-named by defensive line coach Steve Carter of Athens High School, teaches the team everything that goes into becoming a man — from changing a tire to giving a firm handshake.
"He's a good coach, he's a good man,” junior Kevin Jurado told WHNT. “I'm pretty sure everybody wishes they had a coach and someone like him in their family to be able to teach them those things and to show that he cares and he wants you to be successful in not only football and life."
Jurado explained that during their weekly “Manly Mondays,” he and teammates have learned to cut PVC pipe and work with car jacks and screwdrivers.
“He teaches us things you might not think that you’ll need but it could come in handy,” Jurado said.
Teammate Jacorey Harris, a sophomore, added, “I love it so much. It makes my week a lot better to come up here once during the week and learn something I never knew before."
While Carter’s main task at hand was training the boys in running Xs and Os, he said that a successful team was not just one that could play football well but one that also has skills that extend beyond the field and beyond the classroom.
“We're here to try and grow them up and grow them into being a man and a woman and that's what we're here for,” Carter said. “That's my purpose in life. I think that's why I live and breathe is to spread the good news."
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