Show Me the Lessons, Not Just the Lecture
CONTEXT NOTE: If you haven’t seen it yet, you can watch Northern Illinois Head Football Coach Thomas Hammock full comments here: Video of Hammock’s rant and read the Sports Illustrated coverage here: SI article.
I understand where Coach Hammock is coming from. There’s real value in reminding people of the original intent of sport and the collegiate experience — growth in the individual, on and off the field. But in 2025, when athletes can rightfully be compensated for their abilities, it’s naïve (or willful ignorance) to chastise kids for leaving for better money elsewhere. And it’s a stretch to assume that the better-paying options don’t also come with life lessons.
The bigger problem for me is the assumption that any football program — and, from my TeamsOfMen perspective, all male athletics programs — automatically dispense lessons that “make them better husbands and fathers.” Let’s be honest: they spend 12-hour days on football scheme, body prep, and film study. Show me the areas in his program (and so many others) where there is intentional time devoted to character development — not just wishful hoping that through osmosis a young man will become a caretaker for his kids while being dog-cussed during a conditioning run.
If programs were actually investing in these “life lessons,” then the schools with bigger budgets should be better choices, because they could put more money and staff toward sessions that teach them. I know they don’t — they spend it on another film analyst, a run-game coordinator, or a nutrition expert.
And this is not a direct shot at Coach Hammock, but at coaches in general: if your program is truly a better place for young people to take on strife, learn resilience, and onboard father skills, then why didn’t this press conference include a clear outline of the specific programming and time allocated to those things? Most likely because it doesn’t exist. You simply have less money and are frustrated by that fact. Don’t sell me on altruistic sacrifice if there’s no actual different training happening. Otherwise, it’s the same old dictatorship coaching and football-only grind — only now the player gets less money to endure it.
Coach Prompts
If you say your program builds better husbands, fathers, and workers — where is that in the actual schedule?
How much intentional time per week is devoted to character development vs. football?
Are your “life lessons” measurable, or are they just assumed to happen through the sport?
If NIL programs aren’t teaching life skills, what makes yours different in a tangible way?
Player Prompts
Outside of football, what specific skills are you being taught to prepare for life after sport?
Are you being coached into manhood intentionally, or are you expected to figure it out on your own?
