The Hardest Part of Break Might Not Be Leaving…the Hardest Part Might Be Going Home
Thanksgiving is nuanced. I’ve got decades of warm memories tied to the day — growing up in Montana, and then as an adult spending almost every Turkey Day since 1997 away from home. Food, Cowboys football, and a game-night atmosphere around a table laughing. All of that is real for me.
But as time has passed and the truth around the origins of the holiday has become clearer, the reverence has shifted for me. I’m not telling anyone how to feel — just being honest about how I do.
There were years in college coaching when I wasn’t home at all. Thanksgiving happened in restaurants, in host-family living rooms, at tables filled with people I barely knew but was grateful to sit with. Different rituals. Different food. Cowboys always on.
I’m writing this today because coaches default to one script this week:
“Be thankful for your family. Be thankful for the food. Share what you’re grateful for.”
That’s not wrong. But in 2025, we can do better.
Some players don’t love going home. Some families don’t celebrate the traditional version — no turkey, no pilgrims, no curated Hallmark vibe. Some players don’t have traditions of their own at all.
Some dread the tension waiting for them.
So when your guys come back from break, don’t limit the conversation to highlight reels.
Ask: “What was hardest about being home?”
Bonding isn’t built from forced happy stories.
It’s built from the courage to share struggle — and the willingness to hear it.
COACH PROMPTS
Do you create space for players whose holiday reality doesn’t match the “thankful and blessed” script?
What questions could you ask next week that invite honesty instead of performance?
How might your team culture shift if vulnerability was a norm — not a surprise?
PLAYER PROMPTS
What part of break was actually the hardest — and why?
If you could rewrite one Thanksgiving expectation, what would it be?
Who on your team do you trust enough to tell the truth about home?
