Brad McCoy's Speech

5-11-2010

Brad McCoy’s Speech

A parent from one of the Dallas Patriots sent the following email to one of our coaches. Enjoy!

Dear Friends,
I had the opportunity to hear Colt McCoy’s Dad speak this Tuesday morning
to the Dallas Christian Leadership Prayer Breakfast. The breakfast is an
annual breakfast that was started by Tom Landry and other Dallas leaders
over 40 years ago and the speakers are usually amazing. Colt McCoy and his
Dad, Brad, were supposed to deliver a combined message; however, Colt
became sick on Monday and could not join his Dad on Tuesday morning. In
the end, it was a blessing because Brad McCoy delivered a message on
raising Colt and his two other boys that was truly amazing! The cliff
notes are below. I took copious notes because he prefaced his speech by
stating, “I am going to talk about the four principles with which we
raised our three boys.” They are incredibly applicable to us as parents
(regardless of the sex of our children) and they made a significant mark
on my heart.

Brad McCoy said that he and his wife raised their children according to
the following four principles:

1. “Prepare your child for the path, not the path for your child.” Brad
said this is not just for our kids – it is for us as parents. The road is
rough, narrow and hard to find. We have a book (the Bible), a map
vis-à-vis the Bible and God to help us. We must prepare ourselves and our
kids for moments in life when doors open and close. He cited Proverbs
22:6: “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will
not turn from it.” He also cited, almost in jest but also in reality,
Proverbs 23:13, “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish
him with the rod, he will not die.” It was a funny contrast, but a real
contrast. He then said, “Dads, fight for your kids, prepare them!”

2. “Prepare to be our best.” This was one of the four McCoy family
mottos. He cited 1 Corinthians 9:24, “Do you not know that in a race all
the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get
the prize.” He stated that every day he would take his kids to school and
upon them exited the car, he would say to them, “Do your best and be a
leader!” He said that they listened every time and even as they got older
(4th, 5th and 6th grades) he would repeat these words even if they said,
“Yeah, Yeah, Dad, I know, do your best and be a leader!” He said that as a
coach for 27 years, he would always lead his team onto the field and leave
his team at every practice with the chant, “Expect to Win, Play to
Win.” And he implored us as parents to instill the same attitude in our
homes and in our children. He cited Jim Collins book, Good to Great,
stating that good is the enemy of Great! We don’t aim high and miss – as
we would like to believe. In fact, most times, we aim low and hit the
mark! As parents, he implored us not to aim low! Aim high!!!

3. “Be a Leader” He stated that we are surrounded by such a great cloud
of witnesses – great leaders that we can draw from and that our kids can
draw from. He said we are all at the mercy of time and money and asked a
rhetorical question: How do you spend your time and money. He then said
that how we spend our time and money is a direct reflection on where our
true priorities lie. Convicting! He then said as a leader that he has
always loved the quote by Ghandi (even though he didn’t ascribe to all of
Ghandi’s beliefs): “I will not let anyone walk through my mind with dirty
feet.” He said that as he taught this principle to his three boys that
Colt McCoy turned this phrase into his own words: “Thoughts become
things.” Colt would tell his younger brothers as he mentored them, “ You
can’t talk like that or think like that, because thoughts become things
that play themselves out in your life.”

4. “Prepare for Open and Closed Doors.” As a Dad, he said it was painful
beyond all of his years on this earth to watch his son get hurt in the
first series of play in the National Championship at the Rose Bowl. A
perfect setting. A setting his son had dreamed of ever since he threw the
football with his Dad in the front yard as a kid. As a Dad, he went over
to his son’s hotel room after the Championship loss and the demoralizing
fate for such a NCAA football star. He went to his son’s room to cheer his
son up and was praying to God for the right words. He entered his son’s
hotel room to find his son finishing a devotional. A devotional that read
as follows: “My positive energy must be better than my negative energy. My
certainty must be me stronger than my doubt. The battle is won before I
ever start the fight. I choose faith over fear. Leave a legacy of
excellence, love, dedication and service. Jeremiah stated, ‘Blessed is the
man who’s trust is in the Lord.’ He said as a Dad, he had to find a
corner of Colt’s hotel room to sit down and cry over the maturity of his
son. His son was prepared for open and closed doors! Wow!!

He then finished his speech by stating that as he consoled his son under
the Rose Bowl stadium, after it was readily apparent that Colt would not
be able to go back onto the field and play for the Longhorns. And as he
was trying to motivate his son, his son motivated the team and his Dad.
His son stepped into a new mantle of leadership. Rather than return to
the field in pedestrian clothes, Colt insisted on returning to the field
to help his team win. He walked back onto the field in his uniform and
helped the second string quarterback read the defense and mentored the
second string quarterback over the course of the 3rd and 4th quarters. He
said that his son had been studying “trust” in a Bible Study all year long
leading up to the National Championship game. He said his son had told his
mom and dad that he didn’t know why he had been studying
that “trust”concept all year, but he fully knew why in the moments leading
up to the National Championship loss. He told his parents that he came to
the conclusion that God had “prepared me for years leading up to that
game, because He wanted me to “trust” Him!” As his son, Colt, was
approached by news reporters after the Longhorns had lost the National
Championship, the reporters asked Colt how he was feeling and Colt
replied:“I always give God the glory. I never question what God does. God
is in control of my life and if nothing else, I am standing on the Rock!”

Brad McCoy said that his cell phone began lighting up with texts after the
game with friends, ministers and family members wildly acclaiming the
statement that Colt had made to the reporters. He said that he received
letters from non-believers, Jewish ministers, Muslim ministers and
atheists in the days following the game – all pointing to
the AMAZING statement that Colt had made after the game. He said that as
he entered Colt’s hotel room that night, he asked his son, “What did you
say after game?” [He had not been able to hear it in the mayhem of the
stadium.] Brad McCoy, Colt’s Dad, asked two to three times, “Son, what
did you say after the game?” Colt said, “Dad, I don’t know. I really
don’t remember what I said. All I remember is that the reporter asked me
a question and I prayed that God would supply me with the right
answer.” Wow!!

Brad McCoy then ended his speech by telling a story about a young football
player that he was coaching back in his hometown. He said the young
football player approached Brad McCoy after he returned from Pasadena and
said, “Coach, I heard what your son said after the game, but I have one
question: What is the rock?” He said it’s funny son. We sing about it in
church. He then began singing accapella: “My hope is built on nothing
less, Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name. On Christ the solid Rock I
stand, All other ground is sinking sand; All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In
every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil. On Christ
the solid Rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand; All other ground
is sinking sand. His oath, His covenant, His blood, Support me in the
whelming flood. When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my Hope
and Stay. On Christ the solid Rock I stand, All other ground is sinking
sand; All other ground is sinking sand. When He shall come with trumpet
sound, Oh may I then in Him be found. Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand; All other ground is sinking sand.”

By the end of his singing, the entire room of men and women were singing
in unison with Brad McCoy. It was truly an amazing morning for the Lord
and a truly amazing speech for us to learn from as parents


Thanks Again!