KENNESAW, Ga. – Kennesaw State head football coach
Jerry Mack and head men's basketball coach
Antoine Pettway sat down to talk relationships, leading their teams and their backgrounds in the season finale for the
Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences' "Lessons in Leadership" series.
Highlights from the conversation are below:
Kennesaw State Football Head Coach Jerry Mack
On the importance of relationships with the players he's coached
"I've always had a passion for the X's and O's, and the schematics part, but the people and relationships part, that's been more transformative in my life than anything else.
There are guys that I have mentored throughout the years that now I get a chance to go to their weddings and get those text messages with pictures of when they're having their first child.
Those things are the things you remember the most and have the most impact on you."
On daily efforts to build the culture of the team
"Every single day, we're trying to work on the culture of the team. That's one of the things that has helped us more than anything else. Every day, there's a way we attack the day with, 'How are we going to get better today? And the next week? And the next?' You have to attack it every single day."
On the pillars of his program – SPV
"What we try to live by is SPV. What that stands for is Sacrifice, Passion and Vision. When I think about people who sacrifice to have success, that could be a CEO, a teacher, an administrator, a coach, whoever it may be. Anybody who has success in anything they do, sacrifices. You're going to sacrifice for your kids, you're going to sacrifice for your family.
The Passion drives you when you don't want to wake up at five or six o'clock in the morning and come over here.
The Vision. I talked to the team today at practice about how a lot of guys wear glasses. When you don't wear your glasses, you can't see very well. When you put on your glasses, it cleans up the picture. Let our coaches be the lenses that clean up the picture. If you accept the coaching, then we'll give you the vision that you need to go where you want to go."
On how he leads his staff
"We retained everyone on our staff except for one person. I think that's because they enjoy the people they work around. I meet people where they're at sometimes. I'm not their boss that calls everybody to my office, and they have to sit in a chair and I sit behind my desk and go over what they did right or wrong. I'm going to your office. I show up to your office sometimes and we'll just shoot the breeze. We'll talk about life, we'll talk about whatever.
I want them to feel comfortable that they can come to me with anything. I want them to feel like they can go to Coach Mack and tell him about something personal that they have going on."
Kennesaw State Men's Basketball Head Coach Antoine Pettway
On his Grandparents' example of work ethic
"We had the neighborhood store in Alberta, Alabama, a small town in Wilcox County, one of the poorest counties in the state of Alabama, but we were a tight-knit community. My Granddad owned the one convenience store in Alberta. I got chance to see my Granddaddy and Grandma work every single day. I got a chance to learn what a man does and how he provides for his family. That carried me then and carries me now."
On his father's example and how that's influenced him in his purpose as a coach
"My Dad was my high school coach. I got a chance to see him wake up, feed the cows at six in the morning, we'd eat breakfast and go to the school and have practice at 5 p.m. Then he's in the car taking this kid home 20 minutes this way, this kid home 15 minutes that way, being a father to the kids that didn't have fathers, giving them rides to school and to practice every single day.
I knew for a long time that I wanted to have that kind of impact. It's not about how many points some of these kids score. I get my most joy when they come back and they're successful in the community and I know I had a part in that.
They may not like me now, but I want them to love me five years down the line because of the things I instilled in you. I want to make you a better man, a better person, a better father.
When you leave me, I want you ready to be a positive impact in the community. That's why I do it."
On his program's mantra, S.O.L.I.D.
"When I got the job here, I was going back-and-forth on what I wanted the program to be known for, and I was listening to a sermon. It was talking about Matthew 7:26, the wise builder versus the foolish builder. The verse says that the foolish builder builds his house on sand. So, when storms come and adversity comes, it collapses. It goes on to say that the wise builder works his way through that sand and gets to a rock solid foundation.
So, when you see our program, our mantra is rock S.O.L.I.D. The S stands for Sacrifice. Everyone in the program has to sacrifice, including myself. The O stands for Ownership. The best teams I've been on, the players take ownership of their program. Those are the teams that do the best and those are the teams that win championships. The L is for Leadership, but we took it a step further and say Servant Leadership. We want to make sure we're loving each other and serving each other. The I and the D is Integrity and Dedication.
Anytime we get off kilter, I always go back to S.O.L.I.D."
The Champions Fund
The Champions Fund is a newly created, 100% tax deductible, philanthropic opportunity to contribute strategic revenue to Kennesaw State Athletics, with the goal of strengthening our ability to recruit and retain top-tier talent in this new era of collegiate athletics. Contributions to the Champions Fund will help aid in funding student-athlete recruitment and retention, as well as helping the Owls provide competitive excellence through investments in coaching, travel and facilities. The fund will also give an elevated student-athlete experience, including enhanced academic, nutrition, wellness and leadership programs. Donate to the Champions Fund here and help us support our Kennesaw State Owls.
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