Thursday, June 26, 2025
How far afield will you run away with neurotic fumbling before you huddle and rethink?
I used to run way down field, stretching every nerve. I didn’t have to pick up the slack, I could scrap it. You don’t have to run the plan. You can call it. You can punt. You can claim defeat. You can bend. You can make a new plan. Options aplenty with good coaching.
When the plan is thwarted, how far will you run afield in worry before you realize the game of strategy? When I was department chair, our adjunct orchestra conductor resigned on Saturday evening, before the Monday of the start of the semester. Students were enrolled. Schedules were set. The plan was in play, but boom – an empty podium. Now what? Do we run away with injustice and cry “foul?”
We huddle. We stop. We consider. We pause. Then, the coach in my head called it – call Aaron, our euphonium teacher. He was a band director and played in orchestras. I called him, and he stepped up. We saved it in less than 20 minutes of huddling. It was a victory. The coach came through, quietly, with comportment before the crazy person started running afield in useless twitter.
OK coach! 1-2-3 Trust! Your skills will save you. Your wit will save you. Your ability to scrap the plan will save you. Your flexibility will save you. Running down the field like a crazy person won’t save you. The curve ball comes. What do you do? Huddle. Rethink. Adapt. Modify. Punt. Scrap. Start over. Bring in your pinch hitter. Thanks, Aaron for stepping up! Thanks coach, for thinking of Aaron. Play ball, even if the plan changes. What will we do coach? Don’t worry, there is always a way. The Coach is brilliant. Go team!