Art Williams describes a devastating football loss that sent him into crisis, convinced his life was over. Heavily favored and expected to save the program, his team got overwhelmed on the field. He spent the weekend crying, doubting his future as a coach, and wrestling with the shame of failure.
I thought we'd beat them 100-nothing. The whole town comes out. They were going to see the savior of the football program, you know, and they were excited and all that crap. And I sit there on the 50-yard line. I said, this is going to be a joke. We're going to beat them like a drum. And they beat us. And I got lower and lower. And I said, my life's over. There's no way I can recover from this. Who would hire a football coach like me? And I went home and I cried and I moped around all weekend. I said, shame on you. Yeah, you're playing in a tough league. Yeah, you only got 17 or 18 kids, but they believed in you, and they did everything you asked, and
