NORTH FORNEY GOON DADS

Many years ago, while hosting a Christian Coaches Clinic, North Forney Head Football Coach Randy Jackson asked for coaches to share something, not X’s and O’s, that had impacted their program. One of the attendees, a coach from Sulphur Springs, spoke about his “Coffee with Coaches,” a game day morning meeting where men from the community gathered with players and coaches.

While he cannot remember all the details of what that coach shared, or exactly what those meetings entailed, it left an impression on Coach Jackson. Following the clinic, he took the idea back to Mesquite Poteet, where he was head coach, added his own twist, and a mentorship program for his players was born. He quickly found a group of men willing to invest into the lives of the players.

“All coaches steal stuff,” explains Coach Jackson. “If I hear something good, I am going to try it. I didn’t know if it would work, but I was definitely going to try it.”

That was 2011 and, according to Coach Jackson, the program he named “Breakfast with Champions,” worked. One of the men who was involved in the first iteration of the program was David Griffin, co-pastor of Community Life Church, who Jackson met while attending the church.

“I have long recognized the need for young men to hear positive voices that reinforce the value of faith, family and character,” says Griffin, about his involvement in the program. “This was an opportunity to invest in others what my Father and my coaches deposited in me.”

Fast forward to 2017, Jackson’s first season at North Forney.

As he had done at his other stops along the way, Jackson brought the Breakfast with Champions program with him. Since this was Goonville, TX, it made sense to call the men who would be involved Goon Dads. With Steven Carroll, the team’s chaplain by his side, Jackson spoke to a small group of men, outlining his vision, laying out expectations and asking for their support.

“The decade between ages 15 and 25 is critical,” shared Coach Jackson. “Government studies show that people who have five or more adults who really care about them during those years have a better chance of success in life.”

Coach Jackson needed men that would commit to pouring into the lives of the young men in the program. There would be game day morning meetings that included game highlight videos, practice week awards and a guest speaker. There would be time for fellowship between players and their Goon Dads.

As they had at Poteet, the men of the North Forney community stepped up. By the end of the first season, which ended with a 10-3 record and the Falcons playing into the third round of the playoffs, there were nearly 40 Goon Dads.

Jason O’Neill, a captain with the Cedar Hill Fire Department, who took last year away from the program for work commitments, was a year-one Goon Dad. While he now has a son in the program, for the first two years he did not.

“When I heard rumors of Coach Jackson becoming our coach, I read his book,” O’Neill said. “I was amazed by how much of what he wrote was the same as I felt about building culture in the firehouse. Men of any age need other men in their lives to help them learn and grow.”

Relating it to his time as a Goon Dad, O’Neill says, “I want to help our Goons navigate this chapter, and the next chapters of their lives. I feel like God has used this program to allow me to follow His will to help and influence our young people toward their greatest potential.”

Rod Brown, whose son Roderick is a highly recruited Falcons’ defensive lineman, is in his second year as a Goon Dad. He became a Goon Dad because, as a former high school football player, he did not have the support of his parents, let alone his dad.

“This is my chance to be a father figure for young men away from home,” Brown said, explaining why being a part of the program is important to him. “Being the one they’re comfortable talking to when something is bothering them and being that moral support that they may not have.”

While many Goon Dads have kids in the football program, many do not. Some do not even live on the North side of Forney. Eric Whicker, who has been a Goon Dad for three years is one of those. Whicker, a Poteet graduate and self-professed high school football nerd, knew of Coach Jackson from his time at Poteet. He got involved because of the relationships he had developed with football players who had previously played for his baseball organization.

It is significant to Whicker that through his involvement as a Goon Dad, he is helping to break down barriers of race and age.

“This is so rewarding for me, but more so for my kids. They watch everything I do with these boys,” said Whicker of the relationships he has developed with several players, including Kam Allen, Akanimo Asuquo and Antorius Hambric. “I have gotten to know these guys pretty well over the past couple years. Kam will come by the house unannounced just to play Madden with my 10-year old!”

When they are not playing video games, Whicker shares his business experience with the three. When Allen, Asuquo and Hambric started a lawn mowing business over the summer, Whicker helped them understand the need to keep costs low, and to try to get yards that are close together so they could get more done.

Four years after it started, with the Falcons off to a 4-0 start, the Breakfast with Champions program is stronger than ever, albeit in a different format.

Restrictions brought on by Covid-19 means game day meetings are no longer in person but, rather, they are now done using Zoom. Goon Dads are no longer allowed on the field after games. Instead of one-on-one relationships, players are now mentored in position groups. Masks, social distancing, and Covid-19 protocols are enforced when Goon Dads and players meet.

While it has been a change, the Goon Dads and players seem to like it.

“It has been cool,” said Brown, of the modifications brought on due to the pandemic. “We’re still able to have communication with the boys, hang out with them, and even get the Friday morning message with them. I like the position groups because it has given me the chance to interact with more boys this season.”

Though he enjoyed the one-on-one relationships, JJ Tarno, in his third year as a Goon Dad, appreciates the fellowship opportunities the position groups have brought.

The Friday morning message is something to which Goon Dads and players look forward. Stephen Mackey, founder of 2Words Character Development, met Coach Jackson in his second week at North Forney and has spoken at Breakfast with Champions all four years.

Thankful to play a part in the program at North Forney, Mackey sees the intersection between sports and life and believes the Goon Dads have an opportunity to impact the lives of the young men in the football program.

“For me, it takes a village,” Mackey shared. “Even in the context of athletics, these young men need caring committed adults, beyond just the coaches. In doing this, the program is giving back to the community. [The Goon Dads] are raising up the next generation of men.”

Coach Jackson believes in the honor of the coaching profession.

“I have a heart for kids that don’t have men in their life,” Jackson shared. “I am proud that after ten years, the program still exists at Poteet. I hope that, when I leave the coaching profession, more than wins and losses, people will know about what we have done to impact the lives of these young men.”

When he started his Breakfast with Champions program, Coach Jackson did not know if it would work. Looking at the Goon Dads, and the impact it is having on the next generation of adults, even in the face of the pandemic and the changes it has driven, the answer is, it works.