Randy Awrey
Episode 100
28 DEC 2020
The Head Football Coach at Perquimans County High School in North Carolina. He was a successful NCAA head football coach for 21 years, being named conference coach of the year seven times and being inducted into the Hall of Fame at four different universities. As a student-athlete he was the MVP of the Northern Michigan University national championship team, which was the first team in any sport to ever go from a zero and ten won-lost record to national champions the next year.
Notable guest quotes:
“When I was young… we’d go to church but that was kind of like ‘Check, done’ thing and move on. And I think that as I’ve grown, I’ve obviously matured a whole lot more into my faith and have gotten a lot closer to Jesus Christ.”
“The older I got, the more I saw that that hole in my heart had to be filled and Jesus was the only one that could do it.”
“My father was in Knights of Columbus and he distributed Communion to the local nursing homes. He also was an usher… My mom taught CCD classes. My brother and I were altar boys.”
“The athletic part of it, that’s where — as a child and even as a young adult when I got into high school — that becomes your god, ya’ know, your athletics, your newspaper clippings… and everybody’s patting you on the back… You put other things more important.”
“That’s where we fall into that trap, is, we start reading our own press clippings and we start believing in how good we are and really don’t realize that God gave us those talents and God gave us those abilities.”
“Throughout my sporting career I went from praying to win games and then praying to not get hurt… to praying to do well, to be able to be a good teammate, to eventually praying that what I did would be a glow in God’s eyes. And so, you go from ‘it’s all about me,’ to showing God to other people.”
“In my life when I seemed to want to do it myself and I wanted to try to do everything because I was big enough and fast enough and strong enough and good enough, it’s like pushing a car uphill. And when I would let God drive and I’d let God do the work, it’s like pushing it downhill.”
“I wasn’t good enough to make it in the NFL. And, I thought I was and I thought that’d be my career and I thought that’s what I’d be doing with the rest of my life but God had a different plan and He had a much better plan and He always does.”
“When I recruited, when I hired coaches, everything involved with the program, your managers, your trainers, everyone has to be on the same page, and I always felt if we didn’t have the right philosophy we couldn’t be on the same page. So… we said your priorities are going to be with your faith, your family, your education, your football team, and yourself.”
“I had a chaplain come in and he would — ya’ know, God provided at every one of the schools, a different man each time, who was able to come in and — put together chapels before the game, FCA… type things one day a week… We’d have study halls with our kids, but we’d allow ’em to go to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting instead.”
Related link:
2-minute video: NMU 1975 National Championship Team (Randy was selected MVP)
