Joe Patterson
Episode 291
26 AUG 2024
He is the Head Football Coach, Director of Athletics, and Vice President of Enrollment at Ave Maria University. Entering his ninth season at the helm of the football program, he led a turnaround from a winless first season to Sun Division Champions just two years later, earning him Sun Division Coach of the Year honors. He earned his master’s degree in Catholic Leadership from the Catholic University of America and taught literature at St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C., for 19 years, the last twelve of which he served as the head varsity football coach, with his teams earning playoff berths in all but two of those seasons. Presently he is at the forefront of a new, free “The Pursuit of Online Wisdom” online course called, “Athletics and the Virtues.”
Notable guest quotes:
“My parents were a great witness to the Catholic faith… So much so that it seemed very natural. So that what we were practicing and what we were doing just seemed the right way.”
“Certainly the Marion devotion, the devotion to the sacred heart, we were all altar boys, things of that nature. And [my parents] were committed to Catholic education. So, I’ve been in Catholic education since I was five years old.”
“I knew I wanted to get into ministry. I knew that.”
“To weave in these other virtues, not only does it allow you to be a better team, and more competitive team, but more virtuous.”
“Yes, certainly being within the context of the Catholic realm was the, well, I don’t want to say it was a game changer, it was a deal breaker. I would not have pursued coaching if I could not have been in that realm.”
“We avoid the sun when we’re doing outdoor sports as much as we can. So, if we’re practicing at six in the morning, it’s that much easier to get up at maybe 4:30 to get in front of the Eucharist for an hour before practice.”
“You can’t compromise your academics. You can’t compromise your athletics. But most importantly, you can’t compromise your spirituality.”
“We played a game in Texas last year on a Saturday night. So, obviously you’re going to miss the vigil. And then – we’re budget conscious, so – we took some connecting flights to get back from San Antonio. So, we didn’t get back to campus ‘til 11 p.m. Sunday, but to have a priest come meet us at the chapel and have Mass, it has to be very intentional.”
“I use the seven deadly sins as a descriptive rubric to talk about the vices that we see so common, not just in pro sports but in college and high school and even in youth sports. So, we detail the vices but with each vice we have the corresponding virtue attached to it to show how, when properly done, athletics really is, in a lot of ways, the best training ground for these virtues for this audience that is engaged in the sport.”
“We do team retreats. Of course we start and end every practice with prayer. We have a chaplain for each team.”
Related links:
Joe’s bio on Ave Maria website
The Pursuit of Online Wisdom courses
