Watch: HS Football Coach's Manly Monday Life Lessons Go Viral
There exists a need in this world for men to deliver lessons on masculinity to the boys of today, so that they will grow into the strong men of tomorrow.
High school football in the South is a good way to convey those life lessons.
Enter Steve Carter, a 40-year veteran of the coaching profession who at a dozen schools has been teaching football and manliness to kids in Alabama. Carter went on “Fox & Friends” to talk about his Manly Monday program, where he imparts a practical lesson in a hands-on way, such as this video where he taught boys how to change a tire:
In this week’s installment of Manly Monday Coach Carter teaches us how to change a flat tire. #lifelessons #morethanfootball pic.twitter.com/dxNsULThxz
— Cody Gross (@coachgross73) April 30, 2019
Cody Gross is Carter’s boss at Athens High School in Athens, Alabama, who shares his assistant’s pet project.
And yes, Carter is aware that being a good man includes being good to women, which is why this week’s edition, in advance of Mother’s Day, taught the boys how to make jewelry. The lucky winner of a drawing out of a hat even got to take Coach Carter’s expertly crafted piece home for his mom.
This week for Manly Monday we talked about how to treat women & Coach Carter actually made a piece of jewelry. Players drew out of a hat & the lucky player won the jewelry for his mom. #MothersDay pic.twitter.com/XUBnEA4LQ2
— Cody Gross (@coachgross73) May 8, 2019
Is there anything Coach Carter can’t do? Not according to Gross, who caught on tape a bunch of high school kids who learned how to save money with a bit of do-it-yourself home repair that would do Bob Vila himself proud:
“Manly Monday” with Coach Carter. This man can do ANYTHING. General plumbing tutorial. How do you cut PVC when you can’t get a saw to it? Use some twine. Teaching life skills on Mondays. pic.twitter.com/pxExUFSAFY
— Cody Gross (@coachgross73) April 1, 2019
Carter told the Fox News crew that he was surprised to see the videos go viral, but in an age where masculinity is under constant attack from certain elements of the media, any sign of the arts being kept alive are bound to attract attention.
“I’m having former players from other schools calling me and texting me and different things … It’s wonderful. I didn’t even know it was going to blow up like this,” Carter said.
As to the jewelry edition of the Monday lessons, Carter was about as “toxic” as a glass of purified water. “We talked to them on how to love and respect your mother, girlfriend or wife, and I make jewelry. You may look at a guy like me and think, ‘Man, he makes jewelry?’ And I said, ‘Guys it’s not about making jewelry, it’s about doing something creative for the women you love in your life,’” he said.
On top of his handiness and sensitive side, Carter is also as humble as anyone this side of a religious figure, quick to deflect credit for a good idea onto his boss rather than seize it for himself.
“We try to teach these kids about life. Cody Gross is our head coach and I’m always fixing stuff around the office and around the campus, and he came to me one day and said, ‘Let’s start teaching the kids how to do some practical stuff’ and I said, ‘That’d be a great idea.’”
In a world where — to steal a line from the classic song “Lola” — “girls will be boys and boys will be girls,” there are still men who bravely fight that cultural tide.
Even better, as long as Coach Gross is posting Carter’s Manly Mondays on Twitter, boys across the nation can follow along and become better men themselves.
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