At halftime of the National Championship Game Monday night, Alabama coach Nick Sabin informed his starting quarterback, Jalen Hurts, that he would be replaced by freshman Tua Tagovailoa for the second half. “I thought Tua would give us a better chance,” Saban said. And Tua delivered, living up to his coach’s high expectations of him.
The lesson for Riverside, reinforced by Saban’s leadership and Tagovailoa’s performance, is one we practice: that when a young person holds a coach, teacher, TAC, or other role model in high esteem, and when that role model sets the standards and expectations very high, the teenager will do whatever he possibly can to exceed those expectations. This is one of the most straight-forward leadership lessons there is.
So as adult role models, find a young person today, point at him or her, as Coach Saban did to his freshman quarterback, and set the bar high saying you’re counting on them to deliver. I bet they do.