Dear BGN Members,

It's been a while since I've posted anything on the blog, but I can explain. At the end of August, I left my job teaching math at a wealthy, high-end prep school to teach 8th grade math at a low-income public school in Montgomery County. The demographics of the school are 55% Black, 25% White, and 20% Hispanic. Why did I leave my previous job? Well I couldn't stand the prep school. The kids were obnoxious, the administration was a fraud, and the pay and benefits weren't as glamorous as the school led everyone to believe.

Any way, the higher ups at my new job needed an assistant football coach... and I jumped on that as fast as I could. I had coached basketball in the past, but let's face it, basketball is lame. The football head coach here is a cool guy, having played center in high school and college for years. He doesn't treat me as a measly assistant either and wants the kids to view us as if we're both the head coach. At the beginning of the year, he had asked me what I wanted to do with the team, to which i replied: "Give me the defense." And he did.

The defense we run is a 5-2. It's not a traditional NFL-style defense, but it works in the run-heavy middle school game. We stack 5 big guys on the line where our defensive ends' primary job is to rush around the offensive line, play containment, and force the play into the middle to our two linebackers. Cornerbacks play man, safeties play zone, and it's been doing well so far. I'm no Jim Johnson, but I'm hoping the NFL will be calling in a few years.

So, my day is pretty busy - wake up at 6:00, leave the house at 6:45, teach 'till 3:30, coach 'til 5:30, get home at 6:45, do my husbandly duties, go to bed, lather, rinse, repeat. Since my wife is working on a master's degree, this leaves me little time with the laptop, making it hard to discuss pertinent football matters with all of you. All that said, this coaching gig is the most fun I've ever had while receiving a pay check and I would recommend that anybody try to coach something - whether it's PAL football, little league, or whatever.

Thanks for hearing me out, BGN, and I hope to be a regular again very soon.

Love,

awd777

P.S. Go Eagles!

P.S.S. Go Phillies, too.