A Lesson in Leadership

August 28, 2007 : Today Jay Mills, coach of the Charleston Southern University, dazzled us with a presentation that clearly demonstrated his ability to encourage his team members to be more than football players: to be outstanding citizens. He compared The Citadel, with its attention to military standards, and CSU, with its attention to moral leadership, noting that the two colleges have a friendly, meaningful, competitive rivalry.

Now in his fifth year at CSU, Coach Mills previously coached at Harvard, Notre Dame, Boise State, and the University of Minnesota Morris. He and his wife, Kimberly, are the parents of six children ages 10 to 23, and reside in Goose Creek.

Coach Mills enjoins his players to be the best, and to strive to be first, not just on the football field, but in life. He equates success with a faithfulness of purpose, and expects his players to commit to Christian principles. The mission of the football team is to apply the same goals to the game that they apply to their lives, stressing excellence, leadership, service, honor, and duty as lifetime benefits. The team can live with failure [not winning] if they can state clearly that they gave their very best. He says, “Have no regrets; do it right the first time without shortcuts.”

His players are committed to family, society, academics, and yes, football. The total picture requires a personal relationship with God and the acceptance of responsibility and leadership.

It is readily apparent that every student who works with Coach Mills will be a winner in life, for he is coaching men, not simply a football team.

Reported by Fred Sales, Keyway Committee