The folks at AL.com scored a very open and honest sit-down with Gene Chizik that they shared this morning where the former Auburn head coach and college coaching veteran opened up about a variety of topics.
Chizik stepped away from the game in February of 2017 after two seasons turning around the defense on Larry Fedora's staff at North Carolina, and
One of the more powerful things that Chizik talks about during the interview is the promise he and his wife made to their kids once he took the head coaching job at Auburn, and that was that they'd make a conscious commitment to make sure all three of their kids graduated from an Auburn high school. So while Chizik was in Chapel Hill with the Tar Heels, his wife and kids stayed back in Alabama, and that has to be a very tough situation, regardless of how much you love the game.
It's this statement from Chizik about that decision that will hit a chord with a lot of coaches.
"My kids could tell you where they were born, but they couldn't tell you where they were from because we had moved so much."
That's a truly eye opening realization for anyone who is a parent.
Asked what it would take to get him back into the coaching profession, Chizik shared, "It would just have to be the perfect fit. It would have to be after we've completed my son's senior year of high school, and I've been able to see every football game and every baseball game."
"I can't lie, I'm having a blast doing exactly what I'm doing. But I do love ball and I do love the coaching part and I feel like I do still have a lot of influence I can give to young guys."
"What matters to me, is being able to look back on the thousands of guys over 30-years of doing this. Thousands. And you can look back and say 'I made a difference with some of these dudes.' There's no question, that between my wife and myself, that we have done that with a lot of guys."
Hear more from Chizik, including his favorite food, why he's always been the type of guy who invests in different opportunities, and how the business and football worlds are very similar in the clip from AL.com.
https://youtu.be/0_ngPfEHDNc