Scott Rice is a special education teacher at Arrowhead High School as well as a football coach. I never had him as a teacher, but he was my wide receiver coach and offensive coordinator. He encouraged me and made football more than just a high school sport. He showed me how to keep working at something and to care for everybody around me.

Coach Rice critiqued us and saw something to make us better. I specifically remember running drills and being yelled at for not getting to twelve. It taught me attention to detail not just in football, but in everything.  

While watching film, he would show someone's faults, but also show how to fix them and how everybody could learn from it. He would show someone's route and explain how his steps (or stem) was not right and then draw over the video to show how to execute the route. It made me and the team better even though we weren’t on the field.

He not only taught us the basics of football, but also the concepts of the game. He would explain the importance of each route and each position’s role in the play. Each player had to be in the right spot for the play to work. There were countless time when I would here “Cut your split!” or “plus your split!” As tedious as it was, it was something that made football more interesting and intricate, so I thank Coach Rice for bringing that to the game for me.

Apart from teaching us football, he was also an encourager. When the team would meet on Sundays after the Friday night games, there were times when Coach wasn’t satisfied with how we won. Coach would show us the film and bring us back to reality. If we wanted to continue to win, we would have to get better. It encouraged us to get back to practice and work on our routes and concepts.

At practice, if he saw us not performing, he would let us know. I remember after a practice where I wasn’t playing well and I wasn’t focusing. He pulled me aside and told me I was better than what I was doing and that I needed to focus on the plays and my routes. That accountability kept me from giving up and made me want to make every play flawless. It reinforced the idea of not giving up and not being contempt.

A month or two ago, my friend’s dad passed away. It was hard on him and his family, so coach made sure me and all the other players were there for him. He came to the funeral and was there for my friend. He even went as far to get his family a gift card to a restaurant. It really stood out to me and gave me a lot of respect him for it. It made me want to show kindness to everybody around me.

Coach Rice is more than a coach and teacher, he is also a friend to me and to everybody else who knows him. He has a great way of teaching and lifting kids up. On top of that, he is a good person and cares for the people in his life.