by Patrick Carpenter | Jul 26, 2016 | News Slider, Opinion, Sports
As Coach Carpenter, one of my main responsibilities is “coaching up” the freshman players. The first day we were on the field with them, Coach Webb huddled up the skill players and asked, “Who here is a quarterback?” No one raised their hand. He kind of snickered to himself and said, “All right, well, who here would call themselves a quarterback.” Finally two guys raised their hands. Ian and Josh. In eighth grade the year before, Josh was the starting quarterback and Ian was the backup. Coach Winfree and I went through fundamentals with them — quick catch and throw, three step drops, basic follow throughs on release and how to grip the ball — basic things just to get those kids warmed up. After so much fundamental work, we went to work with the wide receiver groups. We had them throw slants, hitches and seams — simple routes that will be incorporated in their growth. Holy cow were we impressed with them. They were young with a lot of talent, but Coach Winfree called them “coachable.” I thought that was the perfect way to describe them. The act of being coachable is very important. If you aren’t coachable we can’t help you. Coachability is the willingness to be corrected and to act on that correction. It’s humility. It’s being able to realize that you need the guidance of others to be better. In a way, I have had to be coachable the past two months as well — primarily because of how raw of a coach I am. I’ve sat to the side watching these coaches coach up...
by Patrick Carpenter | Jul 21, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb’s Madi Talbert came up just short in the Olympic Trials for the 300m steeplechase on Monday, July 4th. Talbert was named as one of the 35 best runners in the country and competed for a spot in the 2016 Summer Olympics, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro. Talbert qualified for the trials by running a personal best 9:50.57 in the 2015 NCAA Division I East Region Prelims, which was the fourth best time in the nation from the East Region and West Region Prelims combined. At the Olympic Trials, she came in 29th with a time of 10:09.76. The top 14 qualified for the Olympic games. “It’s been a crazy experience!” Talbert said. Just a few weeks prior, Talbert competed in Eugene, Oregon, during the National Championship rounds where she qualified for the Olympic Trials shortly after, therefore she had little time to prepare and rest. “I’ve run all the races that I want to run,” Talbert said. “Pros and collegiate athletes have very different schedules, so it was very hard to be racing at that level as a collegiate athlete at the end of my season,” she noted. “By then, you’ve been racing for months and months and months, while professionals have been racing for only a few months. So I was at my peak physically, and it was very hard to maintain my endurance. It was kind of overwhelming.” Nevertheless, Talbert added that competing in the Olympic Trials was an incredible opportunity. “The Olympic Trials was a completely amazing experience. I was envious of the high school athletes because they hadn’t had nationals yet,...
by Patrick Carpenter | Jul 16, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb athletics continues to succeed off the field as well as on the field. Men’s & women’s golf and softball both received the NCAA Public Recognition award for accomplishments in the classroom this past week. This award comes a season after Kristin Ryman’s softball squad was named National Champions in the classroom for their cumulative GPA (3.65) by the National Fast Pitch Association. Lipscomb Softball’s All-American second baseman (2014-2016) Baylee Williams just completed her collegiate career. Williams was part of the National Championship team for GPA and acknowledges how important her time in the classroom was. “Academics to an athlete is very important because sports are temporary and academics is what is ultimately going to determine how life is after college,” Williams said. “It’s important to have a good balance between the two, but academic focus will get you further in life.” The three teams were honored for finishing in the top 10 percent in the Academic Progress Rate (APR) in their sports during the 2014-15 academic year. All three teams posted scores of 1,000. “”We are very proud of our golf and softball athletes who continue to excel academically, as well as on the field or course,” Dr. Lin Garner, associate athletics director for academics and senior woman administrator, said in a statement. “Kudos also to their coaches who invest so much time in and attention to academics.” The APR is meant to hold NCAA institutions accountable for their academic progress and graduation, which has become a major focal point in recruiting. Teams must earn an APR of 930 to compete in Championships. Visit the NCAA APR’s website for a...
by Patrick Carpenter | Jul 6, 2016 | News Slider, Opinion, Sports
A few years ago, my buddy Anse Rigby made me a pallet guitar that now sits by my fireplace. On the back he wrote: “Pat, continue to praise the Lord with your incredible talent! You rock.” – Anse. Thanks, Anse, you rock, too. Underneath, he wrote a proverb that I had never heard of before. It was Proverbs 27:17. It reads, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” I have been Coach Carpenter or Coach Pat, depending on who you talk to, for about a month now at Franklin High School. When I first got the idea about wanting to coach, my professor at Mississippi State in 2013 told me that I needed to develop a coaching philosophy. My philosophy, I thought, was simple: I want to run a vertical passing attack benefiting from play action off a strong power run game. Simple, right? Well. After being around the coaches and players at Franklin High School for the past month, I have decided this. I want to have two philosophies. The aforementioned philosophy is my X and O plan, but I decided that I needed a coaching philosophy with the players and, mostly, with myself. That philosophy can be summed up into a few words: Proverbs 27:17. One thing I think our society has forgotten is how to build people up. When people fail, we laugh. We mock them. We make memes with Michael Jordan crying on their face. We don’t challenge others to be better. Instead, we are so involved with ourselves that we aren’t coachable ourselves. This morning, one of the coaches said something that was simple, yet...
by Patrick Carpenter | Jun 30, 2016 | News Slider, Opinion, Sports
Sometimes all you need is an opportunity. Sometimes all you need is a chance. And sometimes your first opportunity comes from chance. My name is Patrick Carpenter, and I have been a musician for over 10 years now. I love music. It’s been in every major aspect of my life. Luckily, God not only gave me the gift of music, but He also made me a nerd as well. The primary subject I “nerd out” about outside of music is football, especially the quarterback position. Being from Mississippi, my football hero was the largest football icon there was, who also happened to be from my state — Brett Favre. The way that Favre played as an athlete spoke to me as a musician. Favre improvised; he had fun; he loved every moment and was not afraid to make mistakes. As a guitar player, I had the same mindset when it came to how I approached the instrument. This past spring, I had an idea. I knew I only had a few hours left to complete my undergrad degree, so I was looking for something to “fill” my time during the summer. In the back of my head, I kept hearing many of my instructors in my academic department saying, “Never be afraid to tackle what you fear the most. Take chances.” At some point, I got the idea to be a coach. I have studied football relentlessly and have been in several leadership positions. In my head, I knew I was more than prepared to be a coach. I knew I had the tools, but was it something that...
by Erin Franklin | Jun 29, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
The importance of building relationships with members of the team and staff is just one of the things Lipscomb women’s basketball coach Greg Brown learned during his years coaching on the staff of legendary coach Pat Summitt. Summitt, the long-time coach of the University of Tennessee Lady Vols and a pioneer in the world of women’s athletics died Tuesday after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was buried Thursday in a private ceremony in Clarksville, near where she grew up. From 2002-2004, Brown was the assistant coach for the Lady Vols while the legendary Summitt was head coach. Brown got his start in coaching college basketball at the University of Tennessee, thanks to Summitt. “I really appreciate her taking the chance on a young high school coach to join the staff,” Brown said. During the time they coached together, Brown and Summittdeveloped a close friendship, like many others Summitt came in contact with. Brown reflected on this, stating that building relationships with others is what Summitt was best at. It’s something that he took away from the years of coaching with her and employs with his own team at Lipscomb. Strengthening relationships with his players even off the court is something Brown said he strives to do. “At the most, you’re going to play 40 games together, but you’re going to be together off the court the whole year,” Brown noted. “I think the first thing that you’ve got to understand is you’ve got to develop relationships. Before they’re going to trust you on the floor, they’ve got to be able to trust that you’re there for them.” Not only does Brown have fond memories of coaching...
