The Commanders' Week 6 Tackle Coach of the Week is Bishop McNamara's Gregory Calhoun. Coach Calhoun leads with a strong sense of community, encouraging his players to give back and take pride in representing Bishop McNamara. Under his direction, the Mustangs have adopted a road in Forestville and organized a Back-to-School Drive to collect supplies for local schools. Through his example, Coach Calhoun continues to strengthen the bond between Bishop McNamara and the surrounding community while shaping his players into leaders on and off the field.
Commanders.com sat down for an exclusive with Coach Calhoun following his Coach of the Week win.
Q: Congratulations on being named Week 6 Flag Coach of the Week. How does it feel?
A: "At the end of the day it's obviously a great feeling to be recognized for the work we're doing on a day-to-day basis. A lot of times as coaches our goal is to win games and be successful on the field, but the other part is just developing young people and providing them opportunities to grow personally off the field. It's great to get the recognition from the NFL team in our market, and I definitely appreciate it."
Q: What's one of the biggest life lessons football has taught you, and how do you look to pass that on to your student-athletes?
A: "I think the biggest thing is really how to handle things in life. Football taught me a lot about fighting for what you want and grinding. Understand that there will be opportunities places before you, and it's a matter of whether you'll be prepared or not when they come.
It's also just taught me how to deal with challenges and adversity. Post-college, I lost both my parents and had a significant house fire, and football was one of those things that helped me with that. It provided me a mental space to kind of pull my boots up and keep it pushing, but also it gave me that network of support and connection. I have relationships, brotherhood, community that I've built up over all these years. Football really is family."
Q: Do you have a motto or mantra that anchors you in your work?
A: "I think one of the biggest things I always try to tell my guys is, 'it's business but not personal.' And when we say that as coaches, it's about the football bottom line and being productive. We hold you accountable, it's not that we don't care about you. But on the flip side of it, that is the personal side of it. We do love you. We want to have a personal relationship with you. We want to know what's going on with you outside of football. We do a lot of things outside of football to make sure these guys are taken care of, to make sure they're in a space to be successful down the road. So 'it's business but not personal' resonates in two ways with the guys in knowing that's just the reality of what we're trying to do in this process."
Q: Why is connecting players to the community they're surrounded by so important to you?
A: "Our goal is to build the next generation of productive citizens in the community. Everybody's going to have a different role in society once they graduate, but just giving those opportunities to connect and see how meaningful it can be. Football is great, but just understanding there's things outside of football that we can influence. From the families in our program to our coaching staff, we've got a great support system bringing ideas of different things we can do in the community. When we do give-back initiatives it also shows others that we're more than just football players, and it's a relationship you build in that process. And you also never know when a gift of kindness may change somebody's life or their mindset in how they look at things."
