Notre Dame Football Throwback Thursday: Relentless Wisdom by Oscar McBride

Happy Thursday! Since we have yet another bye week, I thought I’d spend this week’s Throwback Thursday post sharing a book with you written by my friend and Notre Dame Fighting Irish classmate, Oscar McBride: “Relentless Wisdom: A Collection of Thoughts, Ideas, and Opinions.” Oscar was the person who encouraged me to write my first book, (and continues to encourage me), and I’d like to share a little bit of his first book with you!

If you don’t know Oscar, relentless is a word that one hundred percent describes who he is and how he lives his life. In the words of Dr. Benjamin Roberts, Jr., “the term ‘relentless’ describes the fuel that has motivated (Oscar) most of his life. Overcoming obstacles and living with challenges, Oscar McBride, my nephew, battle asthma as a child, almost lost his right arm in a carpentry accident at age 12, and had to work on the farm fields of Florida while in high school to earn extra money.”

“He beat the odds of being from a small town and playing for a small football team, while excelling in both academics and athletics. Oscar was a state champion and Junior-Olympian qualifier in track; all-state basketball and football player and while maintaining an (A) average in high school was being recruited by Notre Dame as one of the nation’s top tight-ends in 1989. Oscar went on to play professional football, receive his master’s degree and won the Positive Coaching Alliance’s ‘Double Goal’ Coach Award.”

In Relentless Wisdom, “Oscar challenges the reader to take an objective look at the world of sports. His personal commentary on key sports figures and situations like hiring and firing of coaches, may leave you shocked, angry, or busting in laughter. McBride takes his readers inside the locker rooms and confronts coaches to face what they are doing with the fresh minds of the youth they are trusted to mentor.”

Below is an excerpt from Oscar’s second chapter on “Sports and Character.”

“What exactly is coaching for character? What does that even mean? How does one go about it? What is character development? Who’s responsible? Why is it even important?”

“Hold on a second!”

“There’s a whole lot more to sports than just winning ... and please don’t get me wrong. I don’t think any of us wants to lose. Truly, wins and losses are a fundamental part of sports AND life. That said what do you really learn if morals and values aren’t taught while teaching?”

“Huuuh?”

“Yeah, that’s right teaching while teaching ... as much as we (coaches) are teaching (coaching is nothing more than teaching) young athletes how to execute a specific movement, play or technique we should also be sure to capture those ‘teachable moments’ that will further benefit our young athletes in life. As a matter of fact, that’s a huge part of our responsibility as coaches.”

“Athletes are always looking at how their coaches conduct themselves ALWAYS! We are responsible for what they see ... in other words we must be able to model the very behavior that we expect from them.”

“The following are a few areas that can be ‘taught while teaching” in sports ...

• Discipline
• Hard Work
• Trustworthiness
• Humility
• Positive Attitude
• Respect
• Passion

Now I don’t want to give too much of the good stuff away. In order to see Oscar deep dive into each of the areas listed above, you’ll have to pick up a copy of the book for yourself!

Cheers & GO IRISH!