Shelby Waddell

Christian | Husband to @ojwaddell | Dad to Joy Lee | History Teacher & Offensive Coordinator at Clements High School | Vanderbilt Fan ⚓️⬇️

[Shelby Waddell @CoachSWaddell]

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV

[Shelby Waddell @CoachSWaddell]

@jalenmerricks Was in section A, at halftime I looked at my buddy and said “well that was fun while it lasted” when we got the strip sack in the 4th that’s when I really started to believe to be honest.

[Michael Battista @MichaelBattista]

First time hearing Flower of Scotland in a stadium.

#BOLSCO | #FIFAWorldCup

[Jack DeLongchamps @JDelongchamps]

The most unique ticket in college baseball this weekend?!

Friends, families & loved ones have flocked to Troy, Alabama to witness history!

Even if that means sitting at a football stadium…

[11Point7 College Baseball @11point7]

Scenes from THE Troy Super Regional 🔥🔥🔥

[tony franklin @coachtf]

CoachTF…Why do your receivers get in low stances with hands up in a fighters position? Because I learned how to coach receivers in 1999/2000 by watching NFL great Ed McCaffrey ( Christians dad) dominate one on ones with this unusual stance…Made my career amazing…Thx Ed!

[Shelby Waddell @CoachSWaddell]

Great teaching points on one of my favorite concepts.

[tony franklin @coachtf]

23 minutes and 23 seconds of Reteaching the “Stick Concept” by Me ( CoachTF) after 28 years running it…Good/Bad/Ugly… Major coaching points that work for me and my teams

[GridironHQ @TheGridironHQ]

People think coaching is:

🏈 Calling plays
🏈 Wearing team gear
🏈 Friday night lights
🏈 Winning trophies

Sometimes it is.

But coaching is also:

-Checking on a kid who is acting different

-Having difficult conversations

-Making decisions that disappoint people

-Holding standards when it’s unpopular

-Helping players through some of the hardest moments of their lives

-Doing laundry until Midnight on a Friday night

The football is only part of the job.

[GridironHQ @TheGridironHQ]

Hot take:

Coaches absolutely have favorites, even if you don’t think you do.

The favorites are the players who:

✅ Show up
✅ Do things right
✅ Take coaching
✅ Put the team first
✅ Can be trusted
✅ Have great effort

Every coach has favorites. They’re called dependable players.

[Mike Rittelmann @MRittCGS]

🚨 Parents of High School Football Recruits

One of the biggest mistakes I see in recruiting is when parents try to take over the process instead of supporting it

College coaches are evaluating much more than film, statistics, and athletic ability. They are evaluating how a prospect communicates, handles adversity, interacts with others, and whether the family will be a positive fit within the program

Over the years, I have seen talented players miss opportunities because of poor communication, unrealistic expectations, social media issues, constant parental involvement, or simply a lack of understanding of how recruiting actually works

Some of the biggest mistakes parents make:

🔹 Speaking for their son during the recruiting process

🔹 Contacting coaches excessively

🔹 Treating camp invites as scholarship offers

🔹 Inflating height, weight, or testing numbers

🔹 Comparing their son to other recruits

🔹 Focusing too much on rankings and social media attention

🔹 Ignoring academic requirements

🔹 Chasing every camp without a recruiting plan

🔹 Becoming overly focused on NIL or one specific level of football

🔹 Creating unnecessary drama with coaches, programs, or teammates

A camp invite is not an offer. Rankings do not determine a player’s future. More camps do not automatically lead to more opportunities. And playing at the highest level possible is not always the same as finding the right fit

The best recruiting families:

✅ Allow their son to take ownership of the process

✅ Communicate professionally and respectfully

✅ Focus on academics as much as football

✅ Stay realistic about recruiting opportunities

✅ Trust the evaluation process

✅ Keep the focus on long term development and fit

Parents should focus on helping their son become the best student, athlete, and young man possible. Be supportive, be realistic, trust the process, and allow your son to take ownership of his recruitment

The families that navigate recruiting the best are usually the ones who stay humble, stay professional, and understand that recruiting is about finding the right fit, not winning a popularity contest

🏈 At the end of the day, the goal is not to win recruiting.

It is to help your son find the right school, earn a degree, continue playing football, and create opportunities that will benefit him long after his playing days are over

[Trey Wallace @TreyWallace]

I know we get lost in the chaos of NIL and the transfer portal

But, listening to West Virginia’s Armani Guzman, a young man from New York, singing ‘Country Roads’ is so darn wholesome.

College Sports still deliver

[Shelby Waddell @CoachSWaddell]

@ChalkLast0712 I like getting the back out so 2x2 for me.

[GridironHQ @TheGridironHQ]

The best coaching staffs I’ve been around had this in common:

They genuinely liked being around each other. They could laugh together, hang out together, and talk football for hours.

Yet they still respectfully disagree in a meeting and then walk out aligned. That kind of trust matters, and it’s not easy to build. It takes time and effort.

[Jamie Shaw @JamieShaw5]

Significant news for Mark Byington.

Does this give Vanderbilt a top 20 roster?

PG Tyler Tanner
PG Baylor Allen
G Ace Glass
G Ant Brown
G TO Barrett
G/F Ethan Mgbako
F Chandler Bing
F Berke Buyuktuncel
PF Sebastian Williams Adams
F/C Bangot Dak
C Jayden Leverett
C Jackson Sheffield

@TheDoreReport

[tyler tanner @tyler_tanner5]

thank you Lord🙏🏽🙏🏽

[Shelby Waddell @CoachSWaddell]

Happy for my guy @little_clittle, Tupelo hoops is about to be a major problem!

[Daily Journal Sports @DJournalSports]

When you’ve won six state titles at one school like Cliff Little has at Biggersville, it takes a lot to leave. But coaching Tupelo’s boys basketball team is, in his words, a “once-in-a lifetime opportunity.” https://t.co/69kqwrqh9g

✍️ by @Bfarrell727 #djpreps

[Talk N Shoot @ChalkLast0712]

Everyone wants to call offensive plays but not everyone knows that it’s the most critiqued & loneliest coaching position in sports. Definitely one of the most exciting positions you can have when things are going well but also one of the most stressful when things aren’t.

[Brandon Ramsey @BRamseyKSR]

+Hire smart coaches.
+Have an administration that is willing to be innovative and push the boundaries.
+Engage with your (wealthy) alumni base.
+Invest in being good.

Vanderbilt has been one of the clear winners of the NIL era. Probably a good program to follow.

[tony franklin @coachtf]

To Be An Offensive Lineman is To Understand Real Life:

10 Thoughts:

1) I was not an offensive lineman. I wished I had been.

2) I didn’t coach OL ( except once in high school in 1981-82… and it taught me more about football than anything since)

3) OL develop better/deeper/ lifetime friendships than any gang of humans I’ve seen in my 68 years of existence

4) Brotherhood can easily be defined in Webster’s Dictionary as : “See Offensive Lineman”

5) Want to learn complicated communication? Go To OL school

6) Want to learn how to Always Get The Blame and Never The Glory ( See OL Life)

7) Want to have a secret club where there’s a skillset and language that others can’t ever understand but your Gang of OL are fluent in (See OL)

8) Want to understand and appreciate food better than any cult in the history of mankind (See OL)

9) Want to get old and be surrounded by a gang of comrades who live in blissful nostalgia ( regardless of how bad life is) every time the old gang gets back together ( See OL)

10) And finally…Want to die with 5 humans that were beside u thru thick and thin, thru marriage and divorce, thru wealth and bankruptcy, thru fat and GLP1’s, Thru cancer and cure, thru birth and tragedy…Simply See OL…

I wish I had been good enough , big enough, smart enough, tough enough, unselfish enough, and ego-less to be the best…Because that would have made me an Offensive Lineman

[Coach Johnny Croyle @CoachCroyle]

Oh man...👀

#RunCounter...Pound (w/Free Hitter) 🔥

#RunTheQ