Drew🏴‍☠️

Joe Andrew Garza. UTRGV Alumni. Zen Master. ’Til the wheels fall off. Nobody wins afraid of losing. Matthew 23:12. Offensive Coordinator EEHS

[Drew🏴‍☠️ @JoeAndrewGarza]

@VinnysCorner1 Cleo Lemon

[The Players’ Tribune @PlayersTribune]

Keldon Johnson on his role with the @spurs: “I remember a couple years ago, I had a hard conversation with Pop. One morning, we were getting ready to play Dallas, and he pulled me to the side and told me that he thought it would be best for the team if I started coming off the bench. I said, ‘Yeah, of course. Whatever’s best for the team, I’ll do it.’ And I truly meant that, too.

But I’m also just human, man. And I was like 24 years old. If I said that I fully bought into this role from the jump, I’d be lying. I had averaged 22 points in the NBA. I’d won a gold medal with Team USA at the Olympics. So I just didn’t understand. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. And ultimately, I didn’t take it well. I sulked. I let the outside noise affect my play. I didn’t present the best version of myself as I was coming off the bench for the rest of that season. And I knew that I was much better than that.

I’ve been reflecting on that part of my journey a lot lately, with the position we’re in right now.

To backtrack a little bit…. When I was drafted in 2019, that was probably one of the most stressful nights of my life. I’d had a great year at Kentucky, and I thought I was going 9 or 10. In my mind, my floor was 15 to Detroit. The crazy thing is, I didn’t even work out for San Antonio. We talked a little bit on FaceTime, but I honestly didn’t think I’d still be on the board at 19 when the Spurs picked. Definitely not at 29, where I ended up going. I don’t know why I slipped so much, but thank God I did, because I landed at a proven organization with vets who could mold me.

That situation could have gone one of two ways. Thankfully, it went the good way.

Dejounte was young, too, but he knew the ropes better than me, and he made sure that I did everything the right way. I can’t thank him enough to this day for how much he’s helped my career. Same thing with DeMar DeRozan. Those guys really embraced me and took me under their wing as a young guy, and showed me how it was done. I feel like I had such a great group of vets, whether it was LaMarcus Aldridge, Patty Mills, Rudy Gay — all those guys went out their way to make sure I was solid. I feel like they knew how good I could be before I even knew how good I could be. They didn’t let me skip any steps, which was huge for my career early on.

And yeah, fast-forward to summer 2024, and I got to thinking back on my first couple years here in San Antonio, and how I could get that spark back, get back to being me. That’s when I started to see the bigger picture. We had picks. There were all these signs that we were building something that was gonna be special, all these bright green flags.

But there was this one red flag.

Me.

In that moment, I had to take a hard look in the mirror. And man, I just got embarrassed. I hated that feeling — the feeling that I had let my vets down, and especially let my younger teammates down.

This organization believed in me since day one, when Pop and our GM at the time R.C. Buford took a leap of faith on a player who was sliding in the draft and didn’t even have a workout at their facility. They had a plan, and I was a big piece of that plan. I just needed to get out of my own way. Period.

I knew that I could either be the person who tries to fight the change, who makes it about them and their ego, and tries to do everything their way (which never really works). Or, I could trust the process. And the Spurs never gave me a reason not to trust it. So I bought into my role, and I put my best foot forward each and every night. Whatever I had to do to be the best version of myself, I did it. And I feel like this season has been a testament to that.

I’m just really at home here. I think that’s probably obvious, right? The cowboy hat isn’t a gimmick. San Antonio is all me. Being a country boy, that’s just a part of who I am. From Huntington Prep to Oak Hill Academy to Kentucky, I feel like I just carried that country boy vibe with me everywhere I went.” https://t.co/WnVP4cXPll

[Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness @coachajkings]

Victor Wembanyama quotes the legendary Gregg Popovich.

"When you win, you're never as good as you think you are. And when you lose, you're never as bad."

"Stay humble and keep working."

Focus on the process, not the outcome.

[Coach Bobby Klinck🏉 @coachklinck]

“Why is coach tripping bout how we warm up?”

[Josh @JWill_205]

I’ll never forget seeing Nick Marshall bust out that RPO for the first time. I said what the fuck was that 😂

[Drew Maddux @DrewMaddux]

Every parent should show their kids. Every coach should show their players. Every leader should show their employees.

Relentless effort wins!

[Matthew Golden @MatthewGolden_]

God never make mistakes

[Cons @CaptainCons]

Kids should not be allowed to hyper specialize in a sport before the age of 15 or 16 and even then it’s not great

I’ve heard so many all-time pro athletes agree that playing multiple sports allowed the to develop skills that helped them in their eventual top sport

Not to mention monopolizing 12 months for an 11 year old isn’t smart

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

The minds of youth are easily corrupted, which is why the corrupt ply their propaganda to the youth

[Mike Rittelmann @MRittCGS]

Adding a fullback elevates your offense

[Jake Franklin Football @JakeFranklinFB]

Tom Brady talking about the current state of QB development 📚

[Last of the Fullbacks @TheLastFullback]

The Great American Fullback 🫡🇺🇸

[Ball is Psych @BallisPsych]

When you put in the effort, what looks like luck is often just your hard work paying off. #DailyWisdom

[Tony Holler @pntrack]

From a HS 🏈 coach:

I decided to actually study one of our senior football players on film. I broke down all 10 football games and charted the number of plays that he was on the field defensively throughout a game, and I also timed each play (snap to whistle) in which he was physically active. I thought you might like to see this.

This young man (linebacker) was on the field for an average of 47.6 plays for a total amount of "active" time of 3 minutes and 51 seconds (3:51). The majority of the plays lasted between 3 and 5 seconds. There were a few games in which he didn't play in the 4th quarter, so these numbers may have been higher, but I do not see the kid ever playing more than 5 minutes of football.

Just took me back to those "old school" days where we would run them forever and for reps of 20 - 30 seconds, and the whole time it was doing more harm than good LOL.

[Thad Wells @ThadWells]

In 1998, Tony Holler's "best team ever" got destroyed in the state finals.

That crushing defeat led him to question everything.

His answer became known as Feed the Cats & is used today by big time stars like Saquon Barkley.....🧵THREAD

[Preston Troyer @CoachFBInsights]

Every offense looks good on the install sheet.
But it only works if your players actually understand it.
Slow down. Reteach. Rep it again.

[Texas Longhorns @TexasLonghorns]

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS @TexasSoftball🤘

[Drew🏴‍☠️ @JoeAndrewGarza]

All thanks to the most high 🙏🏽✝️