Among his assortment of priorities was to work with his team, amidst unexpected adversity, to carve out a winning season (which occurred against East Tennessee State University last Saturday). But one day earlier this month, Chris found the time to send a Samford jersey, on which he had scrawled “Go Dogs!” and “Chris Hatcher, Head Coach,” to a young man in a hospital in Atlanta. The young man, a high school senior who already had his heart set on attending Samford next year, was seriously injured when the driver of another vehicle ran a red light. His recovery is long and excruciating. The young man wants to be an archeologist, not a football player, so Chris violated no obscure NCAA recruitment rule in sending him the jersey. I’m not certain that Chris even knows the young man, nor his family. But he saw an opportunity on a November morning, and he took the time to meet the need.
Chris Hatcher loves to win. More than winning football games, however, Chris Hatcher cares for people. I’m glad he’s our football coach.
The world is better because of the winning ways of Chris Hatcher.