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A Step Back In Time
by Steven Warner, Lecturer, Technical Director
slw9b@virginia.edu

Steven Warner

A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from someone with the name Dot. Now, I get my fair share of e-mail, and at first glance, this one looked like it belonged in my junk folder of snagged spam. This one unlike others had an interesting Subject; it read “Invitation from Head Football Coach, Al Groh”. It said that the team needed a few guest coaches and wanted to know if I would like to help out. Me? A guest coach? I looked into it. After Google returned from searching, I found that this was something Al Groh had been doing every season since he began coaching U.Va.’s team, and that it was an opportunity for very few faculty to get a close look at what the players go through leading up to Saturday’s game. I recalled Richard Warner saying something about having an opportunity like this and that LaVahn Hoh had also taken advantage of the experience. I emailed Dot back and said that I was in for whatever they had to offer.

She emailed me back with a thank you and a list of what was to come. I was to meet the team on Friday afternoon and take part in the team’s final preparations before playing the Saturday game against USC. The preparations would include the afternoon meeting and practice, traveling with the team to dinner, staying at the Omni hotel, being part of the evening meeting sessions, having a second dinner with the team (these guys eat all the time), wake up the next day and have breakfast with the team, watch more film of the visiting team, travel with the team to Scott Stadium, participate in all pre-game activities and last but not least watch the whole game with the team on the field.

A little known fact about me: I grew up in west Texas playing football, and when I wasn’t playing, I was watching it on TV. When I was looking for a possible career path and reason to go to college after high school, I felt the only thing that I would be good at would be coaching. I went to further my education with one goal in mind, becoming a coach and teacher. That was 20 years ago, and I still see myself as a coach, just not on the playing field. I found my career path when I walked into the scene shop to ask for a job. At the end of that first semester, I was offered a scholarship with the Drama Department. I never looked back until I received this email from Dot Kirby.

When I walked onto the field with the team, it was like stepping back in time. Thank you Al Groh for giving me the opportunity to live out a dream and experience something that very few get to be a part of.

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