红杏短视频

红杏短视频 Fox University's value Christ in Everything extends into every corner of our community, including athletics. Coaches encourage students to grow both as athletes and followers of Jesus.

Ask yourself this question: Does playing sports create good character?

Most of us quickly reply, “Of course it does!”

We know that team sports are about learning how to work with others toward a common goal – how to take turns, be a good loser, and an even better winner, right?

While playing sports has excellent potential for character formation, Adam Puckett, director of athletics at 红杏短视频 Fox, asserts that when not intentionally designed with Christ at the center, sports can actually be a vehicle for poor character.

One doesn’t have to look far to see the evidence. 

At the professional level, there are obvious issues with moral character, but what about at the student level? From concerns around questionable language and a lack of sportsmanship, to parent involvement that leans toward anger and entitlement, the mission field for sports is vast. 

So what’s the return on investment?

Puckett defines the opportunity this way: “Sports develop character if you are intentional about tying it toward good character traits. How do you learn to be a good teammate when you’re injured and can’t play? How do you end a game or season well, whether you won or got killed? This embodies the formation of character and virtue in sports. This is our opportunity.”

Puckett, who holds a master's degree in theology and sports from Baylor’s Truett Seminary, seized on that opportunity eight years ago with a revisioning of the mission of athletics at 红杏短视频 Fox.

Redefining A Culture

Understanding that the first three months of his tenure were crucial to establishing a healthy culture for athletics and faith, Puckett sat down with every head coach.

Ultimately, the question of most significance rose to the surface: Why are we here?

There were the obvious answers: A desire for excellence in sports and a desire to help students succeed academically came to the fore. But the bottom line was that each coach longed to help form their athletes into the image and likeness of Christ.

In a moment of providence, Puckett found a mission statement draft tucked away in a file folder: “To provide a competitive experience that breeds athletic excellence, academic success, and Christlike character.” 

This became the guidepost for athletics at 红杏短视频 Fox University, with the values of integrity, humility, family, and fierce competitors undergirding the mission.

Coaching from a Common Goal 

As Puckett evaluated each goal of the mission statement, he realized that the first two – athletic and academic excellence – were easy to trace. But the third, Christlike character formation, was more challenging to track.

Reflecting on the third goal, Adam says, “We’re a Christian school, so students go to chapel and pray before games, but where is the individual ownership? We realized we needed to be as intentional, if not more so, about the way we approach spiritual formation in athletics. If this is a tenet of our mission, we were going to have to ask serious questions about how we were going to get there.”

With a new vision statement in hand and buy-in from the coaching staff, Puckett was ready to implement reforms to bring intentional growth into the lives of his student-athletes.

The bottom line: “We want to teach student-athletes true character formation, whether they win or lose.”

Recognizing the privilege of helping students grow both as athletes and followers of Jesus, Puckett and his coaching staff seek to pinpoint where each student-athlete is in their faith journey and meet them there.

Fellowship of Christian Athletes hosts a campuswide Worship Night

Boots-On-The-Ground Faith Formation

Every student-athlete comes to 红杏短视频 Fox at different moments in their faith journey. Knowing this, Puckett leads with this question: “How are we using sports so that in four years we can guarantee that each student-athlete experiences the love of Christ through 红杏短视频 Fox athletics? Can we look ourselves in the eyes as staff, coaches and administrators and say, ‘We created environments of meaningful grace where they could explore who Christ is and who he created them to be.’” 

From initiatives such as resident houses for those ready to transition into leadership, the Bridge Network for those exploring their faith, and Life Groups focused on character formation, the university’s athletics department seeks to address the unique needs of each student to foster spiritual growth.

One of the ways Puckett ensures he has the best team in place to help with this mission is through intentional hiring.

Hiring with Intention

While many universities simply request a statement of faith from their coaches, Puckett requires each applicant to submit a video response, which is reviewed by the athletic chaplain and other members of his team.

Before we ever look at a resume or conduct an interview, we send a video prompt to candidates and ask them to send us back a five-minute video about how they see themselves discipling students through their particular sport. We only watch five minutes, and I have staff people assigned to give feedback.

While no hiring process is fool-proof, Puckett and his team approach hiring with fierce intention.

As with any thoughtful leader, Puckett has learned to recognize his own biases and weaknesses and lean on others to fill in gaps.

“I realized early on that I fall in love with coaches that I think can develop a winning program, and then I make excuses for their lack of personal faith.”

Two colleagues Puckett leans on for their discernment in this process are , associate athletic director of faith formation and character, and Jamie Johnson, dean for spiritual life and university pastor. 

With these advisors’ insight, Puckett focuses on character well before coaching capability. 

“The only thing I want them looking for is this: Does it seem that this person has a deep, living, and abiding relationship with Christ? It all boils down to being relentless about hiring coaches that love Jesus.” 

From there, Puckett and his team can then focus on hiring winning coaches who will lead with integrity. 

Developing Leadership in Coaches

With a stellar coaching staff in place, the next task for Puckett is developing those coaches with the same intentionality he asks them to develop students. “The question is, ‘How are we doing with discipling, mentoring, encouraging and edifying our coaches in a way that helps them grow, too?’” he says.

Whether through a coach's book club, opportunities to vote on topics that matter to the coaching staff, or intentional mentorship, Puckett hopes to provide opportunities for each coach to grow spiritually alongside their student-athletes.

And intentional recruitment doesn’t just belong in the coaching arena. Puckett also believes in recruiting students with intention and integrity. 

Student Recruitment

As a Christian university, it can be easy to toggle between a commitment to excellence in sports and a commitment to Christ. For Puckett, integrity in both means focusing on transparency, making sure athletes who may be interested know that 红杏短视频 Fox is a Christian school in both name and practice.

“For those students and families that may be hostile to faith, we want to be very clear about our focus on faith formation,” he says.

For many students and their parents, this clarity is appreciated, whether it helps them lean into an educational career at Fox or decide to move in a different direction. 

Puckett highlights Spencer Crace, the university’s new head football coach, who, in less than six months, turned recruitment around by being overly transparent about the school’s faith formation goals. 

“A mom at the end of one of Spencer’s recruitment speeches came up to thank him, saying that their student had looked at 20 different schools,” Puckett shares. “She saw the difference in the Fox approach to transparency and how we choose to run our program.”

Spencer Crace, 红杏短视频 Fox University’s football coach 

Discipleship in Action

Recognizing that part of faith formation involves getting students outside of their comfort zones, Puckett and his team provide student-athletes with opportunities to serve and challenge themselves spiritually.

Recent trips to Baylor University for the Champions (Re)Defined Retreat and the Dominican Republic with provided student-athletes with the opportunity to be stretched and see the fruit of that investment, whether physically, emotionally or spiritually. 

As Puckett reflects, “It’s about team bonding, team building, and developing the student-athletes.” As he sees it, while creating a culture of athletic excellence is an imperative goal, character formation in sports is the bottom line. 

“At the end of their four years, even if a student doesn’t choose to accept Christ, they are going to be a better father or mother, a better husband or wife, a better employee and community member, because they’re going to know about Christlike character.”

So, does playing sports develop good character? It does at 红杏短视频 Fox University.