The Lincoln Parish Journal caught up with newly named Cedar Creek head coach Steven Ensminger to talk about his plan for his new job. This is the second of a three-part Q&A with the new Cougars coach.
Part 1: https://bit.ly/3HrkFG0
LPJ: With this being your first head coaching job, what will be the biggest challenges for you?
That’s tough to say. I understand all the different kinds of challenges that have the potential to present themselves, and I just have to prepare as best as I can and rely on the great group of guys on my staff to help me figure those things out when they arise. And some of those challenges will be ones that I didn’t expect to have to deal with, but I am fine with that because I have a great group of young men and coaches around me and above all else, I’m a competitor and I am a winner. I expect nothing less. Just like in life, you have these challenges that come up and there’s only one way to handle them and that is to face them and by all means necessary, overcome them.
I have coaching friends all around that I can always ask for advice, including my dad. And I know that I can’t have an ego and be hard headed and not lean on the people around me, but instead I will lean on my faith, family, and the people that helped me get to where I am today. And the same goes for these kids. Bad things are going to happen. You don’t blink, and you get through it. I feel like I am a leader and always have been. And I plan to lead this program and these kids on and off the field so that when their time at Cedar Creek is over, they will not only be better men, but better people. And that goes for all of our athletic teams, boys and girls and the entire student body.
LPJ: As the son of a long-time highly respected college coach, what have you learned/taken from him over the years?
Ensminger: I don’t even know if there are words that I can form to describe the man that I call “Coach Dad”. He has taught me lessons in this life that I believe have prepared me to get through anything. I want to use those lessons to help anyone that I can. I can go on about the amount of 1 a.m. phone calls about coverages and route concepts and how to approach the game, along with how to call plays and exploit defenses in every way possible and to always be one step ahead. The day he came to me and talked to me about being the offensive coordinator at LSU was one of the most emotional talks we have ever had as a father and son. When he asked me, I simply replied by sending him a Bill Gates quote to his phone.
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death. Leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die one day is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
I live by that and what brought me back into coaching has everything to do with that quote. My wife Carley is the main reason why I am doing what I truly love. Because she was doing what she truly loved and wanted me to do the same. The worst day of my life is also the same day that I truly understood what that quote meant. And to see my dad go out and do what he loves and call one of the greatest games in history, I knew it was his way of doing what Carley would have told him to do. That’s to do your job. Being there for me when he physically couldn’t and reminding me of every lesson he has ever instilled in me and also those players that he loved. And that’s why he is my hero, my dad, and forever will be my coach.
I am back doing what I love and coaching and molding young peoples’ lives to help them understand that you have to keep fighting and eventually you’ll make it through the rain. I have never told him that but I felt the need to get that out.
