Sports Q & A with Eugene Jones, coach of the Dover Pop Warner Redskins

Q: What made you want to be a Pop Warner coach?

A: I’m just trying to make a difference. I see some of kids get shafted a lot of the time and I want to help them get to play at a higher level. Q: What about coaching the Redskins do you find most rewarding?

Q: What about coaching the Redskins do you find most rewarding?

A: My reward is when I go to the mall around Christmas time and you see this kid that you had when he was 10, 11 and 12 years old, and he says, “Coach, do you remember me?” Then he’ll start saying, “Thank you for this, if it wasn’t for you I probably wouldn’t have gone to college.” Money couldn’t pay me for this, I just love to be around the kids and see them all grow. 

Q: How do you use the football team to foster good habits in your players?
A: If you can’t do your schoolwork, at this level it doesn’t matter because this is Pop Warner. But when they go to middle school, there’s no ands, ifs or buts; you don’t get to play. I’m trying to instill this in these kids now, at a young age, so when they get there it carries over. Even here, if they don’t have their grades up, I don’t let them play, that’s my rule. So far it’s been pretty good. I haven’t lost any kids at the middle school level. 

Q: What does playing on the team do to develop your kids’ self esteem and social skills?
A: Some kids come out here and couldn’t throw a beach ball. You have to have the patience as a coach to be able to teach these kids, and they have to want to do it. Once they get into that, it puts a chip on their shoulder. They say, “I’m on a football team.” It makes them feel bigger. It gives them self-confidence. 

Q: Besides knowledge of the game, what else do you want your players to take away from practice?
A: We try to teach out here not only grades, but respect. Do what you have to do at home so I don’t have to worry about mom and dad coming out here and saying, “Johnny can’t play on Saturday.” You have to respect your parents, but it starts with you; you have to respect yourself. If you don’t respect yourself, you’re not going to respect anyone else. 

Q: You’ve brought in tutors to help your players with homework before practice each day. Is it important to have a group of people who are willing to help you with the team?
A: We have a lot of people who come out here and give a lot of their time, it’s not just Coach Gene, it’s not just me. I just implement it, they carry it out for me. And the community is behind us, which is a big thing. These kids are our future, and if we don’t try to lead them the right way it’s going to be really bad. Anything I can do to help them. 

Q: What do you do off the field or outside of practice to help your players who might be facing other challenges in their lives?
A: I pick them up, take them to do things, bring them to my house for the weekend. And I’m always letting them know that, even though you may not be in the best situation, you’ve got some people in your corner and we’re going to help you. We never look down on anybody out here no matter what their situation is at home. When you come and play for the Redskins, it’s about help, and we all help one another — not only the kids, but the parents. We help one another and they help me because I don’t know it all. It’s one big family, everybody is helping everybody, but the kids are our focus.

 Q: How’s the season going?
A: I try not to get caught up in wins and losses. What I always tell the kids is, if you go out and play 100% and you can go home and look in the mirror and say, “I gave it all I got,” you’re a winner. No matter what the scoreboard says. I can’t ask for anything more, I can’t get anything else out of you. We’re 5-2, we lost a couple games but we’re going to be in the hunt for the championship. If they go out and give it everything, that’s all I can ask for, and we’ll be there in the end.