Coach Stanley has been coaching for around 15 years, although not all that was high school sports; he started out coaching his son's little league baseball team. He shows no sign of letting up and he will coach as long as as he is able to. When asked why he coaches he replied, "I love working with kids, I love having the kids come up to me later on and still recognize me just to say thank you for something I did for them while I was coaching. Coaching has taught me more patience, I think it gives me a fulfillment to know that in a certain way I have helped a child, not only in sports, but hopefully about life also."
Coach Stanley is 44 years old and currently lives in Coeburn, Virginia. During high school he participated in both football and track. He has always had a passion for football, which led him to coach football, which he claims is his favorite sport to coach. He has always loved football for the: "competitiveness and physicality." He says in coaching you: "Take yourself away from the hands on playing, but you find yourself mentally in the player's position to help him recognize his role and responsibilities during a game."
As a coach he sees a lot of athletes come through the school, and he feels that seeing the athletes venture into the real world is, "Sad but fulfilling that maybe in some way that you have helped a kid along the way and to prepare them for the world outside of high school." He does coach both Junior Varsity and Varsity and he says the difference is: "Junior Varsity is more a preparation in teaching and getting ready to move up to the next level; its not so much to do with winning as increasing knowledge in the game to prepare for the next level."
Coach Stanley certainly has various coaching experiences, and I was fortune enough to hear one of his best:"The best personal experience was having a mother come up to me and thank me for the experience and coaching I gave to her son and just how I treated him, although I coached him several years ago." As a coach and a father he has had the pleasure of coaching his own children and he believes himself: "Harder and stricter on them than others." He does have some advice for any upcoming athlete and it is to: "Work hard everyday, try your best, listen to and respect your coaches, leave everything on the field, and never leave the field asking what if."