{"id":8101,"date":"2022-11-01T15:56:50","date_gmt":"2022-11-01T19:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=8101"},"modified":"2023-05-18T15:33:15","modified_gmt":"2023-05-18T19:33:15","slug":"winning-souls-over-winning-games-baylor-head-coach-scott-drew-wants-his-players-to-accept-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2022\/11\/winning-souls-over-winning-games-baylor-head-coach-scott-drew-wants-his-players-to-accept-jesus.html","title":{"rendered":"Winning Souls Over Winning Games: Baylor Head Coach Scott Drew Wants His Players to Accept Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Ben Queen \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Religious Freedom Institute (RFI) has released a video series<\/a> called Religious Freedom Testimonial<\/em>. The purpose of the series is to \u201cshowcase Americans from different religious traditions and walks of life witnessing to how they exercise their faith in all areas of their life, and why religious freedom is essential.\u201d The first video featured Baylor University Men\u2019s Basketball Head Coach, Scott Drew<\/a>.\u00a0 Drew has been head coach of the Baylor Bears since 2003, when the team fell under intense scrutiny<\/a> after the murder of one of its players, Patrick Dennehy. Dennehy was murdered by a fellow teammate, Carlton Dotson, and the investigation into the murder uncovered a series of allegations of misconduct against the team, causing the NCAA to intervene with a probation period through 2010 amongst other punishments. Yet since that time, Drew, who took over the team after serving as its assistant coach, has completely turned the culture<\/a> of the team around. In 2021, after he led the team to its first championship, he stated<\/a> the team\u2019s \u201cChrist-centered approach\u201d and \u201cculture of J.O.Y.\u201d made all the difference. \u201cJ.O.Y., it\u2019s pretty simple, \u2018Jesus, Others, Yourself,\u201d he said. \u201c[Its] very easy to remember and yet so hard to do. But at the end of the day, we want to make sure we always honor and give credit to Jesus first, and our teammates and others second, and talk about ourselves third.\u201d<\/p>\n

In speaking with RFI, Drew spoke about the precedence faith takes over sports. \u201cAll that matters is when I get to those gates, God\u2019s not going to say, \u2018What was your record? How many players did you help get to the pros? How many championships did you win?\u2019 So at the end of the day, I am making sure [the players] are winning the game of life.\u201d Despite having led Baylor to its first championship win in the 2020-21 season, Scott stated his real joy comes from seeing players saved. \u201cSeeing the spiritual growth, guys. Players who accept Christ, players who maybe prayed for the first time with the team, players who get baptized, players who come back and get Bible studies and go to church, and you know that\u2019s what\u2019s really exciting,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes those victories are not written and talked about in the newspapers or TV, but again, those are the ones that really matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also expressed his gratitude for working at a religious university, which allows him to openly share his faith, noting he has colleagues in secular institutions where that is not a possibility. \u201cBaylor University gives you that opportunity,\u201d he said. \u201cSpiritually we\u2019re allowed to have an impact in our players\u2019 lives, so many of my coaching friends [that] are devout in their faith are at institutions where they can\u2019t. I am a much better husband, father, spiritually I have grown from the staff that we have because we will do coach\u2019s bible studies together and we start every meeting in prayer.\u201d He emphasized the importance of strong foundations as well, saying, \u201cIf you have the right foundation and you know that Jesus has a plan for your life, and you trust Him in handling your future, then you can relax and enjoy the game of basketball, you can enjoy the game of life, and at the end of the day winning the game of life is a lot more important than the game.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Religious Freedom Institute (RFI) has released a video series called Religious Freedom Testimonial. The purpose of the series is to \u201cshowcase Americans from different religious traditions and walks of life witnessing to how they exercise their faith in all areas of their life, and why religious freedom is essential.\u201d The first video featured Baylor…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":11301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiring-messages"],"yoast_head":"\nWinning Souls Over Winning Games: Baylor Head Coach Scott Drew Wants His Players to Accept Jesus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Scott Drew appeared in the Religious Freedom Institute video series where he talked about how his faith translates into his coaching.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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