that this particular coach would probably push his guys beyond where he medically should.

In this case I have the advantage of knowing him personally, plus watching him perform over 10+ years...........

to merely address the issue of "beyond medical appropriateness"..........he is not built in that manner.

The one thing he does that I think a lot of coaches might not do is stress wellness........physical fitness (ala weight room), grooming, eating, etc. etc..........he is a real hard butt about drugs and alcohol............more than once had the community up in arms over sidelining "The Player" over inappropriate activities at parties.....usually alcohol related.

It is my belief that he emphasizes the "physical endurance attitude" because that is the one thing that boys in the high school age bracket seem to understand more than deeper thoughts like "love of country", "apply pie", etc etc.---------recall that his memos are primarily directed at his players.........merely sent to adults upon request.

It is my belief his approach is appropriate.......

........use the youngster's hormones to get his attitude into one of "I can conquer the world", direct his efforts so that he can win at something------even if that be overcoming his perceived physical boundaries, hook it to something like teamwork where there becomes an understanding that the kid needs to recognize the value of the input of others........and then, as an adult coach, be smart enough to monitor the kid's performance/medical problems and keep the kid from doing personal longterm injury.

As he indicated in his comment about his stomach--------really "discomfort" as compared to "pain"--------------I think a lot of people need to learn the difference-------whether that is physical, mental, etc etc......and I also believe learning that difference is much harder than most of us want to recognize, especially when viewing the efforts of others.....(humans can be pretty judgemental when "watching").

If that difference can be learned at an early age...........seems to me that the attitudes are a lot easier to work with in the "young adult" stage..........and the young adult can better extrapolate from the physical perceptions into the mental, financial, etc etc.

Kind of like it used to be, "waaay back when", when the US used to recognize the work ethic of those from the Midwest........."those farm kids just know how to work".

(And maybe that work ethic still exists..........appears to me that it does, but I hear a lot of people/employers talking about "kids today just don't know how to work".)

I submit that the supposed "work ethic" stemmed from HAVING to work, and getting used to the idea, plus learning that one was not going to break out in hives if one had to sweat a little.........in other words......practicing the concept.

Resultantly, I think the attitude of perseverance is learned in the same manner as the work ethic-----------practice makes perfect.