USA Football recently continued its long-standing relationship with the Big Ten Conference by attending the conference’s 2023 Football Media Days held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind. The quotes in this story were produced from a series of one-on-one sit-down interviews with the head football coaches responsible for programs in the Big Ten.  

Football is America’s most popular sport and a key piece of the country’s culture. At the youth level, football teaches many life lessons and instills positive character traits for young athletes to carry throughout the rest of their lives. These lessons are just one of the positive elements the Big Ten Conference’s head football coaches praised before the 2023 fall sports season.  

The Big Ten’s coaches have played youth football, watched their children fall in love with the game or coached hundreds of athletes who grew up in the sport. The coaches shared what they believe makes youth football special and what it offers young athletes.  

“There are so many different levels of how important football is, but the game teaches you so many great life lessons about preparation, being unselfish, sacrifice, working through tough times and about dealing with setbacks and failures and persevering. I can go on for hours.” 

– Ryan Day, Ohio State University 

“Youth football provides so many opportunities to develop. The lessons that are taught through the game of football are why I do what I do. The younger we can expose people to the game and all that is stands for the better. I have a six- and an eight-year-old at home that play flag football. It’s exciting that they have passion for the game, but more importantly, I’m excited that they’re learning life lessons through the game.” 

– David Braun, Northwestern University 

“Youth football is the greatest team game there is. It helps young people learn to work together ... When coached the right way, the sport helps develop mental and physical toughness. There’s nothing more important than youth football because it grows the game at the grassroots level.”  

– Greg Schiano, Rutgers University 

“This is the best game out there in terms of teaching life lessons and teaching you how to get along with and work with other people in a team-orientated setting. To set that foundation at a young age bodes well for life applicable situations as you grow.” 

– Ryan Walters, Purdue University 

“Football is the sport that mimics what life is like the closest. Whether it’s getting knocked down, teamwork, or one of those games where you can’t do it by yourself – I think that’s a lot like life. You have to rely on and trust people to help you. Youth tackle football starts the process of understanding that life is tough. Sometimes you get knocked down and you’ve got to get back up. Those fundamentals are taught through football.” 

– Mike Locksley, University of Maryland 

“I think football is the greatest teacher of life. It doesn't matter what age you're starting it at and at what level you're starting it at. It forces us to be able to handle adversity and look adversity right in the eye. When you play football, especially at our level, you get one chance a week for three hours. And you're going to have to find a way to be able to deal with those emotions; winning, losing, playing well or not and being able to work through those things. It's just like life. It really prepares you mentally and emotionally to live a healthy lifestyle.” 

– P.J. Fleck, University of Minnesota 

“There are so many things outside of the game that you learn through football that you can’t learn in other sports. It has so much to do with the ability to accomplish things together and the amount of people it takes to play football. Even if you’re at a young age and you’re playing eight-man football, the ability to pick a guy up, whether it’s yourself or a buddy, when they get knocked down is so critical. The ability for people from all different walks of life to work together at a young age is really important.”  

– Luke Fickell, University of Wisconsin 

“Some of my best memories in youth football are of playing for the Ann Arbor Junior Packers coached by Tom Minick. Sheriff Minick was one of those great coaches who impacts your life. Football teaches you discipline and accountability and also builds a callous, a toughness that isn’t there before. And you are on a team. We win together, we work together. There are hundreds of lessons, maybe into the thousands, you learn as early as youth football.”  

– Jim Harbaugh, University of Michigan 

“The emotion, the passion, the joy, all of the circumstances around the game are really good. It’s good for young people to practice something and have a chance to perform. Sometimes you play well. Sometimes you don’t play well. You learn how to pick yourself up and then do it again next week.” 

– Matt Rhule, University of Nebraska