December 2008 Glen Coffee Susie Magill University of Alabama Home Stretch

My childhood was different than most others. Because of my dad’s job with McDonald Douglass—now Boeing—my family moved to the Middle East. Growing up in Saudi Arabia, there weren’t many opportunities to play organized sports, but it didn’t stop me from getting my football fix. That is all we did in our spare time: play tackle football.

Glen Coffee - #38

School: University of Alabama Position: Running back Class: Junior Hometown: Fort Walton Beach, Fla. Height/Weight: 6-1 / 198 lbs. Career Highlights: •Rushed for 218 yards this season against the University of Kentucky •2008 stats through the beginning of November: 136 Attempts, 894 YDS and 7 TD

To listen to Glen Coffee on Sharing the Victory Radio, click here.

By the time we moved back to the States when I was 9, the sport was like second nature. And from then until now, things have only slightly changed. I’ve still got speed—I was always faster than other kids, being skinny and all—and I’m still a passionate player who gives my all on the field during every practice and game. But the difference is that now, when I carry the ball, I don’t do it for Glen, I do it for Christ and His glory.

That wasn’t always the case, though.

I’d probably gone to church five times in my whole life before I got to college. After my parents’ divorce, I lived with my mom, and she did a great job instilling good character in me. But I wasn’t raised in the church.

When it came to choosing a college, I went with Alabama, and at the time, I didn’t know it was God who was leading me here. I just always wanted to play in the Southeastern Conference, and Alabama was my only SEC offer.

My freshman year was pretty good as far as football. I played in all 13 games and ended the season as the team’s third-leading rusher. But something was missing. I was a good dude, had good character, and had been good at avoiding wrong and bad situations. I was well-respected on the team and campus, but that still wasn’t satisfying enough. I felt empty, like nothing I did would amount to anything. I never felt true joy. It was like, “Is this all the world has to offer?”

Then I met Matt Watson. We became roommates through a mutual friend. And there was something different about Matt. He was also a student-athlete at Alabama—on the track team—but he didn’t act like some of the other athletes I knew. After only a week, I knew everything about him and would have trusted that dude with anything.

“Every yard I get, every touchdown I score is for Christ. ”

I watched how Matt lived. He was one of the most pure, on-fire-for-Jesus guys I had ever met. Everything about him was sincere. I knew he had something I had never had or experienced, and I just wanted to know what it was. That was what led me to church with him.

When I started going to church, I started to think in a whole new way. I learned why Matt did the things he did: because Jesus was in him. And once I knew Who my roommate was living for, I experienced a 180 in my own life. I was literally changed from the inside out.

There wasn’t a specific event; it was more like it all just finally made sense. I was lying on my bed just thinking, “This is what I have been missing my whole life.” It just hit me. I wanted in. I wanted to be a part of the Kingdom. And when I surrendered to Christ, I felt that sense of true love and true happiness.

Even though I was good, I am now saved and live life differently. God has given me so much more wisdom. In everything I do, I feel His presence, like He is looking over my shoulder and whispering to me. I see things in a different light, am better at avoiding temptations and have become a more constructive person all together. I wake up in the morning and ask God what I can do to glorify Him. And that statement has changed how I play the game of football.

With Christ, there is no quit. With Him in my corner, nothing can stop me if it is His will. Christ has got my back, and I know He loves me regardless of the number of touchdowns I score. That has brought my passion to a whole new level. Every yard I get, every touchdown I score is for Christ. And I feel like when somebody is trying to tackle me, they are trying to stop me from giving glory to God. And I can’t allow that to happen.

“I feel like when somebody is trying to tackle me, they are trying to stop me from giving glory to God. And I can’t allow that to happen.”

Since my life changed direction, my faith has continued to grow even through difficult situations. As humans, what we consider to be success and failure may be different than what the Lord says. I have basically been injured every year at Alabama. Sometimes things don’t go our way, but it is still part of His plan, so I can’t see it as a failure. I had to stay cool during those injuries and not let my emotions and feelings get the best of me.

Looking back, I see God has been preparing me for the success I’ve had this year. I’m very appreciative of all God has done through me, and I just make sure I give Him all the glory because I know that, in an instant, it can all be taken away. Every second that I breathe, every minute I live, I am doing so in His name. During the bad and the good, I have to glorify Him and call on Him.

Matt and I are still roommates. We strive to hold each other accountable in every area of our lives. And when you have somebody who is striving for Jesus like you are, you can talk about anything. We can both relate and, like iron sharpens iron, we can help each other spiritually.

Do you relate? Even great athletes like Glen Coffee find that living for personal glory is ultimately unfulfilling. Do you want to start living a life for something bigger than yourself? The God who created you wants to be that purpose. He wants to show you how a life lived for Him is the only source of true fulfillment. You can start a relationship with Him today. You’re only a prayer of surrender away. If you don’t know what to pray, try something like this: “Father in Heaven, I want more than this life has to offer. I want more than any earthly reward; I want a relationship with You. I want to know Jesus Christ and to be fully satisfied in a life lived for Him. Please take my life, Lord. I surrender everything to You and ask that You would come in and change me from the inside out.”

Attending FCA at Alabama has also helped me solidify my faith and be able to glorify Christ with football. Even though I showed up at FCA a few times before meeting Matt, it is now an integral part of my life at Alabama.

Both Matt and I help lead small groups, in which we are going through the FCA resource The Starting Line. That book was actually used by Coach Gary Cramer, our FCA staff representative, to help me develop my relationship with Christ when I first became a Christian. Now I use what I learned through it to help guide others in their walk and show them the love of Jesus that Coach Cramer showed me.

People still come up to me all the time and say “great game,” but now that I am living for Jesus, just as many people are coming up to me and saying, “We heard the radio interview you had after the game, and you spoke about Jesus.” Or, “We have seen what you have done for FCA or at church, and your testimony was powerful.” I have had just as many people come up to me and talk about Jesus as I have had other fans talk about football and Alabama.

And that has been the greatest satisfaction for me: knowing that living for Jesus not only helps me, but others as well.

--As told to Susie Magill.

Perspectives Glen Coffee came to know Christ as his Savior while at the University of Alabama. Hear from those who helped him along the way. Matt Watson, University of Alabama Sprinter I first met Glen when I got to Alabama in the spring of 2006. We had a mutual friend who was from Glen’s hometown and in my English class. I didn’t even really know who Glen Coffee was at the time, but by the next year, the three of us were  roommates. What I first noticed about Glen was that he was different, and I knew he was called to be different. He could hang out with people but not do what they did. He was unique, and that was his gifting. God had made him that way, but Glen didn’t know it yet. “We are walking, talking, living, breathing fireball Christians, because Jesus died for us. ” – Watson We both attended FCA, but I wasn’t sure what Glen’s spiritual commitment was at that point. So I always tried to be a solid example of Christ in everything I did. I would come home and play my Christian music and be sure not to be involved with anything that was questionable. That was when Glen started seeing something different about me. He began approaching me about going to church. I had invited him about five times before he actually went, but I never gave up asking him, even if I knew the answer might be no. Glen loved going to church and immediately knew it was Jesus that he had been missing. After Glen surrendered his life to Christ, He told me that the whole time he had been different, but that it was a self-difference—a-my-mom-raised-me-better kind of different instead of a Jesus-making-me-righteous kind of different. God changed Glen’s purpose and why he made good choices in life, and he finally accepted his calling. Now he is so vocal about being a Christian. With his teammates, he will just walk around and say, “Hey, I am a Christian.” That is the first thing he will say to them. And they are seeing his example—that he is for real. He is using his platform to affect his team and our campus.   As athletes, we are super-competitive, and Glen and I take that and apply it to our relationships with Christ. We are proactive about everything.  We don’t sit back and let negative things consume us. We attack the situation when we see one of us struggling. And that accountability has resulted in huge growth in Glen. It has only been a little over a year, and he is more mature than ever. Coffee (far right) and Watson (far left) with Baltimore Oriole Lance Cormier, FCA’s Gary Cramer and Pastor Bill Overstreet at The Capstone Church’s “Champions Sunday” in Tuscaloosa Glen is using his maturity in Christ to bring others closer to Him. He is super-involved with FCA, leads an FCA small group with the football team, and speaks for FCA and Coach Gary Cramer around the community. He is on fire 100 percent. That is what we tell each other: to be a walking fireball. To just wear it in everything we do. In the classroom, wear it. On the practice field, wear it. We are walking, talking, living, breathing fireball Christians, because Jesus died for us. And you can see that in Glen. Every time he touches the ball, he is giving God glory. Gary Cramer, FCA Campus Director I started meeting with Glen right after he came to know Christ. Once a week, we would go through FCA’s The Starting Line. And I knew, from the very beginning, that this kid got it. He had an insatiable hunger to know God and know more about this walk. When asked why there is such a difference in his performance between this year and last, Glen attributes it all to God. He says last year was still about him, and this year is all for the Lord. He isn’t shy about that. No matter who talks to him, Glen directs all his success directly to Christ. He carries the football whole-heartedly for the glory of God.