The Hiring and Firing of Robert Saleh: A Win and a Loss for Sports and Spirituality

At a presentation today, a colleague admitted he has always had a flair for the dramatic. I think the NFL is no different. Cowboys in Crisis! Is Nick Sirianni having a nervous breakdown?! The hirings and firings, tragic injuries, tough losses and big wins characterize the game for almost nine months of the year now. From the mandatory mini-camps that players like Aaron Rodgers miss due to travel to Egypt to the overtime that rocked the Chiefs and Niners world in February, American football at its highest level can't stay out of the spotlight. And— it doesn't want to. 

The latest example of dramedy is the firing of New York Jets head coach, Robert Saleh after a loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 5 of the season. The game, played at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was to be his last in the green and white. Though I highly doubt Saleh was dismissed over Greenland and some have conjectured, there is no shortage of hearsay about when and how the axe came down. The stories continue to swirl: he was escorted out of the building. The owner got to him before he fired Nathaniel Hackett, the offensive coordinator (who has since been let go). Did Rodgers call the owner Woody Johnson first? It's none of our business, but  the fans sure want to know. Many think it is. At the end of the day, one truth remains: Saleh's firing is a loss for Sports and Spirituality. Here are four reasons why.

1. What is Spirituality
I will never forget the first time I laid eyes on Robert Saleh. As the defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers, it was hard not to notice him. He is fit, fierce and totally locked in. More than once I was convinced he would get in the game if he could. He admitted that he owed his players the passion and intensity we saw on the sidelines. He knew that his posture and energy fired THEM up. Defense is a tough job and it's a critical one. They say it wins game. Here here.

I offer this image—this example— because I think it helps me (and my students) make sense of what Ron Rolheiser has written about spirituality. In The Holy Longing: The Search for Christian Spirituality, the Canadian priest writes     

(There) is a tragic misunderstanding. Spirituality is not something on the fringes, an option for those with a particular bent. None of us has a choice. Everyone has to have a spirituality and everyone docs have one, either a life-giving one or a destructiveness. No one has the luxury of choosing here We do not wake up in this world calm and Serena, having the luxury of choosing to act or act. We wake up crying, in fire with desire, with madness. What we do with that madness: is our spirituality

Hence, spirituality is not about serenely picking or rationally choosing certain spiritual activities like going to church, praying or meditating, reading spiritual books, or setting off on some explicit spiritual quest. It is far more basic than that. Long before we do anything explicitly religious at all, we have to do some thing about that burns within us. What we do with that fire, how we channel it, is our spirituality.

This approach and understanding of spirituality does much more than offer a justification for why my students have learned about Saleh in the past. This new approach helps them understand that what they love, where they channel their desires and demonstrate their passion, can be a spiritual endeavor. It can help them to know and grow in their own spirituality. It is lived, expressed, active and alive. No question, Robert Saleh is a spiritual person. 

2. How and Why Saleh got into coaching 
How anyone comes to coaching, let alone coaching at the highest level is always interesting. However, one could argue Saleh's story is as surprising as it is spiritual.

His older brother David worked in finance and was sent to New York in September 2001 for a one week training seminar. It happened to take place in World Trade Center 2. When the plane hit the tower, he immediately descended over 60 flights of stairs to safety, forgoing a voice on the intercom that told people to remain calm and stay seated. Robert admitted "I didn't know he was alive and safe until about 4:00 p.m. that day."

Robert, who had been working as a credit analyst for at Comerica Bank headquarters in downtown Detroit said that 9/11 served as a wake-up call for him and how he was living his life. He said, "I spent my days in a cubicle, crunching numbers." and the dream of his father was one he shared. 

Saleh's father, Sam, played at Eastern Michigan University. He said "My father had a try out with the (Chicago) Bears. He always regretted not coaching football. He lives, eats and breathes football." It goes without saying, the same is true for Robert. After September 11, he asked himself "Am I doing what I want to do?" This is a question we ought to be asking ourselves on a regular basis. His answer led Robert to make a major career change: he started coaching football at Fordson High School, his alma mater.

I think it takes tremendous courage to make a career change such as this one. Given his passion and the life lessons from his father, one could argue it would take more courage not to change. However, Robert let the events surrounding 9/11 serve as a catalyst for living with purpose and living out his passion. I love it.

3. That alma mater
In 2012, a colleague who teaches World Religion handed me a great gift: the DVD of Fordson—Faith, Fasting and Football. She thought it would compliment my Sports and Spirituality course quite well. I still thank her for this resource.

As written on IMDB

'Fordson' follows a high school football team from Dearborn, Michigan as it prepares for its big cross-town rivalry game during the last ten days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The story is set at Fordson High School, a public school, which was once all white, but now boasts a 98% Arab-American population. As we follow the team on the road to victory, 'Fordson' unearths the story of a community desperately holding onto its Islamic faith while struggling to gain acceptance in post 9-11 America. 'Fordson' is an unprecedented glimpse inside the lives of a community that is home to the largest concentration of Arabs in any city outside of the Middle East, and their determination to hold on to the American Dream. 

Robert Saleh is not featured in the film because by the time it was made, he had been coaching for ten years; it was released in 2011. However, he is a renown alum and contributed to the success of the Tractors as both a player and a coach. 

I love the film because it brings great insight into both a religious and ethnic culture that I know far too little about. I appreciated getting better insight into how community and family support makes the demands of fasting during Ramadan possible. I loved hearing why they do it in the first place. I gained an understanding of some of the complexities the Arab community in Dearborn holds as it seeks to balance old world traditions against modern day values in a new country. Make no mistake about it, family is incredibly important...and so is football. This is from where Robert Saleh has come!

4. Coaches ¡Caliente! Calendar
Though it's hard to say this is spiritual, I'll give it a try. Robert Saleh is the reason I have the Coaches ¡Caliente! Caleder. Read my post Passion Project: Coaches' Calendar ~ Caliente on and perhaps you make a concession for the case.

I ran this calendar again for the 2024-2025 season and once again, Robert Saleh got the most votes for a Coach Caliente. Given that Week 1 in the NFL takes place in early September, the start of the new year is no different. Saleh was the leading man in the 2023-2024 edition and this year, I saved that handsome face for the end of the year. Perhaps he will be leading another team in August of 2025. The story of the NFL is always unfolding.

Conclusion
It is a joy and a privilege to teach my students about Robert Saleh. As the first Muslim head coach in the NFL , Saleh brings a different voice to the conversation around diversity. Furthermore, Saleh, who is of Lebanese descent speaks both Arabic and English at home with his wife and seven children. No doubt he speaks football too. 

Robert Saleh will find another coaching position in the NFL. However, I do wonder if he is best suited to be coordinating a defensive unit (ideally the Niners again?!!). After all, his motto is "all gas, no breaks." Seems fitting for the drama that is the NFL, replete with highs and lows, ups and downs—this one being a loss...for Sports and Spirituality...at least for now. God bless “الله يبارك فيك” (pronounced: Allah yubarik feek).

Photo Credits
Bob Saleh
Headset
Fordson prayer
Fordson Coaching Staff
Family
With Shanahan

The Men and Women of Sports and Spirituality: Who My Students Meet

On the first day class for seniors enrolled in Sports and Spirituality—an elective course for seniors at St. Ignatius, I assure my students that we will not spend six months on this:

In case you can't read this, it says "Sports & Spirituality: Not just athletes pointing to the sky

I love that one of my students had the good humor and understanding to affirm that what we read, discuss and learn is much more than the gestures/rituals we see on display in sports. 

So what then, is the curriculum? What do we study? What are the learning outcomes? I'll leave that for my syllabus and course reader (available upon request). Instead, I would like to honor the men and women my students "meet" as a result of the course work. These are the athletes who make an impression on them for much more than their strength, fitness, achievements, contracts, championships, and so forth. The athletes featured here are the ones my students have singled out as individuals they are "glad to have met." While some stars are familiar to them—Serena Williams and J.J. Watt, others are new—Haley Scott DeMaria and Jake Olson. Meeting them, in this course, however means they are examined in a new way, with a new vision and speaking a new language. The way that Sports and Spirituality asks us to see and speak.

I have articles or video clips posted beneath most photos so you can share in the learning!

Jill Costello: Featured in the SI's 60th Anniversary Issue, The Courage of Jill Costello won an award for "Most Outstanding Story" at the 13th Annual Luce Awards. I was Jill's novice crew coach; she graduated from SI in 2006. She lives on in the memory and hearts of so many.

Jake Olson: I first "met" Jake through "Sports in the News" a presentation that asks students to choose what is happening in the wide world of sports that they want to teach the class and discuss. I have loved following Jake's story and success at USC. There is no shortage of video documenting this man's incredible journey.

James Conner: This year's addition to "Sports in the News" I'm not convinced Conner wasn't on this presenters' fantasy football team. However, this assignment and even mentioning fantasy football is reflective of the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm. The IPP is, in short, how teachers are called to teach at Jesuit schools. The very first step is a call for Context: 

• Understand the world of our students, including the ways in which family, friends, social pressures, politics, economies, media and other realities impact them. 
• Love them, love what they love…love what you teach. 

Fantasy Football is a viable way to enter in the world of a high school student. Knowledge of James Conner can only add to that.

JJ Watt: At the conclusion of the course, I ask students who is someone they wish they had "met" in class. Two years ago, one bright and visionary student mentioned JJ Watt. I knew she was right.....and then Hurricane Harvey happened but a few months later. What he did for the people of Houston earned him the title of "The Patron Saint of Houston" as well as Co-Sportsman of the Year. I am not the least bit surprised so many students enjoyed learning more about the Texans Defensive end. Talk about fun to teach...

Bethany Hamilton: I can't quite put my finger on it, but boys and girls—no matter what sport they play—are interested the story of this Soul Surfer. Maybe it's because the movie was released when they were at an impressionable age (2011). Regardless, she is unapologetic for her faith and not one student seems to challenge her words or rebuff her devotion.

Serena and Venus Williams: It is an honor, a privilege and a delight to teach about the Williams sisters. Race, gender, excellence, ascesis, soul force, equality and justice, fashion and flare, sisterhood, motherhood...the list of themes goes on. I use "Venus and Serena," a video recommended by a former student (thank you, Sydney!) and will be showing "Venus vs" in my Ethics class in January.

Haley Scott DeMaria: Our 80-minute class periods begin with what I call "the Silent 10." Students read a Sports and Spirituality book of their choice, in silence for you guessed it, ten minutes. One student picked from my S&S library. I had no idea if "What Though the Odds" would resonate with her, as its the story of a swimmer who experienced hardship and tragedy and found hope and healing through her teammates and the larger Notre Dame family. She was so inspired by DeMaria's message and her story that she said it ought to be required reading for the course. What a gift....and it became one that kept on giving. Haley actually came to SI to speak to my class and followed up our time together with a Skype session. Still amazed that all of that happened....

The Fordson Football Team: A colleague asked in the faculty room just the other day, Where do must Muslims live in the United States. I was able to provide an answer right away, thanks to this documentary. The largest Arabic speaking population can be found in Dearborn, Michigan. Their religious and cultural practices are tightly bound, as evidenced in this documentary. My students love learning about a community that is unfamiliar to them through something  as familiar as....football.

Bo Jackson: The final unit of the course is "Story, Saints and Sportsmen and Sportswomen." One of the essential questions is What is the relationship between story and spirituality? I dare say Bo Jackson is essential to answering this question. After all, the "30 for 30 You Don't Know Bo" is subtitled "The Legend of Bo Jackson." The legend lives on...and looms large.

Eric Liddell: Teaching about the Muscular Christian is a non-negotiable. I have his beautiful words: I believe God made me for a purpose. He made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure and a personal connection to him in my life to thank for the gift of this course. His story, his witness is the gift that keeps on giving.

“We might not have the same gift as others, or the same success,
but we are asked to make an effort with what we have been given.” - Running for God

I am hoping to offer Sports and Spirituality as an evening course for parents in Spring 2019. It is exciting to me to share these life stories with adults and gain from the own collection of beloved athletes, spiritual heroes and saints.

Photo Credits

A Story of Banana Bread and Communion

One of my favorite scenes in the movie "Fordson: Faith, Fasting and Football" takes place among four unsuspecting football players, on the field, during practice. It is the holy season of Ramadan, which requires Muslims to fast from food and drink from sunrise to sunset. A microphone listens in on their conversation, but they don't know it. Standing in a small huddle, they stretch and start talking. They could talk about anything, but they don't.

This is a fascinating movie about what it means to be Arab-American, Muslim and more

"I'm dreaming of a Snickers bar right now. No, I want a Snickers ICE CREAM bar and Mountain Dew. I want it so badly I think I could throw up." Another player agrees as one looks at a teammate off in the distance. He is drinking water from the fountain (he must not be Muslim). "I think he's drinking from the fountain of heaven right now."

A collective "wow" comes from my students. And laugher does too, but the student athletes and I laugh from a deeper place. It need not be a high holy day--a day to fast or abstain from meat. It could be any day at practice, really. Perhaps you get it. Maybe you agree. How's that?

I can't tell you the number of conversations I have had with my athletes and my own former teammates about food. It's just so easy to talk about. It's the most basic of all human connections; it can be a cultural and religious connection too. Food can tie one generation to the next. It marks history and is passed on through tradition. And when it is shared after a hard work out and serves as something more than just fuel, it can be an act of communion or transformation. Indeed, food has that kind of power. Jesus modeled that for us in his final hours as He shared a meal with His disciples.

I thought about those conversations when one of the chairs of the International Food Faire at St. Ignatius College Prep, where I teach, asked me to share a recipe. She wrote "This year, we have attached an SI Food Faire Cookbook to the IFF website.Through the Food Faire Cookbook, we hope to highlight and share our community’s rich and diverse culture and traditions. I would like to invite you to submit a recipe with a little story. It does not have to be anything complicated or elaborate. It can be your favorite grilled cheese sandwich or root beer float. The idea is that all good food have stories behind them and those stories need sharing just as much as the food."

Gracie Girl on her special day

It was an honor to share not only my recipe for Quick and Healthy Banana Bread but the narrative that accompanies it. In talking about baking, I also had an opportunity to reveal the love that went into making this bread for a certain team several years ago. You can read the story here.

I wasn't able to make it to the 23rd annual Food Faire, but that was a for a good reason. My God-daughter and niece, Grace made her First Holy Communion at St. Peter's on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. In the twelve years I have worked at SI, I have not missed the IFF, but I know that today, I simply took part in the Communion of a shared meal, in another way.

I am grateful for the way both events have afforded tremendous spiritual nourishment.

Photo Credits
Fordson