Bibles as gifts? Yes, why not?
That was the great idea that struck Miami Hurricanes coach Mark Richt and for which he could very well earned the title of Most Loved Coach of the Year, if ever there is one.
This week, Richt started giving personalised Bibles to his players and the coaching staff as well after he heard that some of them didn't have Bibles or had older translations that were difficult to understand, according to the Sun Sentinel's Miami Hurricanes Blog.
Richt clarified that he is not forcing every one of his players to accept his gift.
"I told the guys, 'It's a choice. If you want to just leave it at the chair, you can. If you want to take it with you, you can. If you want to give it to somebody, you can," he said on Wednesday.
As to why he decided to give Bibles as gifts, Richt said in talking to his players sometimes he gives wise sayings from Proverbs, the book of wisdom, to motivate them to play at their best. Now that they have their own copy of the Bible, "if anyone would take the challenge of reading a proverb a day, you're going to get wiser. It's good stuff. I just wanted to make it available to them," he said.
The players fully appreciated their coach's move. Receiver Braxton Berrios tweeted a picture of his personalised Bible, with his name emblazoned on the cover, saying, "This speaks volumes to the type of coach we have. I appreciate you getting us our own Bibles, so we can do everything in His name."
Defensive end Demetrius Jackson, who is active in his church and is called "The Preacher" in the Hurricanes locker room, said the Bible gifts showed that their coach truly cares. "He's genuine and he's the man he says he is. He just showed us he honestly cares about us and I know if I can trust him, we can all trust him," he said.
Safety Rayshawn Jenkins added: "It's everything. ... It shows us that he really cares. He could've just handed us a playbook instead, or something else. But he handed us Bibles, something different. It lets us know he wants good for us."
Quarterback Brad Kaaya was also highly appreciative of Richt. "Coach is a genuine guy and we've seen that from day one. This is another example of it. ... All the things he's done, it means a lot to our team and it makes us want to play harder for him," he said.
