Kevin T. Sutton

Truth.

America is praying for Austin. But there is something profoundly cynical about asking God to solve a problem we're not willing to solve ourselves. God moves and works through us. God has no other hands but our hands. We must act.

K9 SUPER BOWL MVP ‼️

If Bill Belichick can't get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, you're Hall of Fame doesn't matter. If Shedeur Sanders makes the pro bowl, the pro bowl doesn't matter. Tough couple days for sanity.

130 schools said no. He led the losingest program in college football history to a national championship anyway. Fernando Mendoza was a 2-star recruit from Miami. He tried to walk on at his hometown school. They passed. So did FIU. So did FAU. So did everyone else. At 17, he was sitting in his bedroom, crying over a silent recruiting inbox—after driving to 18 camps with his dad and sending highlights to more than 100 programs. Not one FBS offer. His only option? Yale. No scholarship. No NFL path. Everyone told him to be “realistic.” “Know your place.” “Be grateful.” He didn’t listen. Because Mendoza understood something most people miss: The worst outcome isn’t failing. It’s never getting the chance to try. Two weeks before signing day in 2022, his phone rang. Cal needed a body. One offer. Out of 134 schools. He took it. He arrived as the third-string quarterback. Spent a year on the scout team. Lost his first four starts. Got sacked 41 times behind a broken offensive line. Still got up. Every time. Then Cal brought in a transfer instead of building around him. So Mendoza left the only school that had ever said yes. He transferred to Indiana—the losingest program in college football history. People laughed. “Career suicide.” “Graveyard program.” “Nobody wins there.” One coach told him something different: “I’m going to make you the best Fernando Mendoza possible.” That was enough. Mendoza wasn’t just playing for football. His mother has battled multiple sclerosis for 18 years. Before every snap, he thought of her. “My mother is my why.” Indiana went 16–0. Beat six Top-10 teams. Won their first Big Ten title since 1945. Mendoza threw 41 touchdowns. Won the Heisman—first in school history. First Cuban-American to ever do it. Then came the title game. Miami. Near his hometown. Fourth-and-4. Season on the line. Quarterback draw. The kid 134 schools rejected spun through defenders and dove into the end zone. Game over. Indiana—national champions. The losingest program became the best team in America. All because a 17-year-old refused to believe “no” was the end. Rankings don’t decide your ceiling. Gatekeepers don’t write your ending. Being overlooked isn’t a verdict—it’s a starting point. Sometimes all you need is one shot… and the courage to bet on yourself when nobody else will. Don’t quit. Credit: Barclay Mullins

10 @TedLasso leadership lessons: 1 believe in yourself  2 winning is an attitude 3 all people are different people 4 see good in others 5 forgive first 6 stay teachable 7 be curious 8 optimists do more 9 be honest 10 doing right thing is never wrong thing

Tom Izzo shares why the best thing a leader can do is hold people accountable to their own dreams and how he does this with his teams. "I always ask them: What do you think my job is for you?" Most players don't know how to answer. So Izzo tells them: "The best thing I could do for you is to hold you accountable to your dreams and goals - not mine." "Sometimes as leaders, we look at what we want instead of what they want." Izzo has each player write down their goals on a card. Then he uses that card when they push back. "When he's mad at me because I'm on his butt about academics, I say: You told me you wanted to be an academic All-American. That's not my goal. That was your goal. My job - if I do my job right - is to hold you accountable to your goals." Leadership isn't about pushing your agenda. It's about helping people become who they said they wanted to be. Hold them to their dreams - not yours. (🎥 Michigan Association of Counties 2020)

I’m told Pat Fitzgerald has heavily emphasized a “return to Spartan football” in his first weeks with the program. He has told staff there will be an enforced expectation of toughness and an embracing of what MSU’s identity was at the program’s peak. One staffer put it best: “The chip-on-our-shoulder is back, and that’s because of (Fitzgerald). He knows what this place was. He knows people don’t think (MSU) can get back there, that he can’t adapt. He is fired up - like, at an almost alarming level. He wants to prove everyone wrong and shove it up their ass.”

Got my tickets for tonight. It’s going to be a wild night! 🥳👏

Jonathan Smith is a good man who took a chance on our program when our situation wasn’t desirable. He moved his family across the country to a new place and never once complained about the situation he entered. Players and staffers loved him, I am wishing him success

The best halftime show the NFL has had in a decade was during a Lions Thanksgiving game lmao

Cam Newton always looks like a rival chocolatier who’s plotting how to drive Willy Wonka out of business …

"What do you want me to do? Hug and kiss them?" Coddling his players isn't Tom Izzo's style.

The only team that’s beating Michigan State this year, is Michigan state 😤

Not to dive in too deep to a golf exhibition, but I think the repulsive crowd behavior speaks to a further issue in a contingent of this country believing patriotism is simply being cruel and repulsive to anyone deemed the opposition, vs simply being proud to be an American.

As a Spartan, we don’t love those guys from Ann Arbor. But this is all class from Hutch and a great example of someone using his platform for good. Big fan. Bravo! 👏🏻

Kickoff *commercial break* First down *commercial break* Player hurt *commercial break* Punt *commercial break* Touchdown *commercial break* Extra point *commercial break* Timeout *commercial break* ESPN: we just can’t figure out why these games are running so long

Amen. He’s a kid. Yes, he’s a Manning. Yes, he has endorsements. But that game is a tough ask of any player.

@TexasFootball v @OhioStateFB … 😴

To say the concessions situation last night at Spartan Stadium was a disaster would be a gross understatement. It was an unadulterated train wreck. Worst I’ve seen in 40+ years of going to games at MSU. Total embarrassment. @MSU_Battman @MSU_Football