Coaching and preparing college students to serve Christ is something that BJU Bruins golf coach Dr. Dennis Scott is very passionate about.

“It’s not about the wins and losses but discipling young [students] to be leaders,” Scott said.

Before becoming a golf coach, Scott served as the head coach for Heritage Hall Christian School in Indiana for 10 years.

Scott started playing basketball in high school and said basketball sparked his interest in coaching.

Scott said the legendary UCLA Bruins men’s basketball coach John Wooden and Wooden’s book, They Call Me Coach, influenced him.

Scott was able to start golf around the same time he started basketball in high school, because each season started when the other ended.

“The uniqueness of the challenge captured my imagination,” Scott said, “It’s so difficult to master.”

After leaving Heritage Hall Christian School in 1994, Scott got his first golf head-coaching job at Northland International University where he also served as athletic director until 2007.

Scott coached the Northland men’s golf team for 10 years, men’s basketball team for 16 years and women’s soccer team for three years.

But beyond coaching players, Scott also wants to coach coaches as well.

And he wants to coach them not just in sports, but in life, which prompted Scott to start The Sports Philosophy Network, formerly Coaches Sports Philosophy Network.

“I knew that I would step away from coaching players, and someone needs to coach coaches,” Scott said.

TSPN’s mission statement is “to encourage and to equip a new generation of coaches to make an eternal impact on a new generation of athletes.”

On the TSPN website, Scott writes articles about coaching philosophy and current events in the sports world.

In one of Scott’s articles, “Coaching Is Hard,” he discusses the main reasons and attitudes are that make coaching a hard career.

“Winning records, championship banners and conference titles are all so temporal,” Scott wrote. “If your primary reason for coaching is the pursuit of these things, coaching will be especially hard on you.”

Scott’s article also identifies the purpose of coaching.       “I see coaching as a higher form of teaching,” Scott said.

“There is a higher level of evaluation and expectation regarding the performance of your students (the athletes).”

Scott also said that attitudes such as athletes wanting maximum exposure for a scholarship or parents not being realistic about their child’s potential are also factors in making coaching a hard career. 

“I also believe that coaching is so much harder today than just a generation ago due to a changing culture,” Scott said.

“Some athletes nowadays seem to have a selfish, entitlement mentality which makes it very difficult to build team cohesion.” 

“These ‘corruptible crowns’ do not endure,” Scott wrote. “The thrill of the moment and the memories of the accomplishment quickly fade. The eternal impact you make on young lives is what makes coaching a little easier and well worth it.”