Cornerstone University (Mich.) Champions of Character event featured Lloyd Carr, former football coach at the University of Michigan

Annual character event attracted over 1,000 high school football players from the Michigan area

Posted on 08.20.08

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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Respect … trust … honesty …family.

Those are the four cornerstone’s on which Lloyd Carr built his successful football program at the University of Michigan.

In a speech to more than 1,000 varsity football players at a Champions of Character season kick-off gathering at Cornerstone University (Mich.), he emphasized that those traits will also have the same kind of positive results off the field.

“Football doesn’t develop character,” Carr said. “It defines it. Ability is just not enough. Nothing will ever substitute for hard work. Talent gives you a chance to be good. But it takes character and integrity to make the most of the talent you are given.”

Carr, who retired as Michigan’s head coach at the close of the 2008 season, having won 122 games, five Big Ten Championships and the 1997 NCAA Championship, was speaking to varsity players from the 51-school O-K Conference from West Michigan.

The conference, which started 50 years ago with five schools, now covers six counties. Of the 35,000-plus students in the conference, more than 22,000 take part in educational athletics. The O-K and Cornerstone University are in the third year of a Champions of Character partnership,

Cornerstone is an NAIA school, and is one of ten that the NAIA used as a foundation for its Champions of Character program. It is a “game plan for character development”, working directly with high schools to change the character of sport in America.

It is built around the five core values of respect, responsibility, integrity, servant leadership and sportsmanship.

“I’ve been in coaching for 38 years,” Carr told the assembled athletes. “And of all the things that you learn in life, character will endure longer than any of them. When we went out recruiting, we were as interested in what kind of kid we were looking at as how fast he could run or how much he could lift.”

“There is no question in my mind that having kids who do things the right way, kids who work hard, respect each other and the game, will help you be successful. So we really looked at a kid. Film told us how he played.”

“It was his family, his friends, his teachers and his coaches that told us who or what he was. And there were times that made a difference. A team is made up of young men who are different from one another, and you have to respect those differences.”

“You had to always know you could trust your teammate, not only that he was willing to do his best, but also that he wasn’t talking behind your back or doing things that would have a negative impact on the team.”

“Honesty speaks for itself. And family just means we care about one another, that we are there for one another. That’s how you build a successful program, how you get kids to come together.”

Three signs he saw in a professional locker room always stuck with Carr.

"Blame no one!”

“Be a leader!”

“Do something, expect nothing!”

“Those are character traits,” Carr said. “Those are what set players apart. ‘My fault coach’ is a much better way to look at something than to point blame. If you always make excuses, you can never get better, because you always have a reason for your failure other than the most important one.

“That you made a mistake. Everybody makes mistake, you learn from them and make yourself better if you accept your failings and work hard to overcome them, you gain nothing from blaming somebody else.”

For more information on Champions of Character programs or opportunities through Cornerstone University, contact Mike Riemersma at 616-254-1671. 

About the NAIA
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is the governing body for athletics programs at its nearly 300 colleges and universities throughout the United States and Canada. The long-held mission of the NAIA is to promote the education and development of well-rounded students and productive citizens through intercollegiate athletics. The Association offers equitable access and opportunities for participation in its 23 national championship events held annually throughout the country.

Today, the NAIA strengthens its commitment to student-athletes and strives to enrich their college experience by supporting academic achievement and character development. NAIA Champions of Character is the association’s innovative flagship program designed to instill character values in student-athletes, coaches and youth in the communities it serves. To learn more visit www.NAIA.org.