How To Navigate The Liminal Space
In 1990 a 6’3” quarterback from Bellingham, Washington finished his standout career as the quarterback for Northeast Louisiana University. As the career leader in multiple passing categories for the Warhawks, Doug Pederson awaited for his name to be called in the National Football League draft. His name was unfortunately skipped in the draft, but he was able to sign a contract with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent.
The 1991 season would be Pederson’s first of a seven year career in the NFL with a few years of experience quarterbacking overseas. In seven years as an NFL quarterback Pederson played in 100 games with only 17 starts. The reason for 83 games as a non-starter had a lot to do with who was ahead of Pederson on the depth chart. While with the Miami Dolphins from 1991-1995, Pederson was the backup for hall of famer Dan Marino. Later in his career while in Green Bay, from 1995-1998 and then again from 2001-2004, Pederson was the backup for another hall of fame quarterback in Brett Favre.
After 17 total starts, Pederson had a 3-14 record as a starter in the NFL and completed a little over half of his passes in his career. Though he pushed hall of famers in practice throughout his career, Pederson spent most of his professional playing career with a headset on and a clipboard in hand as a backup quarterback. Experience certainly not wasted or futile as it led to a future endeavor in coaching.
In 2005, after having just retired from his NFL playing career, Pederson was in what anthropologists call a “liminal space.” A liminal space is a time of transition. A passing from what was, to what is to come. A time where one significant chapter of a person’s life ends, and where another significant chapter of a person’s life is yet to begin. A liminal space is similar to a double set of doors entering a building. The space between the outside doors and the doors leading to the lobby of the building. A runway of somewhat empty space. A liminal space can go quickly, or can drag on for long periods of time. The liminal space is the blank page in between one chapter ending and another chapter beginning. An empty space of transition.
After retiring from the NFL, Pederson wanted to give his attention to coaching. Not many go from backup quarterback in the NFL straight to full-time coaching positions in the NFL so Pederson couldn’t be too selective in the opportunities he entertained. He received a job offer for a newly formed high school football program and decided to return to Louisiana where he spent his college days to help start a new football program at Calvary Baptist Academy.
At the time of his hiring, the small program of Calvary Baptist Academy was just a few years old. With the sights and sounds of the NFL in his not too distant rearview mirror, Pederson was facing an undersized, underdeveloped roster of high schoolers. Not only was the roster undersized in football stature, but also in shear depth. The Cavaliers relied on players playing both offense and defense as all players balanced multiple positions, and roles. Pederson was starting from scratch. A great opportunity to test if his new passion for coaching had any real potential of being his new calling.
For Pederson, it turned out he had a passion for coaching not only the offensive schemes and X’s and O’s, but also the relating to players, the forming of a cohesive team. It was clear Pederson was on the right track after a few years at Calvary Baptist Academy. From 2005-2008, the Cavaliers went 40-11 under Pederson. In his final year as the head coach, he led Calvary Baptist Academy to the Louisiana state semi-finals. Beyond the on-field success, Pederson demonstrated an incredible ability to develop relationships with key stakeholders in the program building process. He was more than just an on-field guru, but was a leader as well. A leader people were gravitating to.
In 2009, Pederson was approached about an opportunity to join his former coach, Andy Reid as the quality control coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. He accepted the role and eventually became the quarterbacks coach for the Eagles. A few years later he followed Andy Reid to the Kansas City Chiefs as offensive coordinator in 2013. Then, in 2016 the former high school head coach was named the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. The former backup quarterback was now an NFL head coach. In just his second season as the head coach, he led the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl win over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 12 years after putting on the Calvary Baptist Academy polo coaching shirt, he was a Super Bowl champion coach.
Starting From Scratch
Passion is not usually tested well in the already established environments. It is tested in the environments needing to be dug out. Anyone can be passionate about coaching when they are coaching thoroughbreds. Pederson didn’t need to coach NFL players to realize he wanted to coach for the rest of his life. All he needed to test his passion for coaching was some 15-18 year olds, and a startup program. With an NFL pedigree, one could make a strong case Pederson would have already been a candidate for NFL coaching jobs but instead of waiting for the phone to ring he poured his attention into a startup high school program. Passion that leads to longevity doesn’t usually change with who is in the room. It doesn’t need notoriety or the corner office. The right group to coach is the group right in front of you. Pederson poured into the players in front of him, kids with braces and bright futures.
Walking The Liminal Space
All of us face times of transition in life. For Doug Pederson being a quarterback had been a major part of his life and identity. After retiring, he was forced into a state of transition in which the future was uncertain. Calvary Baptist Academy became the location for his liminal space. The space where he transitioned from athlete to coach. How we walk in liminal spaces in life determines a great deal of what our future experiences hold. For Pederson, he navigated this transition fully committed to building a viable program at Calvary Baptist. He didn’t just shuffle his feet, waiting for an opportunity at a more high profile program to arise. He sprinted, and was fully committed to succeeding in the space he was in. We cannot avoid liminal spaces. We have little to no control over when we are thrusted into liminality. There are a multitude of events which can bring us into a liminal state, most of which are just part of life (graduation, marriage, parenthood, job loss, promotions, retirement, to name a few). We have little if any control of being put in a liminal space, but we have a massive amount of control in how we manage responding to transition and change. We have an extraordinary amount of control in how we walk through liminal spaces.
Just take the next step
While we all would like to begin a journey with the end in mind, sometimes we aren’t afforded the luxury of the end in mind. Sometimes we take a job and think it will last a few years and it turns into thirty years of enjoyment. Other times we think we will be in a spot for decades and it becomes just a few years. If we only act with the end in mind we will be paralyzed with fear and will take no action at all. For Doug Pederson taking the role at Calvary Baptist Academy served as an opportunity to see what this coaching “thing” was all about. It turned out it was right up his alley. There’s nothing wrong with kicking the tires on an opportunity, unsure how it will unfold.
It’s likely there are dreams and visions embedded in our heart and mind that can only be unlocked one step at a time. It could be the path to the Philadelphia Eagles goes right through Calvary Baptist Academy. We must take the first step. We must honor the process.
Stay The Course,
JB
Book of the week: The Score Takes Care of Itself - Bill Walsh
Podcast episode of the week: Passion For Leadership - Focus 3 Podcast with Tim Kight & Urban Meyer
Article of the week: The Andy Reid Story
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