Super Bowl winning Coach Jim Caldwell concluded the Guilford Athletics Leadership Forum for student-athletes on Sunday, April. 14.
Caldwell is the offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens, the 2013 Super Bowl Champions. Before that campaign, he led Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts to the Super Bowl in 2009.
Among many other accomplishments, Caldwell made history as the first African-American head coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1993 at Wake Forest.
“Jim Caldwell encompasses everything that a great leader should possess,” said former Wake Forest head coach Dave Odom ‘65. “He’s got great character. He’s got great commitment. He’s highly motivated. He’s caring.
“I just think he was a great finisher. He capsules it all together and puts a nice bow on the whole thing.”
The forum focused on what Caldwell called the Six Pillars of Effective Leadership.
According to Caldwell, in order to become a good leader, one must possess competence, humility, motivation, passion and, above all, serve the community for the greater good.
“I thought Coach Caldwell’s remarks were some of the best that we’ve had in this series,” said Dave Walters, sports information director and assistant director of athletics. “He kept the audience’s attention and presented some pretty clear principles for the students to walk away and apply in their own situation as leaders.”
As Walters predicted, many students left the presentation feeling like they had acquired useful and relevant skills.
“It was awesome,” said junior Madisen Forehand. “He showed us great leadership qualities that we could all use and apply in real life as student athletes on campus.”
Jonathon Cooper, who played football for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, found Caldwell’s words to be invaluable.
“I thought it was very good,” said Cooper. “I was just in (Guilford athletes’) places as a student athlete, and I feel like they could really apply what he was saying on just being a leader and the effect of the business world, and I really appreciated it.”
Although Caldwell’s expertise lies within football, he referenced subjects all across the board during the presentation from the Kentucky Derby to NASCAR in order to explain the importance of commitment and passion to a sport and to life.
“Jim Caldwell was a very strong presenter and well spoken individual,” said junior Michael Robles. “He motivated a lot of us, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to hear him.”
Overcoming obstacles, he humbly reflected on the struggles of being one of few African-American coaches in the big leagues.
“When I was first coming through the rings, there weren’t many African-American head football coaches,” said Caldwell. “But, I had the chance to work for some great people that certainly gave me some great direction, which helped me out quite a bit.”
Caldwell ended by painting a picture of a glass full of water. He used this imagery to describe how he stays balanced between all of the different realms of his life.
Considering a typical off-season day for Caldwell consists of 15 hours at the Baltimore Ravens Corporate Headquarters and Training Facility, he understands the difficulties of the juggling act but offered advice to listeners.
“When I’m at work, I pour it all into my work,” said Caldwell. “When I’m home, I pour everything I have into home. I don’t take work home with me. When I’m at church, I focus on worship. I pour everything I have into church.”
