“I know you would normally never consider us, but give me a couple of minutes to explain why you should. Like Lincoln High, we want to establish the top football program in the state. When you look at who our competition is, it shouldn’t be that hard to do. State and Northwestern each have a good year every ten years or so. It wasn’t that long ago that Northern was the best team. I want to do better than that. I want to move us into the conversation of major bowl games and possibly national championships.
“We have the buy-in of the athletic department, the university, and our fans. We just signed a deal with Springbok. Our plans include building a football facility that will rival any of the Power 5 schools. We also plan to build athletic dorms that will be more in the line of high-end apartments than what you would see typically,” he explained.
That reminded me of what Oklahoma had done as far as housing. I wasn’t looking forward to living in a traditional dorm setting where you slept in the same room with someone else. I’d been spoiled by my apartment over the garage.
“Long-term, we will also expand our stadium.”
“What would David be expected to do?” Dad asked.
“He would be the face of the program. David would be the one who would turn us into a winner. I’m sure you can appreciate what that would mean after college. Being someone who turns around two football programs will be something that will pay off for him after he graduates. I know that if you decided to go into politics, it would give you an unshakable base.
“If you decided to go the business route, you would have an instant customer base. Our alumni would greet you with open arms and help you in any way they could. Think about Lincoln High and your community. Heck, you got your dog elected to the mayor’s office. This would be similar but on a much larger scale and give you much more reach.”
I had to admit he was pushing all the right buttons for me. If I were a hundred percent honest with myself, I would love to go to State and do precisely what Coach Foster was talking about. The problem was they never seemed to get their act together, and I didn’t have confidence they would anytime soon. Southwest Central State’s only positive factor was that they hadn’t embraced mediocrity. They’d worked to get their program elevated to Division I and now were poised to take on all comers.
Then I had a flash of what the psychic had said to me: that when the time came, I would do something unexpected. If I went to Southwest Central State, that would fall into that category.
“How is Springbok tied into all this?” Dad asked to get us back on track as to what this meeting was really about.
Coach Foster looked at us thoughtfully before responding.
“They’re a shoe company, like Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour. We partnered with them to help infuse cash into our program, so an apparel deal with them was logical. In a way, it’s just like Michigan’s deal with Nike.
“I would guess that when you graduate, they would approach you and offer you a sponsorship deal. Someone like you can probably have his pick of deals when he graduates. I view them as a necessary evil in college football,” he responded.
“I was led to believe that they would set David up with an agent and financial advisors upon graduation if he went to a Springbok school,” Dad pressed.
“Sorry, but I wouldn’t know anything about that. I would doubt they would be able to make any promises along those lines since it would be against the rules. It might even be illegal. If they did approach you, I would walk away,” Coach Foster said.
“What could I expect if I were to verbally accept an offer?” I asked.
“That’s a good question,” he said and pulled out an envelope from his jacket. “I want to formally offer you to play for us.”
He handed me the envelope. I opened it, and inside was a letter on their athletic department’s letterhead.
