This December, we proudly spotlight Jeffrey Polson as the Soldier Coach of the Month. A retired Major from the U.S. Marine Corps with 29 years of distinguished service, Polson’s journey from military leader to influential coach exemplifies resilience, dedication, and passion. Currently serving as a Defensive Analyst and Assistant Cornerbacks Coach for the University of North Carolina’s Division 1 FBS football program, Polson’s coaching career spans nearly three decades and includes a wide range of sports, from football to martial arts. Through the Soldiers To Sidelines program, Polson has seamlessly transitioned his military leadership skills into the athletic arena, inspiring countless athletes and embodying the values of teamwork, discipline, and perseverance. His story reminds us of the profound impact coaching can have on both players and coaches, creating a legacy that extends far beyond the field.
STS: How long have you been coaching?
Coach Polson: I have been coaching for almost 30 years at different levels ranging from Pop Warner to High School, to Semi-Pro in Europe, to Collegiate Sprint Football, to now Division 1 FBS. However, most of this time has been as a volunteer managing involvement with the team between deployments and operations as most of our soldiers’ coaches can relate. It wasn’t until my final tour in the Marine Corps that I was blessed with the opportunity to coach full-time at the United States Naval Academy as the Head Sprint Football Coach.
STS: Tell your story about how and why you got into coaching. Discuss how coaching has impacted you as a person.
Coach Polson: I initially got into coaching when we were relocating to our next duty station after the tryouts for a very competitive Pop-Warner program in California were completed and the only way my son could play in the league was if I would be willing to serve as the Head Coach for a 3rd Team and if I was willing to take all of the remaining players that were not selected to play on one of the two other competitive teams in the county. So, I had 23 kids between the age of 12-14 who had not played football in their lives and my son that had played his entire life. Welcome to your new duty station! I recruited a group of service members on the base and a couple of dads, and we formed a coaching staff. That team went 0-11 but you could not tell that from the energy of the team. Every game we got closer and closer to winning. The big victory for the year was that our last game we played one of the travel teams in our county that we lost to 51-0 earlier in the year and we only lost 24-23 in a last-second play. We were able to teach these young men the fundamentals, the dedication, and the work ethic that it takes to play the game. But most importantly we taught them a love for the game. Every one of those players went on to play High School Football and some college. At that point, I was hooked.
Coaching has given me a wonderful opportunity to develop my leadership style and skills while also pouring into the young men and women morals, values, ethics, discipline, compassion, resilience, and love. Seeing these players surprise themselves by achieving things they couldn’t imagine is such a treat. It is enriching and it fuels my soul. I feel that what it takes to lead Marines, lead Gov’t Contractors, lead in the Business World, and to Coach athletes at all levels is no different. I try to approach leadership the same regardless of the venue or who I am leading. I try to take a coach’s approach. I pour into my team. I meet with all of them and talk to them individually and as a group about what they are trying to achieve, and we work towards individual and collective goals together. I address them as TEAM all of the time and work towards ensuring we are all invested and taking care of our responsibilities. I lead them just like I coach, and this has worked well because they know that I will go to battle with them, that I have their back, that I will work my tail off for them, and that I love them. In turn, they more than return the favor and often times they far surpass our goals and expectations.
STS: How has your military experience influenced you as a coach?
Coach Polson: My time in the military has primarily influenced me as a coach by how I approach the players and other coaches. In the military we are trained to work as a unit towards a collective mission. We are also trained with inclusiveness and that we are all just different shades of green. Marine Corp green. All bleeding the same and serving beside each other regardless of race, ethnic group, gender, or religion. In the military, I have also learned to love and respect my team regardless of their specialty, MOS, or responsibility. This includes all of the other branches because of their unique mission (in the US and abroad) that collectively provides the best fighting force and National Defense capability in the world. Just like the military, an athletic program is made up of a variety of team members that you need to respect from the Athletic Dept, the Operations Staff, recruiting staff, the Student Assistants, nutritionists, doctors, trainers, strength staff, the support staff, the Coaches, the Offense, Defense, and Special Teams, the players, the managers, the equipment staff, the video crew and so many more. It is important to appreciate and respect what everyone is doing to accomplish the collective mission.
Additionally, what I learned in the military that translates to coaching is that we have established training standards (a playbook) for our entire team that allows for the next man or woman to step in without missing a beat. We prepare for our mission, we gather intelligence, we conduct walk-throughs, tabletop exercises, etc. If someone is not up to standard, we coach them up or we send them back through training. We continuously evaluate our units through certifications, pre-deployment exercises, and checklists to ensure they are ready for the mission. That is no different in coaching. Prior to a game, we evaluate our opponent, we study their tendencies, we game plan how we want to attack their weaknesses and how we expect them to attack us. We determine the MLCOA and MDCOA. Every day we practice, evaluate, and make corrections so that we can execute on game day. The only difference is that our battlefield is the gridiron, the court, the pitch, and bullets are not flying. But the preparation and the standards are the same.
The other similarities are that there are unknowns on the battlefield, the enemy has a say. They have prepared and they are good at what they do. We must remain flexible and we must be better at making adjustments. Fatigue, stress, fear, injury, and communication can also affect a team just like the military. It is real and something that we must be ready to address mentally, physically, and emotionally.
At the end of the day, when it comes to game day, we must rely on our training and preparation to carry our actions. If we cut corners, if we didn’t prepare a good gameplan, if we didn’t exploit our weaknesses, those weaknesses will be found out and exploited by the enemy on the field.
STS: How has Soldiers To Sidelines impacted your life?
Coach Polson: The first way that S2S impacted my life is by providing me access to a group of experienced coaches and mentors to bounce my ideas and questions off of through the Membership Development Program (MDP). Specifically, Harrison and Mike Taylor provided 1-on-1 mentorship for me, and they served as a sounding board to fully inform my decisions when opportunities presented themselves. They pulled no punches. They gave it to me straight and they helped to level set where I thought I was and how I could get to where I was trying to go as a coach. Additionally, S2S gave me access to a plethora of tools and videos to prepare myself and to grow my knowledge. Once we landed on where I fit in, they worked hard to find an opportunity for me that fit my experience and goals. They leveraged the established S2S relationship with several universities (UNC, Michigan, UWV) to give me options. Ultimately, UNC was the best fit logistically based on my situation. Without S2S and the history of other successful S2S coaches such as Marcus Carlstrom (who was in this position 1 year before me), there is no way that I would have been able to get my foot in the door here at UNC. Once I made the decision on UNC, the S2S staff stayed engaged with both myself and Mack Brown to ensure things were going well and to provide mentorship and advice throughout the process. They even came out for the Georgia Tech game and spoke to the team. As I transition to the next step in my coaching process, I know that S2S will remain my partner and that is such a wonderful resource to have in your corner as you navigate your coaching career. From all of us: Thank you Harrison for starting this organization 10 years ago and for providing this opportunity for so many transitioning service members that are coaching in a variety of sports. Coaching and the camaraderie of being with your team is the closest thing I have found to serving in the military. It is the most natural transition for a service member and it fills a void that we have when we transition from the military.
STS: Describe a coaching interaction with a player, or group of players, that has a special place in your heart?
Coach Polson: I honestly have cherished every experience I have had as a coach. We are so blessed to have the opportunity to help the young men and women we coach, we lead, we serve with, and we work with achieve their goals in life both on and off the field. To me the true gift in it is when you are walking down the street 5-10 years later and an individual that you coached or served with takes the time to call you, text you, or if they see you on the street and they come running over to track you down and tell you how their life is going and what they have achieved and they thank you for your impact in their life. That is gold and that is why we do it! One memory that sticks in my mind goes back to 2008 when I was coaching a HS Senior 189 lbs wrestler that had never wrestled before and had no direction in life. I was asked to serve as his wrestling partner for the season to progress his skills as much as possible to get some points in that weight class for the team. I worked with that kid every day. He started applying the techniques he was learning, and he started believing in himself. In the end, he qualified for the California State HS Wrestling Championships and won 2 matches at state coming one match from placing. I PCS’d that year before I knew what he planned to do after HS. The next year when I was in Iraq, I received an email from him letting me know that I inspired him to go to college and to wrestle. He thanked me for believing in him and giving him the confidence to pursue dreams that he never had before. That is my WHY!
STS: What are your aspirations in coaching?
Coach Polson: My aspirations are to become a head coach again initially in FCS and ultimately a Group of 5 or Power 5 team. In the short term to achieve this, I am targeting a College position coaching opportunity for a few years before I feel an opportunity to serve as a Head Coach will be possible. I trust God’s plan and I am excited to see his plan unveiled in my life. I am not sure where this coaching journey will take me but I know that he has placed a calling on my heart to coach.
STS: What was the most difficult challenge you have experienced in coaching and what have you learned from that experience?
Coach Polson: This year for me has been my hardest year as a coach because I finally stepped into Div 1 FBS Coaching but that came at a price. With this STS opportunity, I decided to volunteer for the staff and to take a pay cut with my IT company to make this opportunity work and to add this experience to my resume so that I can have future opportunities. Financially, this required me to relocate to Chapel Hill while my wife remained behind in Myrtle Beach. I embarked upon the journey thinking of this like a deployment that I have been through many times in my career. For me that worked, and I could easily accept the sacrifices I was making. However, for my wife, she felt like I was abandoning her to chase my dreams and that she was not part of it. Although she agreed that if this is what I want, she will remain behind to make it work. It goes back to the old cliché that I was able to achieve a lot of things, and I had a blast coaching and mentoring but it wasn’t as special without my wife and my family there with me. I realized I can coach with the best coaches in the land. But the coaching profession requires sacrifices and flexibility, and you need to be willing to accept the impact of your decisions. I got an inside look at the world of college and professional coaching and it is truly volatile. These coaches turnover every year and when they are lucky, they remain in one location for more than 2-3 years. On rare occasions longer than that. Seeing the impact this has on the coaches and their families has been eye-opening. 30-40 year highly successful NFL coaches are making similar sacrifices as myself being separated from their families with the hope for the next opportunity. It doesn’t really stop. During a bible study, our OC-Chip Lindsey spoke to us about the journey and about being content and making an impact where you are planted and trusting in God’s plan for you. That really resonated with me. For many years, I had volunteered at the HS level while working in the Business Sector or serving in the military and my family was always there with me, so it wasn’t as much of a sacrifice. But this time, to get to the next level, I committed even more. The revelation for me was that I am willing to do this again, but I will ONLY do this if my wife goes with me and I am able to come home to her every night and we can enjoy the sacrifice, the late hours, and the success together. If that means college, great. If that means HS, great. That will be the tough decision many of our aspiring coaches will have to make. May God bless you in your decision and your journey!
STS: Is there anything else you can share with us about your coaching story?
Coach Polson: My final message for the STS Coaches is to be content in the place you are and do your best to pour into your athletes God has entrusted into your care because you can make a difference in their life whatever level you are coaching. I was always aspiring to get to a higher level in college or into the NFL and this year has given me clarity that I can make an impact at all levels including in the business sector, in the military, or as a coach and it is important to remember to appreciate and flourish where you planted. The biggest impact a coach made in my life was my Pee-Wee coach who coached me from 2nd-6th Grade. To this day, he is the reason I coach so that I can make the same impact he made in my life. Don’t worry about where you are coaching. Trust in God’s plan for you. Make an impact where you are!
As a life coach, my motto is:
“Let Loose and Dare to be Great” – Dream it, Believe it, and Live it!
That motto applies to everything in life and to every one of our coaches. What it means to me is that there is only one person in life that can hold you back and that is you. So don’t hold yourself back. Let yourself go and do great things. You must First Dream it “Visualize it”, then Believe it, and finally go out and Live it. If you cannot visualize it, there is no way that you believe it, and ultimately you will never Do it. The mind is a powerful thing to help you achieve things you could never imagine.
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