The sudden darkness ravades Latrif Stadium, home to the Odessa Permian Panthers, and is a team from Friday Night Light.
With six state championships, the Permian has long been a major power in the 6A and is one of the toughest divisions in the country.
Still, this November night, the Panthers were losing to the Frenship Tigers from Wolf Force, Texas, from one of the towns without a state championship by its name.
The weaker scored two touchdowns in 9 seconds, sealing off a 44-27 upset.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9eaze5xage
“They didn't like it at all,” Frenship character coach David Frez told me. “They were so upset, they just turned off the lights,” he laughs. “What you see on TV is real. Friday Night Lights is a documentary. ”
He smiles again, reminiscing about that underdog night at Odessa.
“Culture is our secret weapon,” he says. “We're not the fastest or the strongest, but we're
team Speed and team The strength is amazing. ”
Scoreboard
Frez and me
spoke On a cold February afternoon, both are still recovering from the flu. Fraze, an associate professor at Lubbock Christian University and chairman of the Ministry of Youth and Families at Lubbock Christian University, has served as character coaching for 15 years, a branch under the Christian Athlete Fellowship.
It began as a side project while he was with Hills Church in Dallas. The FCA then asked him to build it, shaping its role, consistent with Title IX compliance and growing areas of sports psychology and leadership development.
“I am a child of God, and my lifestyle reflects the truth, whether my feelings agree or not.
Now, character coaches work with teams across the country to blend faith, discipline and mentorship.
“We're everywhere,” Frez says. “We support athletes with their resilience, not just physically, but with their mindset.”
I know Texas football from Fraizefuller Theological Seminary, who holds a doctoral degree. He coaches the Dallas Cowboys Youth Academy. He understands the weight of identity that comes with pressure, competition and performance.
But more than anything, he knows what happens when that identity is not fixed in something real. Thirty years of working with students, families and athletes taught him that.
Practical wisdom
In a world where victory often obscures personal growth, David Freise challenges the status quo in his book Practical Wisdom for Athletes and Families: Victory is Not the Ultimate Goal. Co-author Monica Williams, who is also an associate professor at Lubbock Christian University, has over 17 years of experience coaching student-athletes in Texas and California.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mlsnph5ouw
Fraze and Williams argue that competitive sports arenas have lost sight of what's really important. This helps athletes become the best version of themselves rather than just chasing victory.
Drawing from decades of experience in coaching, education and mentoring, Fraze and Williams invite parents, coaches and athletes to an honest conversation about the pressures of modern sports.
“Our book is not about creating superstars,” explains Fraze. “It's about equipping young athletes and their families with the practical wisdom they need to navigate the competitive world of athletics.”
Instead of committing to quick fixes, the book offers a practical strategy for finding balance in a high-stakes environment. Each chapter assumes a new approach to how athletes can manage the harsh demands of pressure from training, competition, and even external influences.
The story of “practical wisdom” goes beyond sports tactics. It touches on broader life lessons and encourages athletic families to embrace rest, reflect identity and reassess the role of competition.
The heart of the book's message is balance ideas.
“We have the opportunity to regain what sport was always meant to be, a fun journey with friends,” Fraze says.
Meanwhile, Williams emphasizes that the book is a guide to both immediate challenges and long-term growth, offering “ready-to-use suggestions” to balance movement ambitions with personal happiness.
Performance Weight
Competition is the furnace. You've forgotten the character, but it could also make your weaknesses worse.
Pressure defines sports. Missed shots, fumble passes, and 2 seconds of split: any of these can change your game, career, or even upside down life.
But Frez believes that Christianity provides a path to salvation from that pressure.
“When players can separate who they are from their work, they actually become better players,” he says.
He saw it firsthand. Athletes who can throw away their performance anxiety can step into a field where they know their worth is not bound by the scoreboard.
And the freedom to let go
“Our identity determines what we do and then our feelings,” explains Fraze. “It's very biblical.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5mojwntryc
It is the truth that governs sports and life alike. In many cases, young athletes build their performance identity. If they win, they feel worthy. If they lose, they feel worthless. But Fraze believes it's backwards.
“You think about Christ's walk. I am a child of God. My lifestyle reflects that truth, whether my feelings agree or not. It is love. If you start with your feelings as an athlete – if you don't want to play hard, you won't. And do I want to assert my identity? It doesn't work that way.”
Fraze tells the story of the quarterback he coached, the upstart of the Texas Technology Scholarship. On the night of voluntary team testimony, the young athlete stood in front of his teammates and said, “Soccer is too important to us. That's what we do, but it's not us.”
Youth Culture
Fraze is a youth pastor of trade. “In the academic world, I also train people to do and teach what I do,” he adds.
He balances theory and practice for 36 years, a turbulent world of academia and an unpredictable world of teenagers. His title at Lubbock Christian University reads like a legal document delegated to the James A. “Buddy” Davidson Charitable Foundation Youth and Family Ministry, but he still spends Sundays leading a group of church freshmen. (He jokingly complains that one of them insisted on calling him “Sir.”)
His doctoral programme was a combination of sociology, psychology, theology and philosophy. “So we were trained to be ethnographic people. Wherever we go, we take knowledge and walk the world.”
All of these elements combine to create a freewheel disruption for young people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm9nnveijqw
Young people are at the heart of it and are free. Not a lonely, selfish kind, but a reddish tied to love, relationships, communion. It thrives with the tacit brotherhood of the team, huddles and locker rooms. It drives players to throw away blocks for teammates, and teams exceed the total winning and losing ratio.
To the outside world, youth culture looks messy, unpredictable and exciting. But this is the power. Refusing to be refined, optimized and repackaged for consumption.
All new generations can formulate their worldviews as the rest of us see bitterness, curiosity and nostalgia and are fascinated by the authority of young people.
Failure as a gift
“In the end, we all can't reach the next level,” Fraze says.
He has seen what happens when identity is intertwined with athletic performances. He points to Michael Phelps, perhaps the greatest swimmer in history.
“We develop athletes, but if we don't lead to life, they will seize human development.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhshccw_uek
Failure is not only inevitable, but “failure is a gift – that's the only way to grow.”
He recalls his daughter, a talented theatre performer who has recently gone through a rigorous audition. One day she shed tears and went home. “He just gave you a gift,” Frez told her. “He's helping you get better or you just found out what your role is. Either way, you'll win.”
The same lesson applies to younger athletes as well. In many cases, children do not have the opportunity to fail in healthy ways. Parents rush to intervene – team switching, coaching fault, throwing money at trainers.
But Fraze sees sports as a tool for something bigger. “Life for Christians is not about avoiding hell,” Fraze says. “It's about transformation.”
Close call
Fraze wants athletes to have freedom. The freedom to compete without fear and intensity knows that your worth is not on the line in every game.
“Does God love you? Yes. Does your family love you? Yes. So what happens if you fail? Nothing will change. So play it.”
He laughs, remembering his interactions with his daughter walking to his office with a box of donuts.
“It's Monday,” she said with hope.
“I look at her and say, 'Get out of here. I want them, but it's Monday,” he smirks. “Discipline, man. That's important.”
He pauses. “They're really good doughnuts too. And I just shut the door. I'm so glad we spoke to you because you helped me avoid the temptation.”
