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He's big.
He's tall.
He's long.
He's strong.
He's got all the physical tools that you'd really want.
But I think probably more so than that, he's also got a
strong desire to be great, in terms of preparation and
studying and really knowing the ins and outs
of what we're doing.
He's really excelled in that role.
When I came to visit here, I had a one-on-one with Lance.
And you know, it's the winning, the team spirit.
It's everything.
The camaraderie within the guys.
You saw it all when you came and visited here.
And that's really what drove me to come here.
What Cole means to our football team goes beyond
being All-Conference or Conference Player of the Year,
or being a finalist.
It's his maturity, his leadership, his approach to
everything that he does.
He is the captain of our team.
And more than that, he's our leader on defense.
He's out there quarterbacking every play, getting us in the
right positions, making sure we're all in the right spot.
He's a leader on and off the field.
Definitely in the weight room, definitely in meeting rooms,
and definitely on practice.
And he makes plays, big plays, when we need them.
He's like a dream to coach.
We kind of rely on him to make a lot of our calls and our
adjustments and things out there on the field.
And so he really takes that role seriously.
I can't remember a time that we've ever had to encourage
him to do more, play harder, try harder, concentrate more.
He's always right at the forefront in that area.
And that was a really kind of tough time in my life.
But through that whole thing, my grandfather and my
grandmother, they've been my two biggest fans, and the two
biggest ones who approached me every day, come to me every
day, and really pushed me to be who I am today.
In one of the games the last two years, we've done pink
tape to support him.
And he just knows we're always there for him.
He's earned the respect that he's gotten, because they can
see day in and day out what kind of a person he is.
That's all part of that respect and
leadership that he enjoys.
My grandmother was at every one of our games.
And she's still there today.
It was honestly a huge surprise in my mind.
I mean, I'm a defensive player.
I never in a million years would I have thought ever been
a finalist for this award.
It was a great honor.
To see what he's done, to be in this group, what the whole
award's about, the academic side, his aspirations to go to
med school, the things that he's done to stay healthy now,
to prepare to be a leader, if he is chosen, it would be a
very good choice and well deserved.
Good, better, best.
Never let it rest.
Till the good get better and the better get best.
That's a quote that's been ingrained in
me since high school.
Our coach every day at practice would just be
preaching it and preaching it and preaching it.
It's something that's always stuck in my mind.
It's always something that, you might be a good player,
but there's always something else you can do.
There's always something you could do to better yourself.
And that's how you should approach every day.