Fourth in the
season-preview series
STEPHENVILLE, Texas - It was 1:30 a.m., and 17-year-old Kevin Kolb crept in from the cool November night, into the modest one-floor home his parents rented here.
Except for the hum of skeeters and critters coming from the acres of land that surrounded the rancher, it was silent. But as Kolb neared the living room, he heard the television and his mother crying.
She was seated next to Kolb's father, and they were re-watching the football game their son had played only hours earlier. Stephenville lost at powerhouse Burleson, 17-13, and a Kolb-led drive to win had stalled at the 1-yard line as time expired.
"I threw for like 300 yards," Kolb said. "I knew I could play better in the clutch, but as a young kid you put those kinds of stats up and you feel OK about it."
But Roy and Lanell Kolb did not. Kevin was accustomed to his father's high standards, especially when he played under him in junior high. But three years prior, Roy Kolb, with some prodding from Lanell, had decided to hand his son over to the professionals and to ease off the pedal.
But on this night, Roy hit the gas.
"My daddy already had the game film in there and my mom was crying and I'm going, 'Uh-oh,' " Kolb said. "And my Pops, he watched the whole game film and he just chewed me out. . . . He chewed me to smithereens."
Kevin looked to his mother - normally Switzerland in this family - for some sign of support, but all he got was parental unity.
"My mom took his side on everything," Kolb said. "And his last word before he went to bed was, 'You're not going to play college ball if you play like this again.' I was like, 'Wow.' I don't think I slept that entire night."
For just a football game, the Kolbs' treatment of their son may have seemed harsh. Kevin, in retrospect, doesn't see it that way. For the now-26-year old, on the eve of his first season steering the Eagles at quarterback, it was a necessary lesson that illustrated how his coaching father bred him to lead.
"That's a pivotal age where you can take a couple of different roads," Kolb said. "I got some friends that are hooked on drugs. I got some friends that quit sports. He just kept my focus on the game, kept me out of a lot of other things and put down the foundation for me being the leader I needed to be."
For every Kolb success story, there are thousands of cautionary tales about fathers pushing sons too hard in sports. It's even worse for the son if the father is a coach or his coach.
