He thinks for a moment as he is wont to do when faced with a question about himself. He draws a breath and poises to answer with an introspective tone that belies his age. Rob Gray, in this and seemingly every other moment away from the arena of competition, is equanimous of an individual as there is in the sport. 

A defensive standout at Jacksonville State who tallied 89 tackles and four interceptions in a stellar career, he knows the emotions that prelude a season opener. Yet, in many respects, Gray seems almost immune to such anxieties. Some 30 hours before kick in the first game of his head coaching career, Gray is as even-keeled as an offseason Sunday afternoon. 

"I tell people I don't really get nervous, I'm just more so anxious. I'm really ready to play," Gray says of the moment. He knows what game weeks are like. He has endured them, even embraced them, as both a player and a coach his entire football life. He has climbed the coaching ladder and come to know the varying responsibilities that accompany each rung. Yet, he has not been here before. He has never been the top guy, the one with the final say, the one whose career record will change for better or worse with each outing. For many, the excitement of the moment would be palpable as they prepared to carry a lifetime 0-0 coaching record into a season-opening matchup with the No. 22 in the country. Yet, Gray is pensive and calm as he reflects on how game week looks from the big desk. 

"There's a lot of things this week preparing for that I've never really prepared for like a mock practice, a game script, all of those things," Gray says. "As an assistant coach, you have these things that you want to do differently from other people. You pick and choose all of these different things. But it has been a little unique for me. I'm just ready to get game one."

Iron Sharpens Iron

 Gray heads into game one with the support of what is almost an entirely new coaching staff. It is a group filled largely with young, energetic coaches who have forged trust with both Gray and the dozens of young men that will put the Winged-F on their helmets Saturday. 

"It is guys that I really trust that I have known in this business. I know how they work. Most importantly, I know how they treat the players. They're my type of guys," Gray offers. "They coach the players hard out there on the field but they know it comes from a place of love. It's not just a coach trying to get to the next level by getting somebody to play hard. They know they care about them." 

In addition to the energetic, youthful spirit of men like Blaine Miller, Payton Wasden, Jordan Cagle, Cadron Davis, and Garrett Liberty, there sits the venerable Randy Ragsdale. A member of the AHSAA Hall of Fame, Ragsdale won 242 games and a state championship at Trinity Presbyterian in Montgomery where he earned a reputation based as much on character as football acumen. 

"Coach Ragsdale has been awesome. With all the experience he has, not even just with Xs and Os, just the knowledge of the game and when to do this or when to do that. He has been very helpful," Gray says. "It's not only that, but keeping the main thing the main thing. We have a coaches' Bible study that he facilitates every Monday morning for us that's about an hour or an hour and a half, just making sure we don't lose touch with that side of things. It is really easy to do during the season. It is a long season. You want to get up here. You want to work on Sundays. And, over time, you start to lose that relationship with Christ. Having him, the man he is and the person he is, with all of us young guys, he has been awesome for us." 

In addition to being surrounded by a coaching staff he trusts, Gray has enjoyed the luxury of returning what is largely a veteran roster. The Eagles bring back nearly every starter from a squad that went 6-2 last season. 

"It has been awesome for me, my first time starting out with a veteran group and not really having to build a team," Gray says. "Really, with me knowing most of those guys for a while, they've really bought in and rallied behind me. It has made this transition for me really, really easy." 

Learning New Skills

To this juncture, the facet of the job that has been perhaps the most surprising for the fledgling head coach has shown itself far from the field or the position meetings. It has been less about the physical sculpting of the athletes and more about the mental, emotional and spiritual navigation of the souls that have found their way to the Faulkner Eagle football team. 

"Something I haven't prepared for is being a licensed therapist most of the time. I'm having to do some research in that aspect. I get all of these questions, different moods and everything," Gray says. "But it has been fun. A lot of it has gotten me out of my shell a little bit as far as talking about certain things with the metal side of it and how I can help from my past experiences and how I can relate to them. I think it has been good. When more and more of them start coming to you with things like that, that's a good sign. You worry when the players don't talk to you. That ain't ever good." 

The Wait Is Over

Gray's cadence quickens, his candor crystallizes as he turns his attention more squarely to the game on the field. His Eagles have been in Fall camp for more than a month and Gray may be as ready as anybody for his squad to hit somebody else for a change. 

"I think they're fired up. From Aug. 2 all the way up, it has been contact, contact, contact and a big competition everyday with 1s on 1s, 2s on 2s," Gray explains. "They're ready to see a different color out there on the field." 

As far as measuring stick games go, they rarely get much better in the NAIA than the trial by Fire that awaits Faulkner Saturday afternoon. Southeastern enters off a 5-1 record a season ago, having played an abbreviated version of its traditional Fall schedule while Faulkner last took to the field in the Spring. 

"They run the ball really well. They've got really good skill players. They're really big. They're physical. They do a lot of things well," Gray offers. "Right now, we don't really know what they're going to do defensively. They've got a new guy leading the charge, but they return some really good players from a really good defense. They're past defensive coordinator was up for Assistant Coach of the Year. They've got some guys on that side of the ball." 

Southeastern rushed for 1,000 yards last season and passed for 1,614 despite playing only six contests. The averaged nearly 436 yards and 35 points per contest while allowing only 13.5 points an outing.

No slouches in their own right, Faulkner averaged 32.25 points and 409.8 yards per game last season. Faulkner allowed 24.38 points per game, an average that Gray would like to see lowered this season. 

"Defensively, I want fans to see the kind of passion, the aggressive style of defense we play and guys just flying around making tackles. Offensively, I would like to see scoring points. I want them to see we actually make use of that big offensive line. Those guys like run blocking. We want to take the other team's will. We want to make them bring in bigger guys," Gray says. "For the most part, what I've been trying to preach is everybody being one, everybody cheering everybody on. Being one family, one team, one goal. Hopefully, you'll see that win or lose, we are going to do it as one. There are no individuals out there. I hope that carries over from practice and into the game." 

Faulkner and Southeastern kick off the season Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Billy D. Hilyer Stadium. The game is set for live stream on the Faulkner Sports Network YouTube page.