Bullshit. At its core, the world is full of it. Sometimes its minor like your best friend saying he can bench 315 when he struggles with 235. Other times, it’s more serious like a trade deal on Wall Street but every so often we get a whiff of a heaping pile of it flung directly in our faces that we can’t ignore it.

Corey Jarvis was my high school football coach at Duluth High School from 2011 until my graduation in May 2013. I spent extensive time with my coach over those 2 and half (closer to 3) years for various football related reasons: practice, film study, workouts, classes, etc. For all intents and purposes from the hours of 6:30 am to 7:00 pm, every Monday thru Thursday, from 2011 until 2013, Corey Jarvis was my father. He is the only man (I am not biologically related to) who could tell me to this day to go to my room or drop down and give him 25 push-ups and I would not hesitate to do so. While a sliver of the reasoning behind that is the high school kid still afraid of his head coach, the overwhelming reasoning is the respect and admiration I have for the man.

Coach Jarvis is one of the most outstanding men I have ever met in my entire life. His dedication to his craft and his constant pursuit of excellence are unmatched by anyone on this Earth. His days begin long before any of his players’ dream of waking up in the mornings (even for those 5 am 15 minute runs we had at camp). His Sunday’s are filled with God in the mornings followed by film study in the afternoon. He coaches each player on an individual level, improving their skills on the field and developing them into gentlemen off it. He goes into work every morning not presiding over employees or players but molding his sons into good men of the future. However, Corey Jarvis the coach is only one side of this inspiring man.

Corey Jarvis, the father and husband, is something of legend. He is a family man through and through. He may not always get as much time as he wants with the women in his life (his wife and daughters) but his love for them is clear to all that know him. Coach Jarvis is always proud to talk about the accomplishments of his players and he will modestly discuss his personal accolades if forced to by pressing questions, however his smile does not shine any brighter than when he is discussing those three women. They are his heart and his soul. Every decision he makes he does with them in mind.

Now getting back to the bullshit, about a week ago, this man became the subject of controversy after reports surfaced that he had been put on administrative leave for an investigation into 10,000 dollars-worth of funds from the Benjamin E. Mays High School Football Program going missing. Here is the full article from the AJC and the 11 Alive exclusive with Coach Jarvis himself.

Am I biased on this subject? Absolutely and let me tell you why. I know Coach Jarvis. I know Corey Jarvis. And I even know Corey Bernard Jarvis (that’s the one that breaks out the punishment when you don’t act like the gentleman he’s been teaching you to become). All three of those men are incapable of committing an action that would harm his players. He cares too much for them. He may not have any biological sons but every single one of the boys that put on a uniform for him on Friday nights are his sons.

Family is huge part of what Coach Jarvis preaches. In high school, Coach Jarvis harped on the notion that “we were all we got.” The guys to your right and the guys to your left were your brothers. Your coaches were your uncles. Nothing should come between those bonds. We all practiced together. We all sweated together. We all bleed together and that made us family. You never do anything to hurt your family.

We (the players) have a responsibility to our coach and Coach Jarvis has a responsibility to his players, past and present. Neither side takes that responsibility lightly. Duluth may be the glaring blemish on Coach Jarvis’s football coaching resume but it was by no means a failure. In the three seasons he spent stalking the sidelines of Cecil Morris Field, Corey Jarvis developed outstanding young men. No we may not have been the most athletically gifted bunch or one of the best teams he’s ever gone to war with but the lessons we learned have made us successful in our fields of profession. We are Chemical engineers and medical school students. We are Hewlett-Packard employees and personal trainers. We are media students and yes, at least one of us is headed to an NFL training camp this summer (Congrats, Zay Walker).

But I don’t believe anyone of my brothers would tell you they could have accomplished what they have without Coach Jarvis. He was the voice in all of our heads pushing us toward our dreams and aspirations. He was the kick in the ass when we thought about slacking off. He was our coach but he was our collective father. And my teammates and I aren’t alone in this belief.

Coach Jarvis has been coaching probably as long as I’ve been alive, possibly longer (not gonna lie I don’t know his age). In the last few days, I’ve read posts from former players a lot older than me and even some younger that have reiterated the same feelings and emotions that I have tried to convey above.

Corey Jarvis is a fantastic football coach, a loving father and husband, and a great man who will always put others above himself. So people can try to drag his name through the mud and try to bring down a man they don’t understand but they will fail because they lack conviction. Coach Jarvis loves his teams as his family. You could not ask for a better Coach nor could you find one if you tried looking.

So when I tell you that those accusations are bullshit, trust me -- they are.