Six in the morning, and the sand is cold. That is the part nobody posts.
The highlight reels from Sean Lewis’s program show Snapdragon Stadium under the lights and the Warrior Shield held high. What they don’t show is a defensive back on his back in wet sand before sunrise, being reminded that paradise has a price when you play at San Diego State.
That’s the core of SDSU, and it’s led by Sean Lewis.
He joined today’s episode of THE DAWN, a limited series highlighting the re-imagined Pac-12, a collaboration between Y-Option and the league.
I’ve known Coach Lewis since his days at Kent State when he was a 31 year old head coach, and it was clear then, just like it is now, that his philosophy is clear and his leadership style is one that will continue to thrive.
Two and a half years ago the giant was asleep. Now it’s a 9 win team, a 1st round NFL pick out the door, and a program that was in the CFP discussion last November.
Coach Lewis co-signs the idea without blinking that the champion of this new Pac-12 should be playing in the postseason in December.
What’s underneath it all is the story behind Coach Lewis’s path to wearing a whistle.
He grew up on the south side of Chicago, went to Wisconsin to play quarterback and ended up at tight end. He was the head coach at Kent State by 2018, took a stop in Boulder to work with Deion Sanders, and two years ago this Midwest QB found himself leading the Aztecs out West. He didn’t draw this up. Nobody could have.
Life’s too short to huddle, he likes to say. One might argue life’s too short to plan out one’s path too. We just have to be present, enjoy the ride, and compete to impact people along the way.
Safe to say Sean Lewis is doing that, and much more, as San Diego State enters the new look Pac-12.
Much love and stay steady,
Yogi
THE DAWN debuted July 1 across the Pac-12’s YouTube and Pac-12 Insider, the league’s 24/7 FAST channel. The series culminates with a finale featuring never-before-seen behind-the-scenes content from the building of this new league. It drops in August, right before the season kicks off.
