Scott Drew - The Road to J.O.Y.: Leading with Faith, Playing with Purpose, Leaving a Legacy

The Road to J.O.Y.

2022 Joy Crew, LLC

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by W Publishing, an imprint of Thomas Nelson.

Thomas Nelson titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fundraising, or sales promotional use. For information, please email SpecialMarkets@ ThomasNelson.com.

Published in association with Yates & Yates, www.yates2.com.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Any internet addresses, phone numbers, or company or product information printed in this book are offered as a resource and are not intended in any way to be or to imply an endorsement by Thomas Nelson, nor does Thomas Nelson vouch for the existence, content, or services of these sites, phone numbers, companies, or products beyond the life of this book.

ISBN 978-07852-9168-8 (audiobook)

ISBN 978-0-7852-9167-1 (eBook)

ISBN 978-0-7852-9165-7 (HC)

Epub Edition February 2022 9780785291671

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021953441

Printed in Canada

22 23 24 25 26 FRI 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Jesus Christ, the one who makes it possible for us to continue leading with faith, playing with purpose, and hopefully, leaving a legacy.

To my wife, Kelly, and our children, Mackenzie, Peyton, and Brody. I never could have done anything without your constant encouragement and support.

To all the Baylor family who, for nineteen years, has faithfully and loyally supported us and prayed for us, all to the glory of God.

CONTENTS

Back in 2003 Jo and I were barely getting by. I guess you could look back and try and romanticize it by saying that we were living simply, or just trying to scrape out a little piece of the American Dream like anyone else. But the truth is that we were hanging on for dear life. We had opened a little home decor shop called Magnolia here in Waco, all while trying to build a construction and home renovation business. By the state of things, Id rolled the dice with our livelihood with no way of knowing how they were going to land.

But the most important things I felt I had figured out. I knew who I was and what mattered most. I was newly married to a woman I loved, who understood those same things about herself. We believed in each other, and we believed in a dream to build something that would mattersomething that would be meaningful, not only to us, but to our families and our community. And who knows, maybe even the world. Imagine that. Two kids who could barely pay their bills thinking their dream could mean something. You cant say we lacked vision. Or the way I like to remember itbelief.

The part we couldnt yet see was how to bridge the gap between our very real reality and what we believed our little business, Magnolia, could be. And how wed ever bridge that gap, we had no clue. Back then, the how seemed to be the most daunting part. But only in lifes rearview mirror can we see that the real miracle is that we believed in this dream to begin with. The more life we live, the clearer it becomes to us that few people ever do. But we did! We believed in something that we felt in our souls was worth chasing. For better or for worse.

Just about the same time, on the other side of the interstate, a fresh-faced basketball coach named Scott Drew was being introduced at a Baylor press conference. He had just accepted what many people might have thought to be the worst job in the country.

The details are out there for everyone to see but suffice to say the Baylor basketball program was in a very difficult, if not impossible state in 2003. At a time when the program itself was in pieces, the game of basketball was the least of anyones worries. This was going to take a rebuild from the ground up. Culture, character, philosophyall the foundational elements had to be put in place before anybody even thought about lacing up their sneakers. What kind of coach would have the audacity to take a phone call for a job like that? For a position that was all but guaranteed to fail in the face of overwhelming national scrutiny?

Well, Scott Drew took the call.

Because he had something you cant always see on a resume: belief in something bigger than himself and the absolute will to stick it out until that belief became a reality. Like those two kids scraping by on the other side of town, he had a vision for something that seemed outright impossible.

A video of Coach Drews first press conference all those years ago made the rounds last March when Baylor was closing in on their first national championship. With clear eyes and all the belief in the world, he said, We came with the chance to win a national championship at Baylor University. We have the resources. We have the people. We have the leadership. And I think we have the family atmosphere to do it down here. And thats my goal in the next few years: to bring Baylor to that forefront.

His motivations were crystal clear. He planned to build something that would matternot just for himself, but for the team, the community, and who knows, maybe even the world. And over the next eighteen years he stayed the course. He invested in the lives of young men who came and went. He poured into the Waco community. He changed what the world thought of Baylor basketball. And in March 2021 he led his team onto the court as green and gold confetti rained down. They were national champs! Just like he believed they would be, even if a few years turned into nearly two decades. But Coach Drews legacy is bigger than winning a tournament.

Because his belief is big enough for all of us.

Over the years Ive picked up on a few things when it comes to chasing something you believe in. And Ill say this: the pursuit of things like personal glory, wealth, successthats shortsighted. You cant take any of that with you.

But when you run toward something bigger than yourselfall heart, no charadeand you turn that dream or idea outward, to lift othersthats the kind of thing that gets people running in the same direction. And one day youll find that when you look to your left and look to your right, youre no longer running alone.

Because your belief was big enough for all of us.

Jo and I, and Coach Drew, we were all running in the same direction for a long while before we realized it. But I believe that his momentum contributed to ours, and hopefully that the same holds true the other way around.

So heres what we shouldnt forget: much of it started with a simple belief. Belief in something bigger than ourselves. And much of it stayed the course because a bunch of people chose to believe too. And I dont think its because there was promise of glory in it or fanfare waiting on the other side.