NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Football and faith are intertwined on the field.

"You can tell that the coaches are trying to honor the Lord in everything that they do here. It's just been, it's been a blessing to be on this team," said Dylan Speirs, tight end for the Tennessee Tigers football team.

The team is composed of mostly of players, like Speirs, who are homeschooled and a few who attend private schools that don't have football teams.

"This is eight-man football versus 11-man football, so it's definitely a lot different. It's a lot faster. There's a lot more points scored," Speirs said. "The field's a little bit smaller, but there's a lot of open space, because you have three less guys than 11-man, and so there's a lot of open field. Tackling is very important, and most guys aren't great at tackling, so if you're really fast, you're gonna be a good football player in eight-man."

It's not just how they do things on the field, but also off the field, that's different than teams Speirs played for in the past.

"We started our Thursday night after-practice devotional. Each week, a different player leads a devotional, and that's definitely something that's been really a blessing for us and our team to try to stay grounded. Obviously, we want to win football games, but we want to honor the Lord more than win football games," Speirs said.

"Football, in my opinion, is the greatest sport on earth, because it literally is a microcosm of what life is. You're part of something bigger than yourself. You got to do your job; you got to do your part. You're going to get knocked down, literally, and you got to get back up. And that's kind of what life is, right?" said Steve Adams, athletic director and head football coach for Tennessee Tigers Sports. 

Adams started the non-profit Tennessee Tigers Sports last spring after coaching football at public and private schools for 20 years.

"God showed me a different priority. As I got a lot older and wiser, it's not about football for me anymore. It's about making a difference in these kids' lives," Adams said. "Let's face it: today, social media, all the stuff that's being shot at these kids, they need a place where they can go and they can hear the gospel truth about Jesus."

Adams and his wife homeschooled their kids, so he knew there was a need for these types of athletic opportunities.

"When I put it out on social media, I was overwhelmed with the response," Adams said. "Just to give you an idea, we have on my varsity team, 9th through 12th grade, I have 40 kids, which is a big number for eight-man football."

Speirs is a senior and will be heading to college, but the life lessons he's learned in the huddle will stick with him.

"The team environment is something that you can carry on for your whole life," Speirs said. "Coach Adams is an awesome coach. He's the best coach I've ever had. He tries to be an example for all of us as men. He's like a father figure, grandfather figure, to most of the kids on the team."

"In the end, it's not going to matter how many football games I won, but it's going to matter that I grew some young men into husbands and fathers and so forth and so on," Adams said. "That's what we're about, and football is the stage or the tool we use to be able to grow these guys up."

The tigers play against nine of other teams in the Southeast Extreme Conference. It's made up of school teams and organizations like the tigers, most are in Tennessee, one team is in Huntsville, Alabama.

To find out more information about Tennessee Tigers Sports, you can visit their website here.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/special-reports/tigers-football/