Kevin Kelley, head coach of the Presbyterian College football team, is a man who goes for it—literally.

For eighteen years, Kelley was the head coach at Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Ark.

During that time, Pulaski won nine state championships. His team made it to the quarterfinals every year of his 18-year career, the semifinals 15 times and they appeared in the state championship 12 times.

Kelley does a lot of winning, but there’s one thing that he hates doing, and that is punting.

Punting, while it can be a smart decision, is the football equivalent of giving up and handing the ball over to the other team.

If Kelley is going to lose, he doesn’t want it to be due to surrender. I think that is a concept that we can all apply to our lives outside of sports.

Another one of his outlandish methods is to always go for onside kicks, which usually end up giving the opposing team great field position but can prove very rewarding if successful.

Kelley is a master risk-taker, and he has proven that it works on the football field.

Well guess what: It works in the real world too.

A lot of people like to play it safe, but there can be great rewards when you go out on a limb and take risks in life.

Just go for it. Apply for the job, go back to school if you need to, ask the girl out, call up your friend that you feel you’ve lost touch with, hit the gym, take the trip, just don’t “punt the ball away.”

Don’t give up on yourself when the going gets tough because, trust me, it’s going to.

Failures are nothing to be afraid of; they build character and make the wins all that more enjoyable.

Speaking of wins, Chip Kelly experienced a lot of those as the head coach of the Oregon Ducks football team from 2007 to 2012.

He was famous for his hurry-up offensive scheme.

In 2010, the Ducks averaged 23.2 seconds between plays, but some plays began a mere 9 seconds after the previous one.

Kevin Kelley and Chip Kelly have both led offenses in ways that ambitious people should lead their lives.

Kelley never surrenders, and Kelly doesn’t stop moving forward.

They say football coaches are supposed to teach boys how to be men, and these guys do that in unconventional but effective ways.

Of course, some people think these coaches’ methods are stupid or even dangerous, but that’s fine. It doesn’t take everybody agreeing with you for you to be successful. It takes your ability to believe in yourself and keep going.\

Written by Zach Edmondson, sports editor. Graphic courtesy of Gracie Lucas.