New England Patriots chaplain coaching players to be great husbands, fathers: 'Be a blessing'

Ahead of Super Bowl LX on Sunday, the New England Patriots team chaplain has opened up about the vital role he plays in coaching today's generation of top-tier young athletes to be the best husbands and fathers they can be, adding that there was a time in his life when career motivations got in the way of family life. 

Patriots chaplain James Mitchell appeared on the Sports Spectrum's podcast this week, less than a week before the team will face the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX.

Mitchell, who coined the team motto that inspired Patriots players to wear sweatshirts this week that read "Be a blessing," coached college football for over 14 years. He said that his desire to land a head coaching job somewhere led him to misplace priorities in his life. 

“Nothing else mattered. My family didn’t matter,” he lamented. “There’s where God took the rug underneath my feet and broke me to remake me and took me out of coaching.” 

“The Good Lord took me out of coaching football,” he said. "I didn't go out of coaching voluntarily. That's all I know."

He said the Fellowship of Christian Athletes offered him a job in Nashville, Tennessee, to be the director of inner-city ministry.

"And so, I know nothing about no ministry. I still had some bad tendencies, which I mean I like to cuss a lot. ... I took the job," he said. "Didn't know what I was doing."

In 1997, the Houston Oilers NFL team moved to Nashville, and Mitchell said he was asked to be the team chaplain.

"I had no access," he said. "I would do Bible study in my pickup truck in the parking lot."

As a chaplain, Mitchell says his mission is to create “great husbands” and “great fathers.” 

He recalled a conversation with a mentor who told him to treat his role as a chaplain “like you’re coaching football, but you’re coaching life.” 

“God’s letting me coach life,” Mitchell explained. “It’s not my job to fix them, change them, it’s to walk with them and see … what God wants to do with that particular person.”

“I ask God with every guy … why do you have me in this guy’s life?” he explained.

In his interactions with players, Mitchell lets the Holy Spirit guide him in understanding "which one is ready for the Gospel." The chaplain said he seeks to replicate himself "and then have them minister to their teammates.”

Several Bible studies are available to players, coaches and their wives. 

“Our Bible study is probably the most conversation in any Bible study probably I’ve taught," he said of this season's team. 

“Friday mornings, we have a coaches Bible study at 6:30 a.m.,” he said. “At 7:20, 7:30, we have a players’ Bible study before team meeting. My wife teaches the players’ wives and girlfriends' Bible study and the coaches’ wives’ Bible study. And then we have a couples’ Bible study probably about twice a month.”

Even though he attempts to lead an organized Bible study by putting together a “sheet,” Mitchell often lets God direct the discussion, depending on what people are saying and where the conversation naturally leads. 

“I’ve gotten to a point to where if I see God going in a different direction because of what my guy’s saying in his answer, I just let it flow instead of being so worried about finishing that sheet,” he said. 

The chaplain wants to “let the Word transform people’s mind and heart."

“That’s not my responsibility," he said. “My responsibility is to be available.”

As the team chaplain, Mitchell works with everyone — from the players, coaches, and wives to the scouting staff and those who work in the training, equipment and weightlifting rooms. 

“I want to build a relationship with everybody, not just the people that come to Bible study and chapel.” 

He praised players on the team who speak openly about their Christian faith.

“They’re listening to their Spirit to tell them what to do,” Mitchell said. “You’ll know in your Spirit when you’re supposed to speak something or say something.” 

Mitchell agreed with a notion he once read: “Teach and preach the Gospel and sometimes use words.” 

“That’s more what's important to me than how much they say," he added. “Ok, you can quote 20,000 Bible verses. That doesn’t mean nothing if you ain’t living one. ... This life is about application of His Word, not just memory.”