Lucky Number 7

3 is my number…I was born on the 3rd day of November, I have three great loves in my immediate family, and sets of three make me happy.

But today is the first day of Fall Camp for our 7th season, so I am embracing the mystical, mythical, Biblical, Shakespearean, planetaria, and numerological significance of a different numeral: the Lucky Number 7.

Did you know that when asked to choose a number between 1 and 10, the most often selected number is 7?

Did you know that there are seven churches, seven angels, seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven stars listed in Revelations? Furthermore, there are seven deadly sins and seven layers of purgatory.

There are 7 days in the week, 7 brides for 7 brothers, and 7 wonders of the world.

Seven is a prime, perfect number.

Here are a few articles (aka: rabbit holes to fall down) that highlight the magic associated with the number 7:

• The Magic Qualitities of the Number 7 (www.npr.org)
• Cultural Associations of the Number 7 (www.britannica.com)
• Seven Reason We are Captivated by the Number 7 (www.physchologytoday.com)
• Is 7 Really a Lucky Number? (www.wonderopolis.org)

I am a huge number’s nerd, thus I thoroughly enjoyed exploring these articles.

But at the end of the day, the most important aspect of the number 7 is that today officially begins our family’s 7th football season at the University of Tulsa.

2015

When we moved to Tulsa, SonShine was halfway through his sophomore year of high school, and Angel Girl was in the middle of 8th grade. That’s not the easiest time to leave your school, friends, and activities, but they were game.

We were all excited and grateful for this opportunity for Coach to take his career to the next level with his first head coaching job. We didn’t know much about the city of Tulsa, the people of Tulsa, or the University of Tulsa, but we knew that together, the four of us would make it home.

By the time our first season began in the Fall of 2015 we had done just that: Cannon and Maci were both settled in at Cascia Hall (he was a Junior and she was a Freshman), our house was mostly unpacked and decorated, and we had turned our new house into a home full of love. 💛❤️💙

2016

2016 was quite a football season! Cannon was a senior at Cascia Hall, loving football every Friday night, and Maci was a sophomore, also loving Friday nights as she cheered her big brother on to a fabulous year. Coach also had a great season with 10 wins, a bowl victory, and placement in the College Football Hall of Fame.

Times like these are the high points when college football is very fun and everywhere one looks one is greeted with support and smiles 💛❤️💙

2017

College coaches have a tendency to start every answer to every “how’s this year looking” question with, “If we can stay healthy…” The 2017 season proved why.

When the injury bug hit us, it hit us hard, and we saw a promising season fall to frustrating depths.

Even amidst the W/L struggles, it was a special time for our family as SonShine chose to attend TU for college and walked-on to play football for Dad. After 23 years of coaching for Philip and 7 years of playing for Cannon, they were doing football together. That is a gift that our family did not – and still doesn’t not – take lightly 💛❤️💙

2018

I often say that life is roller coaster ride, full of ups and downs. The peaks are exhilarating and go by too quickly. Furthermore, trudging up the incline to climb out of a valley is tough work that takes longer than we would like.

The 2018 season was a testament to the determination that our football family possessed to climb. We had so many close games, but the ball did not bounce our way. The W/L record was abysmal and did not reflect the improvement and abilities of our team in any way. The support and smiles of 2016 were long gone, but still we (Coach, our family, our staff, our players, and our incredible support system) put one foot in front of the other. We continued to build this program through our tenets of faith, family, and football working in tandem. It is the best way we know how to serve others with love and encouragement, it’s how we lift the people we care about through the rough waters and toughest times of life.

On the home front, it was Angel Girl’s senior year at Cascia Hall, she was co-captain of the cheer squad, and she received national recognition for the Go Be Great Award from the National Cheerleading Association for her work in the Tulsa community.

So many positive things were happening, they just were always visible to the spectator’s eye.

Looking back, I am in awe of Coach and our staff, our support personnel, and our players. Our football family never lost faith, they never gave up, and even when they were hurting or struggling, they never imploded.

I could not have predicted how important that bond would be in the years to come, but I knew even then that this was a special place and a truly impressive program 💛❤️💙

2019

Very few families can say that dad is coaching, son is playing, and daughter is cheering, but 2019 made that incredible dream a reality for us as Angel Girl chose to join SonShine as a student-athlete at TU.

Maci was accepted into the Collins School of Business, earned a spot on the coed cheerleading squad (she’s the crazy person flying through the air), and joined a wonderful sorority. She was in love with her school before she ever set foot on campus, but now it is truly her home away from home.

During his first two years, Cannon found his place and his people, and he was thriving into his junior year as a redshirt sophomore on the football field where he was our holder and a wide receiver.

To say that the Montgomery family was ALL IN would not be considered an overstatement 💛❤️💙

PS: I am the lunatic lady in the stands every Saturday, trying to watch everything, every second of the day, screaming my head off and praying without ceasing.

2020

Who could have ever predicted 2020?

When I was interviewed for the Coach’s Wife Life, I was asked what has been the most difficult, most challenging part of being a coaching family…my immediate answer was “2020!”

You can listen to the podcast for the full response, but the short version is that I have never seen someone shoulder a burden with as much resilience and humility as the way I saw Coach maneuver through the months between March 2020 and January 2021.

Between the players being sent home, his staff being furloughed, to social unrest, to quarantining and forced distance when his players needed him the most, to COVID restrictions to get his boys back on campus, to jumping through hoops to hold practice, to canceled games again and again, to an appearance in the conference championship, I’ve never seen someone face leadership with so much love and understanding, patience and grace.

My heart hurt for him and our football family – who were all incredibly amazing every step of the way – and I fell deeper and deeper in love with the man he is every single day.

Incredibly, our football team came out of that adversity stronger and closer than I could have dreamed 💛❤️💙

2021

And that brings us to 2021.

It is Coach’s seventh year as the head football coach at the University of Tulsa.

SonShine is a college graduate, earning his B.S. in Sports Studies last May and rolling into the MBA program with two years of playing eligibility left.

Angel Girl added a second major last semester, is leading an initiative to engage Greek Life in TU Athletics to build more unity and spirit on campus, and is very excited to move into her sorority house in two weeks to room with her best friend.

I’m still the frazzled, fanatical woman, writing and quilting and leading yoga while cheering my three loves and my football family every step of the way. I’m eager and excited to see how this season unfolds!

If we can stay healthy, we have the potential to have a very special year…here’s to Lucky Number 7 💛❤️💙

With love and hugs,

Ashli