Letter to Coach Ditka: Remembering Da Coach (Chicago, IL) — Thank you, Coach.
I am an unapologetic Bears fan. I punched my lifetime fan card in the magical 1985 season.
Words are simply insufficient to describe what Coach Mike Ditka means to Bears fans like me who witnessed greatness in the 1980s.
There is nothing I can say about Mike Ditka that has not already been said. What I want to say, though, is simply “Thanks, Coach.”
Thank you for the memories. Thank you for embodying the toughness and resilience that has been the calling card of our great city. Thank you for making Chicago your home.
Michael Keller Ditka was not born here, but he adopted Chicago as his home and proudly treated it as the greatest city in the world. He was a giant pop culture figure who galvanized our entire metropolis, bringing people from every neighborhood together under one banner. He truly believed in Chicago and gave us a reason to believe in our City’s potential.
Coach Ditka was more than a football coach. He was an inspiring leader who taught us that you don’t have to be the biggest, the fastest or the most talented to succeed. He was a very below-average high school football player on a very good team, which is the story of a lot of us.
During high school, I spent most of my time on the bench, finishing my senior year with the 12th most tackles on the defense. It is hard to feel useful when surrounded by star talent while knowing you are the weak link. But watching Iron Mike gave me pride. His raw energy made me want to strap on my helmet, work hard on the practice field, and give everything I had, no matter my place on the roster.
Beyond his toughness, Coach Ditka gave us a rule to live by for any new project, business, or life goal: “I don’t believe in living in the past. Living in the past is for cowards. If you live in the past, you die in the past.”
That principle applies to any venture in life. Whether launching a company, starting a new career, a new hobby, side hustle or working as a volunteer to make our city strong again, dwelling on the past only gets in the way of current endeavors.
Failing in the past has no bearing on future success and on the flip side, success in the past is no guarantee of success in the future. If you achieved something great years ago, coasting on an old reputation breeds complacency. Living in past glory keeps you stuck; real growth requires treating every day as a clean slate where you earn your victory all over again.
Reflecting on the life of one of the all-time greats, I say Thank you, Coach Ditka, for adopting Chicago, bringing us together, and showing a bench player how to keep pushing forward. You taught us to respect where we came from, but to save our real fight for building what comes next. Your life and legacy will live on through the millions you inspired. Thank you, Coach.
Letter to Coach Ditka: Remembering Da Coach
