How can you help with our new fields?

Cutcliffe said the gist of his organizational building is to leave a place better than you found it. It’s a lesson his father taught him.

His father worked seven days a week to support his family, which included six children. On occasional Sundays that he had off, he’d take the family for a ride in a “big ol’ giant turtle” of a 1952 Chevrolet. “I thought it was a limo. I didn’t know we didn’t have anything,” he said.

After church, the family drove to East Lake Park, which had wide open fields that were perfect for kids to run in. “One day, it was about dark, and Daddy whistled for us to go. He had all six of us sit on a table and pointed out all the trash lying on the ground. ‘I want every piece of paper picked up.’ We started complaining, saying that it wasn’t ours. We were the last ones there that day, picking up trash left by others, throwing into a big old green garbage can. He then told us something I’ll never forget: ‘Always leave a place better than you found it.’

This lesson is one he’s passing on to his players. “One day, I had our players pick up trash one day on campus. This is probably the most valuable life lesson they got. We combed the entire Duke campus. They picked up so much litter, dirty diapers, things like that. We’ll do again this year.”

No matter whether it refers to an organization, a business or a family, be committed to this idea, he said.
“Every class we sign for our football program is committed to that. I hope to stay here 15 years. At the end of that time, if every group leaves this organization better than we found it, how much better will we be? Remember, nothing stays the same. It either gets better or worse – including your marriage, your children, every staff meeting, every practice. If we’re not getting better, you know the alternative. Why not spend your time and your energy getting better?”