As Josh Sims says it, you never really give up the title of 'Coach.'

Over the years, Coach Sims has coached it all. Varsity football. 7th-grade football. T-ball. Baseball. Volleyball. After graduating from East Texas Baptist University, he took on a role as a teacher/coach at New Diana ISD. As his family grew, he moved on to Alltel/Verizon Wireless as a Sales Manager, before making the leap into insurance and, in July 2020, as a Business Process Consultant at Datamax in Longview. 

But no matter where his career takes him, the title of “coach” remains. So Coaching 'em up, in the sales bullpen or the ball fields, it’s just part of his DNA. 

“I still have kids that I coached 15 years ago come up to me and say ‘Coach, remember when...’ or ‘Coach, thank you for… and that means so much to me. Likewise, I still keep in contact with some of the coaches I had in High School,” Josh said. “For me, it comes down to wanting to see people get what they want in life – whether that’s on the field or in the office.”

Josh’s Top 5 Coaching Moments.

1. Absorbing the intensity of the moment. 

In general, coaching high school football was a lot of fun. There isn’t an intensity like a Friday night under the lights. Pre-game pep talks, running out of the tunnel, crowd screaming. Being on the sideline and coaching up players when they come off the field. Talking about what they see on the field with the opposing player in front of them and strategize how to get off a block better, or to make a specific cut to get open in route. Those were some of my most fun times when coaching.

2. Helping players endure physical setbacks. 

Again, coaching football, I was coaching 7th-grade football. One of the best days is the first day in pads, working tackling drills. We put 2 tackling dummies on the ground and had the players going one on one. It always happened at least once, a kid would get the wind knocked out of him. If it’s the first time it ever happened to him, he thought he was dying. Walking him through it and getting him through it. When that player got to the other side of it and realized it was ok and was ready to go another round, that was a lot of fun to be a part of.

3. Teaching respect.

Teaching life lessons through sport was always important. I was coaching JV football. One of my younger cousins came to the game and she was the same age as my players. My players were in the stands before the game started whistling and hollering at my cousin (they didn’t know she was my cousin). The next day at practice, the footballs never made it out of the bag. They ran gassers, did up/downs, and bear crawls until they understood how to appropriately speak to a lady. I still have some of those athletes come up almost 15 years later and talk about that practice and that they have never whistled at a lady again! LOL

4. Strategizing your next move. 

The strategy of baseball has always been what interests me about the game. You make one pitch to set up another pitch or put a runner in motion to get the defense to move in order to place the ball where they moved. This is the part of the game that I love and miss. You are always in the moment but thinking about something in the future. You have to know what you are planning in 3 pitches right now. Most people like the games where there are multiple home runs and high scoring. I’ll take 1-0 ballgame any day of the week. In those games it came down to either one team doing something just right or the opposing team making one costly mistake.

5. Adapting to players' strengths. 

A time I was coached. Playing college baseball, I had a coach that went to a clinic and had a specific way he wanted us to field a ground ball. I tried but wasn’t as good at it the way they wanted me to it as I was the way I did it previously. It made me slower to the ball or I wasn’t able to get to some ground balls because of the angle they were trying to teach. It was at that moment I realized that not everyone does things the same way, but if they are successful at doing it their way, then let them do it that way.

How those Coaching Moments Translate to the Office.

1. Our success is your success.

Josh still remembers his high school coach telling the boys, “remember who loves you.” And he meant it. Josh still chats with him every chance he gets. And that same team mindset applies.

“The group I get to work with daily is what keeps me coming in. I thoroughly enjoy the comradery we have as a team and the way everyone works together. I managed stores for Verizon for 7 years and swore I would never manage again after that, but I am enjoying it again. Now to be able to motivate a team and have my fingers in all the deals, juggling up to 40 accounts at a time, it makes it fun.”

2. Lead by example — not by orders.

“In my first managerial job, I would often bark orders. I told people this is what you’re going to do. Throughout the process, I eventually learned to lead by example and try to motivate. If I can find what motivates a person, I can get them to do whatever it is they need to do."

3. Satisfaction comes from others’ victories.

“I want to see people get what they want in life, whether that’s sales reps or players,” Josh says. “If I can help them make the money they want, or fulfill a dream of theirs, I don’t need a thank you. Just to help people succeed in the role has been the best part of my job.”

Strong words from a Sales Manager, who also bears the title of Coach. And that title’s not going away anytime soon.