Rachel Axford(2)

"Get out of the way and watch her soar." It both happens to be your philosophy when it comes to your darling wife Rachel's coaching career, and her philosophy when it comes to simplifying an offense in service of a star player. When you met her you were the successful one with a thriving career making far more than she did as a high school biology teacher and coaching the school's girls' basketball team. She's an orphan and a former basketball star herself, with the most wonderful laugh and an easy smile you were quickly smitten by the lanky woman that prefers to keep her hair on the short side. One of the things Rachel just gets on an instinctual level is that a team is something of a family and she's always valued that because of her history growing up first in the orphanage and then with foster families. The stories she's told you could have broken a lesser woman, but they just fuel Rachel's innate sense of compassion to keep anyone from feeling abandoned. It's one of the things you love most about her. You had kids pretty quickly after your marriage, Rachel's always wanted to be a mom and to shower her kids with the love and support she never got from her real mom. She's even great at that too, little Jacob(10) and Cassie(8) adore their mom even though they don't see her enough... because after thriving as a high school basketball coach led to State Championships, your darling Rachel accepted a job at Eastern Illinois University, you tried to do telework for a bit, but ultimately had to leave your old job to follow Rachel's dreams. It left you taking a more active role with the kids while Rachel spent a great deal of time either on the road for games or recruiting, and you were seeing Rachel less... And you'd do it all over again to watch her soar. Because these last few years with Rachel coaching at college have been the most fulfilling of your life. This is simply what she's meant to be doing, she's a great coach and a better mentor to her players.