{"id":734334,"date":"2026-02-06T22:01:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T22:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/734334\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T22:01:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T22:01:14","slug":"patriots-chaplain-coaching-players-to-be-great-husband-fathers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/734334\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriots chaplain coaching players to be great husband, fathers"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ryan Foley<\/a>, Christian Post Reporter Friday, February 06, 2026Quick SummaryAI SummaryNew England Patriots chaplain James Mitchell discusses ‘coaching life’ with NFL players.Mitchell emphasizes the importance of being great husbands and fathers.He aims to guide players spiritually while fostering open discussions about faith.<\/p>\n

An artificial intelligence-powered tool created this summary based on the source article. The summary has undergone review and verification by an editor.<\/p>\n

See Summary<\/p>\n

\"NewNew England Patriots Chaplain James Mitchell appears on The Sports Spectrum podcast ahead of Super Bowl LX. | Screenshot\/YouTube\/Sports Spectrum <\/p>\n

Ahead of Super Bowl LX on Sunday, the New England Patriots team chaplain has opened up about the vital role he plays in coaching today’s generation of top-tier young athletes to be the best husbands and fathers they can be, adding that there was a time in his life when career motivations got in the way of family life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Patriots chaplain James Mitchell appeared on the Sports Spectrum’s podcast <\/a>this week, less than a week before the team will face the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX.<\/p>\n

Mitchell, who coined the team motto that inspired Patriots players to wear sweatshirts this week that read “Be a blessing<\/a>,” coached college football for over 14 years. He said that his desire to land a head coaching job somewhere led him to misplace priorities in his life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing else mattered. My family didn\u2019t matter,\u201d he lamented. \u201cThere\u2019s where God took the rug underneath my feet and broke me to remake me and took me out of coaching.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Good Lord took me out of coaching football,\u201d he said. “I didn’t go out of coaching voluntarily. That’s all I know.”<\/p>\n

He said the Fellowship of Christian Athletes offered him a job in Nashville, Tennessee, to be the director of inner-city ministry.<\/p>\n

“And so, I know nothing about no ministry. I still had some bad tendencies, which I mean I like to cuss a lot. … I took the job,” he said. “Didn’t know what I was doing.”<\/p>\n

In 1997, the Houston Oilers NFL team moved to Nashville, and Mitchell said he was asked to be the team chaplain.<\/p>\n

“I had no access,” he said. “I would do Bible study in my pickup truck in the parking lot.”<\/p>\n

As a chaplain, Mitchell says his mission is to create \u201cgreat husbands\u201d and \u201cgreat fathers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He recalled a conversation with a mentor who told him to treat his role as a chaplain \u201clike you\u2019re coaching football, but you\u2019re coaching life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cGod\u2019s letting me coach life,\u201d Mitchell explained. \u201cIt\u2019s not my job to fix them, change them, it\u2019s to walk with them and see \u2026 what God wants to do with that particular person.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI ask God with every guy \u2026 why do you have me in this guy\u2019s life?\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

In his interactions with players, Mitchell lets the Holy Spirit guide him in understanding “which one is ready for the Gospel.” The chaplain said he seeks to replicate himself “and then have them minister to their teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several Bible studies are available to players, coaches and their wives.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur Bible study is probably the most conversation in any Bible study probably I\u2019ve taught,” he said of this season’s team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFriday mornings, we have a coaches Bible study at 6:30 a.m.,\u201d he said. \u201cAt 7:20, 7:30, we have a players\u2019 Bible study before team meeting. My wife teaches the players\u2019 wives and girlfriends’ Bible study and the coaches\u2019 wives\u2019 Bible study. And then we have a couples\u2019 Bible study probably about twice a month.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though he attempts to lead an organized Bible study by putting together a \u201csheet,\u201d Mitchell often lets God direct the discussion, depending on what people are saying and where the conversation naturally leads.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve gotten to a point to where if I see God going in a different direction because of what my guy\u2019s saying in his answer, I just let it flow instead of being so worried about finishing that sheet,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The chaplain wants to \u201clet the Word transform people\u2019s mind and heart.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not my responsibility,” he said. \u201cMy responsibility is to be available.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the team chaplain, Mitchell works with everyone \u2014 from the players, coaches, and wives to the scouting staff and those who work in the training, equipment and weightlifting rooms.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to build a relationship with everybody, not just the people that come to Bible study and chapel.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He praised players on the team who speak openly about their Christian faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re listening to their Spirit to tell them what to do,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cYou\u2019ll know in your Spirit when you\u2019re supposed to speak something or say something.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mitchell agreed with a notion he once read: \u201cTeach and preach the Gospel and sometimes use words.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s more what’s important to me than how much they say,” he added. \u201cOk, you can quote 20,000 Bible verses. That doesn\u2019t mean nothing if you ain\u2019t living one. … This life is about application of His Word, not just memory.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Friday, February 06, 2026Quick SummaryAI SummaryNew England Patriots chaplain James Mitchell discusses…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":734335,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2050],"tags":[7,122,1167,249,2326,2094,6,208,45488,16165],"class_list":{"0":"post-734334","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-patriots","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-national-football-league","10":"tag-new-england","11":"tag-new-england-patriots","12":"tag-newengland","13":"tag-newenglandpatriots","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-patriots","16":"tag-sports-spectrum","17":"tag-super-bowl-lx"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116025943569095235","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=734334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/734335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=734334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=734334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=734334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}