The distance from Victory to Glory is a journey that takes a lifetime. The life of Jack "Cy" McClairen is the shining example of what this journey is all about.

Some never get there. Some crash on the side of the road, and others get lost in search of their destiny, falling short simply becoming footnotes in the lexicon of unfulfilled promises.

The challenge is that most people get caught up in search of Victories thinking that an overwhelming amount of "W's" in the win column will ensure you the Glory. They completely miss the point.

What matters most in life's ultimate stat book is not the number of games won and lost, or the phenomenal plays made in front of great crowds. What matters most are the numbers of lives saved and the moments cherished… when inspiration, love and family are far more valuable intangibles and emotions on the great field on competition than aggressiveness, speed and explosiveness. Those assets earn you far more than rings and things, they earn you respect and love and access to people who allow you to touch and coach their kids.

Cy figured this out long ago. His public life is well chronicled with stats that tell the story of a legendary athlete in college and the NFL who went on to an iconic career as a college coach and administrator. His countless trophies, championship rings and Hall of Fame Inductions validate what the pundits and sports fans know all too well. He was a CHAMPION.  But on the true journey from Victory to Glory none of that really matters.

While there is an abundance of great stories about Cy's athletic and coaching exploits, they are overshadowed by the life changing moments he shared with young people too numerous to count.  I know all too well because over the past 30 years I have witnessed former players who would bring their families to campus simply to meet the man who changed their lives.

On what website do they keep those stats? What reporter googles or researches that? Those are the stats that truly get you from Victory to Glory….

On December 28^th at 7:16 a.m. I got a call from my childhood friend Robin McClairen. "Daddy's gone", she said. "I had to let you know personally." We chatted for a few more minutes, I prayed with her, hung up the phone and cried.

You see Jack "Cy" McClairen was a father to me too. While the world knows that he was this former NFL All-Pro, legendary college football and basketball coach and athletic director, none of that mattered to people who really knew Cy. He was the father figure I needed most at the most vulnerable time in my life and I didn't care how much sports he knew…I knew how much he cared.

Ever since my own father Herbert "Turk" Thompson died in 1989, I relied on his good friend Cy to serve as my mentor and father figure. He stepped in and he got the Victory and the Glory in my life, just like he did for Robin, Michelle and Dwayne, his own kids. To them we all say thanks for sharing your Dad with us. He had that much love to give!

I am simply one of many who feel this way. We often forget the scores of the games, we even debate if we won or lost, but at the end of the day none of that really mattered. What mattered most to us is that we mattered to him and for that WE THANK GOD that we encountered a TRUE CHAMPION on his way FROM VICTORY…TO GLORY.

Here are the important stats that mattered most on Cy McClairen: