Crossroads: Sean Tuohy’s story of finding purpose in football

For Sean Tuohy, growing up in a family rooted in faith and purposefulness (the very family that inspired the story of The Blind Side, as a matter of fact) was nothing out of the ordinary.

“Truthfully, we just had a family that instilled the principles of purpose more than I realized,” he said. “We had a daily constant feeding of good values. At the time, I didn’t appreciate it.”

When Tuohy came to SMU as a student athlete and began attending Cornerstone worship services in 2016, he found himself moved by the theme of one sermon in particular: Your purpose is found at the crossroads of what breaks your heart and what makes your heart beat.

From his weekly spot in the Wesley Hall balcony, he remembered taking notes and completing the exercise to find out where his passions and heartaches intersected. “You actually did this,” Rev. Matt Tuggle said in his recent Sunday morning interview with Tuohy. “And it made a big impact in your life. What was it like to go through those questions?”

Tuohy found listing the things that made his heart beat the easy part of the exercise. The hard part was asking, “What truthfully breaks my heart?”

“I started by looking at my relationships,” Tuohy recounted. “Teammates and kids I grew up with that I thought really had a shot… not to play pro (some did and do), but to make a difference. I thought that if I could get into a football program and keep the aspect of what I love to do but still frame everything with the aspect that you’re trying to build relationships with these players so that you can provide support and maximize potential.”

After graduation, Tuoy became a special teams GA for the SMU football team, but he wasn’t sure it was where he wanted to launch his career. At one point, Tuohy questioned the path he had taken, asking himself, “What am I doing here? I majored in business.”

Tuohy gives credit to a message Rev. Paul Rasmussen delivered to the SMU football team for having changed the course of his life. “[Rev. Rasmussen] said, ‘you have to treat every job you have as the most important job in the world. Your standards aren’t going to change based on your circumstances or surroundings,’” Tuohy remembered. This realization fueled his desire to be “the best special teams coach out there.”

Today, in his work as the UCF football program’s Assistant Director, Tuohy continues to use the Crossroads exercise framework to help football players who thought they were going to the NFL or had different plans for their lives readjust and find purpose. He loves the exercise because it’s practical and tangible. “There are so many principles that take months,” he said. “This takes ten minutes. This is easy for a 21 year old to do.”

Tuoy works to build upon the foundation of faith, purpose, and serving others his family laid for him with this exercise and encourages his players and others to do the same. “I’m determined to help these guys number their days so they can make an impact while they’re here,” Tuoy said.

So, what breaks your heart? What makes your heart beat? What kind of impact can you make in your daily relationships and responsibilities?