Chase Coffman

The last season I played was with the Colts in 2016. I made the team out of camp and then got cut. I continued to work out, and they signed me back for week 7 and week 8. After I was cut again, I didn’t hear anything from any teams.

I looked at my career with the perspective, “I’m going to try for a whole season to still play, because it’s still something on my heart to do, and then I’ll go forward into whatever is next.” During the 2017 season, I was still working out and trying to play. Obviously the further you go without hearing something, the more you see the writing on the wall, yet you’re still holding out hope. It’s a crazy process, especially if it's something you still love and still want to do.

I had been dating my wife since high school, and both of our families are still around the Peculiar, Missouri area. Since we have a house here, we came back to Missouri. The head football coach I had at Raymore-Peculiar High School was still coaching, so I asked him if I could be a volunteer since their coaching staff was filled. I ended up volunteering for the football and basketball programs in 2017 during the period of things not going the way I wanted them to football-wise.

Sports are something I've always loved, they've taught me a lot and given me a lot of opportunities. As a good coach, you can pour into so many kids’ lives. There’s a lot of kids who need good male role models. For a professional athlete, coaching is something you can immediately step into with a lot of credibility, whereas most other things you're going to have to start at the bottom.

At the beginning of the year, I started with a company called BMG Advisors in Kansas City as a relationship manager. Right now, I am studying to get certified, networking, and either trying to get in touch with people to continue relationships I already have or working to grow new ones.

I think in the financial advising industry there's a huge need for relationships, because money is a hard thing to talk about. As a professional athlete, you sometimes hear about guys getting bombarded from different angles for all kinds of money. People think athletes have this disposable income which will never run out.

I think the biggest transition has to do with the fact I was never someone who would reach out and randomly contact someone. This job has caused me to have to do that. It’s been a blessing in disguise, because there are a lot of people in my contacts who I would have probably never called the rest of my life. I've been able to reconnect some of those relationships and have had great conversations with guys, whether it's about how I can help them financially or not. Everyone says this is a relationship business and that has been the biggest difference so far. It’s made me step out of my shell a little bit to pursue those relationships.

My biggest piece of advice is to make sure they’re living within their means. From there, they should do whatever they have to do, legally, to make whatever money they need to provide for themselves and their family. As I mentioned earlier, I coached for a little while - getting into something new is tough. Eventually, most former players have to find another job to support themselves. That next step will take some faith, but don’t be afraid to fail. I’m still learning myself.

They want the best for you. The Trust wants to see you succeed through life, not just in football, but everything after it. Everything The Trust offers it not going to be exactly right for what you’re needing, but take advantage of the benefit there for you.