The Coach Who Never Planned to Coach
Andy Hadfield's coaching journey began almost by accident. A friend — the head basketball coach at Lehi — asked if Andy would casually help out. What he thought would be 'popping in once or twice a week' turned into leading the sophomore basketball team. When that coach retired after one year, Andy thought his brief coaching chapter was over. Football players on his team introduced him to Coach Larson, who invited Andy onto the football staff after learning he'd played college ball. Andy said yes. He ended up coaching both basketball and football simultaneously for six years before committing fully to football — and eventually inheriting the head coaching role when Coach Larson retired.
Key Lessons
- • Purpose is often discovered through service and involvement, not long-term planning.
- • Small commitments can become defining callings.
- • When someone sees something in you and asks, that invitation is worth taking seriously.
Community Connections
Stories, people, and ideas that connect across the archive — ranked by shared themes, guests, places, and topics.
Related Episodes
(4)Behind the Coach's Whistle: Andy Hadfield's Story as Lehi HS Football Head Coach
Andy Hadfield
From EMT to Battalion Chief: Decades of Service in Lehi
Rick Howard
How One Family’s Farming Legacy Continues to Shape Lehi
Nathan Bushman
The Hidden Work Behind Lehi’s Biggest Events: Pageants, Parades & Roundup Week with Kate Daly
Kate Daly
Related People
(4)Andy Hadfield
Head Football Coach, Lehi High School · Business Owner · Lifelong Lehi Resident
Doug Webb
Former Principal, Lehi High School · Agriculture & Science Teacher · Lifelong Lehi Resident
Mark Johnson
Mayor of Lehi, Former City Council Member, Engineer & Business Owner
Phil Hanks
Grandson of Ephraim Hanks · Mission President (Samoa) · Temple President (Samoa) · Church Education System Leader · Stake President · Senior Missionary (Ukraine, Freiburg) · Lehi Resident
Related Stories
(4)A Canceled Softball League and the Birth of a Public Servant
Paige Albrecht
A Promise Kept: The Softball League Returns After Ten Years
Paige Albrecht
Does Anybody Like You?
Doug Webb
Called as Mission President at 28 — Before He Even Knew
Phil Hanks
Related Quotes
(4)"Teach for perfection, expect perfection, knowing we’ll never achieve it."
— Andy Hadfield
"We are not meant to do this life alone."
— Ryan Harding
"We all have the same goal."
— Mark Johnson
"The ability to love people."
— Phil Hanks
Ways to Serve
(4)Mentor through the Miss Lehi Pageant
Miss Lehi Pageant
Volunteer for Lehi Roundup Committee
Lehi Roundup Committee
Mentor youth through the FFA program
Future Farmers of America (FFA)
Become a Buddy in the 'Stage for Everyone' Program
Lehi Arts Council
More from Andy Hadfield
Andy Hadfield
My Daughter's Cancer Changed Everything
When Andy’s daughter was four years old, she was diagnosed with cancer and underwent two years of treatment. Plans could disappear overnight — a vacation cancelled instantly because a fever sent them back to the hospital. The family learned to live day-by-day. That experience reshaped how Andy values presence, ordinary mornings, and the gift of being able to do something you love. 'When that gets taken away from you, you realize how important it is. I wish there was another way.' He doesn't romanticize what his family went through — he acknowledges plainly that suffering is not the lesson he would choose. But it became a profound teacher anyway.
Andy Hadfield
The Players Who Barely Played
Some of Andy's closest relationships are with players who almost never saw the field. They weren't physically gifted enough to start — there was always someone better ahead of them. But they showed up every day, sacrificed, worked hard, and refused to quit. 'Playing time and stats and college recruiting don't mean the season was a success. The effort you put in — that’s the story.' Andy describes putting his arm around these players and saying: 'This is just going to teach you to be a better person. You didn’t quit, and that matters.'
Related Stories
Charlene Freestone
The Natural Parenting Boutique on Lehi Main Street
Charlene opened a natural parenting boutique — Boot Baby Boutique — in the old Lehi Hotel near the train tracks on Lehi Main Street. The shop sold cloth diapers and baby carriers, but its heart was parent education and community space. She rented from a midwife in a building that also housed a gem shop and wedding dress rentals. The business later moved up to Sandy but represented a season where business and belonging overlapped.
Charlene Freestone
COVID Ends One Chapter and Opens Another
On the day of the Utah earthquake in 2020, Charlene realized parents were not going to bring small children into stores the same way anymore. She folded her boutique quickly, sold her share to co-owners, and stepped away from both retail and nonprofit worlds. She then worked at her children's school as a teacher's aide during COVID, witnessing how everyone banded together to keep things going.
Charlene Freestone
I'm Back, But This Time I'm Helping
Charlene's son was born with needs requiring surgeries. A nurse with child passenger safety training helped her family during the car seat oxygen test. Exactly 12 years later, Charlene began working with Intermountain at Utah Valley Hospital — on the exact anniversary of her son's discharge. Looking at her badge, she thought: 'I'm back, but this time I'm helping people here.'