Charlie Weatherbie

Some coaches teach plays, others change lives. For Charlie Weatherbie, a future coach himself, the journey began with a confrontation in a gym that revealed the profound power of influence.

Charlie Weatherbie discovered his passion for sports at a young age. It was a way for him to succeed because he was not a very good student. He was diagnosed with dyslexia around second grade. He’d had a hard time sounding things out but was pretty good at memorizing. When he learned to memorize words, he read slowly, but was familiar with the words.

It was tough. As a student, he felt embarrassed every time he had to read in class, and he was particularly mortified when he failed the first semester of spelling in sixth grade.

His way to release the embarrassment and anger was to fight. If anyone messed with him, he fought. If someone challenged him, “I was up in their face, and pretty soon they didn’t want to mess with me, ‘cause I was a fighter.” Charlie admits.

In junior high, Charlie had a boy pinned to the gym floor when PE teacher, former Dallas Cowboy player, Coach Tex Crutcher, took Charlie to his office.

Coach told him he was going to be expelled, put in detention or maybe end up in jail or prison if he kept up this behavior of anger and fighting. He told Charlie he wasn’t leaving the office until he decided which path to take.

That moment significantly changed Charlie’s life. Charlie became emotional and told Coach Crutcher he wanted to go the right way.

Approximately two weeks later, on September 17, 1967, in his family’s church, First Baptist Church in Fort Scott, KS, Reverend Fly shared about heaven and hell, explaining how you would spend eternity in one of these places. Eternity sounded like a long time.

“If heaven’s anything like playing sports and the love of that, and a hundred thousand times better than that, I want it.” Charlie knew he wanted to go to heaven. He accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

Charlie believes there are transformational coaches and transactional coaches. Coach Crutcher was a transformational coach.

In junior high, Charlie struggled to remember plays well enough to play quarterback due to his dyslexia, so he was moved to running back because of his speed. However, in high school, he remembered memorizing as a means of learning. His knack for numbers helped him memorize the plays to adapt.

In high school, his track coach, Dick Booth, asked Charlie how much he weighed.

“I was 6’1” and weighed 135lbs. All you could see were my elbows and knees.” The coach told him he needed to eat two peanut butter sandwiches and a glass of milk every night before he went to bed. He shared, that in a month, he’d gain five pounds. If he didn’t, then something was wrong.

“I had peanut butter and jelly and milk every night. I didn’t just gain five pounds, I gained seven,” Charlie explained.

In Charlie’s sophomore year, he and his brother were pole vaulters. Charlie advanced to the state meet. He had shin splints and couldn’t run. But Coach Booth asked Charlie what his goals were. What did he want to do?

Charlie told him he wanted to get a medal. Coach Booth informed him of the heights he would need to reach according to the state’s classification in his division.

He needed to jump thirteen feet six inches for third place, which would earn Charlie a medal. Since Charlie had never jumped that high, he asked the coach what he needed to do to achieve it.

Coach Booth instructed him to stand at the end of the runway and hold his pole. Without moving, he needed to visualize himself running down the runway, bending the pole, going up and over, pushing off, and landing in the pit.

He wanted Charlie to be the first one to practice and the last one to leave. When he felt tired of standing, he could sit, but the Coach wanted him to rest, get back up, and stand. He told Charlie to envision himself doing that all week long.

Charlie went to the state meet in Wichita, KS, and vaulted thirteen feet, six inches, placing third in the state as a sophomore in the pole vault. Coach Booth had an incredible impact on Charlie’s life.

Charlie chose to play college football at Oklahoma State University. He met his wife there and they dated for two and a half years. When they decided to get married, Charlie went to the head football coach and told him he was getting married before his senior year. The coach pulled out his calendar and said, “You can get married here or here.”

Charlie went to Leann and said, “Here’s what he said. I can get married here or here.”

She responded, “That’s fine. We’ll get married here.”

“The coach set our wedding date. So, just think of the impact and influence that a coach has.” Charlie shared.

Four games into his Junior season, Charlie broke his collarbone in a game. Nobody came to visit from the team except one teammate. He was the president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. His name was Kent Shirley. He brought him a Bible and gave him a passage from it.

“The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand,” Psalms 37:23-24, became Charlie’s life verse.

After playing quarterback for the Big 8 Championship, Oklahoma State, for four years, Charlie signed with the Houston Oilers. Following three years in the NFL and CFL, Charlie and his wife, Leann, prayed about their next steps. They felt God was calling them into coaching at that time.

For more than 30 years, he coached at eight Division I schools, serving as the head coach at Utah State, the Naval Academy, and Louisiana-Monroe, becoming a transformational influence in the lives of countless athletes.

Charlie began his full-time vocational ministry as the Director of Local Missions from 2011 to 2013, where his pastor and chaplain from Louisiana-Monroe University served as the lead pastor.

A few years later, the pastor approached Charlie and informed him that FCA had inquired about his willingness to serve with them. The pastor shared that this would be an excellent fit for Charlie.

He began his career with FCA in Orange County, Florida. After a few years, FCA gave the Weatherbies other areas to pray about, but they had no peace with any of them until they were brought to Naples, FL.

They were familiar with the area, having visited friends there before. They interviewed, prayed, and felt God leading them to SWFL.

Charlie served as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Director of Coaches Ministry Southwest Florida until 2025.

Charlie’s desire to see more intentional coaches actively engaging with coaches and their spouses, offering help and support. It’s an area of ministry he feels is lacking, not just locally but nationally.

“We truly believe if you can reach the heart of the coach, you will reach the heart of the athlete as well. Coaches have influence. They’ve got everything they need to make a difference, whether they realize it or not,” Charlie asserts.

Charlie is currently the director of GameChanger 316, which is dedicated to strengthening coaches and athletes’ walk with Jesus Christ, encouraging them to lead with integrity and equipping them to influence their teammates, families, and communities for the Kingdom of God.

We believe in intentional discipleship and the fellowship of the Church. GameChanger 316 develops, equips, and commissions coaches and athletes to grow deeper in their relationship with Jesus and to lead others into life-changing relationships with Him. Connecting through action and faith.

Charlie experienced transformational coaches, from Coach Crutcher to Coach Booth, Fisher DeBerry, and all the others along the way. The impact they had on his life led Charlie to carry on that legacy through coaching.

Accepting Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior changed the trajectory of Charlie’s life. Are you ready to embark on your transformation journey?

Will you pray as Charlie has, repenting of the sin in your life and asking Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior? When you pray to receive Jesus Christ by faith, transformation begins, and you will have the promise of eternity in heaven.