This week we interviewed Coach Rice. We asked him some questions and he gave us some pretty interesting answers.

Q: What inspired you to become a coach?

A: I have always enjoyed sports and the subjects of health, kinesiology, and physiology of exercise were very interesting to me. I was fortunate to have very good physical education teachers during my junior and senior high school years that gave further inspiration to those subjects as well as the teaching field.

Q: What’s your favorite part of being a coach?

A: Watching students perform the skills that they learned to the best of their ability and to see students compete at the highest level they are capable of is very satisfying.

Q: If you weren’t a coach what would you be?

A: I enjoy photography. I would be interested in being a photojournalist either for a news or sports organization (Time, Sports Illustrated, etc) or a photographer for travel magazines (National Geographic, etc.).

Q:What does being an alumni of The University Of Florida mean to you?

A: The University of Florida has given me a lot of opportunities and the tools necessary for me to be a successful teacher and coach. Also, the experiences through friendships and organizations that I belonged to have been wonderful. I am fortunate to have many people that I can call on as friends and even resources for over 4 decades! As the saying goes (and it’s true!): It’s great to be a Florida Gator! The Gator Nation is everywhere!

Q:What is your favorite quote and why?

A: President John F. Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” If everyone would take the time to really reflect on what that means, a lot of our country’s problems could be solved in short order.