The head football coach at the University of Southern Mississippi is weighing in on the response he has received after wearing a shirt featuring the words “Christ is King,” insisting that “it was worth it” if it drew people’s attention to Jesus Christ.
Video footage posted by the University of Southern Mississippi football team’s X account Saturday shows the team’s head coach, Blake Anderson, wearing a shirt emblazoned with the words “Christ is King” as he participated in the “Eagle Walk.”
A previous X post identified the “Eagle Walk” as one of several events taking place as part of the kickoff weekend for the college football season.
During a press conference Monday, Anderson was asked if he knew that he went “viral” for the shirt he wore during Eagle Walk. After expressing gratitude that people noticed the shirt, Anderson said “the whole point of wearing it” was “for Christ to be glorified and to be noticed.”
Anderson thanked Southern Mississippi’s athletic director and president, noting that they allow him to “really just use my platform to share my faith.” He described himself as “thankful” and “saved by grace,” attributing “the position I’m in” to “God and just being blessed.”
“You never know what kind of response you’re going to get. It’s been 99% positive and … a few negative, which is what I expected,” Anderson added. “I wasn’t completely aware of just where it would go.”
“If one person makes one person think, then it was worth it,” he added.
Anderson’s Christian faith is featured prominently on his X account, which includes a biography labeling him as a “Believer in Christ.” His most recent X post includes a link to the video footage where he discussed his “Christ is King” shirt, accompanied by a caption reading “His story … His glory” along with the hashtag #ChristisKing.
In an appearance on the Sports Spectrum Podcast in 2023, Anderson shared how one of his players, Josh Davis, collapsed on the football field from cardiac arrest during a pre-practice warm-up earlier that year. Describing the experience as “the scariest thing” he had ever “been a part of,” Anderson acknowledged Davis’ faster-than-expected recovery while recalling how he told his players, “If you ever thought you ever didn’t know what a miracle looked like, that was it.”
“God gave that kid a second chance at life, and he’s going to use it and use it well,” Anderson said.
The loss of Anderson’s first wife, as well as his son and father, also loomed large during the conversation, and the football coach expressed gratitude that “I do have the peace in knowing that those that I love are in His presence.”
“I would be an absolute basket case … if I didn’t know that,” he said, adding that he “lean[s] on Christ” and “lean[s] on the … people Christ has put in your life.”
Now he feels he has a “duty and responsibility to use the platform that God’s got us on to try to help other people.”
“I’m leaning on Him more now than I ever did when things were going good,” he added. “It’s not what I wanted to sign up for, but at the end of the day, it’s where I’m at; it’s where God’s got me, and I can either blame Him and be angry, or I can lean on Him and let Him use it.”
Southern Mississippi plays in the Sun Belt Conference and won its first game of the season against Alcorn State 49-3 on Saturday.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
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