Former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow stressed role of coaches at FCA banquet in Naples

The main event at the 15th Annual FCA Celebration Dinner Monday night was a noteworthy one.

Greeted by lengthy applause, former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow headlined the dinner.

New Immokalee football coach James Delgado, former Naples coach Bill Kramer, and FCA Metro Director Charlie Weatherbie spoke before Tebow. Former Vikings and Ravens offensive lineman Matt Birk emceed the event, bringing his humor to the podium multiple times throughout.

"Tim is my second favorite Tebow," Birk said prior to introducing him as "Pam's son."

Previously: Naples homeowner, ex-NFL standout Matt Birk among athletes at Naples FCA banquet

The hundreds in attendance got to hear Tebow speak for just under 52 minutes inside the Naples Grande Beach Resort ballroom, as the 34-year old described his experiences trying to connect with people by talking about religion.

An emphasis throughout the dinner was the impact coaches can have on players. He referred to his high school coach at Nease, Craig Howard. Howard passed in 2017 after coaching at Southern Oregon from 2011-16.

"When I was going as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, I said 'You have to bring Coach Howard'," Tebow said. "He had such an impact on my life. A few years later when he passed away, even though I was in the middle of a bunch of craziness, I said everything has to be canceled, I'm going to his funeral in Southern Oregon.

"You know what was so cool? He had over 10,000 people at the stadium, most of them, his players. In a line, players were waiting to talk about Coach Howard. Coaches, you have no idea the impact that you have so far, and you will have if you choose to truly love your players."

With former LSU coach Les Miles in attendance, Tebow took a slight jab at the school, describing his experiences playing in Baton Rouge to laughter.

"You'd have all these thoughts," Tebow said. "You'd see some people wearing your jersey. You'd see some people holding signs. You'd have parents whispering in your ear that you're my son or my daughter's role model.

"Then you'd have other people, mostly LSU fans, chanting 'You suck!' That would've been generous if they said that. There were a lot of stadiums you'd go in and they'd chant F-U Tebow. LSU fans were the only ones that would actually say it. That's a true story."

Miles moved to Naples less than a year ago with his wife, Kathy. They have four children, including Macy, their youngest daughter. She has signed to play softball at UCF.

Les attributed all of her success to Kathy, who taught her how to pitch. Miles hit .605 with three home runs and 19 RBI in just 14 games for Naples. She also went 7-0 in the circle with a 0.59 ERA, including 46 strikeouts in 35.1 innings pitched.

"Her mother taught her pitching, her mother did a great job," Miles said. "Our two boys put it to Macy, and said 'Listen May, if you want to be Division I, you have to start now.' Now, everyone in the family is a Division I athlete in college, because of my wife.

"On a Friday afternoon or a Friday morning, going into a game, my kids would challenge me to win the game, and they'd win theirs. Macy grew up around a very competitive group of people."

Another familiar face in attendance was ECS graduate Corey Lynch, who starred for the Sentinels in the early 2000s before being drafted in 2008 by the Cincinnati Bengals. In 2007, Lynch blocked Jason Gingel's field goal attempt against No. 5 Michigan in the closing seconds to seal the upset for Appalachian State.

"When I got there, we had potholes in the field, ants would crawl on you, when you got tackled," Lynch said of playing for the Mountaineers. "There was a water puddle here and there. It was half baseball field, half football field. There was nothing elegant about it at all, so my generation, we came in, worked hard, and we started winning games. We were winning 90% of our games, and that continued on.

"Now, they've raised the money and they've gotten to a place where everyone's excited. Everyone's excited to go back for the alma mater game, you're excited to see people, and you're excited to see what they've created. The fields are beautiful."

Follow Southwest Florida Sports Writer Alex Martin on Twitter: @NP_AlexMartin. For the best sports coverage in Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Tim Tebow, Matt Birk, Les Miles, Corey Lynch all take part in FCA banquet in Naples