“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” — Abraham Lincoln
San Diego State coach Sean Lewis was similarly philosophical on the occasion of his 40th birthday, which was shared Saturday with his players and coaches during team meetings and spring practice.
“It’s going to be the best time of my life,” Lewis said two days ahead of the milestone. “I truly feel like I’ve been through enough adversity, have enough scars, and have enough peace in my heart that I truly love every single moment that I get to live. I know, ultimately, at some point in time that death will come for me, so I’m going to live a life worth living.”
Lewis said on the bookbag he carries with him is the phrase “memento mori,” a Latin expression that translates as “remember that you die.”
“Death comes for us all,” he said. “And it’s just a reminder of some things that I deal with on a day-to-day basis, that, hey, inevitably, it’s going to come. So be present. The good Lord woke me up. Man, we are blessed to do what we do.”
Lewis has spent more than half his life playing or coaching football. He embarked on a coaching career in 2010, when he was named tight ends coach at Nebraska-Omaha. He was two years removed from a playing career at Wisconsin.
SDSU’s future head coach was on the sidelines at Qualcomm Stadium in 2013, when he served as tight ends coach for the Jimmy Garoppolo-led Eastern Illinois team that handed the Aztecs a surprising 40-19 loss.
In 2017, Lewis, then 31, became the youngest FBS head coach — by three years — when he was hired at Kent State. He is preparing for his eighth season as a head coach, the third at SDSU.
He is no longer the youngest. That distinction now belongs to Florida Atlantic’s 35-year-old Zach Kittley. At 40, Lewis is the 15th-youngest among the 136 FBS head coaches. Lewis is not the youngest coach in his conference, either: Washington State’s Kirby Moore is 35 and Boise State’s Spencer Danielson is 37.
No matter.
“I’ve got an amazing family by my side,” Lewis said. “I’ve got great friends and great people in my circle. And so, fine wine.”
The SDSU football social media account, as it does on all such occasions, noted three birthdays on Saturday. Wide receiver Marshel Sanders and offensive lineman Ikbahl Kassim were also celebrating.
A team meeting included photos of Lewis on a video screen, intending, no doubt, to provide some degree of embarrassment.
And what was to come Saturday night?
“Cigars, whiskey, after a great practice,” Lewis said. “I’m sure my wife will try to do something to embarrass me, and that’ll be awesome. It’s great that you have people that care enough about you that they want to make you feel special.”
Forty, he decided, is not so bad.
“I feel like I talk about this with my wife quite a bit,” Lewis said, “like, with our kids (son Rory and daughter Kiera), what’s been the best deal? It’s been every single moment of it all. When they were babies, it was awesome. When they were toddlers, it was really cool, right? I feel like I have enough life experiences to know, at this point in time, this (important things) you do need to get worked up about. This other stuff (little things). Ehhh. This, too, shall pass.”
When Lewis retweets the birthday acknowledgments of his players, his well-wishes often include “make this your best trip around the sun.”
Lewis seems inclined to take his own advice.