At high school football practice, the coach establishes a rule that all phones are put away in a bag for the farm boy to hold during practice. After a few days of it, the coach realizes that there’s a lot more potential in such a rule. One day, upon seeing an offensive line player mess up the counts on snapping the ball, the coach decides that messing up one more time would lead to the coach taking that player’s phone and texting whomever he wishes. All the kids think the rule is funny. The offensive line player ends up not making the same mistake again, but a tall kid does. Not knowing what to text at first, the coach hesitates with his phone in hand, but he eventually decides to text his dad, saying that he loves him. The tall kid gets upset about it, and all the other kids, upon seeing such a text, make fewer mistakes than ever before.

On his porch, the coach grades a few tests while drinking. He worries about whether he crossed the line in texting his players’ dads. He wonders about his own father, how he never got the chance to tell him that he loved him. His dog then runs up to the porch, scared about something.

The next day, the coach keeps up the same policy. The phones are bagged at the start of practice, and anyone caught making a mistake would have their dads texted. During a break, the tall kid from yesterday comes up to him and says that the policy isn’t fair, as it caused an awkward moment between him and his dad, after which he explained to his dad the whole policy. The tall kid asks if the policy can be applied to less kinds of mistakes, but the coach is unwavering.

Later at practice, the same tall kid makes another mistake. Knowing what will follow, he holds his head low and refuses to comply. He says that football is just some sport and that such a punishment isn’t warranted for an activity. Turning to his team, he protests by saying that everyone can just walk out without having to endure the coach’s policy. Eventually, the tall kid backs down and hands his phone. The coach texts his dad again, saying that he meant it genuinely and wasn’t saying it out of punishment.

At night, the coach sits on his porch with something to drink. He waits for his dog to come back from the nearby woods, but she doesn’t. He wonders again about the tall kid’s dad, how he must have felt after receiving today’s text. He thinks about how, by now, almost every kid’s dad has been texted at least once. The only kid whose dad hasn’t been texted yet is the offensive line player, the one whose mistake caused the policy to go into effect in the first place. He wonders whether he should call his own father. His dog never returns from the woods.

At practice, the coach discovers that an altercation has happened between the players and the farm boy who customarily holds the canvas bag with phones. One student relays to him what happened. The players come to practice, and the farm boy asks for their phones. The players refuse, causing the farm boy to attack a kid, which in turn causes the kids to retaliate. They throw the canvas bag over his head, tie him with its straps, and dragged him in the shower. As the student relays the events to him now, he says that the farm boy is still in the shower albeit with the water off.

The coach tells two linebackers to recover the farm boy from the shower. He then takes accountability for his punishment by explaining his rationale for texting their dads. He regrets not telling his father that he loved him, that such a policy would now give the players a chance to say it to their dads before its too late. He says that people only tell others that they love them in extreme moments rather than ordinary ones, that the players should be grateful they get to say it in a far more mundane circumstance.

One by one, the players share stories to each other about how their dads reacted to the texts. The wide receiver says his dad was overjoyed and took him out fishing. The field goal kicker says his dad was awkward and distant. The quarterback says that his dad was silent but gave him two-hundred bucks. Little by little, everyone confides in each other about their fathers. Soon enough, practice gets started again, and the offensive line player makes a mistake. The coach thinks about how his dog has long since run away from him. He thinks the offensive line player was just messing around and doesn’t grab for his phone.