A former NFL and college football star came to Augusta and, as a result, most of the area's high school football coaches came together.

Joe Ehrmann, a 13-year NFL veteran with the Baltimore Colts and Detroit Lions and a former NCAA All-American at Syracuse, spoke to 75 high school football coaches Tuesday afternoon and a larger group at an public forum Tuesday evening at Westminster Schools of Augusta.

The message from the retired pro athlete was clear.

"To me, the greatest crisis in this country today is a crisis of masculinity. It's a crisis about what does it mean to be a man," he said. "This crisis is foundational to just about every problem we have in America."

Mr. Ehrmann, who has served as a pastor and a high school football coach, spoke against what he called the erroneous definitions of masculinity that America's boys are bombarded with by music, movies and the media.

With Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver among the 375 in attendance at Westminster, Mr. Ehrmann emphasized the importance of youth sports in reaching the next generation.

"Sports is the secular religion of America," he said. "And the high priests of that religion are the coaches."

A planning committee made up of school leaders at Westminster came up with the idea of bringing the retired pro athlete to town to speak in a chapel service at the school. The idea grew into a communitywide event.

"This is an offshoot of what our long-term goals are here," Westminster athletic director Mike Freace said. "We want to be outward focused and have an impact on the whole community. We got some feedback from the 75 coaches today, and it was unanimous that they want to continue with an open forum like this."

Mr. Ehrmann spoke to coaches at the University of Georgia in Athens on Monday before making the trip to Augusta.

He'll speak to Westminster's students at a chapel service today before heading to Texas for another speaking engagement.

"This is my own personal cause -- trying to figure out how to make a difference," he said. "With sports, there's not a better place to do that."

Reach Billy Byler at (706) 823-3216 or billy.byler@augustachronicle.com.