David Begnaud asks New Orleans locals who believed in them
In New Orleans, Chris Wurl said a former coach helped him learn how to believe in himself, a reminder that one adult can redirect a young life.
David Begnaud used a street-level question in New Orleans to surface a larger civic truth: success rarely starts alone. As part of his Beg-Knows America storytelling, the CBS News contributor asked everyday Americans who believed in them, then sat with 23-year-old Chris Wurl, who said a former coach changed the course of his life.
Wurl described the coach as the person who helped him “learn how to believe” in himself, turning encouragement into something more lasting than a compliment. That kind of relationship is the quiet infrastructure of schools, sports programs and neighborhood organizations, where one adult can steady a teenager long before confidence becomes visible from the outside.
Begnaud’s reporting has long leaned into that idea. CBS News says the series Beg-Knows America is built to uncover the heart of every story and highlight everyday heroes, and Begnaud is identified by the network as a contributor who previously served as the lead national correspondent for CBS Mornings. His newer Do Good Crew project extends the same theme through the podcast The Person who Believed in Me, which asks people who stood behind them before they became known.
The New Orleans conversation sharpened the policy question behind the tribute. When schools cut counseling, athletics, and mentoring roles, they do not just lose activities on a calendar. They lose the adults who notice when a student is drifting, who keep a young person attached to a team, and who can turn hesitation into participation. In measurable life terms, belief from one coach or teacher can mean another season of staying enrolled, another practice attended, another chance to trust an inner voice that had not yet formed.
Begnaud’s segment made that case without speeches. It showed that the value of mentorship is not abstract, and it is not limited to anyone who goes on to fame. It is built in ordinary places, through repeated acts of attention, and it can shape a life long after the final whistle.
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