Discipline and Penalties

One of the things that hurts teams most is a lack of discipline. A lack of discipline will lose you games you should win. Disciplined teams do the things that take no talent really well. How well does your team do the things that take zero talent? 

 

Two issues that display a lack of discipline that will lose you games are:

 

Pre-Snap Penalties

Pre-snap penalties are drive killers on offense and drive extenders on defense. There is nothing more frustrating than having a 3^rd and 3 become 3^rd and 8 because someone moved before the snap. Defensively, think about how it’s 3^rd and 3, and now your opponent gets a free first down because someone jumps offside. It is hard enough to win football games without having pre-snap penalties. Pre-snap penalties should be extremely rare. Don’t ever justify pre-snap penalties. Instead, find the cause and make them happen. 

 

In an analysis done of NFL games, offensive pre-snap penalties resulted in fewer drives ending in points. When the defense jumps offside, the chances the offense will score is greatly increased. Pre-snap penalties are 100% within your control, and come down to discipline and focus. 

 

Dead Ball Penalties

Dead ball penalties will get good teams beat by teams they should lose to. Think about how many times you get the ball carrier to the ground, only to have a player push an opponent after the whistle. Instead of 2^ndand 12, it’s first and ten and your opponent is closer to the end zone. There are times when you play through the whistle that you might get an occasional 15 yard penalty. I am not talking about those. I am talking about the reactionary penalties where a player does something out of frustration. 

 

When an offensive team gets a 15 yard penalty, they greatly reduce the chance they will score. This also changes the field position. Conversely, when the defense gets called for a personal foul or unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, they greatly increase the chance the offense will score. They also give up field position.

 

Like pre-snap penalties, dead ball fouls like unsportsmanlike conduct and personal fouls are completely under your control. 

 

The Biggest Mistake Coaches Make With Accountability

In my coaching career I have made more mistakes than most. It would be impossible to count the number of mistakes I have made, unless you had one of those NASA supercomputers. Some mistakes I made were bigger than others. 

Today I am going to focus on one of the biggest mistakes you can make that leads to mediocrity. Often coaches don't realize they are doing this, and they don't understand the impact this mistake has on your program. Coaches are very competitive and driven, and want to be successful. The programs that have consistent, sustained success are the programs do not make this mistake.

Everyone focuses on talent with the best teams, and yes, talent matters. But there are plenty of talented teams that underachieve every single year. You might play some of them. Hopefully you aren't one of them. What we are going to look at today has the potential to destroy your program. 

As we look at this, let's focus on two things that you must do. First, you must build relationships with your players. Great relationships are founded on Trust and Unconditional Love. Second, you need to have standards of performance that are clearly defined. If you don't have clearly defined standards, how does anyone know what to do? This seems like a simple question, but many programs don't have clear standards. They have implied or inferred standards. They don't have a standards that help to reinforce their identity. They talk about things, but they don't live them. They live in the world if "ish." Everything important needs to be clearly defined. If you don't have standards, you will not achieve at high levels. 

Now let's get to that one thing... This is what happens at so many programs. What is that one thing...

Inconsistent Accountability to the Standards

Once you have your standards, you need to consistently hold people accountable to the standards, and do so on a consistent basis. You won't tell them what they want to hear, you will tell them what they need to hear. John Wooden said coaching is "correcting someone without causing resentment." This is where trust and consistency are important. Trust and Consistency are foundations of coaches building strong relationships. Most resentment comes from players not trusting that their coaches. They don't trust their coaches because of inconsistencies in correction and accountability. 

There are three ways coaches are inconsistent with their accountability... 

Balancing Relationships With Accountability and Discipline

One of the most difficult things a coach must do is balance relationship building with building accountability and discipline in your program. There are coaches who are powerful relationship builders, and other coaches who are very good at building and developing discipline. The truly elite coaches are able to develop a perfect balance between the two, knowing when they must be more relational, and knowing when they must build discipline through accountability. 

You have probably heard coaches referred to as strong relationship builders. Their players will run through a wall for them. This is a powerful testament to the ability of these coaches to reach athletes. Building relationships is important to being a successful coach and running a successful program. One of the pitfalls of relational coaches, however, is when they struggle with holding their athletes accountable. They especially struggle with holding their best athletes accountable.  

When you build relationships but don't have accountability, you basically have become a "friend" to your athletes. They already have friends, and so do you. Kids don't need a friend. They need someone who will challenge them, and bring out the best in them. This doesn't happen through fiery speeches, or from coaches jumping around and being excited. 

Here are the six issues that come from coaches being relational, without having accountability. 

• Your athletes will make undisciplined mistakes.
• Your athletes will quit when they face adversity or get behind.
• Your athletes will not know how to respond to coaching.
• They won't understand what is happening when someone holds them accountable. 
• You will lose to people you shouldn't lose to from a talent standpoint.
• You will have more players quit during the season. 

How many of you have seen this at some level within your own teams? I have been a part of programs where you have great relationship builders, but the program lacks standards and accountability. Everything you do matters. You are either developing accountability, or you are developing entitlement. There is no in between. You can't talk people into being disciplined, and you certainly can't develop discipline and accountability by being a "good" guy. 

I also was in a program that was led by someone who didn't do a good job of building relationships. He thought that discipline was developed by being a jerk all the time. His players feared making a mistake, which made them robots on the field. They also were miserable and often quit in high numbers. Program retention struggled. Being too far on one end of the spectrum will lead to failure.

Strike A Balance

The key is strike a balance between relationship building and setting standards and holding people accountable to the standards. When a program has a very relational head coach but lacks discipline, you will only go as far as your talent will take you. You will not have consistent mental toughness. You will be really good when things are easy to moderately difficult. But when we faced someone who was mentally tough and more together as a team, you will lose all of your self-discipline. You will find yourself with a group of veteran players who hav a sense of entitlement. They know they wouldn't be held accountable, and this will lead to losing some games you should have won. You have to be continue to build strong relationships, but you also have to love your players enough to set boundaries and hold them accountable. 

The ultimate goal is for every single player in your program to develop self-discipline. But before people can develop self-discipline, they need to have someone hold them accountable to develop that discipline. 

So What Do You Need to Do?

Correcting this imbalance isn't easy, but is also not rocket science. It is actually very simple in theory, but difficult in that relationship builders have to get out of their comfort zone. Relationship builders struggle with making people uncomfortable. They want to please people and make them happy. In itself, this is not a terrible thing. But when you don't have a balance with standards and accountability, you limit the potential of your team. The hard part about this is that you are going to have to be willing to change, and change is hard. I recommend having a mentor who is strong in this area that can help you go through this process. 

First, you have to have a set of standards that are unwavering. You set clearly defined standards and expectations that will raise the level of the performance of those in your program. You need standards for the classroom, weight room, and on the field. Your standards are not going to adjusted to the individual, because they don't rely on ability. These standards all are things that take zero talent. What do you stand for? If you stand for nothing, you will fall for everything. Your standards are bigger than football. Your standards will carry people through life. The best part about your standards, is they take zero talent or ability.

Some examples of academic standards would be: 

Championship Discipline, Accountability, And Leadership

Have you ever finished a season and been disappointed that you underachieved? One of the biggest disappointments in my coaching career was feeling like we didn't meet our expectations for our season. There is nothing worse than knowing you didn't have the success you thought you would have. I have talked to a few coaches the last couple of weeks that are frustrated with their seasons went and the directions of their programs. They feel like they are lacking discipline, leadership, and accountability. They have stupid penalties, turnovers, or mental mistakes that cost them football games. As I look back on the biggest disappointments in my coaching career, the biggest reason we underachieved was a lack of discipline, leadership and accountability tops. It was rarely a lack of talent.

Having a lack of talent is something that is often out of your control. Unless you are a program that recruits, you can't control the genetics of the athletes in your program. When we struggled because of a lack of talent, I could deal with that. When we had a lack of talent, however, we tended to exceed expectations. What is frustrating is when you have talent and fall short of expectations. 95% of the time this comes down to discipline, leadership, and accountability. 

Discipline, leadership, and accountability are three things you have complete control over. If you are a head coach, you set the standard for the level of each of the these three things. Discipline and accountability come down to the standards and expectations you set, and what you are willing to tolerate. What you tolerate from your best players will lead to the level of discipline and accountability for everyone in your program. And when someone doesn't meet that standard, do you hold them accountable? Do you have a system to teach them what they did or didn't do that went against the standard? Ultimately it is about changing behaviors.

More than once this year I have seen several very talented teams lose football games to teams with inferior talent because they lacked discipline. In my 25 years of coaching, I was a part of three teams that lost to teams much less talented. I watched several games this year where I saw teams with superior talent lose to inferior competition. How can this happen? If you have more talent, aren't you supposed to win? There is a reason there are a bunch of very talented teams that lost 6, 7, and 8 games this year at all levels. 

First, it happens because you allow it to happen. You control what you allow and what you expect. You set your standards and expectations. You control the level of accountability to your standards. As a head coach you are ultimately in control. You set the tone for the entire team. You are the one who ultimately sets that standards for your team. You are the one who controls the level of accountability for your team. 

If you are going to set standards, and you had better set standards, you must be willing to hold every athlete to the standards you set. If you aren't willing to hold your best players to the standards, then you are going to lose trust with the team. You are going to have players that might outwardly act like they are bought in, but they are going to be frustrated with any lack of accountability. You will have the same frustration with coaches on your staff. They may outwardly be bought in, but inwardly they will be frustrated. If you don't have complete trust built up with everyone in your program, they will tell you what you want to hear, not what you need to hear. 

Let's get to 3 important keys I'd like to focus on. First: If your best players are not being held accountable off the field, they will break your heart on the field. 

I have seen his first hand, and it something that is frustrating because you have complete control over it. When you let a guy get away with being a jerk in the school building, or getting in trouble in class, he will break your heart on the field. When you allow your most talented players to be un-coachable and unapproachable in practice, they will break your heart on Friday night when you play good teams. Have you set clear expectations for your team, and are you willing to hold everyone accountable to these expectations? 

When you have two sets of standards, one for the guys who are hard to coach, and one for the guys who are easy to coach, you will lose when you play someone who is inferior to you in talent, but has a higher level of discipline and accountability. They will not make undisciplined mistakes that cost teams football games. They will not get 15 yard penalties that will extend drives. They will not get penalties on third down that end drives for your offense, and extend drives for your opponents. They won't get 15 yard penalties that negate touchdowns. They won't have breakdowns in eye-discipline. They won't stop playing hard when they get behind. When one standard becomes optional, all standards become optional. If you are inconsistent with your accountability, the players you do not hold accountable will not know how to handle real adversity when it hits. 

Let me add loudly: NEVER JUSTIFY SOMEONE NOT MEETING THE STANDARD

That is so important that it had to be in all caps. Once you start to justify negative behaviors, you are allowing yourself to accept mediocrity. Everything we are talking about today has nothing to do with ability or talent. Do not justify mediocre behaviors or habits unless you want mediocre results. If the standard is important, everyone should be expected to meet the standard. If the standard ins't worth holding everyone accountable, get rid of the standard. Once one standard because optional, all standards become optional. 

Second: Head coaches, listen to your assistant coaches when it comes to discipline. We had a situation one year where we wanted to bench two of our most talented players on offense. We wanted to take playing time from them. They weren't practicing well, and they were becoming a cancer for the team. They were lazy in drills, and that was carrying over to the game. The offensive staff was in agreement that these two players needed to be benched. The head coach initially agreed, but then relented. The players were not held accountable. While they made big plays at times, they also did not play up to the level of their talent. More importantly, they were a distraction far more often than they were making big plays. Instead of setting the standard, they were the negative example. 

No Hats In School... Why Your Program is Lacking in Discipline

Many years ago I taught at a school that, like many schools, had a rule that kids couldn't wear hats in the building. My first day I noticed a lot of kids wearing hats. I told them to take off their hats. They all complied, but not without disdain for my request. Usually they would get out of sight and put their hat back on. The reason was simple... If you have a rule or standard that is not consistently enforced, the standard will not be met. It is that simple. It was very, very frustrating. The standard was that no students were to wear hats. That is very clear. The problem lied in the fact that there was no accountability. A few teachers enforced the rule, but most ignored it. The reason they ignored it is because there was no follow through from the leadership. If you aren't going to enforce the rule or standard at all levels, then get rid of the rule.

I tell you this because this happens in many athletic programs, schools, and companies throughout the globe. Leaders set rules or standards and then don't hold people accountable. Or, they hold them accountable selectively. They don't coach them on the details. They tell them to stand a certain way, and then permit them to deviate. They tell them to wear certain clothing, and allow them to deviate. They tell them to be there at a certain time, and when someone is late, there is not accountability. Permitting is promoting. When you allow it to happen you might as well be asking for it to happen. If you allow one to do it, another will. If you allow it once, then it will happen twice. Then three times. After a few weeks, a coach will have a bad day and  go off on their athletes for not meeting the standard that has never or rarely been enforced. The kids aren't the problem. The coaches are.

"If they don't know the standard, how can they possibly reach or exceed the standard?"

This is not a great way to build trust. It is not a way to build discipline. It is a great way to lose your athletes and drive a wedge between you and them. Before you get angry, ask yourself, "why are my athletes not meeting the standard?" It is one of two things. First, your standards are not clearly laid out. Your athletes don't understand what you are asking for. You are not coaching the details. The second reason is that you have permitted them to deviate from the standard. If you let them deviate from one thing, you need to expect them to deviate from everything.

This is where programs start to have issues with discipline. If you are having issues with discipline,  ask yourself the following three questions:

1. Are our standards clearly laid out AND understood? It is not enough to teach them, you have to make sure the standards have been learned. You constantly have to reinforce the standard. Ask your athletes to repeat the standard to you. Ask them to show you the standard. They can't meet a standard they don't understand. They also can't hit a moving target. If the standard is always moving they will never be able to hit it. You have to have clear set of verbiage for the standard. It has to be the same every time. If the standard is not consistently taught, it will not be clearly understood.

2. Have I permitted deviation fromt the standard? If you permitted deviation from one standard, expect deviation from other standards. If you tell them they all have to have a white t-shirt, and everyday athletes are missing the white t-shirt and you ignore it, expect a lack of discipline. How will they take your standard seriously? This is dangerous. If you don't hold the standard on the white shirt, how can you expect them to line up right on Friday night? How can you expect them to take a six inch step on your zone play? If they are allowed to deviate from the white t-shirt, they will believe they can deviate from other standards as well.

3. Are WE consistently holding people accountable to the standard? Is every coach holding your athletes to the standard, or does each coach have a different set of standards? There is nothing more frustrating as an assistant coach than holding someone accountable and feeling like you are on an island. It goes right back to the issue with hats in school. If the standard changes from coach to coach, athletes will lose trust and confidence in you and the staff. The standard must be consistent from coach to coach. If one coach has one standard on parallel squat and another coach has a different standard, there will be confusion.

If the answer to any or all of these questions sound familiar, chances are you are pretty frustrated. Whether you are the coach permitting, or you are the lone ranger holding people accountable, you are probably having moments of frustration. Your culture is probably suffering. If your culture is suffering, you will never play as well as you think you can. You will lose to people even when you have more talent. You will be inconsistent. Your players will question and lay blame when things don't go well. They will not trust you or what you are doing.

Why does this matter? Why do we even bother? The reason is simple.  Great programs have clearly defined expectations that are consistently upheld. They hold athletes accountable for not meeting the standard and constantly reteach and coach them on how to meet the standard. They try to meet the athlete at their level and bring them to the standard. They are willing to confront even when it might be uncomfortable. Because you are willing to confront deviations from the standard, the standard will be met. Your players will understand that if they do not meet the standard they will be corrected. Correction is love, and consistent correction builds discipline.

If you are struggling with this, the great news is: you can change. But the only way it will change is with action. You have to reset the situation. Set very clearly defined standards of performance. Make sure all of your coaches understand the standards, and explain them to your team. Then, hold them accountable to the standard, every single day. A reset is simply an opportunity to tell your team or organization that you did not hold them to their highest standard, and that will change. It will not be easy. There will be some pain. But the results will be worth the investment.

Several years ago we had to do this. We worked very hard to build a championship culture. We had a couple of very good seasons and we had a strong nucleus returning. We made the mistake of letting them slip on our standards. We did not hold them to a standard of excellence. We let them slide on little details. We thought, well, we are good enough to overcome these things. The problem is, the little things got bigger each day. One afternoon in April we noticed several guys straggling into the weight room late. A couple of these guys were our captains. During our workout we had another group of guys cutting sets. I went ballistic. I let them know this was absolutely the opposite of what we wanted. This was not meeting our standard. While I got my frustration out, nothing changed. The next day we had the same issues. We looked entitled and refused to work hard. They weren't getting deep enough on squat. They weren't locking out their bench. They weren't finishing when things got tough.

We pulled a few of the guys in and asked them why they were deviating from the standard. Their answers shocked us. "Because no one said anything." That said a lot right there. I thought, "we shouldn't have to." But I stopped myself from saying it. That's because WE NEED TO SAY SOMETHING! It's our job. It is just like when guys say, "we are not going to coach you on effort." Then don't expect great effort! You have to coach everything all the time. There is no other way to be successful.

As a coaching staff we made a decision to do a reset. The next day we brought them in and told them we failed to hold them accountable to our standards, and that would change immediately. We reset the whole deal. We retaught the standards. We told them why we were doing this, and that we would never again fail to hold them accountable to reaching our standards. Everything was redefined.

The reset was a defining point in that season. It was vital for our preparation to confront the problem and change. Without the reset we would have been mediocre at best. We would not have been successful as a program. Our players learned a valuable lesson and so did our coaching staff. You are entitled to nothing. When you build your culture and get things going the way you want them to go, you cannot coast. You can never relax. If you do find yourself slipping and standards not being met, immediately confront the issue.

Leadership requires confrontation. There is no other way. You can't ignore deviations from the standard and expect them to improve. And the confrontation does not need to be ugly. You can confront without building resentment. You can confront without trampling on someone's dignity.

Here is a simple 4 step process for accountability:
1. Confront
2. Clarify
3. Reteach
4. Evaluate

Confront- If the standard is not being met immediately stop the person and tell them they are not performing to the standard

Clarify- Make sure they clearly understand what is expected. Have them repeat the standard back to you.

Reteach- Demonstrate the standard. Make sure they can perform the standard whether you are looking or not.

Evaluate- Make sure they are performing to our expectations

It is up to everyone to enforce the standards. If it is important to you, find a way. If not, you will certainly find an excuse. Everyone must be invested in our standards. And if you aren't willing to enforce a standard, eliminate it. It will only lead to deviation from more important standards.

Every single day you are building a culture within your program. Are you building your culture by design or by chance? The biggest part of building culture is to set high standards and to have everyone in your organization enforce the standards.

Shameless plug of my Interactive iBooks!

Early this year I wrote a book RPO's and a book on Tempo. I want these books to be accessible without worrying about $$$. They are available as an apple iBook and on Amazon. The iBook version contains embedded video! These two books will revolutionize your offense! 

In my RPO book I describe in detail a systematic process to install RPO's. I go over first level, second level, third level, and multi-level reads. I show you how to scaffold the install and build a system that will fit what you are already doing. 

Here is a picture of the cover with some quotes from other coaches on the book:

 

Here is a link to the iBook version of my RPO book: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1078061959

If you have an iPad or iPhone, buy the ibooks version! If you have an android or PC based device, I have a Kindle version for sale on Amazon. Here is a link to that version: Kindle Version of Coach Vint's RPO Book on Amazon. The kindle version has everything but the video.

The other part of this equation is adding Tempo. A lot of coaches ask me to help them install different elements of tempo into their offense. The book I wrote will take you through a detailed, systematic process of building tempo into your existing offense. Here is a picture of what coaches are saying: 

The iBook version for the iPad, iPhone, and Mac contains over an hour of embedded video! I give you a systematic process to build tempo into your offense. I show you multiple ways to communicate your concepts, including sign boards! Here is a link to the iBooks version: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1075902270

It is also available on Amazon if you have an Android or Windows device. You can find it here: Coach Vint's Book on Tempo on Amazon

Combining Tempo with RPO concepts will change the game of football for generations. Any offensive system can adapt these principles without changing the structure of you offense. The biggest issue many schools face is simply thinking they can only use RPO's part of the time. You never have to call a run again that isn't protected by a pass concept. 

One of the keys to our success was tremendous preparation!The key to  preparation was our outstanding group of documents we used for all three phases. If you are looking for fully editable and customizable documents that you can tailor to your program, I have made mine available. 

Here is a link to my offensive game planning documents: https://sellfy.com/p/AndN/

It includes everything from a scouting report template, to practice plans, to a two-sided color call sheet, and more! Each of the nine documents are fully editable and customizable! Order today for under $15 and download them tonight!

Here is a link to the defensive game planning documents. It includes 12 fully editable and customizable documents. https://sellfy.com/p/AY1u/

And finally, I put together a special teams resource. This has everything you need, included drill tape, practice tape, and game footage. It includes teaching presentations and scouting forms just for special teams! https://sellfy.com/p/tJwz/

I hope you have found something of value in this post! I wish you the best as you prepare for your season! 

Why We Must Teach Character and Leadership

When I first started coaching I was all about feeding my own competitive spirit. I wanted to win because that's all I had really done. Every team I had been a part of had been very successful in the win column. My first coaching job was with a losing program that had no history of winning. The mentality was that of a downtrodden group that had no hope. While we won some games and changed the culture, we didn't do as well as we probably could have done.

My next job was at Christopher Columbus High School, a large, inner-city school in the Bronx, New York. I was hired by one of the greatest developers of character in coaching today, David Diaz. When Coach Diaz was hired, the program was in the midst of a 27 game losing streak. Participation was way down, and the players didn't believe they could win. As a coaching staff we were all very fiery, demanding, and enthusiastic, and that translated into some success. We had the first winning season in school history our first year, and in the second year went to the playoffs. We thought we had begun building a strong foundation for significant success.

We are at a point where we felt like we were ready to get over the hump and win a playoff game. We had taken a program that had never had a winning season to the playoffs. We had a talented group coming back. Everything seemed to be lined up for us to have a big year. Then we ran into a buzz saw. Our kids were making some very poor decisions off the field. We had to suspend several players and lost others to grades. It was one of the most disappointing seasons of my coaching career. We were mentally weak on and off the field.

After the season we were complaining about how we had a lack of leadership. It was about this time we met Dennis Parker at a clinic and he talked about implementing character education into a football program. We talked with him for an hour after his talk and decided this is what was missing. This turned out to be the most important clinic talk of my coaching career.

We made a decision that we were going to teach character and leadership with intent. We were going to be as intentional in teaching character as we were in teaching our guys how to squat. Too often we think the sport itself teaches character. If this were true, every kid that played football would demonstrate high character. Sports don't teach character, coaches do.

That was an important epiphany we went through. What are we teaching? Are we teaching them to act a certain way? We are, but it may not be what we intend to teach. If we wanted to develop a culture of high character, high energy, mental toughness, everything we had to do had to build this culture.

Too often we think that character and leadership just happen. We say things like, "this group just weren't very good leaders." Or, "this senior class didn't know how to lead." This is when a good self-evaluation is needed. These are the questions we need to ask:

1. What did we do to develop positive leaders in our program?
2. How much time did we spend focused on teaching character with intent?
3. What might we have done that was detrimental to the leadership and character of this group?
4. Where can we find time to improve the leadership and teach character lessons with this group?

The biggest hindrance for us was the worry about what we would have to give up to take time to teach character and leadership? How much time in the weight room would we give up? How much film time would we give up? Where would we make up the practice time?

After talking with Dennis Parker and D.W. Rutledge, we made a decision that we wouldn't have to give anything up. With stronger leaders and a better foundation of character, our workouts would be better and more efficient. We would have higher intensity and better focus. While we would use some of our time to teach leadership and character, this use of time was actually an investment. We would get a return far greater than what we put in.

It was early February when Coach Diaz made the decision that we were going to go "all in" on teaching character. We took one week where we went into the classroom, focusing on character. On Fridays we had our seniors to be go through  leadership development program. After the first week we spent 20 minutes a day, three days a week before workouts in the classroom. One of the reasons this was successful is that each of our coaches bought in to what we were doing and sold it passionately to our kids.

One of the first things we did in the classroom was had our athletes fill out a sheet that gave us some information on them that was deeper than simply who they are. We wanted to know who they lived with, what their home life was like, what their dreams were, and what their goals were. We wanted to learn about their hopes and dreams and fears. We wanted them to understand that we loved them unconditionally because of who they were, not because of what they did.

Up until this point we had coached in a very transactional way. We told them what do do and expected them to do it. If they didn't we expressed disappointment. Often we had conflict and there was a genuine mistrust. They began to fear screwing up because they would face our wrath. Because they feared screwing up, they began to taking any risks at all. They wouldn't try to break personal records in the weight room. They wouldn't try to make a difficult play on the field. They sometimes would freeze under pressure. How did we respond? We yelled at them more. And then we wondered by they weren't improving their performance.

Character education and leadership development changed all this. Instead of a transactional form of coaching, we began a transformational form of coaching. Not only did our players begin to change, we began to change as coaches. Instead of yelling at our players and berating them, we began to coach them through mistakes and remind them of how they can do it better. This doesn't mean we didn't yell. The difference was the purpose of our yelling. Our purpose was to uplift and build them up!

Part of our leadership component involved empowering our players to take ownership of the successes an challenges we faced. We wanted them to know it was their deal and all about them. Instead of us setting the goals, we had the players set team goals. We had them set our goals for the winter and spring, goals for the summer, and goals for the season. We had them come up with a framework of expectations. It was amazing to watch them blossom through this process.

The Results
The results were outstanding! They began to think about the man next to them and the good of the team when they made a decision. Their decisions began to improve both on and off the field. Our players began to walk a little bit taller.  Their grades improved and they began to show excitement for their future. When we first arrived most of our players were taking summer school to get eligible. After implementing a character education program we rarely lost a kid to eligibility.

Perhaps the biggest thing that happened was the trust that was built. They began to trust that we really cared about them as more than athletes. We cared about them in life. We cared about what happened to them when we weren't around them. Our relationships with our players improved and we built bonds that will never be broken. And the relationships they built with each other were strengthened. They began to care about each other and truly became a family.

Did we win more games? Yes we did. We enjoyed a very good six year run of sustained success. We won playoff games for the first time in school history. Our kids were much better at handling adversity. They learned to push themselves to new limits. They developed a solid mental toughness that powered them through challenges they faced. Most importantly, they learned it isn't about them. It is bigger than them. Everything they do and every choice they make will impact others.

Teaching character and leadership will help you leave a lasting legacy. Everything we do as coaches will have an impact on our kids. That impact can be positive, or it can be negative. By teaching character and leadership we can greatly increase the chances that our student-athletes will have a very positive, life-changing experience in our program.

My experience at Christopher Columbus High School gave me tremendous appreciation for the value of teaching character and leadership. While I was a coordinator at the college level we emphasized character and leadership with our student-athletes.

I was blessed to get hired by Kent Jackson when I moved to Texas, one of the best men in the coaching business. We teach character with intent at Seminole High School. We invested a lot of time during two a days introducing our players to the concept of our character and leadership component. We use each day teach character and life lessons with our players.

At some point the good lord will present a head coaching opportunity,  and you can be sure that character education and leadership development will be paramount to our program. It is our duty and responsibility as coaches to develop our players into great leaders with a strong moral compass.

The R.E.A.L Man Program
There are several character programs that are out there. One program I really like is called The R.E.A.L Man Program by Coach Frank DiCocco. It is simple to implement and all the materials are ready for use. I have used this with my athletes and in my classes. This program is being used by several high schools and colleges throughout the US. You can find more information clicking here: The Real Man Program

The Texas High School Coaches Association also has several resources available with their Game Changer Program. I highly recommend these resources as well! Game Changer Coaches

A few months back I published a couple of iBooks that can help your program with X's and O's. The first is on Installing RPO's into any offense. Here is a link to the iBooks version: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1078061959. The ibooks version includes explanations, diagrams, and video clips on multiple RPO Concepts. It will give you a simple process for implementing them into your offense.

If you don't have an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you can order the Amazon version for the Kindle. It has everything except the embedded video. You can order it here: http://www.amazon.com/Installing-Explosive-Concepts-Into-Offense-ebook/dp/B01B12YSCG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

I also wrote a book on Tempo. It will greatly help you build a multiple tempo system with simple communication that will allow your kids to play with confidence. It also had over an hour of video clips! You can order the ibooks version here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1075902270.

Order the Amazon Kindle version here:

http://www.amazon.com/Using-Multiple-Tempos-Create-Explosive-ebook/dp/B01ATOL46A/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

If you are looking for information on the Pistol Offense, I have written two books on the pistol offense with Coaches Choice. If you are interested in learning more about those, click this link: https://coacheschoice.com/m-63-james-vint.aspx

One of the keys to our success was tremendous preparation!The key to  preparation was our outstanding group of documents we used for all three phases. If you are looking for fully editable and customizable documents that you can tailor to your program, I have made mine available. 

Here is a link to my offensive game planning documents: https://sellfy.com/p/AndN/

It includes everything from a scouting report template, to practice plans, to a two-sided color call sheet, and more! Each of the nine documents are fully editable and customizable! Order today for under $15 and download them tonight!

Here is a link to the defensive game planning documents. It includes 12 fully editable and customizable documents. https://sellfy.com/p/AY1u/

And finally, I put together a special teams resource. This has everything you need, included drill tape, practice tape, and game footage. It includes teaching presentations and scouting forms just for special teams! https://sellfy.com/p/tJwz/

5 Keys To Achieving Your Goals

Every single one of us has something we want to accomplish. For most athletes and coaches, we have big dreams we would like to achieve. For example, the majority of us want to win a state championship. At the college level our goal might be to go to a bowl game, or to win a BCS game. Many athletes have a goal to earn a scholarship to a BCS school. Coaches may have a goal to be a head coach. The question now becomes, how do we make our goals become a reality?

1. Write Down Your Goals-- The first key is to identify our goals and dreams and write them down. Take out a sheet of paper, draw a line through the middle, and write goals on one side, and dreams on the other. Make a list... Remember, no small dreams are allowed.

"Setting Goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible" -- Tony Robbins

2. Have a Plan-- Once you write down your goals, you have to formulate a plan to achieve them. For example, if your goal is to play division one football, write down what the criteria for being a D-1 football player. Write down the average height and weight of guys that play your position. Write down the 40 time coaches are looking for, and the pro agility time.

As you do this, analyze where you are currently. Once you know where you want to go, and you know where you are starting, you can make a plan to get there. You can't control your height, but you can control your work ethic. You can't control what you squat right now, but you control how hard you work to improve your squat. You can't control your genetics, but you can control what you do with what God gave you.

This is where most athletes fall short. They have something they want to do, but they never write it down. There is something powerful with putting your goal on paper. It makes it tangible. It makes it real. The same goes for coaches. If you want to be a head coach, write it down. If you want to be a coordinator, put it on paper. Maybe your goal is to be a high school position coach. Great, put it on paper.

Here is an example of what a high school athlete might write down for their goals:

Without writing these goals down, the athlete has no end point. By writing down your goals, you have taken the first step to make them become a reality. 

This athlete has identified where they stand right now, compared to where they need to get to achieve their goal. This is a partial list, but it should give you an illustration to what it takes to making a goal become a reality. From here, the athlete makes a list of things they have to do to make their goal a reality. 

Most people will not take these simple steps. This would take 10 to 15 minutes, but very few people will ever take these steps. 

3. Work Through Pain-- For most people, a goal sounds good. They like the sound of the goal, but they don't like the work that goes with it. 

"You are either going to have the pain of sacrifice, or the pain of regret, 

but either way you are going to have pain."

Whether you are a coach, player, principal, or stockbroker, you will increase your chances of success by writing a plan on paper on how you will reach your goal. As a coach, what is your ultimate goal? Have you written it down? Do you have a plan to get there? What is your contingency plan?

My next question is, what are you willing to do to make your goals become a reality? This is what I call the goal graveyard. This is the area most goals die. Why? because most people aren't willing to do what it truly takes to accomplish a goal. Most people aren't willing to sacrifice short-term happiness to achieve long-term success. You have to know what it is that you are willing to do. How hard are you willing to work? How much are you willing to sacrifice? 

"Your Actions Must Match Your Goals"

When you are on your 5th set on parallel squat, and you are dead tired and think you have nothing left in the tank, what are you willing to do? Do you quit, or do you finish? Do you take the easy way out, or do you work through the pain? 

"If you aren't willing to work through the pain, then your goal isn't very important to you." 

4. Surround Yourself With Like-Minded People-- There is a saying, "if you hang with a dog, you will get fleas." Your character is going to be the average of the 5 people you spend the most time around. If you want to be successful, find others who want to be successful and spend time with them. Find someone who is doing what you want to do and ask them to be a mentor for you. If you want to be a millionaire, are you going to hang around with people who are broke? Probably not. To make your goal a reality you have got to find people who are going the direction you want to go. 

If you are getting poor grades, who are you hanging around? I imagine you are spending the majority of your time with people who do not do very well in school. Too often I see young people who hang around with people who do not share the same goals. If you want to go to college, don't spend your time around people who are failing their classes. Think about it. Humans are very adaptable. We conform to our environment. Who are you choosing to hang around? 

5. Choose to Take Action-- You see, everything comes down to the power of choice. Only you can choose how hard you will work. Only you can choose what you are willing to sacrifice. Only you can choose to take action. Only you can get a sheet of paper and take the time to write down your goals. You will either do it or you won't... there is no in between.

Shameless Plug!

A few months back I published a couple of iBooks that can help your program with X's and O's. The first is on Installing RPO's into any offense. Here is a link to the iBooks version: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1078061959. The ibooks version includes explanations, diagrams, and video clips on multiple RPO Concepts. It will give you a simple process for implementing them into your offense.

If you don't have an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you can order the Amazon version for the Kindle. It has everything except the embedded video. You can order it here: http://www.amazon.com/Installing-Explosive-Concepts-Into-Offense-ebook/dp/B01B12YSCG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

I also wrote a book on Tempo. It will greatly help you build a multiple tempo system with simple communication that will allow your kids to play with confidence. It also had over an hour of video clips! You can order the ibooks version here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1075902270.

Order the Amazon Kindle version here:

http://www.amazon.com/Using-Multiple-Tempos-Create-Explosive-ebook/dp/B01ATOL46A/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

One of the keys to our success was tremendous preparation!The key to  preparation was our outstanding group of documents we used for all three phases. If you are looking for fully editable and customizable documents that you can tailor to your program, I have made mine available. 

Here is a link to my offensive game planning documents: https://sellfy.com/p/AndN/

It includes everything from a scouting report template, to practice plans, to a two-sided color call sheet, and more! Each of the nine documents are fully editable and customizable! Order today for under $15 and download them tonight!

Here is a link to the defensive game planning documents. It includes 12 fully editable and customizable documents. https://sellfy.com/p/AY1u/

And finally, I put together a special teams resource. This has everything you need, included drill tape, practice tape, and game footage. It includes teaching presentations and scouting forms just for special teams! https://sellfy.com/p/tJwz/