I was talking to a good friend and coach who I worked with during my career, and we were talking about what we really do as coaches. After our conversation, I felt there is some valuable information coaches need to know if they want to excel in this profession.
First, wins and losses matter. If we don't win enough games, or we lose the wrong games, or don't win the right games, we are going to need to find new employment. Coaches want to win games and work hard to do so. I don't want that to get lost in the message today. Winning games matters.
With that said, the wins and losses are the least of what we do as coaches. The most important thing we do as coaches is the impact we make on our student-athletes. And that impact comes from what we do with our platform each day to equip them with the tools and skills they are going to need to be successful in life when they leave our program.
We have an opportunity to use a sport as the avenue or conduit to teach life skills that our student-athletes will be able to use every day of their lives to be successful. If we only use our platform to win games, we will miss an opportunity. Through our coaching, we can develop their ability to work as a team and unite diverse groups to achieve a common goal. We can develop their sense of self, responsibility, accountability, teamwork, trust, mental toughness and resilience.
Our coaching will either have a positive impact on our student-athletes, or it will have a negative impact. It will never be neutral. We are either teaching them skills to be successful, or we are teaching them skills that will mire them in mediocrity. No matter how many games we win or lose, these skills can and should be taught, developed, and nurtured.
We are either developing a sense of empowerment, or we are developing a sense of entitlement. The key is the standards you set, and the level you hold your people accountable to those standards. Are you willing to hold your best athlete to the same level of standard you will hold a lesser athlete? Are you consistent with your accountability?
The quickest way to divide your locker room is to have one set of standards for one group of players, and a different set of standards for another group of players. This destroys the ability of your team to perform at its highest levels on game day. It also develops entitlement in one group of players and resentment in another.
I have seen this very problem destroy teams and lead them to completely under achieving on the field. More importantly, it will lead them to underachieving in life. Everything you are doing with your team as far as standards and accountability will become a part of their character. You will not necessarily know if you have been successful with them until well after they leave your program. But everything you did as a coach will make an impact. The impact you make is up to you.
Here is the best part of all of this. If you focus on the impact, you will win more games. You will win games you shouldn't win and you will rarely lose a game you shouldn't lose. If you don't set high standards and have high accountability, you will lose games you shouldn't have lost to teams with less talent.
I challenge you as you prepare for the upcoming season to examine your standards and accountability. Are you consistent with your standards? Are you holding everyone accountable, or only certain players? Are you developing a sense of empowerment, or are you developing a sense of entitlement?
When I was a defensive coordinator we adapted this to our defensive preparation!
A while back I got hooked up with CoachTube and put together three courses for offensive football coaches. I put together two courses on RPO's, and a course on Building An Elite System of Communication. All of these courses will help you to score more points!
https://coachtube.com/users/coachvint
The course on communication gives you a detailed approach to your gameday communication. I give you a system and a process to improve the quality of conversations, leading to improved play calling on game day. This course has received outstanding reviews from coaches at all level of football. A coach with multiple state titles told me this course helped them to be much more efficient and explosive this season.
My two RPO courses take you through a systematic process of installing RPO's into your offensive system. RPO's put the defense in conflict, forcing them to defend all 53 yards of width and all 6 skill players every single play. I not only give you a system, but I teach you the methods to develop your own RPO concepts.
New Book
Over the last several months, I have stepped out of my comfort zone and wrote a new book about faith and purpose. The book is available as a paperback on Amazon, and as an eBook for the Kindle App. The cool thing about the Kindle app is that you can read the book on any device. I invite you to read it, and discover the power you receive when you make a decision to walk with the Lord. Here is a link to the book: Finding Faith
Since publishing the book, I have received numerous texts, calls, and emails, from people who are going through similar trials and tribulations. They were feeling many of the same things I was feeling. The found comfort in the book. They also found they had a desire to change and to live better. They wanted more joy.
I would invite you to read the book and discover the possibilities that God has planned for your life.
