Over my 30-year coaching career, I have seen a majority of football coaches, at all levels, fall into the same routine of strictly focusing their time and energy on X’s and O’s to be successful.
But they overlook many small details that I believe solidify the foundation of becoming a successful coach. I have suggested several common themes that stretch across the football spectrum for all levels. My hope is that you can apply these concepts to your program to establish a successful organization.
1. Know Your Players
The cornerstone for your program to be successful is to know your players. I just don’t mean to know their names, positions and their athletic ability. Take the time to know them as individuals. Players do not want to be known by just their last name, the position they play, or their athletic abilities. They want to know that their coach cares and takes time to know them as a person. In return, they will respect and follow your direction. Players want to be part of something great and are willing to work toward the goal if they know the coach is behind them.
You have a great opportunity and responsibility as a coach to provide a positive investment into a player’s life. There is an epidemic in youth sports today. Approximately 70% of players under the age of 13 years drop out of sports permanently. This is due to many reasons, such as not having fun, poor coaching and the coach playing favorites. All are contributing causes. As coaches, we may be turning off the next “Hall of Famer” that the sport will never see. As with everything, you can make a good or bad investment into a player. Players come from numerous backgrounds but they all desire to be acknowledged for being people, not just athletes. As most football coaches know, a football career is the shortest among all the major sports. Unless the player is exceptional, most careers end in or after high school.
2. Set Player Goals
Setting goals is at the top of the list every season. We all want to win a championship, have the best offense or the best defense and have the leading rusher, receiver or quarterback. Face it: we want to have and be the best in ALL facets of the game. So, as coaches we set team goals, right? Therefore, we come to expect and we make the assumption that all our players will meet all of our expectations? Probably not. If you were to poll all the football players in the nation, I will guarantee you that they would all agree that they want to be champions. However, you I will guarantee that all of them will have different opinions on how to achieve those goals. It’s the same with many coaches. Goals are dreams with actions.
You may desire to be the best but if you don’t take the steps to be the best, you are just a dreamer. A successful coach must see the big picture, yet be able to provide a detailed breakdown to set personal goals for each player. I’m not saying to provide a long list for each player, but give each player a goal that they can work toward and one in which their progress can be measured. Things like speed, weight-management, strength and football techniques can be taught and measured for improvement. At the same time, as a coach you must provide a reward. Usually this is playing time for the player achieving the goal. Be aware, if you promise a reward to a player that achieved their goal, you must follow through. The agreement is your bond between you and your player. This can motivate a player to work harder or destroy the respect that they have for you. Finally, it is very difficult to stress goals unless you know who your players are and understand what motivates them.
3. Develop Depth
Depth is another key for a successful program at any level. I have seen it too many times where coaches find their 11 starters and start the season. This type of coaching is shortsighted. It breaks down team camaraderie, it provides a false sense of team progress and it is detrimental to the success of the season or the program. These coaches focus their practices around the starters and use the other 20-35 players for the scout team to practice against. Although I believe it is important to establish your starters, I also believe that it’s just as important to develop the depth behind them.
No coach wants to see injuries occur to their players but it does happen. I have seen when one key player goes down, the rest of the season becomes a struggle filled with frustration and defeats. That’s why it is imperative to develop your player depth so when those situations occur, the backup player is prepared. Also, both the players and coaches must have confidence when the need arises to step up and fill in. For that to happen, coaches purposely have to take the time to focus on developing all their talent throughout the season.
4. Promote Competition
Competition is all around us and is a healthy attribute to have both on and off the field. It motivates us as coaches, players and individuals to work hard to keep our present position, be promoted, or take a new assignment with another organization. A successful football program must promote open competition at the start of every season for all the positions to achieve its goals. I’m not saying that the returning starters should be ignored nor have the first opportunity to win back their position. What I am saying is that the coach must remind all returning players that there are no guaranteed positions.
You may have an athlete that is self-motivated and will be the starter. This type of athlete is what every coach wishes he had on the team. Other players know that their athletic abilities with minimal effort will be enough to earn their starting positions. This type of athlete will never reach his potential. And still others know they will start because of their family’s status. This type of athlete will erode the team from the inside. That’s why open competition, with no guaranteed positions, will help all three types of players. It keeps the self-motivated athlete driven, it will help make the underachieving athlete work harder and it will eliminate the confrontation of the lazy athlete who expects to start. When this foundation is established, every player will know where you and your staff stand and it will make each player accountable to themselves for their effort. The final decision for open competition falls back on the head coach and his staff.
5. Emphasize Team
I had a good running back several years ago that was having a great season. Well, his success was going to his head. Overhearing him tell some players how good he was, I decided to show him the error of his ways. So, one practice I called a play for him to get the ball, but I instructed the rest of the offense to not block at the snap. By the way, we were having a “live” scrimmage. After about 3 or 4 plays, I asked the player, “If you are so good, how come you didn’t score?” He said, “no one blocked!” I said, “You’re right and you will not score without your teammates.” Needless to say, I never heard him brag again.
Another experience I had was when two starters decided to blow off practice one day when we were preparing for an important game. Well, I addressed the team first by stating that the two players will not start and I need the “developed” backups to replace them. Did you catch what I just said? I told the two players that they will not start and I expected that they will be watching and cheering their team during the game. By the middle of the second quarter, we were up by three touchdowns. Throughout this time, the two players were actively cheering on their teammates. I went over to them and said, “It looks like your team doesn’t need you for this game?” They both looked at me and acknowledged that I was right and they learned that individuals are not greater than the team. I let both of them play the second half and I saw two different individuals for the remainder of the season.
I can’t express it enough that “team” is essential for the health and success of a football program. A final reminder is that “team is everyone including coaches.” You must be sensitive as to how you present yourself because your team is watching you.
Summary
Coaching football takes an enormous time commitment to get the players to work hard and function as a team on the field. And what I am suggesting adds to this time commitment. But I do realize that throughout my coaching career, I have implemented the five philosophies that I have discussed above and they have produced dividends in every football venue in which I have been associated. I believe that these philosophies will enhance your program and allow your players to be successful while instilling them with positive values that they will use the rest of their lives.
About the Author: Gary Lewis has coached grade school, middle school, high school, college, and semi-pro football for over 30 years. He is currently an assistant coach at Belvidere North High School (IL). Lewis is also a project engineer responsible for the planning and the coordination of engineering development programs of electric power systems for commercial and military aircraft.