WINNING COACHES have a lot of different attributes, but a strong commitment to increasing one’s coaching I.Q. is found in every successful coach’s DNA. Conversations with coaches like you who are dedicated to improving skills in this ever-changing game are spurring us to encourage all coaches to make 2005 “the year of increased football knowledge.”
As a coach in this game, you’re either getting better or worse; there’s no middle ground. The best coaches set lofty expectations for their entire program, including equally high personal commitments to live up to.
“The learning, growing and maturing never cease,” says Ohio State’s Jim Tressel. “Coaches must seek this growth every day. The dynamic changes that occur each year in our game result from the willingness of coaches to share and the passion of coaches to learn.”
Former Univ. of Delaware coach Tubby Raymond once said that the best coaching minds in the game all possess the unique ability to change. “They had plans that included change. They adjusted and adapted to make their programs the best that they could be.”
Former Berwick, Pa. high school coach George Curry maintains that “You win more games with X’s and O’s than you do with talent.” Describing football as a chess game, he says that the X’s and O’s were how his team won games they never should have won. He knows what he’s talking about — he’s won 368 games.
Here’s a few resolutions for 2005...Take an inventory of the “coaching gaps” and address them to be a more valuable coach and mentor. Make time for that additional clinic or association meeting. Engage your feeder program coaches. Support your assistants in their development. Write an article, give a clinic talk. You’ll find sharing to be the best way you can learn.
We’re taking our role seriously, too. It’s why we’ve expanded our scope to include books and videos so you can increase your coaching I.Q. in complementary ways. Check out our new information-centered Web site and Discussion Boards, too.