Whenever we have a chance to study the inner workings of Coach Dean Smith and his North Carolina program we should take advantage of it. In his book "The Carolina Way: Leadership Lessons From A Life In Coaching," we find out a great deal about how Coach Smith orchestrated his program and his most inner thoughts in regard to philosophy. Another segment of the book that makes it stand out is that there are several sections called "Player Perspective" in which many Tarheels speak to how the lessons they learned from Coach Smith made their team successful and how they are still an intricate part of their individual success now that they have moved on in life. It is an outstanding book and a must read for all coaches in my opinion. Just a brief expert from Coach Smith deals with the importance of punctuality. This particular passage is has become an annual passout for our team.
"Our former players still talk about how serious we were about this. Players knew I used to arrive early for meetings and practices, and I expected everyone to be there and ready to go. Tardiness is the height of arrogance. In effect, you're saying 'My time is more important than yours.' Being on time is being considerate of others. We disciplined our players for being late. We went back to our philosophy of not having many rules but enforcing the ones we had. Being on time was one of them. It's a life lesson."
