RANDOM COACHING THOUGHTS (PART VI)

RECRUITING

ROY WILLIAMS: “I recruit character as much as I recruit ability. And if you’ve built a team of character, they can handle moments that others cannot and they accept coaching on how to manage pressure.”

RELATIONSHIPS

BILLY DONOVAN: “The first thing you must understand is that the person being motivated must have the feeling that the one doing the motivating really cares about you.”

RESPECT

ANSON DORRANCE: “Invariably, the route to becoming liked is through respect. And I think one of the great mistakes that all the young coaches make as they are entering the profession is the feeling that they have to be liked.”

RESPONSIBILITY

TOM OSBORNE: "The players felt a responsibility not only to the program but to the men who had preceded them as well. Our players and coaches cared about the program to an unusual degree and were willing to pay a great price to ensure a continuation of excellence. Once a football program or organization reaches a point where the people involved begin to feel that type of loyalty, great things begin to happen."

ROLES

PHIL JACKSON: "It's just trying to keep everybody prepared to contribute. Sometimes you can only play a guy a couple of minutes. They just have to understand that whatever they have to do, to go in there and play is an important part of it. A coach can always read disappointment on a player's body language. But this is a team that wants to win and they know to do so they have to be willing to put 'me' second to team. That's an important aspect of it."

RULES

DALE BROWN: “The fewer rules the better. Rules reduce freedom and responsibility. Enforcement of rules is coercive and manipulative, which diminishes spontaneity and absorbs group energy.”

SACRIFICE

BEAR BRYANT: “If it’s worth playing, it’s worth paying the price.”

SALARY

BO SCHEMBECHLER: "When you're just starting out, it's better to make peanuts for a great leader than it is to make some big salary from a mediocre one."

SCHEDULING

DON MEYER: "Scheduling can give your early success but you can't overdo it. Remember, you can't build anything picking up sticks but you can get killed when the big trees fall."

SELF-DISCIPLINE

DICK BENNETT: “It is a paradoxical statement, but it takes incredible personal discipline to play with great freedom.”