These are my complete notes from listening to Coach Don Meyer at the Baden Coaching Clinic in Coral Springs, Florida in 2005. For those who have read Buster Olney's outstanding book on Coach Meyer, "How Lucky Can I Be," this was the clinic that Coach attempted to drive me off my diet with a pack or Oreos.
Everything in RED is mine and highlighted as such because it struck a chord with me that day.
Get all the good ideas but you can’t use them.
Keep philosophy simple...Majerus says this is a difficult thing.
Tarkanian: “The more they think, the slower they get.”
Search for the teachable moment:
-Loss
-Big Win
What you say after loss or big win is tremendously important.
Why I Coach (Coach Meyer’s list) - make my list
Teach toughness (life skill)
Teach team attitude (everyday)
Teach fundamentals
Teach life skills
Bus ride — team bonding.
We need to collect our player notebooks and review them...periodically check them make sure “they get it.”
Jerry Krause
Be yourself
Find your unique talent or gift
Give your gift away
Real coaching is the test of time.
Wooden: “I miss the smell of the practice floor.”
Practice...one of the things you can control...not looking for pretty—looking to get better.
Hank Iba: “You must practice the game in the manner in which it is played.”
Joe Paterno: “It’s a coaches job to replicated game situations in practice.
7 C’s of Coaching
Conditioning...to play hard you must be in shape
Communication...early, often, loud
Concentration...never saw a confident team that was quiet
Compete...drills must be competitive
Consistency...result of doing it everyday
Chaos...must have it in practice because you have it in games
Coach
John Wooden: “We might not be the most conditioned team but they think they are.”
Lon Krueger: “Prepare, practice and play like you just lost your last game.”
Morgan Wooten: “Leadership starts at the top.”
Good leaders make the team think they did it.
Got to have internal leaders. We must develop
“An army of lions lead by an ass will be defeated by an army of asses lead by a lion.”
-sign on Doug Collins office
Wooden philosophy on helping kids: “It is better to go too far than not far enough.”
Points of Contact
Attraction: people feel attractive by you make them see themselves.
Somewhere we need to meet someone who expects greatness of you.
Listen to your leaders as a coach.
Got to have a couple of kids that know the game.
Coaching Energy—
Rest...if you are fatigued you can’t be consistent
Exercise
Relax...from your work
Enjoy the fruits of your labor
Enjoy the relationships with your kids and your friendships with coaches.
No down time if you coach right.
Savor the success of your work...journey’s a lot better than the end.
Thoughtfully reflect on what you learn in order to improve
Coach Meyer keeps 3 journals
-Things I learned today
-Basketball
-Wife (will give to her as a present)
One minute assessments (Develop this in my coaching style)
1 thing YOU did well and WHY
1 thing WE can do better and HOW
Coach Meyer: “What motivates me? Being around coaches who care and love to teach.”
3 Stages of coaching:
Blind enthusiasm
Sophisticated complexity
Mature simplicity
Coaching...Passion...Burden
No job too small, no sacrifice to big.
Leaders must be accessible to kids (give this quote to our kids)
5 Stages of coaching:
Survival
Striving for Success
Satisfaction
Significant State (dangerous level = jealousy)
Spent (have burnt the candle all the way down)
You should feel your program is the “front porch to the university” (Mark Emmert)
Demotivational Factors:
Fear
Doubt (yourself/system)
Worry
Worst reason to take a job is for the money.
MATTHEW 6:25-:34
Do Not Worry
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[a]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
5 “F” Words
Faith...believe in something not yet seen
Family...have to have a family with your team
Friends...have to have them for balance
Fitness...lifetime goal
Finances...talk to your kids about
America keeps score by dollars — lousy way.
Money is a terrible master, an excellent servant
Not what you have but what has you.
Money has yet to make a man rich.
Nothing drains your energy more than a non-responsive player.
Life is too short to spend with losers.
Never be afraid to tell a coach, players, or team that you love them.
Coach Meyer’s Morning Routing (I need to develop one for off-season)
Meditate
List of people to pray for
Goals to achieve that day
Plannerpads.com
Dictaphone (do a better job of using mine)
Coaching pitfalls...
Pressure...Parents...Problems...Administration
On dealing with administrators: “Don’t wrestle in the mud with the pig because the pig likes it.”
Pressure is good...stress is bad.
A diamond is a hunk of coal made under pressure.
You’re a poor specimen if you can’t handle the pressure of adversity.
Cozy up to pressure.
A good enemy is often better than a good friend.
Coach Meyer will talk to parents about anything but playing time.
Coaches must learn to deal with parents. Kids don’t pick their parents.
Can we win with you on the floor?
Can we win with you on the bench?
Body carriage
Passion
Aura
X Factor
Charisma
“They knew he was going to be great long before they called him ‘Bear.’”
It’s OK to make a mistake...not OK to mope, pout or quit...this applied to players and coaches (coaches first).
Learn from your kids...they’ll surprise you...if not, you’re a bad teacher.
Key to a great program...Look for ways to win!
Are you a victor or a victim?
NBA...Next Best Action
Greatest strength...greatest weakness — be balanced.
Only thing that can keep us safe is humility — lifetime learned.
Coach today the way you want 10 years from now.
Knight is into the common denominator of wins and loses.
Why did we win?
Why did we lose?
Dean Lockwood talking to Pat Summit on plane ride back from Michigan State loss…
...was Michigan State better conditioned...Summit: “No”
...did Michigan State have better athletes...Summit: “No”
...was Michigan State tougher...Summit: “No”
...was Michigan State more skilled...Summit: “Yes”
Team Building
Physically touch 1/3 of your players every day.
LaRussa—red fungo bat — converse with players at batting practice
Northern has daily sign-in sheet with space for comments.
Bulletin board is important but less is more on it.
“Waterhole”
Water fountain outside of Coach Meyer’s office
Players always stop and get a drink of water
Allows Coach Meyer to have a conversation with them
Sign on fountain: “No true wolf passes by without taking a drink.”
Team building: informal time...informal things together.
Scouting Sheet
Seniors go over with others
Watch video together the night before
Team goes to high school games together (community support/recruiting)
Team works concessions for other sports
Coach Meyer takes team on retreat.
“What are you going to give your team everyday?”
Player notebooks...do a better job of checking them!
Camp/Team (3 things everyone does)
Everyone takes notes (including coaches)
“Please” “Thank You” “Yes sir” “No Sir” “Yes mam” “No mam”
Pick up trash
Teach Each Other!!!
Northern sometimes lifts after a game.
Stretch before and after practice
Recover procedure
Bananas/Gatorade
Redshirt workouts
We need to do this with redshirts or little used subs
Keeps them in shape...improves their skill...gives them value
Wolf Dog Festival
Great for community
have face-to-face with team before they leave for summer
Books:
“Getting Things Done” - David Allen
Anything by Bruce Brown
Juggling — add to our 2 ball routine.
Coach Meyer look to use Swing Offense
Coach Meyer inbounding the ball on the left side to allow point to use right hand to cross main street.
PITFALLS OF POOR PLANNING
Type, laminate and keep copy on desk and in planner
#1 Allowing “to-dos” to rule day instead of prioritizing
#2 Setting unrealistic number of things to do each day
#3 Failing to have your planning system with you at all times
#4 Forgetting to allow time between schedule appointments
#5 Failing to allow 1 1/2 hours a day for the unexpected
#6 Not having an effective system for capturing and retrieving information
#7 Failing to have a personal management system
#8 Retaining unnecessary information
#9 Failing to plan for “big rocks” weekly, “small rocks” daily
#10 Failing to allow time for advanced planning
