THE NATURE OF THE COACHING BUSINESS

I'm sorry to say I can't recall where I got this.  I found it in a stack of motivational passouts from my days as a men's assistant at LSU but it is certainly worth sharing.

In 1952, Ohio State pulled upset wins over Illinois and archrival Michigan by identical 27-7 scores.  

Woody Hayes, the head coach at Ohio State, bumped into a lady and had the following conversation:

"This nice lady came up to me," said Hayes, "and asked, 'What was the score of your Illinois game?'"

"I said, '27-7.'"

Then she asked, "What was the score of your Michigan game?"

"I replied, '27-7.'"

She responded, "You aren't making much improvement, are you?"

CONCEPTS ON TEACHING FROM WOODY HAYES

Good plans must always include time for individual coaching, for it is this area in which the greatest improvement is made.

The whole method of learning affords a player an over-all picture.  He will do better when he understands the purpose behind each play.

In coaching on the field, talking by the coach should be kept to a minimum.  Since the plans for this practice have been gone over in detail in the individual meeting, the coach should need to talk very little on the field. 

Do not break the continuity of a drill to instruct one player.  It is better to take him aside, and allow the drill to continue.

Keep each drill short in order to avoid boredom and to avoid the approach to the learning plateau.

Develop the leadership of your captains and other upper classmen in leading drills, for when the game starts, these men are the leaders.  Their leadership capability will depend very much upon their training in practice.

Develop expressive terminology and standardize it so that it means exactly the same thing to each coach and to each squad member.

Learn to do by doing.  The player must get the "feel" of a technique.  At the same time a coach must be sure that the player is no repeating his mistakes.

In correcting a player, do not merely say "You missed your block," for he knows that.  Instead, stay one step ahead of him by pointing out the reason for his mistake.  You should say "You missed your block BECAUSE you did not move off your inside foot," or BECAUSE you did not move with the snap of the ball."

From "Hot Line to Victory" by Woody Hayes

WOODY HAYES: PAY IT FORWARD

On March 14, 1986, just less than a year before his death, Woody Hayes delivered the commencement address at Ohio State. These excerpts were published in "Woody Hayes: A Reflection by Paul Hornung."

Try to take that attitude toward life, that you're going to pay forward. So seldom can we pay back because those who helped most--your parents and other people--will be gone, but you'll find that you do want to pay. Emerson had something to say about that: "You can pay back only seldom." But he said, "You can always pay forward, and you must pay line for line, deed for deed, and cent for cent." He said, "Beware of too much good accumulating in your palm or it will fast corrupt." That was Emerson's attitude, and no one put it better than he did.

I'd like to give you a little advice today. I'll try not to give you too much, just a little bit. One thing you cannot afford to do--that's to feel sorry for yourself. That's what leads to drugs, to alcohol, too those things that tear you apart. In football we always said that the other team couldn't beat us. We had to be sure that we didn't beat ourselves. And that's what people have to do, too--make sure they don't beat themselves.

So many times you have fond here at the University people who were smarter than you. I found them all the way through college and in football: bigger, faster, harder. They were smarter people than I. But you know what they couldn't do? They couldn't outwork me. I ran into opposing coaches who had much better backgrounds than I did and knew a lot more about football than I did. But they couldn't work as long as I did. They couldn't stick in there as long as I could. You can outwork anybody. Try it and you'll find out you can do it.

Hard work, tough decisions, teamwork, family values, and paying ahead will help to change this world and make it a better place, And I have no idea but that you have the attitude and the capacity and the ability here to go on and help make this a greater world.

Godspeed in the meantime to all of you. Thank you very much.

RANDOM COACHING THOUGHTS (PART VIII)

TEAM

HUBIE BROWN: "X & O's aren't worth a damn without a team. If your team isn't with you it doesn't matter what you draw up. The team must respect what the coach is asking them to do."

TEAMWORK

PAT RILEY: “My driving belief is this: great teamwork is the only way to reach our ultimate moments, to create the breakthroughs that define our careers, to fulfill our lives with sense of lasting significance.”

TECHNOLOGY

BILL PARCELLS: "If the competition has laptop computers and you're still using yellow legal pads, it won't matter how long and hard you work -- they're going to pass you by."

THINKING

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: “Thinking is one of the toughest things a leader has to teach. To be able to think on the run has been a key to Duke basketball success.”

TIME

LOU HOLTZ: "There are certain things in this world we all have in common such as time. Everybody has sixty seconds to a minute, sixty minutes to an hour, twenty-four hours to a day. The difference is what we do with that time and how we use it."

TOUGHNESS

DON MEYER: “Let me say at the outset that a team will never be tough when they are coached by a staff of coaches who are not.”

TRUST

DALE BROWN: “To live by relying on one another implies a risk, but without some trust in humanity, life would be unlivable."

VISION

ARA PARSEGHIAN: "A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are."

WINNING

JOE TORRE: “I do love the feeling of a big win. But you don’t have to have a World Series ring to be a winner. A winner is somebody who goes out there every day and exhausts himself trying to get something accomplished. Being able to get the most from their ability. That’s what characterizes a winner.”

WORK ETHIC

WOODY HAYES: "I've had smarter people around me all my life, but haven't run into one yet that can outwork me. And if they can't outwork you, then smarts aren't going to do them much good. That's just the way it is. And if you believe that and live by it, you'd be surprised at how much you can have."

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON COACHING (PART IV)

LEADERSHIP

CHUCK NOLL: “We preached that everybody’s a leader. You’re either a negative leader or you’re a positive leader. But everybody contributes, and everybody has to be a part of it. And again, when someone may not be able to carry the load, someone else has to step up. That the whole idea of “whatever it takes.” You’re not always going to be a hundred percent healthy; you’re not always going to meet the same challenge...Everybody’s a leader. Now if you have someone who is a complainer, that guy’s not doing it, a finger-pointer, that’s negative leadership. Leadership comes from everybody.”

LOSING

WOODY HAYES: "There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."

LOVE OF YOUR PLAYERS

BO SCHEMBECHLER: “Deep-down, your players must know you care about them. This is the most important thing. I could never get away with what I do f the players felt I didn’t care. They know, in the long run, I’m in their corner.”

LOYALTY

DALE BROWN: “Beware of the treacherous person who pledges loyalty in public then spreads discontent in private. Make every effort to identify and remove them. Leaders are often betrayed by those they trust most.”

MEETINGS

BO SCHEMBECHLER: “The most important meeting you will ever have with your people is your first one—because it is absolutely vital that everyone knows exactly what your values are, from Day One.”

MENTAL TOUGHNESS

PAT SUMMITT: “By doing things when you are too tired, by pushing yourself father than you thought you could -- like running the track after a two-hour practice -- you can become a competitor. Each time you go beyond your perceived limit, you become mentally stronger.”

MENTORING

JOHN WOODEN: “Mentoring is your true legacy. It is the greatest inheritance you can give to others. And it should never end. It is why you get up every day. To teach and be taught.”

MOTIVATION

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: “My primary task is motivation. How can I get a group motivated, not only to be their individual best, but able to become a better team. I have always said that 'two are better than one, but only if two can act as one.'"

NOTETAKING

BOB KNIGHT: "Everyone remembers more when we write things down.”

ORGANIZATION

BILL WALSH: “The natural tendency for all of us is to major in minors and to give in to the temptation to clear up small things first. After all, small things are easier and they are often more fun than the big, important things that represent the most valuable use of your time. However, the self-discipline of organizing your work and focusing on your highest value tasks is the starting point of getting your time under control and lowering your stress levels.”

WOODY HAYES: PAYING FORWARD

On March 14, 1986, just less than a year before his death, Woody Hayes delivered the commencement address at Ohio State. These excerpts were published in "Woody Hayes: A Reflection by Paul Hornung."

Try to take that attitude toward life, that you're going to pay forward. So seldom can we pay back because those who helped most--your parents and other people--will be gone, but you'll find that you do want to pay. Emerson had something to say about that: "You can pay back only seldom." But he said, "You can always pay forward, and you must pay line for line, deed for deed, and cent for cent." He said, "Beware of too much good accumulating in your palm or it will fast corrupt." That was Emerson's attitude, and no one put it better than he did.

I'd like to give you a little advice today. I'll try not to give you too much, just a little bit. One thing you cannot afford to do--that's to feel sorry for yourself. That's what leads to drugs, to alcohol, too those things that tear you apart. In football we always said that the other team couldn't beat us. We had to be sure that we didn't beat ourselves. And that's what people have to do, too--make sure they don't beat themselves.

So many times you have fond here at the University people who were smarter than you. I found them all the way through college and in football: bigger, faster, harder. They were smarter people than I. But you know what they couldn't do? They couldn't outwork me. I ran into opposing coaches who had much better backgrounds than I did and knew a lot more about football than I did. But they couldn't work as long as I did. They couldn't stick in there as long as I could. You can outwork anybody. Try it and you'll find out you can do it.

Hard work, tough decisions, teamwork, family values, and paying ahead will help to change this world and make it a better place, And I have no idea but that you have the attitude and the capacity and the ability here to go on and help make this a greater world.

Godspeed in the meantime to all of you. Thank you very much.

WOODY: IT SHOULDN'T COME EASY

"If it comes easy it

isn't worth a damn."

-Woody Hayes-

TO BE A GREAT LEADER, STUDY GREAT LEADERS

The following comes from "Bo's Lasting Lessons," By Bo Schembechler and John U. Bacon. It's a great passage about how even the greatest of coaches start the bottom doing the simpliest of duties. Coach Don Meyer speaks of "sucking scum" as a young coach and taught us all that John Wooden use to sweep his own floors. In this passage you not only see what Bo did early on, but more importantly, the attitude in which he used to perform these tasks. At an early age in his professional career, Bo got it. A great study for assistant coaches as to how to become better at their craft and properly move up the ladder:

If you want to become a great leader, you need to prepare yourself to become a great leader, and the best way to do that is to study great leaders.

When Woody Hayes left Miami of Ohio in 1951, right after my senior year, to take the head coaching position at Ohio State, I didn’t have to think too long to accept his offer to go with him. This was the first of my two stints with Woody, which formed the bookends of my twelve years as an assistant coach.

But back then, there was no such thing as a graduate assistant, so he got me a job down at the tax department in Columbus, where I handed out the stamps that served as sales tax rebates for church groups, charities and other non profits. I got paid $100 a month. I wasn’t paid a cent to coach.

When the coaches needed coffee, I got the coffee. When they needed someone to get their laundry, I got it. When they had to pick up recruits at the airport, I picked them up/ I did all their grunt work, and I did it without complaining.

What did I get in return? I learned how to recruit, I learned how to run a practice, I learned everything I could, from top to bottom, from one of the greatest coaches who ever lived. I even learned a thing or two about alumni relations.

But what I learned from Woody was this: He was the greatest teacher and the hardest worker I have ever seen in my entire life, to this day.

Woody was not innovative. He didn’t waste any plays trying to fool you. That was not his game. No, his strategy was to teach his team fundamental techniques better than anyone else, and win game after game through simple, mistake-free football.

What did I do with all this knowledge I acquired from Doyt and Ara and Woody?

I didn’t use it to sell myself, that’s for sure. I used it to become the best assistant coach I could be. I had no qualms about being an assistant coach, and I thought I was the best offensive line coach there ever was!

I have never applied for a job in my entire life.

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM WOODY

"Any time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect."

"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."

"Paralyze Resistance with persistence."

"Success -- it's what you do with what you've got."

"I've had smarter people around me all my life, but haven't run into one yet that can outwork me. And if they can't outwork you, then smarts aren't going to do them much good. That's just the way it is. And if you believe that and live by it, you'd be surprised at how much you can have."

"A man is always better than he thinks."

"The minute I think I'm getting mellow, I'm retiring. Who ever heard of a mellow winner?"

"Without winners, there wouldn't even be any civilization."

"Indomitable in victory, insufferable in defeat."

-Woody Hayes-

THOUGHTS FROM WOODY HAYES

"I've had smarter people around me all my life, but I haven't run into one yet that can outwork me. And if they can't outwork you, then smarts aren't going to do them much good. That's just way it is. And if you believe that and live by it, you'd be surprised at how much fun you can have."

"Paralyze resistance with persistence."

"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."

"The only meaningful statistic is number of games won."

"Without winners, there wouldn't even be civilization."

"A man is always better than he thinks."

"I don't live in the past. I'm a student of the past, and I try to learn from the past, although some people will say, 'You haven't done a very good job of it.' But for me to live in the past? Hell, no.'"

"Statistics always remind me of fellow who drowned in a river where the average depth was only three feet."

"I can accept failure, but I can't accept not trying."

"The time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect."

"Success - it 's what you do with what you've got."

"Coaches who can outline plays on a black board are a dime a dozen. The ones who win get inside

their players heads and motivate them."

EVEN WINNING ISN'T ENOUGH

In 1952, Ohio State pulled upset wins over Illinois and arch rival Michigan by identical 27-6 scores. Woody Hayes then bumped into a lady and had the following conversation:

"This nice lady came up to me," said Hayes, "and asked, 'What was the score of Illinois game?' and I said, '27-6.' The she asked, 'What was the score of your Michigan game?' and I said '27-6."

She commented, 'You aren't making much improvement, are you?'"