ALABAMA/GEORGIA FOOTBALL AND THE IMPORTANCE OF DISCIPLINE

There was an excellent write up by Bruce Feldman at SI.com recently where he looked at the football teams at Alabama and Georgia and how those two programs defined discipline. Feldman writes about the importance of discipline and how it specifically has a direct bearing on an organization's culture.  You can read the entire article here.

A few takes aways were the definitions of discipline from members of the staff:

“The ongoing definition around here is to do what you’re supposed to do, when you’re supposed to do it, the way it’s supposed to be done—all of the time,” says Alabama’s head strength and conditioning coach Scott Cochran, who has been with Saban for all six of his national titles, including his first while at LSU. “That is Coach Saban’s definition, and it is ingrained into my head.”

Crimson Tide offensive line coach Brent Key arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2016. His definition: “Doing the right thing all the time, and doing the right thing when you don’t want to do it.” Key, 39, says his definition of the word has changed from his younger days, “when discipline meant being punished or spanked. But to me now, discipline is internal.”

“Discipline is accountability,” says Alabama defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi, Saban’s ace recruiter since 2015 who was promoted when Tennessee hired away Jeremy Pruitt this winter. “You have to consistently operate to our standard on a daily basis, and that’s where players and coaches hold each other accountable and continue to prepare in the game manner, no matter who we’re playing.”

Feldman also talked about the importance of making sure that recruits knew of the importance of discipline and what they would be getting into:

“During the recruiting process we are very up-front with them, and those guys are smart enough to know what they are getting themselves into,” Burns said. “In my position specifically [Burns has since moved to an off-field role after 11 years as running backs coach], they know that we’re going to play a lot of guys, so I want them to understand that, and to come to work every day and not let that affect them. We have been really fortunate to have the right personalities to do that. We’ve always had one guy that sets the tempo in terms of what it takes to be a running back at the University of Alabama and not to be selfish. Play your role. Take it very seriously. Be ready for the moment. When I first got there, it was Glen Coffee, and he took care of Mark Ingram, and then Mark took care of Trent Richardson, and then Trent took care of Eddie, and Eddie Lacy took care of T.J. [Yeldon].”

The interesting aspect that Feldman shared from the Georgia staff was the attention to detail -- even thought every day meetings to make sure they were all on the same page:

“No detail is left un-talked-about,” Georgia offensive coordinator Jim Chaney says. “We dot every I and cross every T. It sometimes might be a little uncomfortable to talk about, but it’s gonna be talked about. Kirby is diligent as heck about all that.”

Awkward as they may be at times, these conversations become the norm. “It’s had every day,” Georgia quarterbacks coach James Coley says. “I always felt like when you walked in staff meetings, you were there to get your players better. Everybody’s trying to get better, but now you’re saying to yourself, ‘How can I get better in this staff meeting?’ Because you really get better as a coach. Coach Smart has done a great job helping us all get better as coaches."

HOW THE PATRIOTS COACH THEMSEVLES

One of my favorite concepts from Tom Izzo is "the best coached teams are player coached teams."  In other words, they are the custodians of their own program.  The police each other and hold each other accountable.  It creates a special culture of ownership that that great teams show.  And by great teams, I mean those teams that are consistently competitive year in and year out and are driving by their culture.  Here is a short piece on the New England Patriots.

"In the biggest games, in any situations and on a weekly basis, his production was phenomenal," Belichick wrote.  "Rodney Harrison embodies all the attributes coaches seek and appreciate: toughness, competitiveness, leadership, selflessness, hard work, intensity, professionalism -- and coming from Rodney, they are contagious.

After all, there were many "normal" things in the locker room that weren't necessarily normal in other places.  Harrison was among those who were there for the installation of things that were not taken for granted.  The players, for example, were coachable, maybe because some of their toughest coaches were their peers.  All of their competitions were based around improving team performance.

They gave out that mental error belt to prevent mistakes in the game.  They challenged one another to get to work early and interrogated players who tried to leave early.  They took the punitive nature of being late for meetings away from he coaches and handled it themselves; if you were the last one sitting down, no matter what time it was, you were late.  In fact, Harrison learned that lesson when he first arrived from San Diego. He and others became enforcers of that rule and many more.  They checked one another's plate for fatty foods.

Fried chicken again today, huh?  No wonder you're making so many mistakes in the game.

From the book "Belichick and Brady" by Michael Holley

SUCCESS LEAVES FOOTPRINTS -- STRIVING FOR IMPROVEMENT

Success leaves footprints -- I firmly believer that.  Follow (and study) those that are successful and you will learn a great deal.  However there are always a few common traits of the great and one is they are they are continually looking to improve -- no matter at what level they currently hold.  To follow is a great story that comes from "3 Things Successful People Do," by John Maxwell:

It's said that when Spanish composer-cellist Pablo Casals was in the final years of his life, a young reporter asked, "Mr. Casals, you are ninety-five years and the greatest cellist that ever lived.  Why do you still practice six hours a day?"

What was Casals's answer?  "Because I think I'm making progress."

COACH BILL SNYDER'S 16 GOALS FOR SUCCESS

The following is an excerpt written by Mark Jannsen for KStateSports.com.  It speaks to Kansas State's coach Bill Snyder and his philosophy of 16 goals for success -- which he got from his mother. You can read the entire article here.

Simplistic words like: commitment, unity, unselfishness, enthusiasm, responsibility, improve. Generic phrases like: great effort, never give up, expect to win, no self-limitations, and so on.

Lumped together, and bought into, Snyder summarizes, “If each player achieves each of these goals, we, as a team, will always be successful.”

Snyder declines to accept invention of his pet words/phrases, but instead says, “They come from my mother (Marionetta). The foundation comes from how she raised me, and what she meant to me. How you buy into those values is who you are.”

Growing up in a single-parent home in St. Joseph, Mo., Snyder said, “My mother was a stickler for having everything in its proper place and doing things right. Our apartment wasn’t much, but it was always clean. It was small enough that when my area was a mess, then her area was a mess. There wasn’t my space and her space. It was our space.”

He would add, “She worked hard. If my work ethic came from anyone, it came from my mother.”

THE WILDCAT 16 GOALS FOR SUCCESS

Commitment … to common goals and to being successful
Unselfishness … there is no ‘I’ in TEAM
Unity … come together as never before
Improve … every day as a player, person and student
Be Tough … mentally and physically
Self-Discipline ... do it right, don’t accept less
Great Effort
Enthusiasm
Eliminate Mistakes … don’t beat yourself
Never Give Up … never … never … never
Don’t Accept Losing … If you do so one time, it will be easy to do so for the rest of your life
No Self-Limitations … expect more of yourself
Expect To Win … and truly believe we will
Consistency … your very, very best every time
Leadership … everyone can set the example
Responsibility … You are responsible for your own performance

COACH SABAN ON THE CHOICE OF DISCIPLINE

“Discipline isn’t something you have or don’t have. Discipline is something you choose. You choose it. It’s not God-given -- you do the right thing, the right way, the right time all the time.  That’s a choice. It’s a choice for all of us.”

THE ULTIMATE COACHES' CLINIC: BOBBY BOWDEN

In 2008, Pat Williams, the GM of the Orlando Magic and a tremendous motivational speaker put out a book, "The Ultimate Coaches' Clinic." It is a fascinating book because of the style Pat utilized. He surveyed over 1000 coaches and administrators for insights to what is important to successfully do their job. It is a great book to own and I highly recommend it. Here are some thoughts from Bobby Bowden:

I think the big thing that I learned in the last 27 years is that when you begin to build a program, you begin to build a reputation. When you talk to kids and say, “Son, this is what I’m going to do,” well, he’s going to determine whether “This guy’s a liar or this guy always does what he says he’s going to do.” And so you establish a reputation.
 

There’s a debate among coaches about what motivates you more, the determination to win or the fear of losing. I say, I’ve got to win because I’m so afraid of losing. I hate that feeling of losing so much I’ll do just about anything to escape it.

 

I tell my coaches when they look at my list of requirements every year, the first thing I’ve got is loyalty. We’re gonna be loyal to each other. I’m gonna defend you. You’re gonna have to defend me. It starts there with loyalty.

 

You can take all the X’s and O’s and the fancy formations and the hidden defenses, but if you don’t block and tackle better than the people you’re playing, you’ll lose.

 

Some coaches are just teachers. Some are mainly motivators. The best coach has a blend of both. It’s hard to find those who are good at both teaching and coaching.

 

I tell my players, “If I have faith, trust, and commitment, then we’re gonna win a heckuva lot of games. I think God is looking for the same ingredients in each of us: faith, trust, and commitment.”

 

I believe in discipline and enthusiasm in everything you do in life, and you coach what you believe. If we can be enthusiastic in the little things we do, it will carry over to a winning season.

 

If you put two teams on the field on any given day, one with great physical ability and the other with less physical ability but great motivation, the team with the greater physical ability will win almost every time. But if you have two teams equally matched in ability, that’s what the hard work, discipline, and motivation can make the difference.

 

Never be too proud to change.

 

You are never any better than your next game.

 

It’s more important to build character in young men than to win the national championship.

 

You’ve got to risk losing to keep on winning. There’s just no way around it. To win constantly, you’ve got to put yourself in a position where you’re liable to lose.

BOB STOOPS PHILOSOPHY PART II: 7 STEPS IN BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL TEAM

This is part 2 or 3 parts of notes I took listening to Bob Stoops, the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma at a clinic following his 2001 National Championship team.

The things we developed this year as opposed to that first year was this. We developed the work habits and the discipline to finish off the games when we were ahead in the games. We were a better football team, and we were better prepared. We were in better condition. We were stronger than we were a year ago after another year of training. We were more disciplined in our regiment and in our fundamentals to finish off those games. We were a tougher team, so we could finish off those games when we were ahead. We were able to build leads that were larger than they were the year before. It was not enough to talk about it. We had to develop work habits, the discipline, and the toughness to earn that right to have those expectations.

That has been engrained into our players. They know they have to earn the right to have the expectations. You earn it by the way you work, the way you prepare mentally, and the way you prepare your body physically. You had to have a toughness about you to be able to succeed.

Areas Stoops list in building a successful team

 #1 ESTABLISH TRUST
Players have to trust and believe in one and another. You have to find dif-ferent ways to get the players close. When I first went to Oklahoma, if we had eight players in the dinning hall, we would have them sitting at seven different tables. Now, you walk in our training table you will see eight play-ers at a table that only seats six people. You have to find ways to get the players to care about one and another.

#2 ESTABLISH DISCIPLINE
All players want to be disciplined. The coach has to be strong enough to give it to them. I do not believe that all players should be treated the same. You treat them the way they deserve to be treated.

#3 ESTABLISH A WORK ETHIC
You must give a good effort. To me the best compliment you can receive is when someone tells you, "Coach, it is fun to watch your team because of hard they play." I value that comment more than any other. We grade effort. We want the tape of the game. After we critique the film for assignment and fundamentals, we will go back and go through it quickly to see who is player fast and who is player not playing fast. We look to see who is player hard and who is not playing hard.

Create team unity and establish trust.

The players are going to follow the lead of the head coach.

#4 BE CONSISTENT IN HOW YOU TEACH YOUR SYSTEM
We want to let players hear the terms over and over.

#5 CREATE A POSITIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Make sure players have fun while they work. Talk confidently and positive-ly to players. Eventually they will believe you. You want the guy that isn’t so good to think he is great.

As hard as it is at the time, we will never accept a losing performance. I will not tell a kid that his effort is not good enough. I will tell him here is how you should do it. Even if the player can’t do it, I will tell him how it should be done. Never tell a kid that he is lousy, or that he can’t do some-thing. Eventually he will believe you. Teach them in a manner where they will accept it and try to change.

#6 ACKNOWLEDGE PERFORMANCE AND NOT POTENTIAL
We are going to play players that play hard and make the most plays. Don’t play potential; play players.

If we play harder, smarter, and more aggressively than our opponent, we will win. It takes no talent to play smart, to play hard, and to be aggressive and to be tough.

Coaches must have great respect with one another and a great working relationships. Keep egos out of the office. Coaches must be willing to help each other, and they must be willing to help others coaches on the other side of the ball.

#7 BE SURE THE PLAYERS TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF WIN-NING AND LOSING WITH THE COACHES
 As coaches, we always take the blame for our players. "It is my fault." I am not talking about the media. I am talking about in the meeting room and one-on-one.

LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM THE ARMY

In honor of the Army's 239th birthday, here are some of the top leadership lessons Bill Murphy, Jr. learned from serving in and reporting on the United States Army. The list has 23 total -- and it's an outstanding list.  I hope you will click here to read the entire article from Murphy -- guaranteed to be worth your time.  But here are few that stood out to me (with some additional comments by me in Bold-Italics):

 

4. Scrounge for resources

If you have every necessary asset to accomplish a goal when you first set out, either you're incredibly fortunate or you haven't set your sights high enough. Truly great leaders know that pursuing worthy goals means pushing teams beyond their abilities and assets. It's why we say that true entrepreneurship is "the pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled."  This reminds me of the book Coach Don Meyer would encourage all to read -- "Make The Big Time Where You're At" by Frosty Westering.  It's about finding a way to get the job done regardless of what you may or may not have to work with.  As Bob Knight would say, "the greatest thing a coach can have is an imagination.

7. Correct when wrong

Leadership isn't about being liked. It's about acting in a way that engenders respect, which also means holding your team accountable. When individual team members fall short, it's up to you as a great leader to correct them. Doing so in a constructive manner sends the message that you care about both your mission and your people.  As coaches our ability to correct is critical to teaching the habits we need our players to develop to be successful.  And please understand that there is a correct way to correct.  It doesn't need to be demeaning.  You don't want the corrective instruction lost in your tone.

9. Mentor your people
Being a true leader means thinking long term and committing to your people even after they're no longer part of your effort. That means offering mentorship and opportunities for them to grow.  As a coach, I would tell our student-athletes that I was going to be their coach for four years but for the rest of their lives.  I take great pride in my relationships with my players after college and I think it makes our relationships better during.

13. Review and adapt
As a leader, you don't just set a goal, devise a plan, give an order, and sit back. Instead, it's up to you to check progress continually. If things aren't working, figure out why, and make a change. You've probably heard the Albert Einstein quote: Insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." So don't do that!  To me, the one word that has grown in importance during my coaching career is flexibility.  The ability to have a set plan of action but to be able to adjust when necessary.  Rigid will get you beat.

16. Find reasons to praise
It's remarkable how just a few good words from someone you respect can inspire you to work harder and achieve more. Great leaders know this, so they're always on the lookout for opportunities to offer words of praise and encouragement. The caveat is that these have to be sincere remarks, which in turn means you have to know your people well and care about them.  Once again a Coach Don Meyer phrase comes to mind: "Catch 'em doing something right."  And just as with correcting, there is a right way and a wrong way to praise.  As a coach I think it needs to be immediate as well as detailed.  You don't just say, "Good pass."  You say "Good job of passing away from the direction."  The second one tells them WHY it was good creating a better opportunity to that to be repeated.

17. Take time away
This came home to me when I was in Iraq as a reporter, and I wanted to interview a high-ranking officer, only to be told that he had gone home on leave--basically the military word for vacation. I'm sorry, a general on vacation in the middle of a war? The theory was that if the top commanders didn't take leave, then nobody below them would, either. You need time away from your work and your team in order to see things clearly and lead better.  Stephen Covey referred to it as "sharpening the saw."  You've got to recharge the batteries to keep things energized.

18. Thank and appreciate
Thanking people is different from simply offering encouragement. It means pointing out the connection between their individual effort and how it affects the ultimate objective. It's a basic human need to want to do good work that means something. Show people that you see their work and value it.  The value of a sincere thank you can not be overstated.  It can be done in a variety of ways...a personal handwritten note...acknowledgement in front of peers...but it goes a long way in creating a culture of appreciation.

23. Leap out of bed
See Rule No. 21 and Rule No. 22. If you don't leap out of bed each morning eager to get to work and lead your team, it probably deserves a better leader.  My wife will tell you that I get out of bed excited to work. I'm blessed to be passionate about what I do, where I do it, and whom I do it with -- and I wish the same for you!

THE UNIVERSAL TRUTH IN EVERY GAME

"The lowest common denominator every performer shares is the execution of the next task. What has happened and what might happen will very with each athlete and each circumstances.  But the next task must be made: a block, a tackle, a pass, a pitch, a stride or shot.  It is a universal truth within every game."

H. A. Dorfman

RELATIONSHIPS ARE WHAT IT'S ABOUT

"Yes, we’re disciplined with what we do. But that’s not enough. Relationships with people are what it’s all about. You have to make players realize you care about them. And they have to care about each other and be interested in each other. Then they start to feel a responsibility toward each other. Then they want to do for each other."

-Gregg Popovich

AGGIE TEAM BUILDING AND PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

Another outstanding email newsletter from Coach Mitch Cole and the Aggie men's basketball staff.  I have so much respect for how hard these guys are working to build a program here.  If you haven't subscribed to their newsletter please do by emailing Coach Cole at: mcole@athletics.tamu.edu.

Here are some of the areas they covered in this past issue:

Lately we've been covering the topic of Team Building and Program Development. Some of the common problems of developing a Championship mentality we identified previously were:

TRANSITION DEFENSE 

COMMUNICATION 
DISCIPLINE/ "NON-STAT SHEET" STATS
ROLE IDENTIFICATION 

DISCIPLINE

After touching on Transition Defense and Communication, this week we will focus on developing a culture of DISCIPLINE with an emphasis on getting our players to excel in categories that don't get a lot of "press". At our level, younger players or those who have gotten away with being more talented than their opponents usually struggle in these areas.  So how do we develop DISCIPLINE in the skills that are not always recognized, but that we all know are crucial to success? 

IDENTIFYING THE "NON-STAT SHEET" CATEGORIES 

It may be helpful to first identify the some of the most valuable, but under-appreciated skills that CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS seem to execute. We should then define each one and communicate their importance to our players. Consider the following non-stat sheet categories that won't get noticed in the box score:

OFFENSE:

1. SCREENING WITH INTENT- "Understand angles,  Be determined to get teammate open, Use legal technique, React to teammate's cut."

2. CUTTING WITH PURPOSE- "Cut to Score, Cut to get fouled or make the defense react, Cut to make another defender help. Cut with Violence!"

3. PASSING WITH PRECISION- "In drills, pass like you are being pressured, Use correct hand, Use appropriate type of pass, 5 on 0 Accountability."

4. KNOWLEDGE OF SYSTEM- "Understand terminology, Know at least 2 positions, Know the "Why" in your Offense, Can you help others learn?"

5. LEGIT ATTEMPTS AT OFF. REBOUNDS- "3-4-5 man should get 40% of our misses back, but at least "Touch" or get a hand on 50%".

DEFENSE:

1. HIGH/ ACTIVE HANDS- "Closeouts, Contesting Shots, Rebounding, Defending the Post, Block Vision of Passer"

2. DEFLECTIONS AND DISRUPTION- "Does someone hate to play against you? Make the offense uncomfortable.Win the deflection game" 

3. GETTING THROUGH SCREENS- "Have the toughness to NOT GET SCREENED. Have the IQ to anticipate the ACTION. Do your work early!"

4. BLOCK-OUTS- Coaches should make a big deal of this. Best blockout guys may not be leading rebounders. Give recognition each game.

5. 50/50 BALLS- Who is our best loose ball guy?. Coaches should be their BIGGEST cheerleader! Must be praised. Film clip to inspire team.

After identifying and communicating some of these to our team, what is the best way to hold players accountable to DO THEM!? Rewards, Incentives, Recognition and Punishments are ways most coaches get the message across. As with anything, its all about the "CONTEXT" we find ourselves in. 

 Talented and Experienced Teams

Some teams are talented and experienced and know these things are important,  but they can still win most games by talent alone. A team like this might need extra recognition in the locker room for players that excel in these areas. Everyone cheers for the scorer. But praising the "dirty work guys" might get even the most TALENTED players to see the value in these areas. If its an opponent we know we can beat, create goals that force our players to pay attention to these details. Despite winning the game, a more talented team should still try to achieve certain goals. (Deflections, Rebound Margin, Screening Accuracy, to name just a few)

Less Talented and Younger Teams

We as coaches know that a less talented team might struggle to score. We can't always control that. But what if our team's were masters at the "Non-Stat Sheet" Categories. We would at least give ourselves a chance to win games while establishing a strong culture for later in the season or the next. For a team like this, accountability might take the form of Rewards for the good, but also Punishment for failing to meet certain goals within the game. ("If we can't win the game, let's at least win the "game within the game" as they relate to the above categories.) Build on the positives, work to eliminate the negatives.

Two categories every team could strive to eliminate are: 1. "Careless" Turnovers  2. "Non" Blockouts. Sprints the next day either for individuals or the team can help eliminate these. Win or lose, if the players know that they will be held accountable if they continue to lose focus in these areas, positive strides can be made as the season progresses. 

What is your team's weakness? How do you drive home these important categories and get your guys to be disciplined in the "Non Stat Sheet" Skills of the game? What's your process?