A coach above all other duties is a teacher.

Coaches have the same obligation as all

teachers, except that we may have more moral- and life-shaping influence over our
players than anyone else outside of their families. When a player comes from a family
that is not strong, our influence may become foremost.

The job of an academic teacher is to implant facts, ideas and ways of thinking and so
expand children’s minds. In teaching excellence in football, we have to reach the soul of
a player. Football is played, above all, with the heart and mind. It’s played with the body
only secondarily. A coach’s first duty is to coach minds. If he does not succeed at that,
his team will not reach its potential.

Therefore, at the heart of the curriculum, as important as skills and tactics, are the
purposeful uses of emotion, commitment, discipline, loyalty and pride. In facing the
realities of competition, a person learns the meaning of excellence and professionalism.
Not only to an athlete but to any person who makes a decisive difference in how he
feels about himself.

Excellence and professionalism are the key to being successful as a coach. Regardless
of the level you coach, you should always act as a professional. Coaching is a
profession. Too many guys think they can walk off the street and be a coach because
they played the game. It’s a ridiculous notion. It has as much validity as thinking you’ve
made a meal before so now you are qualified to run a restaurant. Good coaches spend
as much time on learning how to teach/coach as they do teaching concepts. The reality
is that many people get that opportunity to work with youth because there really isn’t a
certification process. That doesn’t excuse a new coach from training himself. Materials
are readily available, and the coaching profession is full of people willing to share their
knowledge. All coaches must be learning and developing themselves. Those not willing
to develop as coaching professionals should not step on the field. It’s not fair to the kids.

More than just himself, a good coach helps a person make a difference in the world – in
whatever he does. A good athlete learns the will and determination to come back after a
tough defeat. An athlete absorbs that from the air around him, on the bench, in the
locker room, from good coaches and from good teammates.

As coaches, we have to push kids – more correctly get them to push themselves – to
reach their potential. Those kids look to us for examples in struggling to learn poise,
class and the handling of adversity.

Kids see too much of the selfish, ego-driven reactions of players on TV. Just the other
day, Johnny Manziel used an inappropriate gesture on national TV. Young players need
to understand that much of what they see on TV really shouldn’t be part of the game.
When a player gets frustrated and acts out on the field, it must be corrected. We are
teaching them how to handle successes and failures with poise and composure so that
they can handle those things in life. The high fives, pump-up chants, pregame
entrances, etc., have gone over the top. It’s time to reel it back in by teaching them the
right way. Vince Lombardi always said, “When you go into the end zone, act like you've
been there before.”

The best teacher is not only the person who has the most knowledge but the one who
has his knowledge best organized and knows how to state it in different ways. If a
student doesn’t get it when you teach it one way, you’ve got to teach it another way.

In learning how to get the most out of football practice, kids have to learn that they’re
going to be just as tired if they practice poorly as if they practice well. So they’d better
use that time to make themselves better. The theme every day has to be, “Let’s get
better. Let’s get quicker. Let’s play more intelligently.”

Yelling, and screaming are not coaching. If I were to walk around a youth football field
and close my eyes, I pick up too much in negative tone and too much yelling and
demeaning. Learning the complexities of football can be difficult and frustrating for
young players, but that’s where a coach needs to look at his methods and approach.
The frustration needs to be focused on: “How can I better explain or teach this idea?”
This will be more productive than verbally abusing or expressing anger and threats.
Physical punishment (extra running or up downs) does not necessarily teach the player
to get it right.

Another important rule is that a coach must not waste his player’s time. Each coach has
to have his area of practice organized for maximum efficiency. The practice should be
organized in a way that each player gets maximum coaching time. Players learn by
doing, so it’s important to coach on the run rather than stopping progress to correct one
individual. We must not waste a moment. Time is our enemy.

I always spend at least an hour and a half each day carefully planning and evaluating
practice. I detail it for every position down to the minute. Too many coaches operate on
the fly. Every coach should have a schedule and a script and a watch and a whistle.
The kids and the game deserve more in terms of efficiency. At the youth level, the same
plays are run every week with little adjustment. That’s a good practice, so why not just
have a script ready that can be used over and over each practice? Have a set practice
plan that you adjust as needed. Organize drills so that there isn’t standing around time
for coaches and players. I’ve seen situations where there are enough coaches to work
with groups of two to four players, yet one coach is doing all of the instruction and
players are waiting in line. That drill that is taking 15 minutes to complete could be more
effectively repped in just minutes, and thus practice either shortened or time used in
another manner that is more effective. The key for us as coaches is to find ways to be
more effective and efficient.