Coach to Coach
by: Bryon HamiltonHead Coach, Foothill High School, Palo Cedro (CA)©
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The 2010 season will be my 20th as a Head Coach and/or Offensive Coordinator at both the high school and college levels. I have coached a lot of games in that stretch and held ten times as many practices. I started playing football in 1976 and haven’t missed a season since. I guess you could say that I am addicted to this great game. In those 34 years, I have learned some important lessons that have played a huge role in my coaching life. As we head into the 2010 season, I want to share some key points that I hope will help you be successful this year and in years to come.
A team that loves and respects their coach will give everything they have every week.
A player who fears his coach will play hard for him but a player who loves his coach will die for him. There is a different level of commitment that accompanies love when compared to fear. I had the great privilege of playing for George Allen in 1991 at Long Beach State University. I can remember the first team meeting with our new coach. The feel in the room was different than any other meeting prior to his arrival. The assistant coaches were wearing ties, the school president was there and the players were eager to see why there was so much attention being given to this seventy-two-year-old man that excited our fathers more than us.
When George Allen walked into the room it was the start of a fifteen-month “education” in the game of football and in the game of life. During those months, I would come to have a deep respect and love for Coach Allen. As I recall that season twenty years ago, I don’t remember a lot of our X’s and O’s talks. I do remember sitting in Coach’s office and talking about great fishing spots in my home town of Redding, California. I remember his chorus of “Bryon Bryon he’s our man if he can’t do it nobody can” as we flew to South Carolina to play Clemson in our season opener (he took the time to recite that chant for every single player). I remember starting the season a paltry but somewhat expected 0-3 and I remember the talk of how crazy Coach Allen was for adding a program like Long Beach State to his storied resume. My greatest memory, however, was watching Coach Allen walk off the field for the very last time victorious and incredibly proud of his group of over-achievers who finished the season on a 7-2 run that gave Coach Allen his last winning season. He passed away unexpectedly from a heart disorder a few weeks after the game. We loved our coach and regardless of what others thought of our team and our program, we gave all we had for that man and he gave all he had for his boys.
In a world that is full of chaos and noise, take the time to get to know your team. Build relationships that go beyond the playing field. Let your team know that you hold them in high regard and they will give everything they have and maybe even a little more.
Recharge your batteries.
The words tired and worn out are not flattering adjectives when prefacing anything, especially the title of football coach. To be a great coach at any level you have to be able to recognize and address the common problem of excess physical and mental fatigue. There have been some great coaches in every sport who have lost their ability to do their job at a high level because they were physically and mentally exhausted. Steve Sidwell, a former NFL defensive coordinator, put it this way, “If you said you are going to have a job where you go to work July 10 and work 90 hours a week without a day off until the middle of January, and then you get maybe 10 days off and have to work most of the off-season, and every Sunday, you go out and millions of people are watching how well you coach your team - is that going to affect your health? Of course it is. You don’t have to be a genius to know if you work that way for 25 years, it’s going to affect your health.” Sidwell suffered a stroke after leaving the NFL.
Those of us who are in charge of programs would be wise to realize that we are in charge of more than just our players. We are partly responsible for the well being of our entire staff. I believe a staff works at their highest efficiency when they are energized and not running on fumes 100% of the time. There is no doubt that coaching requires extraordinary time commitments from everyone involved. But I believe that our staff, our players and each of us need to have time to replenish our energy and renew our focus. The job is demanding, stress is high and rest is not an option - at least that’s what many of us believe. Remember, if God needed a day off to rest then maybe you and your staff do too!
Prior to the start of the upcoming season, be sure to spend some time clearing you mind and recharging your batteries. Spend some time with your family and your friends. Give your staff and players a break as well. I have known coaches who grind their players and staff to the point that they have nothing left by the end of the season. These teams often start out great and then falter down the stretch. Do yourself and your team a favor – get some rest and pace yourself. You, your staff and your players will benefit by your renewed energy and focus.
Being great at what you do is far better than being average at what others do.
Be sure you start the season with a well-defined plan. Have an identity that you, your staff and your players believe in and buy into. What is your motto? Do you have a mission statement that your players and staff know? Define your identity and be great at expressing it. When the chips are down, and they will be at some point this season, a team that knows who they are and what they are great at will be successful most of the time.
In 2008, we were coming off an undefeated championship season. We had scored a ton of points and, even though many of those players had graduated, we still felt like there was reason to be optimistic about our team. We started the season out with three good wins, including a win over a highly-ranked team from a neighboring state. Game four was our conference opener against a league rival. We lost and only scored six points. The next week we played a team that we had not lost to in a long time. We got beat 24-6. Needless to say, we were all scratching our heads. The staff meeting on Sunday was interesting. During the course of an open discussion, one assistant coach suggested that we scrap or revamp the majority of our offense and change our identity to “give our players a chance to win.” I’m sure that he was trying to help, but the suggestion that we abandon the very core of our identity was not wise. I explained to the staff that it was apparent, in our quest to be innovative and creative, that we had stretched our playbook too far. We were doing a lot of things but we were executing them poorly. I let them know that, for the rest of the season, we would not be changing the offense, but we would be cutting the fat and getting back to the meat of what we did best.
We devised an offensive game plan for our next opponent that took a “back to basics” approach. The script consisted of fewer plays, fewer formations and a renewed focus on executing our base offense well. In the next five games we scored over 150 points and made the playoffs. We eventually lost a playoff game to the same team had beaten us by the score of 24-6 in week four. This time however, the score was 42-41. With all of the resources that are available with just a simple Google search, it is easy to get caught up into doing too much. My advice is that less is more. Be great at what you do. Simple changes are often necessary, but a multiple-personality approach is a most often a blueprint for being just average.
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