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AFM Magazine


Coach to Coach: Preparing Your Athletes to Succeed at the 4-Year Level

by: Bryon Hamilton
Associate Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator, Shasta College
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It’s been said that it’s the Willies and the Joes not the Xs and Os that make college football teams and programs great. There is no doubt that a surplus of talent usually translates to wins on Saturday. Every 4-year college coach in the nation is trying to identify high school and junior college athletes who can successfully transition into great college football players. Identifying talent, however, is only part of the equation that determines success. Every year there are extremely talented young men who are released from their scholarships or simply walk away due to issues unrelated to their athletic ability. I am sure we can relate to the athlete who has unbelievable talent but lacks the self-discipline, motivation, academic preparation or other necessary traits that will allow him to succeed at the college level. These failures are frustrating and disappointing for all involved.

Academic success and obtaining a degree should be of paramount importance to the young men who take the field every Saturday. The NCAA tracks and publishes graduation rates of each school and it is apparent that some universities are better than others when it comes to identifying young men who have great football talent and also can be successful students. The truth is that many young men arrive on a college campus unprepared for the rigors of being a student athlete.

Preparing our athletes solely to succeed on the field is simply not enough. We must prepare them emotionally, academically, and physically for what will be required of them at the next level. We must also be honest in the recruiting process about their strengths as well as their deficiencies. Not disclosing academic or behavioral deficiencies can delay the proper support services that athletes may require to ensure success.

Every athlete who signs a scholarship to play football envisions himself being successful on the field. But what about their vision of academic success? What are their goals for acquiring a college degree? Sadly, the statistics are quite alarming. Although the NCAA is reportedly doing a better job of graduating its athletes,  the reality is that many universities struggle to graduate more than a half of those that are on scholarship to play football.

According to statistics published at Fox Sports via TheBootleg.com, from 2008-2011, universities such as California and Arizona, Arkansas,  Oklahoma,  Georgia Tech, Florida State, and South Florida graduated a little more than half of the  football players that were on scholarship. Is this simply the normal by-product of the NCAA experience? Universities such as Boston College, Stanford, Northwestern, Penn State, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, TCU and Rutgers who collectively graduate well over 70% of their athletes would argue that it’s not. In fact, successful programs like Stanford, Boston College and Northwestern graduate almost all of their football players.

The obvious question is why are some coaches and universities wildly successful in recruiting athletes that succeed in both the academic and athletic arenas. I would suggest that these universities are not only providing the proper academic support but they are targeting athletes who already possess qualities that will translate to on and off-field success. Athletes who are properly prepared in the myriad of areas required for athletic and academic success have a much better chance at completing their four or five-year commitment and earning a college degree. I am sure there are many valid reasons for the wide range of success in graduation rates. However, much of the variance is due to the type of athlete and their preparedness prior to arriving to the university.

As I write this article, the top five BCS ranked football teams are Alabama, Oregon, Florida State, Ohio State and Stanford. The average graduation rate (2008-2011) of these football powers is over 70%. Is there a correlation between academic success and success on Saturdays? The statistics show that there is. Washington State University Head Coach Mike Leach who maintained one of the nation’s top graduation rates during his tenure at Texas Tech, said , “Academics is part of your identity. It’s all about competing at everything. It’s all about everybody working at a higher level in everything they attempt. When competing is part of your nature, no matter if it’s on the field or in the classroom, it increases the desire to succeed in both arenas. Competing becomes a habit.” 

In 2013, after 10 years of serving as a head high school football coach, I took the position of assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator at the community college level. Our first recruiting class included athletes from all over the United States. Months after recruiting these athletes I am able to see firsthand how some arrived prepared for the rigors of college while others were grossly unprepared. I have included five areas of preparation that I  believe will help these young men be successful:
 
Be Passionate

We need to encourage and train our young men to be passionate about everything they do. Players that have a passion for life and not just for football are better prepared to succeed. Too many times young men are allowed to be selectively passionate - passionate about the game, but lacking a passion to prepare; passionate about results but lacking passion for the process. We need to discourage the athlete who is passionate about accolades and encourage the athlete who is passionate about achievement. A genuinely passionate person will be a tremendous player and tremendous teammate. He will pursue excellence in all that he does and will have a greater chance of succeeding at the four-year level than the athlete who strictly focuses on personal accolades and achievement. 
 
Be Realistic

This may seem like an unlikely element to success, but I think it is very important. Too many times athletes falsely believe that success will be immediate. The notion that once they have signed a scholarship that much of the hard work has been completed is a false assumption. Gifted high school athletes who have compared themselves to inferior athletes for years often arrive on campus with an unrealistic picture of where they fit into the coaches and universities immediate plans.

In 2013, I recruited a gifted player from Florida. I was confident that with the right development and gradual understanding of the offense, he would have a great future in our program and would be a great candidate for a scholarship at the 4-year level.

This young man, however, felt he should immediately be a starter and he was convinced that, based on his high school achievements, he was being unfairly treated and evaluated. He was unrealistic about the process and he lacked an understanding of the development required for success. A realistic approach would’ve promoted hard work and a humility to achieve greatness over a period of time. His unrealistic approach resulted in a poor attitude and eventually led to his quitting the team. Educating our athletes about the patience that they may need to have can help avoid the unrealistic expectations of immediate success that some athletes may have.

 Be Intelligent

A high football and academic acumen will go a long way in helping athletes achieve success at the collegiate level. Learned and developed skills such as the ability to study properly, acquire and decipher academic information in a timely manner, study game film and intelligently communicate with faculty and coaches will play a drastic role in the success of the student athlete.

Many athletes have been presented with the “this is what you need to be eligible” scenario for most of their academic life. Their ceiling of achievement is based on the minimum requirements to gain eligibility. Unfortunately, these types of players are at a high risk of failing. Colleges are doing a much better job in providing the academic support that many student athletes need and require, but an athlete that has never been forced to attend study hall sessions or study groups in high school or who is foreign to the library may be too set in his ways to make the necessary changes. Football intelligence is also something that can be taught at the high school and junior college level. The ability to read defenses, understanding blocking schemes, breaking down opponents’ film and evaluate a player’s own film are characteristics that will allow a collegiate player to see the field sooner and have more success. We have a responsibility to prepare our athletes to be intelligent students as well as intelligent players. 
 
Be Disciplined

Discipline in both your personal life and on the athletic field is one of the most important elements of success. I agree with Ritu Ghatourey’s statement “Discipline is the foundation upon which all success is built. A lack of discipline inevitably leads to failure.” How many times have we witnessed an athlete who possesses incredible talent only to waist it due to a lack of personal discipline.

Discipline is something that can be taught and learned early on in life. Coaches play a prominent role in instilling discipline in their players. All coaches agree that discipline is an absolute necessity for the success of a football team. I never understood the coach who is disappointed that a player is undisciplined on the field but allows the player to be undisciplined in every other area of life. To me, it’s all related.         A lack of discipline will always result in unfulfilled potential and unreliable results. As a player develops through the youth and high school ranks, his coaches can prepare him for future success by helping him become a disciplined person. By demanding that he be on time, demanding that he refrain from life choices that put him and his team in danger, demanding that he respects his coaches and teammates and by insisting that he pursue excellence in all areas of his life, his coaches can help him be a success at the college level. 
 
Be Enthusiastic

It may be a simple concept but enthusiasm is a great predictor and a necessary component of long term success. Ralph Emerson correctly states, “Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm”.

Most people are enthusiastic in areas they are gifted in and enjoy. The athlete who can be enthusiastic about things that challenge him  physically, mentally and emotionally is ultimately more apt to succeed. When I am recruiting a young man I can usually tell if he is naturally enthusiastic within the first few minutes of meeting him. The way the player carries himself, the look on his face, the way he walks, the way he shakes  my hand, enthusiasm is not hard to spot. Genuine enthusiasm is infectious. A team full of enthusiastic players is a team that ultimately will succeed. The athlete who hates to get out of bed, who dislikes sitting in the classroom and can’t wait for the class to be over, who gets through practice instead of getting into practice and who only displays enthusiasm after personal success on the football field is the athlete who will never reach his potential and in the process will bring others around him down.

We can encourage our athletes to be enthusiastic by demonstrating enthusiasm on a daily basis. We should explain why it’s important to be enthusiastic about education, enthusiastic about effort, enthusiastic about overcoming hardships and enthusiastic about helping teammates succeed. Enthusiasm is something we can encourage and require of our athletes. The enthusiastic student-athlete will have a better chance to overcome the  challenges that will present themselves and will ultimately have a great chance of walking across the stage on graduation day .

Finally, there are many great coaches who understand that their world and their job is more than just winning games on Fridays or Saturdays. Coaches who take pride in the acknowledgement that true success should be  measured by both the on-field and off-the-field success of their players are the true great coaches of our profession. 






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