How Do You Measure Success?

By the time you receive this issue of AFM, there will be 333 high school teams which have completed their seasons as state champions in various divisions. Champions in the FCS, D-II, D-III and NAIA will have been crowned and the BCS National Championship will be right around the corner. Coaches on all of these teams would likely say that success is measured by championships, trophies and undefeated records. They would be right. No one would deny that these championship coaches and their players are winners and have, collectively, been successful.

In our society, we are conditioned to celebrate winning and equate that to success. Whether it’s a team achieving the best record in a sport, a business making the largest profit, an individual acquiring the most wealth or an entertainer taking home the most awards, we call that success. And it’s certainly not wrong to do so.

But there are other ways that success can be achieved, especially in football, without necessarily “winning”. This year, in the pages of AFM, we’ve seen many examples:

• In our January issue, Memphis Head Coach Larry Porter noted coaches’ influences over players. “As long as you remember that you can have an impact on a kid’s life, then you’re in this business for the right reason.”

• Andy Talley of Villanova viewed determination as a key to success when, in February’s AFM, he said, “This is what life is all about. You’ve got to keep tapping the rock because you never know when you are going to have success.”

• George Smith of St. Thomas Aquinas had advice to aspiring coaches in May. “Get a degree in education. You have to be smart and you need to be able to teach and establish discipline.”

• Coach Bryon Hamilton, in his “Coach to Coach” column in June, echoed Porter’s philosophy. “Remember that we make a difference in the lives of our players. The world needs great men to mold and lead future great men. Hopefully we never forget that’s why we coach.”

• Also in June, Roger Barta of Smith Center said, “We always ask our kids to be better students, better citizens, and better football players. We ask them to respect everybody and be honest and disciplined.”

• For legendary coach John Robinson, now a high school assistant, it’s about contributing to the game, as he told us in July’s AFM. “I owe somebody for all the good fortune that’s happened to me. The best way for me to give back is to do something I had skill in.”

Our focus here at AFM is to bring the coaching community together to share ideas, Xs and Os, innovations and, in short, ways to improve your team and generate more wins. But football is a game that goes far beyond on-the-field achievements. We thank those coaches that have shared their wisdom in so many areas in the past year and hope that their words are as valuable to you as the latest offenses and defenses.

Thank you for your support of American Football Monthly and best wishes for a successful 2011 – on the field and off.

John Gallup Editor & Publisher