A Coach's Diary

This post is several notes that I have taken from the Always Compete chapter of the book, Win Forever , by Pete Carroll. -  Competition to me is not about beating your opponent.  It is about doing your best; it is about striving to reach your potential; and it is about being in relentless pursuit of a competitive edge in everything you do. -  Our stated goal would be to "do things better than they have ever been done before." -  If you want to win forever, always compete. -  Competition is a mentality, an outlook, and a way of approaching every day. The traditional definition of competition requires having an opponent.  For players, the real "opposition" is not necessarily the team they are matched up against in a given week - far from it.  The real opposition is the challenge to remain focused on maximizing their abilities in preparation for the game. -  The essence of my message about competing has nothing to do with the opponent. ...

The following are some notes taken from an article on Brandenton.com, written by Gardner Sherrill,on NIck Saban's 'process' oriented approach to achieving sustainable success. Nick Saban, love him or hate him, has been the most successful coach in all of sports over the past seven years, with the Alabama Crimson Tide holding three national titles and a 74 -14 record. 
When asked about his success, he and his team largely attribute it to his process. "Process guarantees success," says Saban. "A good process produces good results." As we review the year's end and make our economic and market forecasts for 2014, what lessons can we learn from the success of Alabama football? Process is about control and focusing your efforts where you have the most control. Consequentially Saban doesn't focus on or talk about winning. Winning is an outcome and not something he can control. Instead, the focus is on ...

Post taken from MensBasketballHoopScoop.BlogSpot.Com http://hoopthoughts.blogspot.com/2014/02/hows-your-bench-chemistry.html Watch what Duke basketball does.  In specific, watch the end of Duke's bench...all game long.  Preseason, early season, midseason, it doesn't matter' you'd think they were playing in a world championship.  They're on the edge of their seats.  They're high-fiving and hollering.  And they look exactly like the players at the starters' end of the bench.  There's a no difference between #1 and #12 on the depth chart.  When a player comes off the court, every single guy stands up, claps the player off, and pats him on the back.  They're all totally engaged; they're all prepared to go in the game.  The best way to describe it: they  love  being there. 
From   "Help The Helper"  by Kevin Pritchard and John Eliot

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, then you are a leader." I met with a high school principal to talk about his role on his campus.  We had a great conversation about a million different topics, but what stood out to me the most is how he viewed his role as the campus leader.  He said that his most important role was to grow the assistant principals under him so that they could all one day be campus leaders.  He said that in everything that he does, he is looking at how he can help them grow as leaders.  In the process, he is getting the most out of the leadership on his campus, improving his organization.   As a leader, it will always be my goal to figure out the goals, ambitions, and potential of everybody that I work with and help them to become the best version of themselves.  Whether its trying to teach my point guard leadership skills that will help them run an organization one day or its t...

"As a great competitor, Jerry Rice understood that by staying in the mind-set of always competing, he could develop the awareness to capture the "opportunities within opportunities" that other people might miss.  In other words, he was constantly seeking a competitive edge.  It helps to always be searching for that tiny edge in whatever you're doing - even if it's small, silly stuff - because that's how you are going to catch things that someone else might not when it really matters.  It's an extremely powerful tool." Pete Carroll on Jerry Rice being a competitor Taken from Pete Carroll's book Win Forever http://www.amazon.com/Win-Forever-Live-Work-Champion/dp/1591844169 Carroll, Pete.  (2011).   Win Forever.   New York: The Penguin Group

But You've Probably Never Heard of Him The jump shot was invented by a kid who was just trying to figure out a way to beat his older brother.  His older brother was 6’5 and would block his shot all of the time, so he had to find a way to get his shot off against him. It was created out of necessity, and now the jump shot is the norm.  Its also a great story about faith and the strength and joy that comes from faith.

The following post are notes I took from the video below titled ' The Dos and Don'ts of Educational Leadership.'   In the video, educational leader Pedrono Guera talks about effective school leadership.  I have changed some of the notes to apply to coaching.  I substituted 'school,' 'principal,' 'teacher,', and 'student' for 'team,' 'program,' 'coach,' and 'athlete.' What’s an essential quality of leadership that you have found to be important in your own work or admired in someone else? He was observing a school that had a principal who completely turned around an underperforming school.   You have to be focused on the quality of teaching.   You have to be focused on making sure that the athletes are on task and that the coaches are on task.   Makes sure that the program is an inviting and attractive place to be.   You have to transform the culture and be willing to get rid of people not needing to be the...