A Coach's Diary

In some games and on some teams, you are the star. In some games and on some teams, you aren't. The best teams have great teammates. Great teammates support their teammates no matter who gets the shine. Great teammates know that they always shine when they have the right attitude, when they do the right thing, and when they are great people. Great teammates encourage, motivate, and inspire their teammates. Great teammates also know that it is better to compete WITH their competition instead of against their competition. Coach K, the legendary basketball coach at Duke, tells every player that comes into his program, "Each of you run your very own race, and collectively we run a team race." One year, Coach K signed the high school player of the year, Shane Battier, and the number 18 player in the country, Elton Brand. Elton was more ready to play than Shane, and by the end of his sophomore year, Elton was the national player of the year and the #1 pick in the NBA draft. He ...

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise (Proverbs 11:30). I sometimes feel stress and anxiety from sports. It can be a lot of pressure having to compete every day, and that pressure can increase with success. Vanderbilt baseball coach Tim Corbin said that years ago, his team started to have success but they would fall short in the playoffs, and that would bring him to a low point. He said that a conversation with his wife changed the way he coaches. Coach Corbin's wife said, "If you are going to live and die with your success based on the last game, you are going to die a miserable person. You are going to have to find other ways to value what you're doing as a coach." He needed to change the target by removing the scoreboard and winning. I need to change my TARGET. But what needs to be the TARGET? In Matthew 28:19, Jesus had returned from the grave and was spending His final days with His disciples when He said, " Go therefore...

In his book Uncommon Leadership , Ben Newman wrote, "Positive energy is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. The stronger it gets, the more powerful you become. Repetition is the key, and the more you focus on positive energy, the more it becomes your natural state." Leadership can be a tricky thing. He writes that Jon Gordon's definition of leadership is that leadership is a transferred belief that combines passion and energy to transform the people around you. The tricky part about leadership is that you can be in a leadership position, but you must always remember that people choose to let you lead them, and they are always free to walk away. The higher we move up in our leadership roles, and the more people we lead, the more you must serve the people below you. You have to give them a reason to want to follow you. You must help them get better, enjoy what they do, and see how following you can help them learn and grow into the person and life that...

A Prizefighter is a fighter who trains extensively to compete for a prize - like a large amount of money. When I think of Prizefighters, I think of Floyd Mayweather. Floyd has his share of critics, just like anybody who does anything great, but his work ethic and dedication to being the best he can be for his fights should be studied and admired. His mantra is "Hard Work, Dedication!" He is committed to outworking his opponents. While many fighters train about 20-30 hours per week, Mayweather tries to double and triple that. He trains after speaking events, press tours, and even goes for runs in the middle of the night. For the last 20 years of his career, he trained all of those hours for only 1 or 2 Prizefights a year. He stayed ready so he never had to get ready. He knew that the way you do one thing is the way you do everything. That is a mantra used by legendary Alabam coach Nick Saban. If you want to be successful, if you want to be a leader, hold yourself accountable f...

How do you build confidence in players? Be demanding and teach them how to do things that they didn't know they could do. Assistant Men's basketball coach at SMU, Mike Hatch, was asked, "How do you build confidence in players?" He said that you have to do two things: you have to be demanding, and you have to get them to do things that they didn't know they could do. Once you get your athletes to do something that they didn't know they could do, then they will trust you and they will do anything you want. At this point, you can really push them and get them to go at a higher level. That is the art of coaching. The art of coaching is getting your athletes out of their comfort zone and doing things that they didn't know they could do. At that point, their confidence will start to skyrocket and they will run through walls for you. Successful people aren't always the most talented. If you can teach an athlete how to do things the right way, to try to do the...

Mike Hatch, an assistant coach at SMU, says that culture drives performance. It is the number one thing in your program. It is bigger than Xs and Os. It is how you will be defined, and it is how your team is going to be looked at by every other coach, fan, and spectator. Culture is who you are, it is what you do, it is how you do it, and it is why you do it. Culture is what you believe in and how you behave. Culture is your thoughts, your actions, and your words. Culture is something that you have to stick to and stick with - even though and especially because there are a lot of reasons not to. We often go into the seasons with great plans and great ideas, but we all know that each season will test us and our ability to stick with the culture that we planned on having. You can't let up on your culture. You have to hold everybody accountable to the same standard - from the best player to the manager. If you are going to have a successful team, you have to hold everybody to the same ...

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters ( Colossians 3:23) . The last couple of years have been hard. We have been dealing with pandemics, we have been dealing with politics, and we have been dealing with social justice. There are so many things that can keep us distracted, and there are so many things that can keep us from being the best we can be. There are distractions everywhere, and there are so many opportunities for us to use excuses for why we aren't focused enough, gritty enough, tough enough, and resilient enough to do what we know we need to do. But the storms are our opportunity to show the power, strength, love and grace of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. The storms are our opportunity to STEP UP. Everybody is great when the shots are falling, the bats are hitting, and the ball is hitting the back of the net. The special ones know how to STEP UP and survive and thrive when things are hard. The special ones are co...

You ever feel like you are terrible at something? Do you ever feel like you can't catch a break and you will never catch a break? I felt like that this morning, and I am still feeling some of that, but I recently heard a Jon Gordon podcast featuring Scott Harrison, the CEO of charity: water, and it gives me some hope. About 15 years ago, Scott turned his full attention to the global water cross and the (then) 1.1 billion people living without access to clean water. Fourteen years later, his charity has raised over $557 million and funded over 78,000 water projects in 29 countries, and it has provided over 13 million people with clean, safe drinking water. Scott told three stories in his podcast about grit and perseverance that are giving me hope to keep going, and I hope it gives you hope as well. STAY THE COURSE Scott said that he saw a Tweet of the stock chart of Amazon's price over 27 years. It looks like a flat line for 20 years, and then it turned into a hockey stick. The ...

I once asked an athlete, "Why do you play so hard for this coach, but not for other coaches?" Her response was, "I don't know; he just makes me feel like I can do anything." In his book Uncommon Leadership, Ben Newman writes: One of the foundation keys to effective leadership is motivating your people. If you can't inspire others, the only other way is to lead by force. Is leading by motivating and inspiring more effective than leading by force, and how do we do this? Today, I had the pleasure of listening to Mike Moses, a former commissioner of the Texas Education Agency and former superintendent of Dallas ISD speak to a group of educators about leadership and the type of leaders he hires. He says that we are in the 'people improvement business,' and when hiring leaders, he looks for the 3 E's: 1 - Energy 2 - Enthusiasm 3 - Excitement When we have energy, enthusiasm, and excitement, and when we help our students and athletes find a direct connec...

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:2). I love the opening weekend of the NFL season. College football has started, Major League Baseball is gearing up for the playoffs, and the NBA and NHL seasons are right around the corner. One of the things that I love about the start of the new seasons is that everybody gets a fresh start. Seasons are long and draining. Some seasons are fun, fulfilling, and full of success. Some seasons are hard, tough, and full of disappointment. We all need a good off-season so that we can be RENEWED and feel refreshed. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will RENEW their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint (Isaiah 40:30-31). No matter what ...

Will Compton is a football player who went to the University of Nebraska and who originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Washington Football Team. In his book, Uncommon Leadership , Ben Newman talks about how Will used his underdog mentality to fulfill his dream of becoming an NFL player. Will was Mentally Tough - you have to be Mentally Tough if you want to achieve something great. Mental Toughness is  critical if you want to be successful.  Mental Toughness is when you set a STANDARD for how you want to work and live and never settling for less than that standard - no matter how you feel. Mentally tough people live by STANDARDS and not feelings. Setbacks are a major part of every person's journey, and they were a part of Will's journey. When most people get passed over for something - like going undrafted - they quit. But Will didn't quit.  He was able to lean on his Mental Toughness in those hard times. I am sure that there were moments when he felt sorry f...

When you look at, think about, and talk about your athletes and your teams, do you talk more about what they can do or can't do? I have been around coaches who focus on the strengths of their athletes and teams and who are solution-oriented, and I have been around coaches who see, focus on and talk more about the weaknesses of their athletes and their teams. When I am around coaches who focus on weaknesses and what they can't do, the feeling in the gym or field is more negative, depressing, and there is less positive energy. These coaches tend to punish more than they teach, and the athletes are more defensive than they are coachable. The athletes are disengaged, the coach is in a bad mood, and those teams don't have as much success as other teams that I am around. When I am around coaches who focus on strengths and what their teams can do, the feeling in the gym or field is more happy and hopeful, and the athletes are more engaged. The coaches tend to teach and correct mor...

Training Camp by Jon Gordon is an encouraging and inspiring book for every athlete and coach. It is a story about an undrafted, rookie football player trying to make the NFL named Martin. Martin was one of many fighting for just a few spots on the team, and after Martin made a name for himself by making some big plays and scoring a touchdown in a pre-season game, Martin sprained his ankle and had to miss two weeks, including two pre-season games. For most, that is a kiss of death for your career, but God puts people in our lives for a reason and when we need them, and God put several people in Martin’s life who helped him get through what was a difficult time full of uncertainty and doubt. As Martin was overcoming his injury, his coach told him that the best of the best do two things: they rely on God and faith, and they become conductors, not resistors. Stress, anxiety, fear, and depression are the result of being away from God. God did not create us to be separate from Him and His l...

"But coach, I can't run because I hurt my wrist." I once coached a kid, let's call him Taylor, who was very injury-prone. It felt like each week during the pre-season, he was hurting something, and Taylor was starting to spend as much time in the training room as he was on the court. This was happening before practice officially started for high school basketball in Texas, but we were able to do strength and conditioning before school to get their bodies prepared for the season, and we were able to do skills training and scrimmage during our period. Taylor had a lot of potential, and he had a legit chance to make the varsity team as a sophomore and play meaningful minutes, but the injuries were hurting his chances. Injuries can be difficult to manage as a high school coach, especially during the grind of the off-season. On one hand, we want to honor the injuries and make sure that we do what we can to keep our athletes healthy. On the other hand, we had to figure out ...