A Coach's Diary

One of the hardest parts about being a leader is having to set a line of expectations and then actively live above that line. It’s easy to say, “Work hard, show up early, stay late, compete in every drill, every day, and don’t take any shortcuts,” but nobody is perfect and we all make mistakes. I’ve heard many coaches say, “Do as I say, not as I do.” We know what we need to do, but we don’t always do it. Jesus knew this too, and He addressed this when He was talking to His disciples and the crowds of people about the teachers of religious law at the time to His disciples and crowds of people in Matthew 23. Jesus said, “So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. Everything they do is for show. On their arms, they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels.” (M...

I am in the middle of watching the second season of Last Chance U, and ELAC coach John Mosley is frustrated with his team. He has a few high-level transfers in his starting lineup, including a 7 foot 1 inch center from LSU, but Coach Mosley is struggling to get his starters to buy into the hardworking, blue-collar culture that has brought his program success in the past Instead of continuing to start his more high-profile athletes, Coach Mosley has chosen to turn to his tougher, harder-working bench athletes whom he can trust to do what he demands, make the adjustments he needs them to make, and do what he is teaching. His assistant coach said, “There are only 5 guys and 40 minutes, and the dudes that are playing are doing what they are supposed to do.” There are consequences when we do not do what we are supposed to do or are asked to do, and there are rewards when we do. Parable of the Great Feast In Matthew 22, Jesus the priests and elders, the Parable of the Great Feast, a story ab...

I was talking to a coach who had an athlete who was struggling with playing time. She wasn’t doing everything she needed to do to earn the playing time, but worse, she wasn’t being truthful with her parents. She was telling her parents that the coach was playing favorites and she wasn’t one of them, and the parents were giving the coach a hard time because of it. The advice that I gave the coach was to make sure that he was giving clear and effective feedback to the girl and her parents that explained why she wasn’t playing, and how she could earn more playing time. Author and speaker Ashley Merryman says effective feedback does three things: 1 - Makes people think differently   2 - Helps people take ownership of the problem  3 - Helps apply new thinking and new behaviors I told him that Merryman has an acronym called T.R.A.C.K.E.D. that gives a guideline for how to give effective feedback that accomplishes those three things: T - Trustworthy - Can they trust you?  R - ...