The Five Foundations of Coaching

By Steve Nichols
Mile High University

What we need in a coach are what I’ll call the “five foundations”.  Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Technical proficiency
2. Teaching
3. Motivational
4. Role Modeling
5. Managerial

Technical Proficiency

What separates most football fans from coaching is the knowledge required to coach.  Not only must a coach “know” about the game in great detail, he must also have experience.

To this day, my favorite commentary on coaching experience comes from Coach Gruden.  Not long before Gruden’s Super Bowl victory over the Raiders (with the Bucs), Gruden granted an amazing interview where he discussed how a young guy like him could be an NFL head coach.  The most memorable part of the interview was when Gruden talked about all of the letters he receives from the hundreds of folks that want to come coach for him.

Gruden didn’t cover up his amusement at some of the letters.  Many of them were from people who had played a lot of Madden NFL games, and (because they were undefeated or had won gaming Super Bowls) felt that they were ready for the fame and glory of NFL level coaching.

Common Coaching Errors and How to Avoid Them

Here is some food for thought from a guy who not only won a few games but developed the 5-2 defense.

Bud Wilkinson
Former HC, University of Oklahoma
Winner of 47 straight games and 3 National Championships

General Comments:

The best coach is the one who makes the fewest mistakes; the one who does the best teaching job; the one who is the best organizer.  Writing the X’s & O’s is not the most important thing.  There are 22 variables in a football game.  A coach must be a salesman to the extent that when his team loses, they don’t blame him or the offensive or defensive system, but rather themselves.

Errors in Teaching Methods:
      
1.)  FAILURE TO USE TIME EFFICIENTLY.  Failure to recognize the time factor available to get the job done.  Planning makes for valuable use of time.  Too long on any one thing produces boredom.  When boredom comes in, learning goes out.  Football players have a short attention span.  Hold to time schedule.

2.) FAILURE TO EXPLAIN THE PURPOSE OF THE DRILL.  Tell the player WHY he is doing what he is trying to accomplish and he will do a better job.  Explain WHY then show HOW.

Coaching Philosophy: You Need One

By Curtis Peterson
Strong Football
November 29, 2010

I’ve talked to numerous coaches, and so many seem lost. I think the big problem with many coaches is they lack direction. They lack an ultimate purpose that drives all their teaching on the football field. Every coach, despite how silly and childish it sounds, needs a coaching philosophy.

Let’s be clear, I’m not talking about X’s and O’s, or what offense or defense you want to run when you’re in charge. Oh no. I may be only 23 years old, but I recognize the need for a coaching philosophy. When I get away from it, I find myself not satisfied with the teaching I’ve done with the players on the field.

Single Wing: A Season in Review

By Adam Wesoloski
November 2, 2010

The 2009 season brought a new coaching opportunity for me. Previously I was coaching Junior Pee Wee level football in a local Pop Warner organization. In 2009 our town wanted to reboot their youth tackle program which included the 5th and 6th grades. My son was a 5th grader in the district so I took one of the 5th grade head coaching positions. There were three 5th grade teams and two 6th grade teams that played games against outside competition. Each team played a six game schedule but we were not members of a league so we played an independent schedule against teams that had open dates in their schedules. This is was quite a challenge because just about every game we played with different rules. In addition 5 of our 6 games were versus 5th and 6th grade combination teams.