I believe one of the common traits amongst successful coaches is a love for practice.  Personally, the preparation that went into putting an overall plan together for a season, breaking it down into parts, then working daily to put it into play was one of the most enjoyable aspects of coaching.  I always loved practice and felt that our preparation was definitely one of the keys to our success.

In this entry of Coach With A Purpose, I will outline my thoughts about practice and how it fits into the overall concept of developing a Championship Culture.  

Upon becoming a head coach, one of my first undertakings was to develop a practice plan sheet for each level of our program…middle school, freshman, JV/Var.  These plan sheets fit the objectives for each level (see Program Progression) and developed a plan specifically for that part of our program. The plan sheet was broken into offense, defense, and special situations with the drills we would use for each aspect of these.  For example, each man offense would be broken into the individual and group drills we would use to develop that offense.

By providing a specific plan sheet for each level of our program, these coaches had a constant reminder of the objectives that needed to be accomplished at their level and helped to keep everyone focused on their piece of the puzzle.  

Once the plan sheet was developed, I used this to design each specific practice and it provided a blueprint to make sure that we were staying on track for each phase of our program.  Additionally, I was always a believer in keeping a copy of each practice so that I could reference our workouts at the end of each season if necessary. To this day, I have a copy of every workout for the 25 years I was the head coach at White Oak.

Our normal overall game plan was to play at a fast pace so in order to do this, I felt I needed to design practices that could be conducted at a fast pace.  For this reason, I was never a believer in teaching a bunch of different drills to work on the same skill. I wanted to develop drills specific to our schemes, have our players understand the purpose of the drill, and then be able to perfect the skills the drill was designed to teach.  Once a player got to the varsity level, we should be able to conduct fast paced practices as a result of them being familiar with the drills. I never wanted to waste practice time by constantly teaching new drills that trained the same skills. For some coaches, I know they would be concerned about practice becoming stagnant or becoming bored themselves with the same drills.  I was just always more concerned about efficiency and I think our kids functioned better by knowing the general format of workout along with the expectations of each drill.

In order to keep practice efficient and from becoming stagnant, we incorporated 3 concepts…encouragement, accountability, and competition.

“A quiet gym is a losing gym” is a quote I agree with so one of the aspects we emphasized during practice was to be a good teammate by constantly encouraging one another.  Whether it be through clapping, physical touch (high fives, fist bumps, etc) or verbal communication, we expect our players to be encouraging each other throughout workout.  If I jumped on someone pretty hard for something, then there needed to be 4 or 5 teammates offering this player encouragement afterwards. I know not all coaches agree with this, but my rule during practice/games was that I was the only one allowed to offer negative criticism.  If someone needed a butt chewing then I was more than qualified to deliver it but teammates were to always be positive with each other. I never wanted players chewing out each other.

One of the most common questions I have been asked over the years is, “How do you get those guys to play so hard.”  It’s really very simple…not easy, but simple. For us, it was about demanding a certain level of effort and intensity then refusing to accept anything less . One of the main ways this was accomplished was through our accountability system. We kept a simple chart during each practice with 2 columns “Marks” and “Bank”….a plus/minus system.  There were usually 3 things that would get a mark (negative) on the chart….lack of concentration, lack of effort, or no encouragement. Don’t block out, don’t dive for a loose ball, don’t communicate…that’s unacceptable. When these situations would occur, I would simply say “Give us a mark” and our manager would record it. A mark consisted of a down/back to be done after conditioning at the conclusion of workout. By using this method, we were able to have accountability without having to stop practice.    

Conversely, when players would show extraordinary effort or take a charge in practice, I would tell our manager to “Put one in the bank” which negated one of the marks on the chart.  We used the phrase, “Put one in the bank” because this phrase coincided with making an investment which is something we spoke about often.

Being responsible for having marks put on the chart could make you public enemy #1 so players worked diligently to meet our standard for effort and intensity.  Consequently, taking a charge or doing something else to gain a “bank” always led to cheers and a desire for more. We all need accountability and I believe our plus/minus chart for practice helped to keep our workouts meeting the standard we had set.  Once we started district play, our plus/minus chart would determine conditioning for Mon/Thur workouts so our players knew if we had a good workout they would have limited or no conditioning on those days.

The third area of emphasis for us in order to have an efficient workout was to make it competitive during drill work.  We almost exclusively practiced the JV/Var together. Each varsity player was assigned (they don’t get to choose) a JV partner for drill work and the varsity is split into 2 groups.  When we split up for drill work, varsity Group 1 (along with their JV partner) would start on my end of court and the 2nd varsity group (with JV partner) would work on the other end of the court with our JV coach.  If we were doing a defensive drill, then the 1st varsity group (which was on my end of the court) would be on defense with the JV being their training partner. To make the drill competitive, the varsity would get 1 point for stops and the JV would get 2 or 3 points for baskets.  At the conclusion of the drill, the winners would get a “bank” and the losers would get a “mark” on the plus/minus chart then we would start the score over for the next drill.

On the other end of the court, the JV would be on defense with the varsity being the training group.  However, we didn’t score their end of the court. After Group 1 had completed its defensive drill work, we would switch ends.  We would score our offensive drill work in the same manner except the varsity received 1 point for baskets while the JV will get 2 or 3 points for stops based on the drill. Because of the weighted scoring system (which helps the JV), our drill work was normally very competitive yet we still competed within our teams.  Early in the season, we would do some work with varsity on varsity, especially if some positions were still up for grabs, but I didn’t like to do much of this once we got to district play. I preferred them to be competing together at this point rather than against each other.

As far as having an efficient, fast paced workout, I believe the elements I have mentioned so far were critical for success.  However, none of this would work unless the workout was organized, well thought out, and structured. We didn’t post our workouts before practice, but by the time they got to the varsity, most of our players knew the drills and the format that we used and I believe they liked the structure (not necessarily all the drills!).  

One final element as far as having a fast paced, efficient workout was not having designated water breaks.  Each of our players was issued a water bottle and they took this with them during drill work. Any time they were not in a drill, they could get a drink.  Otherwise, we didn’t take breaks during workout. Inexperienced players learned quickly the value of that water bottle so they learn to keep it close.

As far as the structure of our workouts, I always looked forward to district play so that we had 3 practices per week and 2 games. Tournaments were fun, they served a good purpose early in the year and the kids loved them, but I hated the slippage that could occur during this time of the season.  I believe our workouts during district play allowed us to continue to get better which coincides with peaking at the right time.

Once we entered district play our practice format was generally as follows:  Monday and Thursday would pretty much mirror each other. Our athletic period was the last period of the day so we allowed the first 30 minutes for our varsity scouting report.  During this time, our JV would work on their team offense against our freshman team because they mainly became the scout team for the varsity during the team portion of workout once we started district play.  

After scouting report, we always started with our fundamental period which consisted of dribbling, passing, and shooting drills.  Next, we would go into the our individual and group defensive work followed by our individual and group offensive drills. After all drill work was complete, we would go into the team portion of our workout which was always Varsity vs. JV.  We may work half court set plays for 5 minutes but everything else during our team portion of workout included transition offense and defense. So, for example, the varsity would run an offensive set then transition to defense then run transition offense which put us back on the same end of the court that we started. We would stop the action at this point and players would rotate in.  I would line out the rotation before practice then the players were responsible for rotating themselves in during workout, I didn’t rotate them.

Once we completed the team portion of workout, we would do team conditioning.  Before district play, we would do some form of conditioning after each workout.  Once district play began, we would do team conditioning on Wednesdays. I believe conditioning after workout accomplished 2 things.  First of all, it allowed us to end practice doing something physically demanding as a team. Secondly, it built mental toughness. We finished practice doing something that required no talent, just effort.  It’s was an opportunity to remind ourselves that we were building toughness and that no one would outwork us. There was no doubt in my mind, we gained as much or more mentally from conditioning as we did physically.

For us, Wednesday was a day to get in more shooting and work on special situations or prepare for something we would see later in the year.  For example, in 2013, we worked press break every Wednesday during the district portion of our schedule even though Tatum would be our only district opponent that would press us.  However, if we wanted to get out of our region, we knew we would have to go through Tatum, Kountze, or both and that meant facing relentless full court pressure. Consequently, we did our best to prepare for this situation long before we faced it. Wednesday was also one of our weight lifting days and was usually our shortest workout of the week since we had a game the night before.  

Finally, at the conclusion of workout each day, we would break our huddle with “I Believe” and each player was required to say something encouraging to every teammate before leaving the huddle area.  I believe this was a good way to remind each other that we all have a role in our success and everyone and every role needed to be respected…different roles, same status, shared result!

In summary, there is no doubt in my mind that much of the success we had at White Oak could be attributed to our preparation.  Once we entered district play, we prepared for each opponent specifically, kept working to improve ourselves, and went into each game knowing we had a plan.  No doubt, I was a much bigger fan of practice than my players (which is understandable) and was probably the one guy in the gym that enjoyed practice as much as the games.  I think the words of 2013 alum Levi Yancy summed up the feelings of most of my players when he would say, “The best thing about game day is not having to practice!” For me, the best part about game day was knowing we were prepared.

Thanks for reading and Coach With A Purpose!

On the first day of school each year in my math or history class, I would always see the same look on many faces that sat in the desks in front of me, especially the faces of the girls that I did not know.  The look on their face, many times, said “I’m about to have this maniac as my teacher? This is the guy that screams and yells at the top of his lungs during basketball games. He never sits down. He just rants and raves up and down the sideline!  Is he going to yell at me????”

Many of the kids that I would have in class only knew the guy they had seen at basketball games or at practice when they walked through the gym.  I’ll be the first to admit…that guy is pretty intense! I had coached many of the boys in Junior High athletics so they knew a little more about me, but I could always tell some of the girls were terrified so I would spend the first couple of days going overboard to convince them that I wasn’t going to tell them to get on the line!  Almost yearly, once we were a couple of weeks into class, I would have a student come up to me after class and say, “You’re a lot different in class than I thought you would be.”

In this entry of Coach With A Purpose, I would like to share my thoughts on the role of the coach off the court.  Without a doubt, I believe this is one of the most important and impactful aspects of coaching because it shows there is a distinction between the player and the person. On the court, I had to always do what was best for the team. Off the court, I would do my best to do what was best for the player. In my opinion, when these 2 roles become clouded it is difficult for the coach and the player and it leads to problems for all involved.  

Whether it be the coach that is too loose with players on the court or the coach that is too rigid with players off the court, I believe the effectiveness and impact that a coach can have will suffer.  As a coach, especially a demanding coach, the students must be able to see that you know there is a difference between being on and off the court.

One of the ways that I tried to send this message to my players was to make it mandatory for each player to see me (or their coach) before they left to go home after practices or games.  This was something that I learned from my high school coach, Dan Noll, who was a master of relationships. By having the players come by the office before leaving, there were several things being accomplished.  First of all, if I had to get on a player hard during practice it was an opportunity to let them know before they went home that it was never personal.

Also, on occasion  when a player did not play at all or played very little in a game it gave me an opportunity to get a feel for their understanding of the situation and whether or not I needed to talk with them before they left.  I never wanted them to think them not playing was a reflection on them personally.

Finally, I would have a chance to convey any thoughts that I wanted to leave with them before they went home for the evening, just tell them “good job”, or offer a few tidbits of advice.  Finally, depending on the circumstances, there were times when it would have been easier for both me and the player to just ignore the situation by just going our separate ways but that is not the lesson I wanted our program to teach. We would face each other face to face each day before they left regardless of the circumstances. Easy doesn’t make it right.

When I had one of my players in class, I rarely talked to them about basketball.  I just tried to treat them like any other student when they were in my class. For one reason, I wanted them to know that there was more to me than being their basketball coach.  I was also their classroom teacher and I took that responsibility seriously.

Secondly, I wanted them to know there was more to life than athletics and that I respected their time off the court.  I believe one of the biggest mistakes coaches can make is trying to monopolize the time of their athletes and not respect their time outside of their sport. Without a doubt, all successful programs are demanding and commitment of an athlete’s time to their sport is up towards the top of the list of demands. However, as coaches, I believe we should respect our players time to be a student, time with their family, and just time to be a kid. As I’ve stated in several other entries of Coach With A Purpose, players can always tell if you care for them or care what they can do for you.

Thirdly, I always wanted my players to know that I supported them in their other interests outside of basketball.  Whether they were involved in other sports, band, theatre, FFA, or activities outside of school, I did my best to support them.  Whether it be by attending these events, offering encouragement in the hallways, giving shoutouts on twitter, or a quick text message, there are so many ways to let your players know that you support them.

Finally, I want to share with you what I believe is one of the unique aspects of White Oak High School…the coaches fist bump.  Many years ago I read a book by Coach K at Duke University that talked about using the “fist” as a symbol of unity within their program.  The first was made up of 5 individual parts (fingers) but it was much more effective when clinched than as separate parts. As we adopted this philosophy into our own basketball program, the fist became a symbol for unity…Five As One.  Consequently, when our players would leave after practice or games we would exchange fist bumps instead of shaking hands to symbolize this unity.

Over time, when I would pass my players in the hallways, we would exchange a fist bump as well and other students would see this and I could tell they looked perplexed.  Consequently, we just started to exchange fist bumps as well. As fortune would have it, my classroom in the high school was located by the classrooms of several of our other coaches so as we would stand in the hallways between classes and chat, over the years we started giving fist bumps to all the kids who would pass by us in the hallway.  

Fast forward a decade or so and one of the traditions at WOHS is the kids – all kids – getting a fist bump as they passed the coaches at the end of the hall.  As coaches, we took pride in just offering this small gesture that said “you matter” and it is these 4 minutes between classes that I missed as much as anything when I moved to the Middle School campus.  

In conclusion, there is much wisdom in the saying, “They will never care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”  As coaches, we show how much we care by our actions off the court/field and by our actions after a player’s playing days are over.  As much as any other time, coaches show who we are when players take the jersey off.

Thanks for reading and Coach With A Purpose!

The refs sucked.  We got “homered”. Call it both ways, ref! How could the ref not see that?  Or as Coach Boone says in Remember The Titans, “Are you trying to cheat my boys out of the game?…Cheater! Cheater!“

To some coaches, officials are just a necessary evil.  As a whole, they are lazy, arrogant, incompetent, and power hungry.  In fact, if you listen to some coaches, they never lost…they just got cheated.  Now, as I write these words, I can anticipate some coaches who read this thinking, “That’s easy for you to say.  The refs always favored White Oak!” I’ve heard it from opposing fans and coaches plenty of times in various forms or fashions.  Consequently, I know our fans and parents always thought the officials gave us the shaft. White Oak’s E.B. Carrington Gymnasium was always a tough place for officials because of the close proximity to the court, a rowdy student section, and a crowd that expected every call to go our way.  And on the road, of course the refs hated us!

If it were possible, I believe it would be a good requirement that all coaches spend time officiating before they are allowed to coach. Personally, I know time I spent officiating basketball and softball games while in college gave me a better perspective on what it was like to wear a striped shirt and be public enemy #1!  Consequently, it would also be good for officials to experience what it is like to coach and try to stay in that dang coaching box! Now, I know this is not feasible for this role reversal to take place and I believe the UIL has made valiant attempts to improve the relationship between officials and coaches.

Dealing with officials can be one of the most frustrating parts of coaching and, as coaches, if we don’t learn to deal with officials in a respectful and humane way, we only make it harder on ourselves.  In this entry of Coach With A Purpose, I will share my thoughts on how to deal with the men/women in striped shirts.

1) Have An Officials Perspective

As I mentioned earlier, officiating in college gave me a new found respect for the job of being an official as well as a better perspective on how difficult this job can be.  The amount of concentration that is required, the speed of the game, the various skill levels of the teams, the split second judgments, the challenge of dealing with hostile crowds, and having a constant barrage of questioning/complaining from coaches makes officiating a very challenging job.  As coaches, if we remind ourselves of this before our games, I believe it forces us to be more understanding of the difficulty of officiating and leads to more constructive interaction with officials during competition. Along these same lines, hopefully, before officials take the court, they discuss between themselves how difficult it is to coach and what is at stake for the players/coaches.  Like many things in life, being able to see things from someone else’s perspective is a very valuable trait to acquire.

2) Players Will Mimic The Coach

Coaches who complain about every call that goes against them, act as if the officials are out to get them, and spend more time complaining than coaching, send the wrong message to their team and fans.  Personally, I always preferred to have these types of coaches in the other coaching box because I knew it would eventually be to their detriment. When opposing coaches, players, and fans complained about having to play in White Oak, I knew we already had an advantage because they had convinced themselves they would be cheated when they came to White Oak.  The first call that went against them, I could always see it in the body language of the players and coaches along with the reaction of the fans, “Here we go again, getting cheated in White Oak.” The coach would start complaining, the players would do the same, and usually at some point, the coach or players would earn a technical. Often times, I can recall telling my assistants prior to the game, “So and So will get a technical tonight.”  It was an easy prediction because I knew their mindset when they came to White Oak.

As a coach, I always tried to pick my spots of when to complain to officials.  Sometimes, it was if I believed the official could be influenced or if I felt like I needed to stand up for one of my players.  The most common time for this was on block/charge calls. Most years at White Oak, we didn’t have shot blockers so we had to defend the paint with body position.  If I had a player attempt to take a charge and it was called a block, I would often praise the player any way, especially if the player was not naturally a contact player.  If this was the case, it wasn’t going to matter if the official was right or wrong.

Most of the time, I tried not to complain because I knew it would have a negative effect on my players.  If I constantly complained, they would be more likely to take on the mindset that we were getting cheated instead of bearing down to fight through the adversity.  This was the mindset I wanted us to have and it started with me. Now, I’ll be the first to admit, there were times I was better at this than others and with having a demonstrative coaching style, it wasn’t hard to tell when I wasn’t pleased.  However, particularly if I knew it would be a very competitive game, I always tried to control my emotions toward the officials and let them do their job. Fortunately, we usually had a strong fan base, especially at home, so the student section and crowd were very capable of voicing our collective displeasure with what didn’t go our way!

3) Give & Take

I think most officials (not all) will work with coaches as long as the coach is willing to work with them.  For example, I never liked to sit down during games. My coaching style was very demonstrative at times and I often paced the sidelines.  Honestly, when I coached, I just need some space (maybe I’m just claustrophobic) so I tend to roam up/down the sidelines and even venture out onto the court slightly at times. Over the years, most officials have worked with me on this as long as I worked with them, which means not griping/complaining at every call. For the most part, I will usually tend to make my way back to the coaching box if I have a complaint out of respect for the official and for this give and take.  Obviously, being at the same school and using the same officiating chapters for 25 years helped develop this relationship.

4) Scratching Officials

Coaches have varying philosophies on scratching officials.  Some coaches will scratch any official they do not think will give them an advantage and some will even scratch an entire chapter when playing on the road.  During my initial season as the Head Coach at White Oak, we played a road game during the first round of district in which I accepted the 2 assigned officials only to have the opposing coach scratch our entire home chapter when it was time to come to White Oak in the second round!  The art of agreeing upon officials was one of the many lessons I had to learn along the way. Other coaches will not scratch any officials because they feel like the will be “blackballed” by the officials association if they do.

I always felt it was necessary to use the scratch if needed but to be selective and respect the difficulty of assigning officials to district games. I also felt if I was going to scratch an official then I needed to be willing to explain why and to have, in my opinion, a good reason for doing so. My first criteria was to consider our style of play and my personality.  If I felt there was a direct problem with either of these, then I would scratch an official at the beginning of the year and it was usually no more than 3.

Secondly, if I felt like the opposing coach was trying to hand pick the officials for our game, then I would scratch officials if necessary.  Again, this was an advantage I had at being at the same school for 25 years. I knew if coaches were trying to manipulate the process and I owed it to our team to do all I could to intervene if I felt this was the case.  I never felt it was appropriate to contact the assigning secretary to request specific officials and I wasn’t going to allow it to be done to us either.

Thirdly, in my opinion, if I was given an unwarranted technical foul I was going to scratch that official for 2 years.  Early in my career, it took me awhile to figure out all of the things that I am explaining now, so I received my fair share of technical fouls.  Looking back on it, most of that was my fault and justified. However, as I gained a greater understanding for the job of officiating, I made a concerted effort not to cross the line.  Consequently, I wasn’t very understanding about what I believed were unwarranted technical fouls. Like I said, I would scratch that official for 2 years minimum and make sure coaches from other areas knew the situation when they called for advice on officials for playoff games.  I was never a believer in getting a technical to “fire up” the team or any other reason so I took technical fouls very seriously.

5) It’s Never Personal

Of all that I have mentioned, this is the most important concept for coaches and officials to understand…it should never be personal.  Like I stated at the beginning, I have great respect for people who choose to officiate because I know how hard it can be and I know how important their role is.  For this reason, if you don’t see any relevance up until this point, please, as a coach, strongly consider the next few points.

First of all, as a coach, greet the officials in a respectful manner before the game and respect their space.  Some small talk is fine, but respect the fact that they have a job to do. Because of our lack of dressing facilities at White Oak, the officials had to dress in our coaches office.  I always tried to make sure my stuff was done before they arrived so they could have some privacy.

Secondly, acknowledge the officials after the game out of respect for their work and their role in the game.  For me, this meant saying “thanks” to the officials after as many games as I could….win or lose. Obviously, after a tough loss, particularly a loss as a result of  a call not going your way at the end, this was very tough to do. However, I felt it was necessary for me to briefly go into my office where the officials dressed, say “thanks”, and shake their hand.  I needed to do it out of respect, I needed to model for my players the correct way to handle disappointment, and I needed to do it to remind myself that it was never personal. Very hard at times, but never personal.  Now, if I felt the officials were lazy, disrespectful, or trying to make it all about them, then I would just avoid them after the game, but this was very rare.

Thirdly, outside of the lines, work to let officials know that it’s never personal.  If I see an official that I have scratched at a summer league game or out in public, I’m going to be just as nice, courteous, and respectful to them as I would any other officials.  Why? Because it’s never personal on my end. It may be on their end of things, but I can only control how I conduct myself so that’s what I’m concerned about.

During my tenure at White Oak, I was very proud of the relationships that I had with the officials who called the majority of our games, mainly the Longview and Tyler Chapters.  For the most part, I believe they knew I respected the way in which they did their job and they respected the job I had to do. I feel that the points I have made in this entry of Coach With A Purpose have a lot to do with this mutual respect.

So, in summary, as a coach, try to see things from an officials perspective and respect the fact that officiating is a difficult job.  Secondly, don’t be a whiner and a complainer. It reflects bad on you, your team, and it sends the wrong message to your players. Finally, leave it between the lines.  Don’t let it get to the point of being personal and know that most the time our point of view of how well the officials did has mostly to do with whether or not our team won or lost.

In conclusion, the years that we had good teams, it seemed like the officiating was ok.  The years that our teams struggled it seemed like I did a lot more whining and complaining to the officials.  I feel certain it had a lot more to do with our team than it did the officials.

Thanks for reading and Coach With A Purpose!

Would you rather be the perennial favorite or are you more comfortable in the role of the underdog?  As a coach, in my opinion, how you answer this question says a lot about your expectations. For those who prefer to be the underdog, I believe it ultimately falls back on being scared of expectations.  There’s no “pressure” and you can play loose and free. As the underdog, if you lose, that’s what was supposed to happen. Everyone pats you on the back, tells you how hard your kids played, and the other team was just better than you.  No doubt, in many cases, that is exactly the case. However, as a coach, if you are satisfied with this scenario then I believe your teams or program will never reach their potential for one simple reason…it’s ok to lose.

In the event that you win as the underdog, then there is great euphoria…you did something you weren’t expected to do. The fans storm the court/field, the team goes nuts, and the band breaks into the Rocky theme song!  There are few feelings in sport that can match such moments. That’s why everyone (at least most everyone) cheers for the underdog. So why wouldn’t you want to be in this scenario of consistently being in position to pull the upset?  It seems like there’s nothing but an upside.

To a competitor, I think the answer is simple.  When the underdog wins, that’s the exception. If they do win often then you guessed it, they probably weren’t as much of an underdog as they wanted to believe. Being the underdog is always safe.

If you’re a perennial favorite, the game changes.  There are expectations…you’re expected to win. In my mind, there is no other place you would rather be.  To me, if I could choose to be the underdog or the favorite, it’s a no brainer every single time…I wanted to be the favorite! In my analysis, being the favorite means one simple thing, in most knowledgeable people‘s opinion, my team should be better than yours. That’s a good thing!  So, why wouldn’t everyone want to be in that spot? One word…fear.

What’s there to be scared of?  Expectations. More precisely, the fear of not meeting those expectations. Of course, the easiest way to solve that problem in some coach’s mind is scheduling.  I believe you can always look at a team’s non-district schedule and tell how much a coach believes in his team. Programs that constantly schedule inferior teams in order to avoid competition or sugar coat their record deal in fool’s gold.  Their teams don’t improve throughout the year, they develop bad habits, and are not battle tested once their team plays someone of equal or better talent in district or the playoffs. When you play bad but still win, it’s not because your team was good, it’s because the other team just happened to be worse.  Consequently, when you play a good team and lose it’s usually because you played “bad” when in many cases that was the same “bad” you had been winning with when playing inferior teams.

So, how do you gauge how good your team is or was?  A good measuring stick for any program is the number of teams you beat that have equal or better talent than your team.  Or better yet. Want to know how good your team was? Ask yourself, “Who is the best team or teams we beat?” This is a much more accurate assessment of how good a team is than their record, or in some cases, how far the team advanced in the playoffs.  Soft scheduling is the simplest way to be perceived as meeting expectations. However, that’s a very low bar and not the point of this writing.

As a coach, if you want to develop a championship program, one of the first steps is to develop the mindset of embracing expectations rather than fearing them.  You want to be expected to win…you want to be the favorite. Like most things of any substantial value, this is a step by step process with the goal of eventually being able to consistently compete to your talent level and beyond.

The first step in this process of moving from being the constant underdog to being a perennial favorite is being able to consistently beat the people you are supposed to beat.  Who is that? It’s the teams that have inferior talent to yours…you don’t lose to the underdog. During my tenure at White Oak, I believe we rarely lost to teams that were less talented than us.  My team’s heard me say constantly, “In order to win, you must first eliminate the things that make you lose.” By eliminating those factors, a team is less likely to beat itself. In other words, you don’t lose, the other team must beat you.  In the grand scheme of raising expectations, beating less talented teams must be a constant.

The second step of this process is being able to beat teams that have more talent than your team. Whether it is through execution, work ethic, intelligence, toughness, coaching, or a combination of these factors and others, your team doesn’t cave in just because the other team is more talented.  The problem for some programs is they never get past the first step in the process because they are scared to lose and this is normally indicated by non-district scheduling. The rationale that is normally given for this is not wanting to crush your players or team’s confidence. Your team will not meet its potential unless you push the limits and the coach must believe in his players and team enough to do this.

One of my goals with scheduling was to make sure we played opponents in non-district that were capable of exposing our weaknesses. Usually for us, that meant playing teams with speed and quickness. If we wanted to be able to defeat these types of teams when it counted, we had to play them in non-district. Consequently, I wanted to play a handful of games against teams that put us in the position of having to perform at a high level under the toughest conditions for us and, if we didn’t, then we would lose.  

Teams that don’t get challenged enough usually lose to the first team with equal talent that is more battle tested.  No doubt, there is an art to scheduling and, obviously, you don’t want to play a vastly superior team every night but a coach must challenge his team to make them better. If I had ever had a team go through non-district undefeated, then I would have considered it to be my fault. If your goal is to raise your expectations to a championship level, then a coach must be willing to challenge his team. A culture of being scared to compete is not a championship culture.  

The third step is being able to defeat teams that are equal or slightly better than your team.  To me, this is different than teams with just superior talent. By talent, I’m referring to mainly physical superiority in strength, speed, quickness, height, and jumping ability.  So in step three, I’m referring to teams that are as talented and skilled, for the most part, as your team. At this level, I believe there are 3 difference makers…toughness, defense, and coaching.  As the coach, it’s my job to have my team prepared to perform their best and a big part of this is training them to be tough (later blog entry) and that happens in various ways, one of which is being battle tested going into district play and the playoffs.  

I also believe that in equally matched games, the best defensive team normally wins and for this reason, the defensive end of the court is where most championship programs hang their hat. There will always be nights when the shots just don’t seem to fall or the offensive execution is just not there and it’s these nights when defense keeps a team in the game.  I also firmly believe that putting an emphasis on defense always heightens awareness and concentration which leads to better offensive execution. I always wanted our teams to play with a “defense first” mentality because I knew this would carry over to our concentration on the offensive end as well.

At level 3, I believe coaching becomes much more of a factor.  To me, most of this took place in preparation beginning with practice as well as scouting, game planning, and being prepared for special situations.  However, a coach’s in game decision making is also heightened during games at this level. Without a doubt, players have the most dramatic effect on the outcome of a game but coaching is a difference maker when teams are evenly matched.

Also, at this point, there is the element of being able to perform on a bigger stage.  The underdog has the luxury of playing loose and free because of a lack of expectations.  The favorite learns to play loose and free by embracing the expectations and having developed the mindset of playing one way all the time regardless of the opponent or circumstances.  

During our state championship seasons of 2012 and 2013, at times, I would get questioned as to why I would continue to push our team hard during some of our district games in which the opponent was clearly over matched.  We would be up 40 points or more and I would still be coaching them just as hard as I would if we were in a nip and tuck game. The reason for this was to develop our mindset. We were going to play to the best of our ability for 32 minutes regardless of the opponent or circumstances.  

We wouldn’t press and we played all our kids but we didn’t change the intensity level or the level of expectation for execution.  Though we were criticized by some for beating some of these district opponents by large margins, I was willing to take the criticism for the sake of developing the mindset I believe we needed.  More than anything, especially in 2012 when we were the playing the defending state champions in the state semi-finals, I wanted us to have the security of knowing we didn’t have to change the way we played just because we were at the state tournament.  We had trained to play at a championship level all year and the state tournament would be no different. I believe it was this mindset that helped us the most going into these unchartered waters.

So, in conclusion, once a program has gotten to the point of being able to perform consistently beyond its talent level and on the occasions when your team is the underdog, there is not the element of surprise when they pull out a victory, then I believe the program is at the point of embracing high expectations.  There is only one type of underdog that is able to make this transition…the one that is tired of being the underdog.

Thanks for reading and Coach With A Purpose!

As early as my junior year in high school, I knew I wanted to someday be the Head Basketball Coach at White Oak High School.  For that reason, when I graduated from SFA in the spring of 1988 I applied at one place…White Oak High School. It was my alma mater and the only place I wanted to be.  Unfortunately, there were no openings at WOHS in the spring of 1988 and I learned quickly that when applying for a job, it helps if there is an opening! So with my 4 year degree in my back pocket, I had to make a choice…apply for a teaching/coaching job somewhere else or continue to work at my summer job on the maintenance crew for Longview ISD until a spot opened up at WOHS.  For me, the choice was a no-brainer…I chose carpet cleaning. I hadn’t gotten a degree to just teach/coach, I had gotten my degree in order to teach/coach at WOHS and I was determined. Thankfully, it was God who had placed this determination within me and finally, in August after 2-a-days had already begun, a position opened up at WOHS and I was hired. The coach I was replacing gave me some advice upon his departure, “Never stay at one place over 4-5 years.  If you do, they get to know too much about you.” Well, I didn’t listen very well.

In this entry of Coach With A Purpose, I will be discussing the pros and cons of going home as a coach.  Within the coaching fraternity, there are strong opinions on both sides of the debate as to whether or not, from a professional standpoint, coaching at your alma mater is a good decision.  For me, I’d never have it any other way but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been challenging in some aspects. So, for those of you reading who might be considering going home, I would like to share my experience with you.

When I was hired, I was 22 years old, single, and very naive.  Almost every teacher on the high school campus had taught me as well as almost every coach on staff having coached me.  Many of the high school students had family members I had grown up with or that I knew them from having been in WO since kindergarten.  In fact, many of the high school students knew me as “Ron” and weren’t too sure about this “Coach Boyett” stuff. Finally, one of my students was married and had a young child and though I was the teacher, I’m sure in many ways she knew much more about life than I did.  

So, I knew the situation I was going into would be awkward in some ways…for me, the students, and the staff.  When you go home, that’s part of it. Consequently, if you intend to stay at your alma mater, you have to avoid some pitfalls right out of the gate.  

First of all, if any of this is going to work, it is crucial to have laid a solid foundation because when you go home, there are people who know pretty much everything about you….the teachers, many of the students, and the community.  If you were lazy in the classroom, gave poor effort or had a bad attitude as an athlete, or lacked character while you were in school then going home is probably not for you and mainly because you most likely wouldn’t get hired! So, if you are currently a student and ever have thoughts about wanting to come home to coach, please be aware that you’re writing your resume right now.  If you go home, you can’t run from your past.

Secondly, particularly because of my age, I had to be diligent about establishing boundaries with the students…I was no longer their friend, their sister’s former boyfriend, a friend of the family, or in a couple of instances, your cousin…at least as school.  I couldn’t be Ron anymore. I knew this process could be confusing for many of the kids I had grown up knowing but I had to cut the chord and at times it was painful for me and the students. However, it was necessary and I can’t emphasize enough the importance of establishing these boundaries right off the bat for young coaches that go home.  If you don’t, you are only making it harder on yourself and your students.

Thirdly, though in my case this was never a problem, it is necessary to establish with the staff that you are no longer their student but a peer. Of all the things I dealt with when I started out, this was the easiest for me because of the quality people we had on our teaching and coaching staffs.  However, I know for other coaches who have gone back to their alma mater, this has not been the case.

Fourthly, I had to establish some separation between me and the parents of the players I would now be coaching.  Similar to the familiarity with the students, many of these parents were either my friends, friends of my family, or just people I knew in the community.  Like most small schools, I was at least acquainted with most everyone in town. Though many could not understand my rationale for doing this I felt this was the way it needed to be done for several reasons.

As I stated in an earlier entry, the main reason for this separation was for the benefit of my players.  I wanted to minimize my personal relationship with their parents so it would never be used against them. When their kids get involved, people can be cruel and though over the years it has definitely isolated me in ways and limited my friendships, I was willing to do this for the sake of my players and to insure that I remained as objective as I could.  For me, this has been the hardest part of coaching in my hometown and there are probably times I take it to the extreme but that’s just how I’m wired.

Fortunately, just as kids graduate, so do their parents so this separation is not permanent but I would rather take the hit myself than have my players deal with undue criticism based on my relationship with their parents.  Though it has never been personal, I know some parents take it this way and don’t understand why I don’t involve myself more in the social side of things. Fortunately, after several years of consistency, I had enough “graduated” parents that understood the process and word started to filter down.  Don’t take it personal, that’s just how he is.

Though it was difficult, especially my first 5-6 years, to establish the system that I felt was necessary for success, I believe the process worked and I’m glad it did because from the beginning, I was in for the long haul…I never wanted to coach anywhere else.  If you are considering going back home, I would encourage you to think over the pros and cons. It can be done and I hope the points I have made above will be useful in helping you to make the decision that is best for you and your family.

In conclusion, as our program started to become more successful on the court, I was asked many times by other coaches, “Why don’t you go somewhere else? Why don’t you look to move up or go to a place you can win more?”  I understood what they were saying, and as a coach, there is nothing wrong with looking to move up the ladder in order to advance your career or secure a better financial situation for your family. It’s just wasn’t for me.  I wanted to win as much as the next guy….I just wanted to do it at White Oak. For me, I agreed with Dorothy, “There’s no place like home.”

Thanks for reading and Coach With A Purpose!

Numerous books have been written about developing the culture of your program, business, etc.  Personally, I couldn’t agree more with the importance of creating and sustaining a championship culture because it not only enhances your opportunity for success in your program but it also provides an opportunity to engrain core values into your players that will remain with them long after they have left your program.  

At White Oak, our program was centered on our “I Believe” philosophy which is explained in the pages portion of the Coach With A Purpose blog.  However, we also built our culture around a “5 as 1” approach. Obviously, one meaning of this approach is the concept of teamwork…5 individuals playing as 1 cohesive unit.  One way we symbolized this philosophy was with the acronym “FIST” (Five Individuals Succeeding Together) in which the five individual fingers represented individual players and the clinched fist representing the coming together of the five individual parts to make the team.  The fist bump became a symbol of culture we wanted to create in our program. Whenever our coaches and players would cross paths, the fist bump became a symbol of this solidarity as well as utilizing the important trait of physical contact.

In conjunction with the “5 as 1” philosophy, we created the 5 Core Standards of our program.  The 5 standards have always been a part of our program but I believe they became much more prevalent when we posted them in our locker room and began to address them specifically.  With this entry of Coach With A Purpose, I will discuss the 5 Core Standards of White Oak basketball.

BE RESPONSIBLE

By our definition, “Be Responsible” meant to fulfill your obligation such as showing up for school, practice and games, being on time, and completing and turning in assignments on time.  Being responsible meant not making excuses and consistently holding yourself to a high standard of excellence in all that you have committed to doing. Learning to be responsible is key to the maturation process in an age of helicopter parents.  Once players enter our program as a freshman, they must begin to understand that responsibility falls on the shoulders of the one who wears the uniform.

BE ACCOUNTABLE

To many, responsibility and accountability are synonymous but by our definition, responsibility has to do with “for” and accountability relates to “to”.  In other words, we are responsible for actions but accountable to a person or group. For us, “Be Accountable” meant to do your part for the sake of others.  Hold yourself to a high standard in all areas because others are counting on you to do that. As head coach, I was accountable to my players, their parents, our school, and our community.  However, as a Christian, I am ultimately accountable to my God and as long as I feel like I am giving Him my best then I am fulfilling my obligation of being accountable to others. Accountability reinforces the value of being a part of something bigger than yourself.

BE DISCIPLINED

When many people hear the word “discipline”, they immediately have negative thoughts while others have a totally different connotation of the word.  For those with negative connotations of the word “discipline“, it’s probably because they routinely are in need of being disciplined. For those who hear the word  “discipline “ and immediately think of consistently doing things the right way regardless of the circumstances, there is a positive connotation. For our program, “Be Disciplined” was trained through being precise in all we do without cutting corners. Shoes are flat in lockers, clothes are hung up, basketballs are put in the rack, touch the line…all of these “little things” train doing things the right way and create strong habits. It’s these habits that will show up when circumstances get tough in basketball but, more importantly, when things get tough in life.

BE TRUSTWORTHY

It’s impossible to have a championship culture without trust because there is no substitute for being truthful and standing up for what is right. A person’s word must mean something and honesty must be a staple of your character. For over 20 years, we had open lockers in our dressing room and rarely ever had a problem with stealing.  First of all, for the most part, the players in our program had outstanding character. Secondly, all involved knew stealing would not be tolerated. Not being trustworthy is a character flaw and rampant character flaws will eventually lead to the demise of any program.  All championship programs have a standard for behavior and this standard must be enforced consistently.

BE RESPECTFUL

For us, “Be Respectful” meant to show gratitude, look people in the eye when being spoken to, understand that all people are not alike but all have value, to judge on merit and character, and to honor positions of authority.  At White Oak, the vast majority of our kids are respectful. They are raised to say, “Yes, sir” and “No, sir” and to respect positions of authority. Most of the credit for this behavior goes to their parents as well as the expectations of our administrators and teachers.  Without a doubt, one of the benefits of coaching at White Oak has been the overall excellent behavior of our student body and especially our athletes.

These 5 Standards were the backbone for establishing our culture during my 25 year tenure and our players embraced the importance of measuring up to these standards.  For the most part, our athletes knew what was expected and they knew the standards would be enforced so, consequently, players who didn’t want to measure up just didn’t play. To some, this may seem harsh or too demanding but I believe these standards have value.  First of all, success does not come to those who aren’t willing to meet a higher standard and, secondly, these standards also laid the groundwork for success after high school athletics.

As the leader of your program, it is important to establish your Core Values or Standards. Once these non negotiables are established, they must be explained to all involved and everyone must be willing to buy in.  Finally, the leader must be willing to hold up the standards by making everyone accountable. So, in conclusion, I encourage you to invest in this process in order to develop a championship culture. Winning championships is not always possible but taking a championship approach is.

Thanks for reading and Coach With A Purpose!

They call you coach and with that comes responsibility.  Within the next few weeks, throughout the great state of Texas, thousands of young men and women will put their trust in you because you are their coach.  In a society where single parent homes are more and more prevalent, many will now spend more time with you than they will one of their parents or possibly both. Regardless of the family setting, in many cases, their coach will be the most prominent male or female influence in their life.  What are great responsibility.  Better yet, what a great opportunity.

Whether your athletes will take the field/court on Monday, the next week, or the start of school, as their coach, we all should have the same ultimate goal…make a positive impact.  Whether you are a Junior High coach who will be welcoming athletes to their first day of living their dream, a head coach who will be coaching seniors who will be going around the block for the last time, or somewhere in between, we all should have the same ultimate goal.  Our methods will be different and our results will vary based on numerous factors but there should be one constant…give them your best.  Regardless of the circumstances, give them your best for one reason…you are their coach.

Coach With A Purpose!

Like most basketball coaches, I always felt summer was the greatest opportunity for a player to improve himself individually.  Of course, there were also other areas that we wanted to address as well but simply having more time available within the day to improve your athleticism and skill level is invaluable.  Even for kids that work during the summer, not having the obligations that come with being in school allows for a greater opportunity to improve your game. Without a doubt, successful programs provide plenty of opportunity for their players to get better during the summer.

Before I delve into the contents of our summer program, I need to state a few things about our situation at White Oak.  First of all, almost all of our basketball players played at least 1 other sport in which they were expected to invest some of their time.  For some of our kids, it wasn’t uncommon for them to have 3 sports going on in June and for that reason, the first part of their summer was very busy.  

Secondly, in 25 years I only had 1 player participate in an AAU program and he mainly did this during July once our leagues, tournaments, and team camp were completed.  So, obviously, our situation could be different from other programs. However, particularly for programs in East Texas, I believe our situations are similar.

With this entry of Coach With A Purpose, I will outline the components of our summer program and the goals we set out to achieve.  Overall, the main things we wanted to accomplish were 1) strength training through our summer Power Program or personal workouts 2) skill development through individual workouts in our open gym sessions 3) start to identify who could or could not compete on the varsity level through summer league games and tournaments 4) start developing leadership to replace our graduating seniors 5) begin developing chemistry and learning new roles 6) incorporating any small changes within our offensive system.

We actually began our “summer” activities in the spring once our players had completed their spring sports.  We would start with our open gym sessions in April after the district track meet. Up until this time, almost all of our kids were participating in a spring sport so there was no need in having open gym because I never expected players who were in season to come to open gym.  I expected them to give their full attention to their spring sport just as I wanted them to do during basketball season.

Our open gym sessions would be for 2 hours (format lined out in other blog entries) for 4 days per week during April and May.  Once school was over the schedule would change to Monday, Wednesday, Thursday since we usually had summer league games on Tuesday.  This schedule would continue throughout June then change to Mon, Tues, & Thursday in July until I started football meetings toward the end of July. Most of our kids understood that our league games, tournaments, and team camps would be during June so they (and their families) would do their best to take vacations and such in July.  As I’ve stated in other entries, it takes everyone buying in to make a program successful and our basketball parents were very dedicated to doing their part in the summer.

Also in June, most of our players participated in our summer Power Program (strength/conditioning) or worked out on their own to improve their strength.  Toward the end of my tenure some started to use personal trainers but I was always a firm believer that just as much could be accomplished on your own if you were disciplined and wanted to succeed bad enough.  To me, the weight room, track, and bleachers were just as effective as bands, cones, rollers, parachutes, etc….and, for sure, a lot cheaper! However, I wasn’t near as concerned with the method as I was improving overall athleticism.

As far as evaluating personnel, this was done in open gym, league games, and tournaments.  We were fortunate to have many of our Alumni participate in our open gym sessions so this was a great evaluation tool.  Our Alumni knew what it took to play at White Oak and I would often ask them to give me their evaluation of our current players based on playing against them in open gym.  

Our league games were normally played on Tuesday nights in June for a total of 8-10 games.  I was very fortunate to usually have a former player to coach our JV and Varsity level teams and this allowed us to accomplish so many things.  First of all, they knew our system so they could actually coach the team and make adjustments. Secondly, as I stated earlier, they knew the expectations of being in our program so they were capable of evaluating players.  Thirdly, if we wanted to make any offensive changes for the next season they, along with our offseason players, were able to install these changes during our summer practices at the beginning of the summer. We would normally have 2 practices then not practice any more because of commitments to 7 on 7, baseball, etc. that many of them also had.  

Any player that was projected as a possible varsity player would get a look during our league games or tournaments.  I always used these games as evaluation tools so winning was not necessarily the main objective. In order to get a look at all potential varsity players, at times, it would be necessary for seniors or other possible varsity players that weren’t projected to be in the main rotation, to play with the JV.  This would always tell me a lot about attitude and whether or not a player would be able to put the needs of the team before themselves. I would much rather find out in the summer if a player is going to struggle with their role instead of finding out during the season. This approach was not always well received by some players or parents but I was normally looking much farther down the road than they were.

We would normally play 2 or 3 tournaments in late May and June along with going to the Texas A&M team camp.  Our varsity players always looked forward to the A&M camp (even the diehard Longhorn fans!) and I would strongly recommend it to anyone.  The tournaments were used to evaluate personnel, start to play new positions and roles, and to begin developing chemistry. Team camp was used for the same purpose and was a great opportunity to start to build relationships between the players.  Again, I was very blessed to have former players willing to coach our tournament games as well as coach/chaperone at team camp.

Once we reached July, we no longer participated in league games, tournaments, or team camps.  Though we wanted to get as much accomplished as we could during the spring/summer months, I always felt that we didn’t want to over do it.  As I mentioned, we still had our open gym sessions but I always felt it was necessary for our players to get away from organized games after June. Also, as we approached the middle to end of July, it was necessary for our football players to begin concentrating on their upcoming seasons.  

When 2 A Days began for football, our senior offseason players would normally start to organize strength & conditioning workouts in order to be prepared to do their best once offseason workouts began in August.  They would still put in some gym time on their own during August but it was fine with me if they got away from the game for a few weeks. Once school began, they always knew we would test in the weight room to see how hard they had worked on their strength training and then begin our conditioning phase of fall offseason.  

I always believed a coach would find out a lot about his team during the summer when workouts were optional.  There is no doubt in my mind that there was a correlation between our summer investment and the payoff of the season.  Our best teams didn’t need a big push from me, just maybe a few nudges along the way. The big push came from themselves.  As the saying goes, “There will always come a day when winter will ask, ‘What did you do all summer?’”

Thanks for reading and Coach With A Purpose!

It takes courage to coach.  Very few professions spend as much time doing their job in the eye of the public as a coach does and as all coaches know, this opens you up to criticism…unjust and just.  When you decide you want to put a whistle around your neck for a living then you must understand that criticism comes with the territory. However, just because it comes with the territory doesn’t make it any easier.  I don’t know of anyone if given the choice to be liked or disliked wouldn’t choose to be liked but as a coach, you must know that being respected must come before being liked. Being liked is nice but it’s not essential to doing your job and coaches who try to please everyone, in my opinion, do themselves and their players a disservice.

White Oak was the only school in which I ever coached.  It was my hometown, my alma mater, and the only place I ever applied.  When I graduated from SFA I was determined to coach there, fortunately God had the same plan in mind.  I never considered leaving no matter what the option may have been and it was truly a blessing. That doesn’t mean it was always easy.  Especially my first 5-6 years, I went through some very trying times and I was forced to get a lot tougher if I was going to survive. Without a doubt, I believe God placed many of those stepping stones in my path early in my career because He knew I had to get tougher if I was going to do His will here.  

When I became the head coach at White Oak, there were 3 former head basketball coaches in administration…Superintendent, High School Principal, and Assistant High School Principal and I had played for 2 of them.  In many ways this was a blessing but it presented its challenges as well. At one point early in my career, I could cross paths with the Superintendent and he would not even acknowledge me. I’ve had my mom say to me on occasion, “Well, I lost another friend today,” when parents or grandparents of my players started treating her differently when they weren’t pleased with how things were going with the team.  White Oak was good to me but it was far from easy.

I point these things out for one reason.  You’re not going to be the coach at 1 school for 25 years without learning how to deal with criticism. In this entry of Coach With A Purpose, I would like to offer some suggestions on how to deal with the criticism that all coaches at some point will receive.

1) Consider The Source

Throughout our dressing room, I would always place signs with inspirational sayings and messages for our players to constantly see.  I always believed it was important to feed the mind with positive thoughts. Along the same lines, I also put signs in our coaches office for our coaches, including myself, to constantly see…coaches need inspiration too!  One of the quotes I had above the door of our coaches office was from Adolph Rupp, “Never worry about criticism from the misinformed.”

As a coach, your perspective is going to be different from players, parents, and the community.  Most parents are concerned about their son and the community is mostly concerned with the performance of the team.  A coach must be concerned with the player and the team….as well as many other factors. So, with this in mind, when you receive criticism, first consider the perspective of the person who is doing the criticizing then consider if it is warranted.  If the criticism is from someone with a personal ax to grind then coaches must learn to dismiss it without letting it cloud their judgement. If it’s from someone you respect and it’s delivered in a respectful way, then take it under consideration.  Don’t limit your opportunities to grow as a coach by being too prideful or stubborn.

Early in my career, I received something in the mail that most coaches will get at some point and time in their career…an anonymous letter. The tip off to a letter being anonymous is obvious…typewritten name and address with no return address. I never had any respect for a person who refused to sign their name to their beliefs but I did realize there were circumstances in which someone could be warning me.  

So, when I recognized the letter may be anonymous, I opened it and immediately looked to see if it was signed.  When I realized it wasn’t, I handed it to my wife (all 3 pages) and asked her to read it. I then asked her if it threatened our family or if it had any pertinent information that I needed to know.  When she said “No”, I never read the letter and to this day follow the same procedure.

I could tell by the look on her face that she couldn’t believe I wasn’t going to read it, especially when I tore it up and put it in the trash.  If someone’s opinion is not worth putting their name on then it’s not worth me reading. Never entertain criticism from a coward.

2) Have A Mentor or Accountability Partner

Coaches are a tight knit group and for the most part look out for each other.  Without such a tight knit fraternity, our job would be overwhelming at times to say the least.  Everyone needs someone to vent to or bounce ideas off of and for me, this has always been one of the benefits of having my high school coach, Dan Noll as our High School principal.

If there are legitimate concerns with the criticism you are receiving then all coaches need someone who will tell them their opinion even if it is not something we want to here.  For this reason, I believe it is important, especially for young coaches to have a mentor or a coach on staff that you can confide in. Someone who understands the challenges a coach faces and can give a well informed opinion.

All successful coaches are constantly looking for ways to improve so don’t be stubborn to suggestions that could be helpful.  Surround yourself with as many people as you can who have your best interest at heart and be willing to listen to constructive criticism.  This will help you grow as a coach.

3) Know Your Mission and Your Pathway

Having well thought out, stated principles and standards will ultimately make life as a coach much simpler.  Knowing who you are, what you want to do, and why you want to do it solves a lot of problems for anyone but especially someone like a coach who is constantly in the public eye.  Decision making is much less ambiguous under these circumstances and much more likely to lead to a good consequence. All coaches must know when to put their cleats in the ground and stand firmly for what they believe and the day will come when you must do things simply because you believe it is the right thing to do.

Early in my career, I was about to make a change in our starting lineup.  This decision was made after a Tuesday night game and would be implemented at practice on Wednesday afternoon.  Coincidentally, the parent of the young man who was about to be inserted into the starting lineup, requested a meeting on Wednesday during my conference period.  Of course, I knew it would be about his son’s role and playing time and I immediately knew if I made the change I had intended to make, that it would appear that I was catering to his request.

So I had to make a choice, stick to my original decision to insert the young man into the starting lineup or not make the change to avoid it being perceived I had catered to his parent.  I knew the right thing to do was to stick to my decision despite how I knew it would be perceived. I did and sure enough, I had a parent conference the next week where the following statement was made, “Everyone knows ________ talked to you last week and that’s why you put his son in the starting lineup.”

Coaches who spend time being concerned with how their decisions are perceived will never have peace.  I’ve never believed perception is reality, I’ve always believed reality was reality. Be more concerned with sticking to your principles than worrying about criticism from the misinformed.

4) Coach Your Family

I hate sitting in the stands.  First of all, I’m a combination of Baptist and claustrophobic so I prefer the back row on the edges with plenty of breathing room.  I felt the same way about the coaching box!

Secondly, having coached as long as I have, I just prefer not to hear a lot of the commentary on the game, coaches, or officials.  For these same reasons, I believe a coach’s family either has to have very thick skin or not sit on the home side. Fans and parents are going to say what they want to say and I believe they have the right to do this within the boundaries of UIL and school protocol.

If your family chooses to sit amongst the fans then they need to be coached on how to handle hearing derogatory things being said toward the coach or team….it’s just part of the life we’ve chosen.

5) Never Take It Out On The Player

To me, this is the area in which I was most concerned.  As much as a parent or fan might be a thorn in my side, I never wanted to take it out on their son.  As coaches, we get upset at times when players go home and tell things that are not true. Understandably so, but I believe we also must consider that many times this is a defensive mechanism for the player.  He may be getting hammered after every practice or game about everything that was done or said that day. Remember players are just kids and they have to live there….we don’t.

If I ever had continuous ordeals with the same parent, I would usually meet with the player to assure them that my dealings with their parent was separate to my dealings with them.  My only request would be having them be willing to deal with me the same way. By taking this approach, I had very few problems with any of my players despite what they might be hearing at home.

Finally, I believe most successful coaches constantly answer to the their toughest critic…themselves.  Personally, when things weren’t going well, I always looked at myself first. I believe this to be the correct approach because I knew if I was satisfied I was doing all I could do, then I could live with it.  No one would be harder on me than I would be on myself and I’d always make sure I had done my part…and a little bit more. My faith drives everything that I do, so if I was convinced I was doing my best to use my God given gifts and talents to the best of my ability, criticism from others paled in comparison.  I’m much more concerned with God’s critical analysis of my decisions than any others.

Being called Coach has countless blessings attached with it, especially in the form of lifelong relationships, but it has its challenges as well. Hopefully, some of these thoughts on how to deal with criticism will allow you to keep things in perspective….know who you are, know what you want to do, and know why you do it.   

Thanks for reading and Coach With A Purpose!  

I have often been asked, “What is the toughest part of coaching?”.  Over the years, I have heard many coaches answer this question in various ways.  Is it the time away from your family? Is it dealing with overbearing parents who are only interested in their son?  Is it dealing with administration or school boards? Is it dealing with losing? All of these could be possibilities.

In my case, it has been none of these.  Without a doubt, the toughest part of coaching for me has always been handling the situation of having a kid who has done everything our program requires and yet, he still is just not good enough to consistently be in the regular rotation….he’s the kid that doesn’t get to play.  Of all things, it is this situation that has cost me the most sleep over the years. It’s for this reason, I usually never carried more than 9 players on the varsity because, ultimately, all kids want to play. Now, let me be clear, I’m talking about the kids that by my definition of doing all our program requires is still not good enough to play….not necessarily the player or the player’s parents interpretation.  

For me, it is the senior that played the role of 9th man on our team that I respected the most.  First of all, if he was a senior on the varsity, that meant he had met the standards of our program up until that point.  I’ve never bought into the theory that states being a senior automatically means you were on the varsity. If I had seniors that hadn’t met our standards, they would be placed on the JV.  Because I always tried to be upfront and honest with my assessments of a player’s standing within our program, this rarely occurred. If they had not measured up by their junior year, most decided to invest their time in other areas.

Secondly, he had proven that he was willing to work every day in practice with the understanding that he needed to be prepared in case he was suddenly thrust into the 8 man rotation.  This is much easier said than done when the requirements in practice are demanding and the coach is holding you to the same standard as everyone else…everyone is required to earn their uniform.  Also, this can be very frustrating when gameday rolls around and you are not getting to play much or at all. It’s tough to go home that night and hear family members question your commitment to the team or students at school the next day ask if you got to play and the answer is no. Even though this kid knows his role on the team, it’s tough to remain loyal to the team and coach under these circumstances because you’re fighting human nature that says to be selfish.

Thirdly, just because he was 9th man on the varsity, it didn’t mean he was the next best player.  On occasion, this senior may be playing this role on varsity to allow an underclassmen to get playing time on the JV instead of sitting on the bench for the varsity.  If a varsity player was out for an extended period of time, a JV player may be moved up for the next game if he was a better player or played a different position. Ultimately, I was responsible for putting the best team possible on the court within the parameters of our program.  If this scenario were to playout, this would be a very difficult situation to deal with and another reason why I believe this is the most difficult role on the team to play.

It’s because of these circumstances, I had the utmost respect for my kids who were willing to play this role…they were the epitome of unselfishness and being a team player.  They were the epitome of the “I Believe” philosophy. It’s also the reason I was determined that these young men would know the respect that I had for them and their teammates had for them.  It’s because of players like our 9th man that I was determined our program would be about more than just basketball. Our program would give them the opportunity to become better people….good husbands and good dads.  I owed them that.

So how do you do this?  First of all, teach the value of roles and that all roles are important to the success of the team and that success will largely depend on the respect that everyone on the team has for these various roles.  Basically, players have different roles but the same status with a shared result. In my mind, it’s a lot easier to play your role when you are getting plenty of playing time but part of that role was also being a good teammate to the player who played behind you. As coach, it was part of my job to point out the value of being a role player, especially the most difficult roles.  I would constantly look for ways to show the value of our 9th man to the team and point this out. One of the best ways to do this was to stop practice to praise this player. To point out the fact that he was busting his butt just like the guys who got to play alot and doing all he could to be prepared as well as making the team better. If I took time out of practice to do this, our team knew it must be important.  

After games in which our 9th man didn’t play, I would reference how he stayed engaged in the game by encouraging his teammates, paying attention during time outs, and being ready if I called his name.  It was during these times, I believe our other players showed their understanding of the value and difficulty of this role by nodding their head in agreement or verbally expressing their appreciation for someone playing this role.  I was blessed to coach so many unselfish kids with character and it was times like these that their light shone brightest.

For many years, I wrote a weekly column in our local newspaper during basketball season called “The Coach’s Corner”.  This was another opportunity to express the value of this role (along with many other aspects of our program) to people in our community as well as being another way of me being able to emphasize the character it took to play this role.

Finally, in our athletic program, we only had one award that each program gave at the end of the year which was our Attitude & Effort Award. For our program, many times the senior who played this 9th man role would be the recipient of this award because of the value I placed on being willing to play such a difficult role.

During my last season we had a senior, Jeremy Patak, who was the perfect example of how to  play this 9th man role, though he earned more minutes than many who have played this role. Jeremy was a kid who loved basketball and more than anything wanted to wear a White Oak jersey alongside his senior teammates.  Jeremy came through every part of our program progression from 3rd grade on and though he was never one of the more physically talented players in his class, he hung in there and continued to work to achieve his goal of being a varsity basketball player.  As more and more players in his class, often players more talented than Jeremy, dropped out for various reasons, Jeremy continued to hang in there and work toward his goal.

Fall and Spring offseason were particularly difficult for him his freshman and sophomore years because he was not a very explosive athlete. This made conditioning and plyometrics very difficult for him and I know there had to be many times that he questioned whether or not it was worth it.  During his end of season evaluation after his freshman and sophomore years, he sat in my office and heard the same message….if you ever hope to play here, you must make yourself a better athlete and improve your skill set.  Fortunately for Jeremy, he was fairly tall (6’3” by his senior year) and he had long arms so he had the capability of being a solid rebounder and low post scorer. From his junior year on, he worked as hard as any kid I have coached to improve himself.  Investing in the weight room, putting in time on the track and in the bleachers, and working his butt off in the gym put him in the position to be a varsity player by his senior year. For this reason, he was one of the most respected and valued players in our program.  Jeremy Patak was what White Oak basketball was all about.

In summary, I was very blessed to have numerous players who put the team above themselves in order to play the role our team needed them to play.  As a coach, make sure your players know they are valued and respected. Make sure your program teaches the lessons of life. Make sure you Coach With A Purpose!    

Thanks for reading.