“Mental toughness is the ability focus on the next most important thing.” – Jack Clark, Head Coach, Cal Rugby Ask your players – or any group of players – if they think they are mentally tough. I’m sure most of them will raise their hands. Of course I’m tough. C’mon, man. Even if they don’t […]
Complain or Appreciate
I have been a college head coach for a total of 13 years. Nine at Rhode Island College, and four at the University of Maine. Both jobs are considered “tough” jobs. State schools that don’t have a lot of money, so you don’t have a lot of bells and whistles. They are both “more with […]
Jack Clark – Kia Kaha
Jack Clark, the Rugby coach at Cal, is the best I’ve ever heard regarding culture and team-building. This is a short clip where he talks about the core value of toughness. “Mental toughness is a decision.”
Major Douglas Zembiec
https://vimeo.com/300170511A tremendous 11 minutes about a hero and a great teammate.
Execution In Practice
If you really want to work on your execution in practice, don’t give your offense any advantages. I’ve seen a lot of practices where the head coach huddles with the offense before each set to work on half-court execution. He calls the play in the huddle and tells the offense what reads to look for […]
Athletics Above All Else
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/11/03/u-md-debacle-is-what-happens-when-university-cares-about-sports-above-all-else/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.196084879b9cAn interesting case made in the Washington Post that what happened in Maryland is a sign that college athletics have become too important.
Win Anyway
A Championship Mentality… Win Anyway. You are feeling a little tired before practice? Win Anyway. In foul trouble? Win Anyway. You aren’t getting the ball enough? Win Anyway. You are on the second team in practice? Win Anyway. You have to guard someone bigger than you? Win Anyway. You have to guard someone quicker than […]
You Can’t Practice Time and Score Enough
Opening night of the college basketball season gave us another painful reminder that you can never practice time and score enough. Stony Brook started their season at George Washington by missing their first 18 shots and falling down 22-0. They came back and won the game, which is an incredible story if that was the […]
Flip The Script
You are going to run into situations as a coach where your players just don’t get it. No matter how much you do, how hard you try different ways of teaching it, they just aren’t going to pick it up. You get to the point in practice where you are trying to get blood from […]