From a recent article in The Athletic about how college football coaches hire assistants. Nick Saban nails it on the importance of presence for anyone who eventually wants to be a head coach. Saban goes, ‘Hey, let me tell you something. I’m not worried about what they know. Is he able to articulate what he’s […]
Tom House
King of Throws A really good New York Times article on pitching coach Tom House, who goes about teaching and coaching with a different approach. Tom House rebuilt Nolan Ryan and fixed Randy Johnson. He worked with Tom Brady and Drew Brees. At 75, he has reinvented himself (again) with an app that teaches young […]
Let Them Be Themselves
Not everyone is a natural, vocal leader. Not everyone shows great emotion when they play. Not everyone is naturally talking or engaging with their teammates on the court. Not everyone handles success and failure the same way. I had Arkansas coach Eric Musselman on my Dynamic Leadership Podcast and we talked about his approach with […]
Someone Else Is Open
Time and score rule: Someone else is open. Everyone defensively gets attracted to the ball. Smart took 3 dribbles before he got ripped. Look across the court.
Steve Jobs
“It doesn’t make any sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”
Transactional Relationships
I got my first head coaching job at Rhode Island College in 2005, and I was hired in September, after school had started. When I got the head job at the University of Maine in 2014, I got hired in May, after school had ended. I met with the team on campus during my interview, […]
4 Types of Leadership
Autocratic Leadership Autocratic leadership is a form of leadership where decisions are made by the leader alone. These leaders don’t consider their teams’ thoughts and opinions before making a decision or heading a new direction with training, processes, or otherwise. An example of an autocratic leader is someone who changes the schedules of several employees […]
Halftime
Kansas was down 40-25 at halftime of the national championship game against North Carolina. They outscored Carolina by 18 in the second half to win the national title by 3. I’m not sure what was said or done at halftime, but the team clearly responded and played a great second half with their back against […]
Challenge Network
From Adam Grant’s book “Think Again,” which is all about learning to re-think what you believe in. We learn more from people who challenge our thought process than those who affirm our conclusions. Strong leaders engage their critics and make themselves stronger. Weak leaders silence their critics and make themselves weaker. This reaction isn’t limited […]
Balance on Offense
In 9 years as the head coach at Rhode Island College we only had one player who averaged more than 15 points per game. We had a ton of success and were generally either the best or second best team in our league every year. We went to the NCAA Tournament in our last 8 […]