BUILDING MEN

Thanks to various mentors, I've developed the philosophy that the way you build men and change lives is #1 get the kids to COMMIT to being a part of the program which is playing football while learning the process required to succeed at anything worthwhile. Constantly re-inforce the that DISCIPLINE (finishing a lift, a sprint, a block, etc.) is needed to succeed at anything worthwhile and honor their COMMITMENTS. Illustrate that constant EFFORT (work outs, drills, etc.) must be put in to fulfill the goals that they have COMMITTED to accomplishing. Point out that physical and mental TOUGHNESS is required to overcome inevitable and often un-forseen obstacles (fighting through a block, not avoiding it...a turnover...a loss...etc). Finally, after a person has been DISCIPLINED in putting forth great EFFORT and having the TOUGHNESS to fulfill their COMMITMENT they should have great PRIDE in the PROCESS required to reach their accomplishments.

This just makes sense.

Just to add to it, successful people identify what's important in their life first. In other words, they set priorities. I want to know that the priorities that the young men that I interact with are going to help them become great, successful people.

Great character people, great family members (eventually great husbands and fathers), great students (eventually career-oriented and driven people) and while we have them with us (great teammates and football players). Consequently, our Program Priorities are:

1) Character
2) Family
3) Academics
4) Football

Once these priorities are identified, then a process, blueprint, roadmap, formula or whatever you choose to refer to it as should be presented. In our case, our Pillars of Success express our process toward success:

Commitment
Discipline
Effort
Toughness
Pride

Following this process is what will ultimately lead to success in the areas of your life you've made important. Therefore, you will need to exemplify each of the above characteristics in each area (not just football) in order to truly be successful.

As a head coach, and with my coaching staff, I want to know that we've done everything in our power with each young man that comes through our program to identify, model, teach, and reinforce a process that our players can use to be successful in both the short and long term.

In developing my philosophy several years ago, I wanted to ensure that it was focused on success which meant priorities and a process for success. I also wanted to make sure it was simple (K.I.S.S.) to communicate effectively and concisely yet resonated consistently with everyone in the program.

Messages like this that are drawn out and don't make sense, especially to kids, will quickly lose the target audience. Some kids will tune this out quickly so you better be great at getting it across as efficiently and as effectively as you can in order to believe you're making an impact in this area.

There was never any doubt what our program stood for and I'm confident after several classes of student-athletes coming through with this established philosophy and the communication I still have with even some of our more challenging kids to get to when they were in high school, that our approach transcended our time together while they were in high school. That's an extremely gratifying feeling as a coach. Our young men have priorities and blueprint for success for the rest of their lives.

This has been a message I've given to each of my seniors at the banquet during each of my 6 years as a head coach:

Wherever life may take you, always keep in mind that being successful is not a coincidence...it’s a choice. Be sure you choose to make a total commitment and the necessary sacrifices, stay disciplined and do the right thing, give your absolute best effort every single day, remain mentally and physically tough to overcome adversity, and take pride in finally accomplishing your goals.

I used to put it on the inside cover of How Good Do You Want To Be by Nick Saban. In my first year at a new school this year, I opted to have this as a paragraph in a letter to each senior with a personalized paragraph to each of them and the rest of the letter to the entire senior class.

This program philosophy was long thought out and organized and I'm obviously biased but I believe it's definitely, even with continued research, one of the best approaches I've seen to developing young men.

Look at the artilcles page on this board at the top. Coachfd has a great article about this.

Pete Carrolls 3 rules come to mind....

1. Always Protect the Team- if a players actions negatively affect the team then they will not be tolerated. This includes everything from effort in practice to classroom etiquette to behavior away from the field. To put it simply: Do the Right Thing.
2. No Whining, No Complaining, No Excuses- It is of utmost importance that we speak positively around the program. Negativity breeds negativity.
3. Be Early- Punctuality is a sign of respect and commitment, if you are not committed and do not respect the program, we have no place for you.

The rules are his, the descriptions are how I'd like to apply them to my program. They translate well to a young man's post football days in the business world or wherever he ventures.

The purpose of an acronym is to make something easier to understand and be able to act out.
It's like having a logical way of naming plays: so that people remember them and can execute them.

Easier to "remember"...yes. Not necessarily easier to "understand." But if we're talking about a process, and the process (values) are out of order then I believe that's cause for confusion particularly with kids. Who ultimately are the ones you are trying to positively impact with the message. I just believe a process driven philosophy and message is better than just a bunch of values that a program stands for that do not necessarily relate to one another or create a foundation. Just because the beginning letter of each of the values come together to form an acronym doesn't give them true synergy. JMO.

By the way...

If anyone is interested in the book or character program that I mentioned above, just PM me with your mailing address, and I will send you free hard-copies of the materials.

I am the author of the books, and I have a non-profit initiative that provides coaches with the resources for free. The "REAL Man" message is my life's message--it's what I strive to teach all my young men. Spreading that message any way that I can, is my legacy.

So again, if anyone would like free copies, simply PM me with a mailing address and I will take care of it.

This business is all about building men. I also believe that you will get the most out of your kids, and they will get the most out of themselves and each other, if you teach core values. Joe Ehrmann is outstanding, and his new book is called Inside Out Coaching. It is a very good resource.

You have to have a process in place to teach a set of core values to your players. There are several ways to build values, but at the end of the day you must do so with intent. You have to have a process and a plan, and you must live the values you are instilling in your players.

The difference between success and failure is often the ability to overcome obstacles. Without a strong value system you will fold under pressure. This is where teaching character and building men comes into play.

Over the last several years I have had an opportunity to share our process for building a character education program. Below is a link to an interview I did on building a character education program. There is also a presentation you can download.

www.compusportsradio.com/shows/coachscornervol61.asp

Coaches:

For those of you who request free materials... I am going to send you TWO copies of everything.
Please give the extra set of copies to another coach you know, or to one of your assistants who's moving onto become a head coach.
It's a way to double the impact.

Coach FD has great material so take him up on his offer, he has done a great job in spreading the gospel of truth in building Men.

DC Ohio, will you please do us all a favor and run for President!!! Great stuff as always!

The thing is, if your program is focused on the right things and your coaches do their jobs properly, then there are many lessons that football teaches organically. It is your job as a coach to take these lessons, and teach/reinforce them to the players to show them that they are growing.

In essence what I am writing is that the sport of football should veil the growth to the point that your players don't know that they are being taught about being a man; they just think its football. Ive never been a fan of programs that try to shove becoming a man down kids throats, theyll fight it and reject it for the most part.

The best thing you can do is start at the end, in what ways do you want to build men through football-what is your end goal for them (write this out). Secondly, how does a well run football program do this naturally (write these out too, I came up with seven big ones I focus on). Now you know what you want to do, and how you expect it to happen, focus on emphasizing these aspects of your program and get your coaches on board.

If you can't make yourself into who you want to be,
how are you going to make someone else into who you want them to be?

I'm curious what you think these 7 big ones are...do you mind sharing?

Re-read first two paragraphs of my post.