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Post by murdr on Feb 18, 2016 18:42:37 GMT -6
This is my personal philosophy. I actually a head coach in college once stress the importance of the individual. Only coach I've ever heard of taking that approach.
Obviously, popular wisdom is to put the team before the individual, and the team IS clearly important, but I like to take the opposite approach. Whether people like it or not, teams are comprised of individuals first and foremost, each with unique goals, motivations, and skill sets.
By stressing selfishness (if I'm going to be honest and use the term I really want to), players care about their own personal success. And what better way than to show it on the football field? By being selfish, players show me they want to play, they want to succeed, and they have the internal motivation necessary to make their wishes reality. Team players are great, they really are. But there's nothing wrong with a little bit of individuality. Selfishness on the football field usually culminates in the form of wanting to be the best damn player on the field. I don't see anything wrong with that.
When I played in HS, I'll be honest and say that I really didn't give a {censored} about any of the other players or coaches. A bit sociopathic, yeah, but I was motivated by my own personal success. Being driven by that led to me playing hard and wanting to be the best. Those things helped the team, whether it was intentional or not.
Does that mean they act in detriment to the team, or that they bitch and moan and strike when they don't get their own way? No, of course not.
But you don't need to have a bunch of kumbaya hippies in a fire circle drinking beer and listening to music. Your players don't even have to like each other or get along with each other, so long as they get the job done on the field.
Maybe it's just because of my loner nature, but I have never set up team activities for my offensive guys, and I most likely never will. Different individuals have different interests. Some kids just want to do their own thing, and that's okay.
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Post by utchuckd on Feb 18, 2016 18:45:55 GMT -6
You vote Libertarian don't you.
(not saying I disagree with anything you posted, neither)
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Post by rsmith627 on Feb 18, 2016 18:48:21 GMT -6
I don't know if I agree with this even remotely nor can I honestly day that I disagree, but interesting thoughts.
One of the schools I was at in the past was a turnaround job in a high poverty high crime area. Half the kids didn't know where their parents were, they had no support, and college was a pipe dream. Those kids would ball out and play for themselves knowing that a scholarship was likely their best way out. Is that selfishness? It certainly was never detrimental to the team.
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Post by murdr on Feb 18, 2016 19:04:33 GMT -6
You vote Libertarian don't you. (not saying I disagree with anything you posted, neither) Very good guess. I do. |
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Post by coachd5085 on Feb 18, 2016 20:49:08 GMT -6
This is my personal philosophy. I actually a head coach in college once stress the importance of the individual. Only coach I've ever heard of taking that approach. Obviously, popular wisdom is to put the team before the individual, and the team IS clearly important, but I like to take the opposite approach. Whether people like it or not, teams are comprised of individuals first and foremost, each with unique goals, motivations, and skill sets. By stressing selfishness (if I'm going to be honest and use the term I really want to), players care about their own personal success. And what better way than to show it on the football field? By being selfish, players show me they want to play, they want to succeed, and they have the internal motivation necessary to make their wishes reality. Team players are great, they really are. But there's nothing wrong with a little bit of individuality. Selfishness on the football field usually culminates in the form of wanting to be the best damn player on the field. I don't see anything wrong with that. When I played in HS, I'll be honest and say that I really didn't give a {censored} about any of the other players or coaches. A bit sociopathic, yeah, but I was motivated by my own personal success. Being driven by that led to me playing hard and wanting to be the best. Those things helped the team, whether it was intentional or not. Does that mean they act in detriment to the team, or that they bitch and moan and strike when they don't get their own way? No, of course not. But you don't need to have a bunch of kumbaya hippies in a fire circle drinking beer and listening to music. Your players don't even have to like each other or get along with each other, so long as they get the job done on the field. Maybe it's just because of my loner nature, but I have never set up team activities for my offensive guys, and I most likely never will. Different individuals have different interests. Some kids just want to do their own thing, and that's okay. I think you are jumbling concepts here. Wanting to be the best, being intrinsically motivated is not the same as being selfish. I would say that being selfish, putting the individual before the team is defined as acting in detriment ot the team, complain when they don't get there way etc. Not having team activities is not an example of being selfish. Being motivated by your own success is not being selfish. Being a "star" is not being selfish. Running around a block to try and make a tackle is being selfish. Not blocking downfield to save up energy for yourself is "selfish". Keeping on a give read so that you get the stats is selfish. |
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Post by brophy on Feb 18, 2016 21:02:25 GMT -6
what the hell was this post about?  |
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Post by s73 on Feb 18, 2016 21:08:33 GMT -6
This is my personal philosophy. I actually a head coach in college once stress the importance of the individual. Only coach I've ever heard of taking that approach. Obviously, popular wisdom is to put the team before the individual, and the team IS clearly important, but I like to take the opposite approach. Whether people like it or not, teams are comprised of individuals first and foremost, each with unique goals, motivations, and skill sets. By stressing selfishness (if I'm going to be honest and use the term I really want to), players care about their own personal success. And what better way than to show it on the football field? By being selfish, players show me they want to play, they want to succeed, and they have the internal motivation necessary to make their wishes reality. Team players are great, they really are. But there's nothing wrong with a little bit of individuality. Selfishness on the football field usually culminates in the form of wanting to be the best damn player on the field. I don't see anything wrong with that. When I played in HS, I'll be honest and say that I really didn't give a {censored} about any of the other players or coaches. A bit sociopathic, yeah, but I was motivated by my own personal success. Being driven by that led to me playing hard and wanting to be the best. Those things helped the team, whether it was intentional or not. Does that mean they act in detriment to the team, or that they bitch and moan and strike when they don't get their own way? No, of course not. But you don't need to have a bunch of kumbaya hippies in a fire circle drinking beer and listening to music. Your players don't even have to like each other or get along with each other, so long as they get the job done on the field. Maybe it's just because of my loner nature, but I have never set up team activities for my offensive guys, and I most likely never will. Different individuals have different interests. Some kids just want to do their own thing, and that's okay. I think you are jumbling concepts here. Wanting to be the best, being intrinsically motivated is not the same as being selfish. I would say that being selfish, putting the individual before the team is defined as acting in detriment ot the team, complain when they don't get there way etc. Not having team activities is not an example of being selfish. Being motivated by your own success is not being selfish. Being a "star" is not being selfish. Running around a block to try and make a tackle is being selfish. Not blocking downfield to save up energy for yourself is "selfish". Keeping on a give read so that you get the stats is selfish. I concur here. Wanting to be the best is not selfish or being an individual. I prefer the guy who is selfish about wanting to WIN and is willing to do what he needs to do to make that happen. None of us are likely to coach anyone better than Jerry Rice, Walter Payton, Lawrence Taylor, etc, yet they all needed the other 10 guys. Be selfish about wanting all the WINS every week & do what it takes to make THAT happen. JMO. |
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