Can u teach physciality /toughness?

full speed contact is a wonderful teacher
as is proper and great technique.

In my experience, toughness comes from confidence. And confidence is built in the weight room and on the practice field. A player who knows they prepared hard and can match up against an opponent will play tough. A player who is well-coached from a technical and strategic standpoint will play tough. A player who has devoted a ton of time to getting better in the off-season will play tough.

No amount of drills, hitting, yelling, etc. will completely get them there. But, confidence will. And you can certainly build confidence.

I think as well something I have to remind myself a lot of is something I came up across at work all the time.... I'll be moaning to myself that worker A hasn't done enough work, doesn't make enough phone calls etc etc, but then I remember, have I actually TOLD THEM what I expect, I've talked to them about hard work, and starting the day fast; but that's not the same as really telling them what you're looking for.

Now clearly on the football field they will have been told at some point, but I know in the past I've been guilty of "knowing" that my players are soft, or can't do a certain skill and then almost accepting defeat, even if in reality I'm tarnishing all of them because of one or two players previously..... so certainly in film sessions I make sure I point out to guys things we did well, but really get on them infront of their peers about stuff which isn't acceptable, where you feel it's largely an effort/mental issue.

Obviously you have to treat each player differently, and judge their mental toughness, but I find that a good dose of peer pressure and emphasis about "Dude, come on, on that counter, that was a {censored} trap block, wasn't it???" really can help them know that actually more is expected from them.

Failing that, maybe try and find a guy who can lead by example and if you have to ride them both ways for a little, showing if they wont crush the guy, the coaches WILL find someone who can.

Just my thoughts.

I don't want to beat a dead horse but the toughest most physical team I ever had was a team where all but 1 or 2 of my defensive players were weight room junkies.

I have kids who have been more aggressive, or bigger hitters but these kids player for player were tough and could bang.
Weight room = confidence
Knowing what to do & how to do it = confidence

With out those you can go live all day and still not get there.

Toughness, Hardnosed, Agressive whatever you want to call it comes from very few qualities.

The main overriding Quality is Confidence. Confidence comes from knowing yourself and what you have achieved and how you have pushed yourself to achieve that. That self-confidence is built up failing in the Gym, taking steps to mastering technique and being taught to be Football savvy.

The Players appreciate this more than we realise, after spending so much time devoted to Football, the ones that know they are strong and well taught will not shirk out of a Tough situation.

Like many other Coaches I am sure, I yelled at Players, put them in Hard situations, drilled them till they puked etc. But know I know that their lack of "toughness" was my fault for not preparing them right. It was my fault for not seeing their weakness.

one thing to add to what loch mentioned ...

they must be taught to have confidence in the fact that it's ok to hurt ... that they can go all out, until their body is about to shut down, until they puke, etc. and that they won't keel over dead but have the ability to continue forward. they have to learn to hurt - have to feel what it's like to be at the brink of giving up physically/mentally and overcome it - THAT gives them so much confidence in all the other things.

where is this taught? off season. mats. weights. plyos. quarters. sprints. gassers. cross-fit. tires. wear 'em out. push them past the brink. praise 'em like crazy when they overcome it. again, they gotta learn it's ok to hurt.