Coaching Football's "Little Things"

I love it when God “sneaks up” on me and confirms that He is right here in my life and never lets go of me!!!

I had decided on a slogan for our 2013 season about 2 months ago. One of my assistant coaches and I were talking and he told me about a slogan that he saw on a t shirt that a friend of his at West Virginia football had worn. I thought it “fit” our team and our season extremely well.

That is the KEY to selecting a slogan— IF you are going to select one. It needs to be appropriate for your team, your program and… where your program is at the moment. This is going to require some thought. If you’re going to have a season/team slogan, it’s going to be publicized. It needs to encompass what your philosophy, goals and general perception of your upcoming season is all about.

For example, if you’re in a struggling program or you are rebuilding. To come out and say: “State Champs or Bust!” is not exactly appropriate! But to say something like: “Keep Climbing the Mountain” or “The Road to Success is Paved with Hard Work”— those are examples of something you can continue to hold up in front of your guys as you persevere through the season.

Our situation is different. We had a very successful season last year. We made it all the way to the state championship game. We lost that game but… we only had 4 seniors on the team. In the vernacular of the game: this season, we are loaded!!! With nearly all of our starters back, hopes are high! In fact, the talk sounds rather cocky. “It’s in the bag. We got it this year. Nothing can stop us this season. This is our year.” I love to have kids with positive attitudes but… you have to be careful that the optimism doesn’t overflow into full-blown pride. Thus, our slogan for this season.

What that nice “God confirmation” that I spoke of at the beginning of this was a discussion I had with our pastor over coffee (welllllllll… hot chocolate for me!) the other morning. He was talking about our church and its growth we’d had the last year and commented that he’d read something recently from a pastor near D.C. His sayingfor his church in D.C. is: “Stay humble… Stay hungry!” WOW! THIS is our slogan for this season!!! It’s what I call a “God-incidence”— not a “co-incidence.”

We will challenge our guys to stay humble. We haven’t earned anything yet. We’ll have to work for it. Plus, now we have a “target on our chest!” But while staying humble, we have to stay hungry. Our preparation begins in 2 weeks when we start our pre-season lifting and conditioning program. I don’t want to extinguish their enthusiasm. At the same time, we’re going to make a pact not to discuss anything but getting ready for our opening game.

This conversation came up recently. The guy wasn’t “challenging” me; he just really wanted to understand. “Coach J., how can a Christian man like you advocate the nature of competitive sports— particularly football with all the violence?!” I kinda muddled through an answer. I found a better answer this morning as I read my morning devotion from The Word For You Today.

When you hear things like, “Nice guys finish last” or “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the ONLY thing”— how do they make you feel? The sentiments in those statements and those like it characterize the state of our society today. They promote a workaholic lifestyle that can adversely affect our health, our family life and wreak havoc on the spiritual discipline needed to have a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Soooooo…. what do we do?! Do we avoid all competition? Stop trying to win? Opt out of the race althogether? NO!!! There are some things that a follower of Jesus Christ CAN and should do:

1) Beware of competitiveness that leads to jealousy. In the Bible, Cain’s competitiveness toward his brother Abel led him to murder his brother in a fit of jealousy over what each brought as an offering to God. (See Gen. 4:1-8) Cain made the classic response: He put his “opponent” (his brother!) down in order to build himself up! King Saul became so wrought with jealousy over the adulation shown David that Saul tried to kill David numerous times. Saul’s jealousy grew like a cancer in him.

2) Understand that by seeking to excel in your calling, you exalt Christ! Paul writes in the Book of 1st Corinthians 9:24-25, “You’ve… seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win! All good athletes train hard… for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally.” What’s Paul saying to those of us who are Christian coaches or players? Don’t give a second-rate effort. Don’t settle for mediocre results. Paul continues, “I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me. I’m staying alert and in top condition.” That should be how we play or coach our sport.

Getting ahead of others is NOT what it’s all about! It’s about maximizing all you have and all you do— for the glory of God! Jeffey Marx noted in his book, Season of Life, that Coach Joe Ehrmann’s concern about how we are training boys to be men in our culture is that there’s too much comparing and competing. And it starts as early as the playgrounds of the elementary schools. What we’re trying to say here is: the competing part is fine— IF done in the right spirit. It’s the comparing that gets us in trouble. It comes down to your definition of success. I think Coach John Wooden had it right! Success is (I’m paraphrasing) “peace of mind…. knowing that you DID your best to BECOME the best you’re capable of being.” The only person you are competing with is yourself. Strive to be the best you can be and use it as a platform to proclaim how much you love the Lord!

I am still processing all that I learned at that F.C.A. Conference in Baltimore that I wrote about here last week. WOW!!!

Another speaker we had is someone I have admired for 5-6 years— since I read Jeffrey Marxx’s book, Seasoon of Life, about this man: Joe Ehrmann. I bought Joe’s new book while at the conference and had it on my bedside table ready to pick up and read soon when…. a coaching friend emailed me to say he had just finished one of the most important books on coaching that he’d ever read. It is Joe’s new book: InSideOut Coaching! With THAT endorsement, I had to start it last night. I only got through the Intro and first 2 chapters but it’s already had a profound affect on me. God used that book to encourage me to get up at 12:30 am last night and email one of my players. The player has been dealing with some issues and God put it on my heart to send him a note of encouragement. Being “led by the Spirit” is what the Bible says. Joe’s book was what God used to get me out of bed and writing!

The question he poses in the Introduction is what my title is today: Are YOU a transactional coach or… a transformational coach? I’m hoping I can entice you to get a copy of the book so you can read in more depth. But… I want to challenge all of you to be “transformed” yourself and become a transformational coach. Joe points out the power that coaches hold over players— the influence that we have. He talks about his coaches and whether they were “transactional” (thinking of their own ego first; “using” players to meet their own needs) and led by the belief system of “coach first, team second and player’s growth and needs last, if at all, were their modus operandi.” Is that YOU???!!!

Transformational coaches, on the other hand, use their influence to help bring about positive change in their player’s lives. Sure, they want to win but not at the cost of ruining some teenager’s self esteem and/or concept. He says that transformational coaches “use their power and platform to nurture and transform players.”

This has reallllllllllly struck a cord in my heart. It is really what this blog has been about for a long time. If you’re a Christian, impacting your player’s lives for Christ. If not, still having your player’s interests at the forefront of your coaching. I have been around BOTH types of coaches (played for some and have coached with some) and I want to tell you— if you’re not a Transformational coach, you need to take a hard look at your motives for coaching.

I’ll close with one question that Joe Ehrmann posed during his talk and I’m sure he’ll go into more in the book as I get into it. The question is: “What does it feel like to be coached by me?” Almost all of us have played a sport somewhere along the way. You have memories of that coach and have probably thought about what it felt like to be coached by him or her. Turn that around and do a little self-examination and ask yourself the question that Joe poses. Then go buy a copy of the book and… read it!

I just returned from Baltimore. I was there for a regional Fellowship of Christian Athletes-sponsored conference on training Character Coaches and Team Chaplain. Great time and great material!

Rod Hairston, the Balt. Ravens Team Chaplain, was the keynote speaker. We also had Joe Erhmann speaking to us on coaching from “the inside out.” I recommended Jeffrey Marxx’s book about Coach Erhmann to you a few months ago. Now, I want to recommend Joe’s new book entitled Coaching From the Inside Out. I bought a copy at the conference and am looking forward to pouring through it.

I want to encourage those of you who are coaches out there (HC’s in particular) to prayerfully consider getting an FCA-approved Character Coach or Team Chaplain for your team. There was testimony after testimony from high school and college chaplains about the fabulous work they are doing with players at both levels. Contact your local FCA rep. and tell him/her that you’d like to talk about getting a character coach or team chaplain on your staff. If you care about your players’ minds and spirits as well as their bodies, then you need to get FCA involved on your campus and more specifically on your team!

When I get 2 unrelated people or sources saying the same thing to me, I start paying close attention! This is often when God is speaking to me— not in an audible voice, but through people or circumstances which I call “God-incidences” rather than coincidences. Here’s the gist of what I was hearing:

Be careful around people who don’t value themselves, because they’re incapable of valuing you.

Look for those people who enhance you, not inhibit you; who fertilize your mind, not pollute it. These are the people who will either fortify your faith or destroy it. These “enhancers”, when you’re around them, will help you see your best qualities and you will be nurtured by the words that come from their mouths. When you encounter someone who says you have nothing to offer, be sure to laugh… cuz it’s impossible to hear a joke and not have a good laugh!

When God created you He stepped back and said, “it is good. You are my masterpiece.” So I want to encourage you to stop entertaining negative opinions. Each of us has so much potential that we need to think in terms of possibilities, not negativities.

Don’t let past failures or regrets block you from this realm of possibility. God’s unconditional love is not based on your performance. So we shouldn’t run our life based on success and failure.

I have decided that I have found my “Life Anthem.” I’ll ask for it to be played at my funeral. It encompasses how I want to live my life and how I would encourage you to consider living yours! It’s a song by one of my favorite Contemporary Christian singing groups, Point of Grace. I call it “Turn Up the Music” but the real title is “How You Live.” It’s worth an internet search for the lyrics and listen to the song while the lyrics are on the screen. “Cuz it’s not who you knew or what you did, but HOW you live!!!” That’s when your life counts for something of eternal value.

I had the good fortune to be invited to speak to our Fellowship of Christian Athletes huddle at Nansemond-Suffolk Academy last Friday. What a great group of kids!!! It was especially gratifying since 10 or 11 of my football players showed up to hear me speak. I tried to emphasize a couple of key points to them while using my life’s journey as an example. Some of it as a good example and some of my journey as how not to do things.

One thing I emphasized was to be sure to build a fire wall between who (or Whose) you are and… what you do! Too often in our culture, we define people (and, more importantly— ourselves) by what they do; i.e., their job, their title, their success rather than WHO they are. It is particularly hard for athletes (and coaches!) because the newspaper is going to post your results on Saturday morning for everyone to read. We have a tendency to “define” ourselves by whether we win or lose. Win and we feel good about ourselves. Lose and our self worth takes a nose dive. You’re going to experience a life-long roller coaster ride if you live like this. A roller coaster may be exciting at an amusement park but it can be devastating in real life.

I shared one of my favorite Bible verses with the group to point out how God can “smooth out” that ride. Oh, there will still be bumps and curves but it’s a ride that is a lot more pleasant. I used the analogy of the Carrie Underwood song, Jesus Take the Wheel. Too often we keep God on the closet shelf until we need Him. We’re in the midst of a crisis and THEN we call for Him to “take the wheel.” It’s often too late. The Bible verse I shared was Philippeans 4:13, “I can do all things… through Christ! Who strengthens me.” I CAN, THROUGH CHRIST! He gives us the strength (on a daily basis— heck, on a moment to moment basis) to get through the up’s and down’s of life. We have to trust Him to take control and we walk with Him. Trust— it’s all about trust!

Trusting my life to Jesus gave me a purpose that I had never experienced before. Whereas my purpose before becoming a Beleiver was to be sure that I was being served, it slowly began to change as I let God’s Holy Spirit work through me. (See Romans 12:2) Now my purpose is this: “He died for me; I’ll live for Him.” Everyday, it’s Jesus that I live for. Everyday, I follow after Him. Everyday, I’ll walk with Him, my Lord.

Jesus has made my journey less burdensome and He can do the same for you! Each day becomes an adventure as I wake up and say, “Good morning Holy Spirit! I can’t wait to see what You and I together can accomplish!!!” You can have the same thing. Just let Jesus “take the wheel” of your life!

Happy 36th birthday to my wonderful son! The Virginia Tech Massacre occurred on his 30th birthday. He was on campus (he works at VT) when it all broke loose. I am proud of my son— for WHO he is!!!

My Defensive Coordinator passed along Pete Carroll’s book Win Forever and I started reading it yesterday. He’s very candid about his lack of a philosophy of coaching early in his career which he directly related to his being fired from both the Jets and Patriots head coaching jobs. That time away before being hired by USC afforded him the opportunity to sit down and “self-reflect.”

Carroll said that it was in re-reading Coach John Wooden’s books that the lightbulb came on in his head. If you have not read Wooden’s books, you need to! Whether you are a coach, businessman or woman or student— Wooden’s wisdom will help you not only be more successful in your worldly pursuits but will wake you up in your soul. Wooden’s Pyramid of Success and the subsequent definition of success that he coined are powerful tools to aid us in our search for success and significance in life. Check it out.

Coach Carroll points out that having a philosophy helped him focus on who he was as a coach. It forced him to prioritize his professional and personal values. I shared with one of my players last night in a text about priorities. He’s an outstanding athlete and an excellent student. But… with springtime in the air (at least here in Tidewater Virginia— pray for our friends in the Rockies! More snow!!!), his thoughts and emotions have turned to “hanging out” with a young lady. I shared with him that girls are great but don’t let a dating relationship throw you off track. I shared with him a statement that was given to me years ago: “The MAIN THING is to keep the Main Thing, the MAIN THING!!!”

But… you’ve got to know what, or who, is the “main thing” in your life before you can keep it the main thing. For me, that “Main Thing” is my relationship with Jesus Christ. When I spend time developing THAT relationship, everything else falls into place. I am getting involved in the ministry of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes again. If you are a Believing coach, you need to get an FCA huddle started at your school. FCA has its “Main Thing” right where it needs to be!

Are YOU keeping your “Main Thing” the main thing in your life? Please feel free to write me and tell me about it!

Author Barbara Johnson writes: “I was frazzled; I was running late and had to stand while riding the bus to work. My attitude was going downhill fast when a cheery voice from the front of the bus announced, ‘Beautiful day, isn’t it?’ I couldn’t see the man but I listened to his commentary as he described the lovely scenery… this church… that park… a firehouse. His grateful attitude lightened the load of everyone on the bus. Then as I got off the bus I glimpsed at the speaker: an average-looking man wearing dark glasses and carrying a white stick!”

The Bible says, “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God.” We don’t necessarily thank God for trials, but we thank Him in them. Gratitude is like a boomerang. It blesses the recipient, makes a 180-degree turn and comes back to bless the person who first displayed it. It’s been said that whatever crisis you are going through in your life, before it came your way… God made sure you’d be able to endure it. The Bible tells us that others have gone through the exact same thing (the reason we reach out to others who are hurting— to minister to them)… and made it through victoriously. God has promised to ‘make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

Trials and “escape ways” are inseperable. But the devil doesn’t want you to know that. So, every time you go through a test the devil tells you that there’s no way out. You need to know that when the devil keeps pressuring you, it’s always an indication that “the way out” is getting ready to be revealed. We need to do what God tells us to do: “Rejoice!” One of my favorite Bible passages is in the Book of Nehemiah (8:10): “The joy of the Lord is my strength!” When we have His joy, it gives us strength for the journey. Amen? Amen!

I spent some time this morning on the phone with a coaching friend. He wanted some advice on whether he should “modify” his offense. He’s a long time Wing T coach and is looking to make some changes. He wanted my opinion on whether I thought he should go to the Pistol Wing T? My first question to him was: “WHY are you thinking about doing this?” Your motivation is the critical first question anytime you’re contemplating a change in the way you do things. I wanted him to hear himself say why he wanted to switch to Pistol.

“I think it’s better suited to the strengths of my QB,” he said. That was good. If he’d said something like, “Well there’s a team in our conference who ran it.” Or, “the 49′ers looked good running it in the Super Bowl…” then I would’ve taken issue with his thought process. Too often, coaches (especially Offensive Coordinators!) see themselves as being innovators.” We’d love to be the next Chris Ault and come up with something like the Pistol. Then everyone would jump on board the new wave and we’d average 50 points a game. This is when I need to caution you. If you are running an offense (Wing T, Wishbone, Single Wing) that nobody else in your league runs— be happy!!! Why do you think people in the ACC hate to prepare for Georgia Tech? Is it because they have superior personnel?! It’s that crazy, unconventional offense that Paul Johnson runs. Why is GT so effective running it? Because Coach Johnson KNOWS that offense. That, in my mind, is the key. Run something that you know and understand— particularly how to attack defenses! I love to watch Johnson match wits with Bud Foster at VT (my team!) It’s a chess match. Bud will change option responsibilities and Johnson changes blocking scheme. And on it goes for 60 minutes!

If you are thinking about changing offenses, you better be prepared to spend hours upon hours learning it. Then you have to teach it to your staff and they have to teach it to your players. My first year at my current school, I decided that I wanted to install some read option from shotgun Wing T like some schools out west run. I studied it and felt pretty comfortable with it. There was just one problem: I failed to take into account that my coaches and players had never seen the Del. Wing T. To try to teach base Wing T (under center) and our Spread package AND… then add a read option conponent from the shotgun was simply overwhelming. After 2 scrimmages and 3 games, I bagged the read option package and went stricty base Wing T. We repped the heck out of our 6-7 base plays that next week; attacked the flank of our 4th opponent all night and at the end of the game we’d rushed for 411 yards.

I’m not saying don’t change. Heck, you may need to change. But… be sure you are prepared for the “transition” period that will likely occur upon changing. I’d say: Stick with what you know best and keep studying. I purchased Tubby’s book 22 years ago. I re-read it every winter! Invariably, there’s something in there that I “see” for the first time or there’s a reminder of how a play needs to be executed. We’re going to add Jet and Rocket Sweep to our offense this year— we need another (faster) way to attack the flanks. They will be a small part of our offensive package until everyone is totally comfortable with executing them. It’s a slight addition— NOT a total revamping.

I’m of the opinion: Grow where you are planted!

No matter how hard you try to ignore a problem, it doesn’t magically solve itself. If you refuse to deal with it, actually, your problems will multiply! As the Book of Amos says, “no matter how fast you run, you will not escape.” I like to say that “you can run… but you can’t hide!”

We can try and run or hide or push things aside but eventually we’ll have to slow down because we tire of running. When we slow down, all of our junk will coming rolling behind us. Interestingly, all of the time that we’ve been running, our junk has been snowballing. It just gets bigger and bigger. Kristin Armstrong says that “if we aren’t brave enough to face it when it’s ‘small,’ it’ll run over us later.”

I heard the analogy once of a person always shoveling his life’s garbage down into the basement and closing the door. That way it is unseen and we can ignore it. “Out of sight… out of mind.” Unfortunately, after a while, that garbage begins to rot down in the basement and a stink begins to permeate our “house.” Our attitude, our demeanor and our behavior begin to stink too! NOW is the time to deal with it! No matter how fast you think you are, you can’t outrun it forever.

So, what problem are you running from now? What issues that you are failing to confront are causing you to lose your strength? I encourage you to to make up your mind to stop right now and deal with them. As it says in Ephesians, “Don’t give the devil a foothold in your life” by spending one more day on the run. It really does not matter how badly you’ve messed up in the past, Jesus is quick to forgive when we come to Him with a repentant heart.

Whether it’s a stubborn habit that you can’t break away from or someone you fear confronting— NOW is the time to step up to the plate.

This is important: what you’ll find is that the thing that is chasing you will lose its power when you face it down… in the strong Name of Jesus! St. Paul says, “Having done all… stand.” And… you do that through the power of God, not your own strength. One of my favorite Bible verses that I love to share with teens is Phil. 4:13. It says: “I can do ALL things through Christ Who gives me the strength.” Yes, we can do it but, in Jesus’ power… not our own!