I constantly hear football fans attribute magical coaching qualities to certain coaches. I think most of these supposed coaching “attributes” fail to stand up to any scrutiny.
“He fires up his team/motivates them”
Over the years I've slowly come to the conclusion that you can't motivate others – motivation comes from within. As a manager, the best you can do is try to eliminate demotivating factors (hygiene factors). If I was suited up for the Big Red, I'll guarantee you I'd run through walls to help us win irregardless of the head coach, but that's me. In the business world, if workers aren't motivated, they're fired. Unfortunately, given scholarship guarantees, you can't fire the whole team and start over. You've got to just work through them and replaced the bad apples as they graduate or leave.
“Coaches up players”
Coaching wide receivers isn't rocket science. All Div-1 wide receiver coaches teach basically the same footwork, technique, route running, and all use constant repetition to make sure players know what to do on every play. So what is it that leads some wr coaches to be perceived as really “coaching up” their guys? What exactly do they do or teach that makes them unique? If someone is touted as “coaching up” their wr's, what you're really saying is that he has some really talented receivers who would do well under most any coach. I could make the same argument about all other position coaches. If this holds true for the other position coaches, then by logical extension it also applies to the head coach.
“Shows passion on the sidelines”
In a military operation, you want a cool calculating leader who keeps his nerves and wits about him at all times (think Tom Osborne or Tom Landry). The last thing you want is some raging idiot screaming at subordinates, cursing, slamming down his radio, not listening to the advice of subordinates, etc. Sort of like our last coach.
Instills a winning attitude
Lots of dingbats who've never played the game i.e. journalists, talk about touchy-feely things like this. How exactly do you instill a winning attitude? What is it that separates coaches who instill a winning attitude versus coaches who are perceived as not instilling a winning attitude?
Has the “it” factor:
Intellectually lazy people cite this as a rationale for validating the worth of some coach or player. Nuff said.
Comparing coaching record with non-comparable schools
There is a reason Oregon St, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, etc, haven't won any National Championships while USC, Miami, Florida St, LSU, Alabama, etc, are always in the hunt for a championship. It has to do with local talent.
“Needs to be more involved in gameday coaching as well as personnel selection”
A colonel I knew always looked like a bystander during graded exercises involving his men. I asked him why he wasn't more involved guiding and directing his people during exercises. He said, “I appointed knowledgeable enlisted people to lead and train my troops, I made sure they had adequate time and resources to train my troops and I told everyone my expectations. My job is done. The last thing I want to do is be a micromanager who tries to run and control everything, i.e. a control freak.” Basically, I'd argue if a coach is micromanaging during a game, that means he failed to adequately staff or trust his assistant coaches.
“He fires up his team/motivates them”
Over the years I've slowly come to the conclusion that you can't motivate others – motivation comes from within. As a manager, the best you can do is try to eliminate demotivating factors (hygiene factors). If I was suited up for the Big Red, I'll guarantee you I'd run through walls to help us win irregardless of the head coach, but that's me. In the business world, if workers aren't motivated, they're fired. Unfortunately, given scholarship guarantees, you can't fire the whole team and start over. You've got to just work through them and replaced the bad apples as they graduate or leave.
“Coaches up players”
Coaching wide receivers isn't rocket science. All Div-1 wide receiver coaches teach basically the same footwork, technique, route running, and all use constant repetition to make sure players know what to do on every play. So what is it that leads some wr coaches to be perceived as really “coaching up” their guys? What exactly do they do or teach that makes them unique? If someone is touted as “coaching up” their wr's, what you're really saying is that he has some really talented receivers who would do well under most any coach. I could make the same argument about all other position coaches. If this holds true for the other position coaches, then by logical extension it also applies to the head coach.
“Shows passion on the sidelines”
In a military operation, you want a cool calculating leader who keeps his nerves and wits about him at all times (think Tom Osborne or Tom Landry). The last thing you want is some raging idiot screaming at subordinates, cursing, slamming down his radio, not listening to the advice of subordinates, etc. Sort of like our last coach.
Instills a winning attitude
Lots of dingbats who've never played the game i.e. journalists, talk about touchy-feely things like this. How exactly do you instill a winning attitude? What is it that separates coaches who instill a winning attitude versus coaches who are perceived as not instilling a winning attitude?
Has the “it” factor:
Intellectually lazy people cite this as a rationale for validating the worth of some coach or player. Nuff said.
Comparing coaching record with non-comparable schools
There is a reason Oregon St, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, etc, haven't won any National Championships while USC, Miami, Florida St, LSU, Alabama, etc, are always in the hunt for a championship. It has to do with local talent.
“Needs to be more involved in gameday coaching as well as personnel selection”
A colonel I knew always looked like a bystander during graded exercises involving his men. I asked him why he wasn't more involved guiding and directing his people during exercises. He said, “I appointed knowledgeable enlisted people to lead and train my troops, I made sure they had adequate time and resources to train my troops and I told everyone my expectations. My job is done. The last thing I want to do is be a micromanager who tries to run and control everything, i.e. a control freak.” Basically, I'd argue if a coach is micromanaging during a game, that means he failed to adequately staff or trust his assistant coaches.
