Coaching Doubts

PROformance Football Training Coach Nathaniel Frederick

Coaching players is hard. Especially if you truly care about the players and their success. But what about you? The Coach. At some point, every coach, hits a moment where doubt creeps in. 

Did I make the right call? Am I doing this coaching thing right? Did I coach that kid up the best way I could? Do my coaches believe? Do my player believe in me? The list goes on. I can't say if you are or not. But EVERY coach faces these questions and doubts. Every Coach. If they say they don't, they may be Bill Belichick or a liar.

Remember, before your team, your athletes, staff, parents, boosters, or anyone else will believes in your ideas, plan, program, strategy and message, YOU have to believe and own it first. Deep in your heart. If you do, its so much easier to convey, be passionate about and execute.

YOU and your Standard Sets the Tone! This is probably the most important coaching point. I have talked with and consulted with so many coaches that say, the kids don't listen, my assistants do their own thing, parents are bugging me about playing time, etc. YOU and your standard sets the tone. Period. YOU ARE THE HEAD COACH! If you are not the HC and are an assistant, support your HC in executing the standard, buy in. If you have an issue with the standard, talk to the HC offline, in private. Don't rally the other coaches or bitch amongst yourselves. Step up and be the kind of Assistant Coach your HC and program needs and expects.

I would always tell players, everything is an evaluation. Everything. The way you carry yourself, how you react to a bad play, do you screw around in the weight room, are you a leader, do you cheat your drills or work outs, etc. I would say the same thing for Coaches.

Your players don’t just listen to what you say. They watch what you do. How you respond. How you lead. Are you organized? Are you in control of practice or are the players in control? Are your practices up beat, up tempo, fun and productive or chaos? Etc. If you’re unorganized, unsure, hesitant, or constantly shifting focus, screw around with the players, etc. they’ll feel it and respond accordingly. Who is control? The Coaches or the players?

If you are organized, focused, practice with a purpose, bring energy and passion, conviction, and unwavering belief in the process and your goals for the day, the week, the game, the season, etc., they’ll follow, believe and execute accordingly. If you don't, I would guess your program is struggling or at best, not reaching its full potential.

A Championship Program of Excellence starts with you...the HC and your coaching staff.

• Do you speak and act with confidence?

• Do you reinforce the standard and ensure EVERYONE understand the standard, even on the hard days? If you are looking for inspiration on that, just Google any Nick Saban speech.

• Do you believe in your team, your goals, your standards, your program and your players—even when they don’t believe in themselves? They can tell.

Football is a game where all 11 players MUST do their job. If they don't the machine breaks and the play fails. If you want to execute and succeed on every down, ever game, every practice, etc. and ultimately have your players fight for something bigger than themselves...every play, series, etc., you have to give them a reason to believe in themselves, their team mates, their coaches and their program goals and standards.

If you struggle with defining your goals, standard, etc. give me a shout. Otherwise, I would suggest you spend this off season thinking through the following:

• What are my program goals? State Championship? Develop my young team? Winning Season, Etc.

  
  

• What is the standard I want to instill in my program? If you don't know, there are plenty of top HS, College and Pro programs you can model or draw inspiration from.

  
  

• How am I going to install this standard with my coaches, AD, parents, players, etc.?

• How do I ensure I uphold my standard and program goals in EVERYTHING I and We as a team do every single day?

  
  

• What can I do from a promotional/morale standpoint? T Shirt? Banners? etc. This goes a long way in promoting what your expectations are and what everyone is fighting for.

  
  

• Am I effectively communicating in general, my plan, my standards, etc.? Many coaches struggle with this. Communication is critical in all things. Especially your relationships! That includes your coaches, parents, players, AD, staff, etc. Many a coach I have spoken with is frustrated with his staff and/or parents only to find out the HC has not effectively communicated his vision, plan, standard, playing time expectations, depth chart, etc.

Think through these questions and how you would answer them. They should drive further questions to think about. But in the end, do not doubt yourself. Doubt is a result of fear. Fear is a result the unknown...of not being prepared, focused and ready to execute. When you are prepared, focused and ready to execute, confidence is a result.

If you need help with this, please reach out. HS, Youth, College, etc., I work with them all! Now, get down to business!

~ Coach Frederick