New Year's Resolutions

For players:

I WILL carry the ball ALL THE WAY over the goal line before I start celebrating!

When I score a touchdown, I will recognize the other 10 people who made it possible.

I will NOT be caught smiling at any point after being called for a stupid personal foul that kills (or extends) a drive.

If I am a teammate of a person who gets called for a stupid personal foul, I will NOT go up to him/her and say anything along the lines of “it’s OK”. No, it’s not. Stop doing stupid things that hurt the team.

If I claim to “love the game” I will show it by having a true passion for the game, instead of only passion “for” games. That means taking seriously practices, workouts, film study and chalk talks.

If I’m getting coached, I will NOT say, “That’s what I did.” No, you didn’t. If you did I’d be patting you on the butt instead of chewing it out.

I will not talk to anyone else when a coach is talking to my group or the team. Basic respect and courtesy.

For coaches:

I will be organized in my practices and drills. Indecision and looks of confusion erode trust of the players.

When I coach to correct, I will give specifics. Telling a player to simply “hit someone” doesn’t help (unless the player really didn’t hit anyone, which does happen).

I will praise publicly and criticize privately whenever possible.

I will not discourage questions, and will gladly answer in detail. However, the players have to know there is a time and place for everything. Generally speaking, 0:20 left in the game, and down by 4 is not the time for lengthy discussions.

I will admit I whenever I was wrong.

I will listen to players’ suggestions. It may not be feasible to act on all (or any) of them, but if they’ve taken the effort to think them through, then you have the responsibility (and give them the courtesy) of listening. There is no faster way to have players tune you out than to have them think you don’t listen to their concerns and ideas.

I will not talk to anyone else when another coach is talking to my group or the team. Basic respect and courtesy. We demand it from the players, we should demonstrate it as coaches.

Happy New Year – may 2014 bring you and your team enormous personal and professional success!