Daily Thought - Bill Belichick

“What this game is about is whether or not you can execute under pressure in critical situations.”

- Bill Belichick

Daily Thought - Lou Holtz

“Nobody wants to be mediocre in life.  The mediocre are the top of the bottom, or the best of the worst, or the bottom of the top, or the worst of the best.”  Lou Holtz

Daily Thought - Anson Dorrance

"Competition is key to developing players. The only practice environment in which you truly develop a player is a competitive arena." Anson Dorrance

"Competitor of the Week Jersey"

Northern State men's basketball coach Don Meyer has a great phrase: "It's not what you teach, it's what you emphasize."

One of my fundamental coaching philosophies is competition.  We should always be competing, not just on game-day but throughout the week in practices.  In order to better "emphasize" this fundamental, I'm going to give a weekly award (jersey) to the player who is the competitor of the week.  They can wear the jersey all week to practice, sort of like a badge of honor.

I'd love to hear ideas from other coaches of ways they reward/emphasize player performance.

Daily Thought - Vince Lombardi

"The difference between a good coach and an average coach is knowing what you want, and know what the end is supposed to look like. If a coach doesn't know what the end is supposed to look like, he won't know it when he sees it."

-Vince Lombardi-

WHAT IS YOUR VISION? 

Daily Thought - Jerry Sloan

In an interview following his resignation yesterday as Head Coach of the Utah Jazz, Jerry Sloan was asked, "What was your favorite part of coaching?" 
His response, "Watching players compete.  There is a difference between playing  hard and competing.  You can play hard and be satisfied with losing.  A competitor has to beat the other guy."

10 Thoughts About Leadership

By Jon Gordon     www.JonGordon.com

1. People follow the leader first and the leader's vision second - It doesn't matter if the leader shares a powerful vision, if the leader is not someone who people will follow the vision will never be realized.  As a leader, who you are makes a difference.  The most important message you can share is yourself.
2. Trust is the force that connects people to the leader and his/her vision - Without trust there is a huge gap between the leader and the vision.  Without trust people will stay off the bus.  However if people trust the leader they will hop on the bus with the leader an help move the bus forward towards the vision.
3. Leadership is not just about what you do but what you can inspire, encourage and empower others to do.
4. A leader brings out the best within others by sharing the best within themselves.
5. Just because you're driving the bus doesn't mean you have the right to run people over - Abraham Lincoln said "Most anyone can stand adversity, but to test a man's character give him power."  The more power you are granted the more it is your responsibility to serve, develop and empower others.  When you help them grow they'll help you grow.
6. "Rules without relationship leads to rebellion" - Andy Stanley said this and it's one of my favorite quotes.  As a leader you can have all the rules you want but if you don't invest in your people and develop a relationship with them they will rebel.  This applies amazingly to children as well.  It's all about relationships.
7. Lead with optimism, enthusiasm and positive energy, guard against pessimism  and weed out negativity.
8. Great leaders know they don't have all the answers.  Rather they build a team of people who either know the answers or will find them.
9. Leaders inspire and teach their people to focus on solutions, not complaints.
10. Great leaders know that success is a process not a destination - One of my heroes John Wooden, the legendary UCLA basketball coach, never focused on winning.  He knew that winning was the by product of great leadership, teamwork, focus, commitment and execution of the fundamentals.  As a leader focus on your people and process, not the outcome.

Three Rules For Coaching

Three rules for coaching:  1.) Surround yourself with people who can’t live without football.  2.) Recognize winners.  They come in all forms.  3.)  Have a plan for everything.

Bear Bryant

Daily Thought - Cael Sanderson

"My dad was my wrestling coach from little league through high school.  He taught my brothers and me that our effort was more important than our results.  He expected our best effort all the time, in every competition and practice.  He called doing your best "fighting."  When we went to competitions, Dad would say "we didn't come here to win, we came here to fight."  That is the same mind set that I had going through college, through the Olympics, and now as the Head Wrestling Coach at Iowa State.  I am very grateful that my dad taught me this at an early age.  Regardless of the circumstances, you can 'fight' and a 'fighting attitude' will help you be your best."  Cael Sanderson
Olympic Gold Medalist
Undefeated 4-Time NCAA Champion

Daily Thought - Pat Summitt

"You can't always be the strongest or most talented or most gifted person in the room, but you can always be the most competitive. There are bound to be days when you run into someone who is better than you. What can you do about it? You can compete, that's what. You can put forth so much effort that you cut your opponent down to size and force him to play below his abilities. Competitiveness allows you to influence your opponent." Coach Pat Summitt, Tennessee Women's Basketball in Reach for the Summit

USA Football February Magazine

http://issuu.com/bridgeforth/docs/usafb16

Click on the above link for February 2011 edition of USA Football Magazine.

Best of Mike Tomlin

"I live by a cliche if you will; I'd rather say 'whoa' than 'sic em' and I've had to say whoa a little bit and that's ok."

"If you want a team to be championship caliber, it starts with division dominance."

"My mentality is singular in that I want to be world champs each and every year, so that's what we work toward.  I have a tough time acknowledging levels of success short of that.  That's just how I'm wired."

"Big men on blades of grass.  The most violent team is going to win."

"Hungry is a word that I've been analyzing here of late.  It's not hunger that drives me, it's not hunger that needs to drive our football team.  Hunger and thirst are things that can be quenched.  We have to be a driven group, we have to seek greatness."

"Steeler football is 60 minutes.  It's never going to be pretty.  Throw style points out the window, but these guys will fight to the end.  We didn't blink."

"Iron sharpens iron."