Super Bowl 46 Mental Toughness Defined

Tom Coughlin and Bill Belichick  define mental toughness for their teams...

Coughlin - "A perfectly disciplined will that refuses to give in."

Belichick - "Doing your best for the team even when everything's not going right for you personally."

Great Responsibility

"Never before has coaching had a greater challenge or responsibility.  I have found it difficult coaching players who are a product of this culture.  Kids have too many choices, too few commitments, and even fewer consequences.  They are self-absorbed, it's just a mentality.  They want to know, 'How does this benefit me?'  Very few of our players coming into our program have ever experienced consequences and that means they do not know suffering.  But if you don't suffer, you never get hungry, and you never learn to fight."
Nick Saban

Dangerous Phrase

"The most dangerous phrase in the language is, 'We've alwasy done it this way.'"
Grace Hopper

Daily Thought - Competition

"When you get away from Mommy and Daddy, it's a tough world out there.  The people that work in corporations and do a really good job usually have corner offices and trips to Cancun and bonuses.  If you don't do a good job, you don't.  I think a lot of times kids aren't taught that."  Urban Meyer

Tough Players Don't Want To Be Treated Like Everyone Else

Dick Devenzio - "Desiring fair treatment is the province of the mediocre.  Champions don't want to be treated like everyone else.  Champions don't want to be put on an equal plane with others, they welcome the opportunity to show what they are made of under all sorts of conditions.  They don't worry what has happenened to anyone else.  They are eager to demonstrate what they can do."

Daily Thought - Buzz Williams

- "Old people talk about the past."
- "Young people talke about the future."
- "Successful people worry about the now."
Buzz Williams - Marquette Basketball

Don't be a S.O.B.!

"A S.O.B. is not what you think it would be.  It is someone that  is a Shift of Blame - someone who blames something else; the sun, the grass was too tall, someone that blames others.  We will not accept Shift of Blames in our programs.  Accept responsibility."  Marc Johnson
Head Baseball Coach
Cherry Creek High School
Colorado 6A and 5A State Champions:
1983, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999
Runner-up:
1984, 2001, 2002, 2005

Heisman Commitment

WHAT DID TIM TEBOW DO THE SUMMER AFTER WINNING THE HEISMAN TROPHY?

“All summer, I kept the workouts going – even when I traveled for a combination of mission trips and vacations for a total of three weeks that off-season.  I was able to do it because my brothers helped me with the workouts at every stop on the trip; I was not about to lose the edge I’d built up with my teammates in the spring.  AND SO I TRAINED IN LONDON, CROATIA, BOSNIA, THAILAND, THE PHILLIPINES, AND IN THE AIRPORT TERMINAL IN FRANKFURT, GERMANY.  Seven countries in three weeks, if you include the United States.  Our workouts consisted of exercises with whatever equipment we could find: stairs, chin-up bars, or rough mountain roads.  The materials for the workouts didn’t matter; what mattered was making sure that I got them in.”

From Tim’s book, Through My Eyes with Nathan Whitaker

Daily Thought - Champions

"Champions behave like champions before they're champions; they have a winning standard of performance before they are winners."  Bill Walsh

Daily Thought - Love Tough

"I believe in tough love.  But for tough love to work, love must come first.  We must love tough to bring out the best in those we lead."  Jon Gordon

When Things Go Wrong

"When things aren't going well, it's not what a leader says, it's how a leader looks that matters."
Coach Mike Krzyzewski - Duke Basketball

Daily Thought - Integrity

"To be a leader a man must have followers. And to have followers, you must have their confidence. Hence the supreme quality of a leader is unquestioned integrity. Without it, no real success is possible whether it is in a section gang, on a football field, in an army, or in an office.“

 General Dwight D. Eisenhower

Daily Thought - Simplify

“Simplify your teaching and communication. This will reduce confusion. An athlete that is not decisive and confident in what he is to do will be hesitant and a hesitant athlete will fail.” 

Del Harris - NBA Coach

Daily Thought - Gary Patterson

"There is no such thing as everyone wins and gets a prize.  I think you need to teach them there is a winner and there is a loser in life.  That's the way it is and you have to learn how to win and the discipline of doing things the right way.  I think the sooner the kids learn that the better chance they have of being successful."  TCU - GARY PATTERSON

Hardest Teams To Prepare For

Florida coach Billy Donovan asked the New England Patriots' Bill Belichick who are the hardest/easiest teams to prepare for in the NFL.  His answer:

"The hardest teams to prepare for can disguise what it is they do by making everything look the same."

"The easiest teams to prepare for 'do what they do.' You know going into the game what they’re going to do."

Practice Intensity

“Once practice began, everyone was expected to operate at full throttle.  I wanted to practice at game speed.  We would never allow for anything but full speed and full effort in games, and I wanted us to practice exactly like we played.  I believe when you give athletes a chance to perform at varying levels of intensity, you offer an invitation for varying levels of performance. “  Pete Carroll

Why The Colts Chose Manning?

George Barna - January 8th, 2010

While driving I sometimes listen to sports radio. A show aired recently that was discussing pro football and the pending playoff match-ups. Not being a football fan I was about to change the station when an interesting statement caught my attention. A scout for one of the teams heading to the playoffs was describing the priorities, discipline and focus of all-star quarterback Peyton Manning, who has had an outstanding career with the Indianapolis Colts. The scout noted that when Manning graduated from college the Colts had narrowed their draft options to Manning and another outstanding, highly-rated collegiate quarterback.
To figure out who might be the best selection for their team, Colts executives set up interviews with both young men. Both prospects discussed their desire to win and their positive feelings about the Colts. The turning point in the Colts’ decision was the answer they received to one particular question: If chosen by the Colts, what is the first thing you will do? Young Manning’s reply, supposedly offered without hesitation, was “Study the playbook.” His competitor’s response? “I’m booking the next flight to Vegas so I can celebrate with my buddies.”

Daily Thought

“No student ever attains eminent success by simply doing what is required of him/her; it is the amount and excellence of what is over and above the required, that determines the greatness of ultimate distinction.”

Charles Kendall Adams – American Historian

Where Does Winning Football Begin?

Bill Belichick - "In a few places: the right attitude, commitment to preparation, and execution under pressure."

1. Attitude
2. Preparation
3. Execution

Servite's 4 Rules

Servite High School coach Troy Thomas said there are four rules Servite football players need to know.

No. 1: Love your teammates.

"When you love somebody, you are willing to sacrifice and put them ahead of you."

No. 2: Do your job.

"You might be the guy that runs the scout team. That's important. You might be on the bench. Be supportive. Everybody has to do their job on a team."

No. 3: Play as hard as you can.

"We talk about playing hard for 48 full minutes. That's what it takes to win."

No. 4: Be physical when you get there.

"When you get to the point of contact be more physical than your opponent."