1. Coach every player as if he were your own son. It won’t be the same for every coach or every player, but it will allow you to gauge and guard YOUR HEART, which is required of the coach who doesn’t want to commit trust-losing mistakes.
  2. Faith: You must believe in yourself, in something bigger than yourself, in one another, in them … You also must let them know you believe in them.
  3. You have got to believe in the cause and the outcome. We will overcome. No matter what. There is no option. There is no room for disbelief. If you don’t believe, then you are not needed. 
  4. Make your responsibility area great. Don’t build an empire or operate in a silo. Your responsibilities belong to you, not someone else. Communicate problems to me and/or a coordinator. Make your job description better than we thought.
  5. You are here to coach THIS team at THIS time. Your next opportunity will be a direct reflection of the job you do here. Networking is a myth … they are going to make the calls.
  6. Treat people right – and with respect. Realize that “they” don’t have the skin in the game that we do. Don’t get mad; that is a distraction and a waste of your attention. Get the job done. Graciousness: “please” and “thank you” go a long way.
  7. Respect the building. Don’t impose on employees outside of their job description unless you are paying them back as equals. 
  8. “Building Talk” — they will crack under interrogation — they all want to sound like they are in the know — and, in the end they won’t respect a talker.
  9. “The Walls have Ears” Limit the flow of information — loose lips sink ships — and careers. “There are two information rules in life: 1. Don’t give out all the information and 2…
  10. Either be honest with the media or say nothing. Fewer words go farther. Have players and coaches’ backs. Build up, but don’t overstate. There is no such thing as “off the record. “Let the head coach decide who gets to know what. The only protection from the media is winning! Nobody gets a job opportunity through a press conference — they only lose one.
  11. “The morale is to the physical as 3 is to 1.” The morale of the team is a direct reflection of the coaching staff. The morale of the position room is a direct reflection of the position coach.
  12. Agreeing to agree takes a lot more work than agreeing to disagree. Unity is everything — have a gladiator mentality. It’s us vs. them/division within. Never show cracks to your players — ever.
  13. In matters of strategy there is NO MORAL IMPERITIVE — it’s not about right or wrong. It’s about effort and execution, loyalty and unity. Coaching wisdom and communication will get us an effective strategy.
  14. I need to know. A good question to ask is “will you have wished you had told me when I find out?” Assume I will find out when it goes bad, and how will that look for us? For you?
  15. Don’t waste any good ideas. I/we always WANT to hear a good Idea. A great idea can come from anyone and has a thousand fathers. I will listen when you have your finger on something. If we agree, we will develop a strategy to use/change it. If we disagree, we will still expect you to explain and reinforce your idea.
  16. “If you don’t like change, you are going to like irrelevance even less.” Embrace change in such a way as to find the ADVANTAGE in it. When you manage it better than your opponent, that’s when you win
  17. Visiting coaches are only encouraged if you trust and feel strongly about the person, or if they can help us be better. Always clear it. 
  18. Your private time and life are highly respected here. When it detracts from us, then you become a problem. That includes alcohol, wives, gossip/cliques, private deals, negative relationships with other coaches/other side of the ball. Work at work. Things may come up, but it’s not really the time to organize your private life.
  19. COACH THE TEAM! That’s what they hired us for. We’re valuable because we are the ones in the building who can do that. Otherwise, they don’t need us. Remember that. 
  20. “Get it Right. Make it Right.” Throw everything you’ve got into evaluation-instruction-correction. Be the best at those things. Don’t justify inadequacy. Decide what they can execute. We will be evaluated on EXECUTION! Justification gets coaches fired.
  21. Reinforce the team & unit messages. To do so you will have to listen and probably take notes. Strategic repetition. Just because they heard doesn’t mean they listened. The ears change constantly. 
  22. The “Locker Room” is everywhere. Be in there regularly. Stewardship. Respect, culture, world view, community — build it up. 
  23. 100% Accountability is where we start. Keep track of discipline violations and communicate them with me. “Make it Right” philosophy is in place. We must be consistent in every room. If we are not, we will lose credibility. In the end, they will not respect the coach who lets them slide. 
  24. Stay on top of the little things including jerseys, chinstraps, shoelaces, get back, substitutions, where they stand. Why? Because I believe that these things are important. I am happy to explain it. (Make a winning counter proposal or get 100% on board. There are no “I don’t agree but you know how it is…”) Don’t go there, it does not help us.
  25. Player dress: Issue/regulations: chinstraps, mouthguards, tied shoes, socks, shoulder protection. 
  26. Monitor your own non-verbal cues. It is easy to let your own doubts or a slight disagreement slip. Don’t do it, it does not help us. If you don’t know, say so: “I don’t want to speak for coach on that/let’s see how he would say it.” Be prepared on a scheme and install. Not doing so is a very effective way to lose their confidence in you as a coach. 
  27. Plan your rotations, be on top of substitutions and stick with them. It is going to move fast. Prep it in the AM. Veterans: let’s be smart with our guys. When they practice, they practice up to standard 100%. That’s the tradeoff, and it’s 100% non-negotiable. 
  28. Substitutions: they won’t be sharp in the game if they are dull in practice.
  29. Pace your individual period. Train players to do it CORRECTLY. NEVER allow an imperfect individual rep to go on without a repeat. If players don’t do it right in the most controlled rep we have, how are they ever going to do it right when it counts? I don’t care if you only get one rep — it must be right. Also, no “lecture series” on the field. And be creative in individual periods. It should directly reflect the priorities you want right at this time. It should not look the exact same every day.
  30. Coach EVERY player — ALL THE TIME — EVERY MINUTE of EVERYDAY. No one is too good to be coached on the details; no one is beneath your coaching. Get the key guys ready to play.
  31. Coach the tempo & PURPOSE of the drill in walkthrough. Act, rehearse, wrap, tag, live. They must understand HOW TO PRACTICE.
  32. Pace of practice — overall philosophy team periods should be like the game, but harder — near frenzy. “Learn into the pace.” Speed up their thinking, but don’t do the thinking for them. See if they can make the right decisions. Make them learn how to figure it out. Explain what we are trying to accomplish. 
  33. Repeats: we want to get it right. Repeat reps now or at the end (HC/Coordinators discretion). You are not being evaluated on whether they get it right the first time all the time — cheating does not get them ready; teaching does. “No repeat” practices should be earned.
  34. No “Chicken Coaching.” Don’t worry about making a mistake or your players making mistakes. No need to defend your coaching.
  35. WORK. Players will find something to complain about no matter what we do!
  36. We don’t respect “Prima Donna” attitudes. Let’s not tolerate any of it. Pull him out or send him to me.  A coordinator can sit a guy down or send him to the locker room, not a position coach. A position coach can pull him out of a drill short term but communicate it right away. I will back you; try to be right.
  37. Respect each other, and the “chain,” out there. Don’t raise a disrespectful voice at another coach. Be aware that there are ears — and microphones — everywhere. 
  38. Depth Chart demotions and promotions are the domain of the head coach.
  39. Understand that, on occasion, I may go at you to get to players. Let them feel the heat for putting you in a tough spot.
  40. This is a teammate system, not a star system. The biggest stars are the best teammates. The sun gives life to a planet; it serves.

“The days are long, but the years are short”. The standard is high: chase perfection. Play Like a Raven.  We can create anything we want. Make it look like you always wanted it to look! Be relentless on football AND be relentless on the relationship. Have fun, laugh, cry. This is the ONLY LIFE WE ARE GOING TO GET! Let’s do something with it!

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