Everything They Don't Tell You About Being a Coach

The short video above delivers a powerful message on "Everything They Don't Tell You About Being a Coach" from Glazier's Head Coach Academy.  For all Athletic Directors and Coaches, it is definitely worth your time to watch!

In the video, veteran Coach Frank DeLano provides some food for thought for deciding how to handle the following situation:   Something that could really help an at-risk student/athlete is not necessarily best for the team as a whole. 

Even though Coach DeLano has experienced incredible on field success (six state championships), he still believes that as coaches we coach for the student/athletes and not for the sport itself.  If coaches are investing in their athletes the right way, the conflict he addresses can be a very difficult one to navigate.

There is no coaching manual to refer to when you must make difficult decisions.   But a coach can study how other coaches work through the challenges that come with every coaching job.  You will never be prepared for everything that you are forced to deal with as a coach, but you can be prepared for how you will approach the unexpected.

Here are a few things coaches can have in their mindset toolbox to prepare for the tough issues that arise out of nowhere. 

• Just like a fire fighter is trained to run into a burning building, coaches need to have the mentality to run toward any fires they face in their program.  Avoiding them will not make them go away, and almost always compounds the problem.
• The coach needs to be the voice of reason and calm in every situation.
• Work to help everyone involved to stay as poised as possible as well.
• In some situations, you might not be able to solve the problem, so your only course of action may need to be to help with the healing process.

Having to frequently make decisions such as this one can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness for coaches.  The coach can get input from others, but in the end, he or she must make the tough decision and then be ready to move on to the next challenge.

The toughest decisions that coaches face are not about planning practice or in game strategy and adjustments.  Those decisions are not easy.  But in the end, coaches whose impact is truly transformational for their teams are prepared to think through all sides of each and every demand that comes with coaching.

The fact is, you might not know that you signed up for these types of problems when you became a coach.  The reality is that you did, you just didn't know it.

Helping coaches develop a way of thinking that can be applied to all the issues they face is the purpose of Glazier Academies.  The curriculum provides coaches across all sports and at all levels with the preparation and tools to tackle the most challenging and important issues they face today.