Who was the worst player you have ever coached?

I was recently asked to describe the worst player I have ever coached.

Context told me this had absolutely nothing to do with skill set or ability to play the game, per se. The questioner did not wish for me to divulge a name.  This was more a quest for anecdotal identification of what makes a poor teammate.  Two players immediately came to mind. One of each gender. I will be using initials to describe these individuals in this writing. They are not the individuals true initials and were indeed selected totally at random. In fact, I might even obfuscate gender or mix and max a bit to protect identies.

GM was an average talent on the pitch who had an alpha personality.  Not being”the” star was a problem resolved by attaching himself to the star player.  The star player was not a leader, but as is often the case with a star player was looked upon as a leader.  So GM led through the star player.  It was a selfish, self-promoting style of leadership that ultimately cost the team a chance to play for a championship. GM didn’t care about that or much of anything else that did not benefit or promote himself directly.  Not only was GM selfish, he was also a bully and capable of being quite mean to any who dared challenge his self-perceived authority or place on the team.

GD was the most narcissistic person, let alone player, I have ever encountered.  No sense of team except in the sense of what the team could provide her.  Did not care about winning as long as she got her stats. GD’s damage was not limited to a season or even seasons. No, GD almost completely destroyed an entire program. There was real question as to whether the program would survive to field future teams. Her selfishness rose to a level of running off potential players who could have served the team well, but conflicted with her personnel mission. I’ve never had a player more disliked by he own teammates than GD was.  And GD was completely and totally oblivious to this ... or just didn’t care.

Why is this important?

Why rehash bad memories?

I tried to cut both GM and GD from their respect teams and programs, but was not allowed to do so for different reasons.  One cost their team a chance to compete for a championship and the other almost destroyed a program. Both of these individuals were leaders on their teams. NEGATIVE leaders who proved destructive to their teams missions and goals.

That’s part of the reason I am sharing his with you.  Rarely does a team rise above the level of its leaders.  If, on a scale of 1 to 10, ten being the best leader possible and one being the worst leader imaginable, your leader is a 6, then your team will never be anything more than slightly above average. If your leader is below average, say, a four, then that is also the ceiling, the cap, the lid for your team.

Another reason I am sharing this with you is my observations regarding GM and GD’s teammates. Most curiously from my perspective is how so many good players and potentially solid leaders on both teams allowed GM and GD to assume control of their teams culture and programs destiny. Good, truly good, people allowed something really awful to happen to themselves without putting up a strong enough fight to win the day.  I shouldn’t be surprised since history is littered with examples of good people led astray by dubious leadership. I suppose I am more disappointed than surprised.

Both teams underachieved for the simple reason their culture was dominated by negative leadership.

I am eternally grateful to both GM and GD for from failure we learn. They were such colossal
failures as leaders that they provided magnificent learning opportunities.  For one, I used to loathe cutting players, but now when I identify another potential GM or GD I do not hesitate in purging
them from the team and program. I have also learned to be far more aware and selective of the environment I coach in: if I cannot rid a team and or program of poor leaders and poor teammates,  then I now fully realize the limits this places on the team being competitive to the full measure of potential ... and the frustration that will inevitably be present in such an environment.

What does it mean to be coachable?

The latest high school season ended a month ago. After taking time off I am just now beginning to analyze our performance.  I have found it prudent to allow time for the emotions of the season to pass and also for myself to become rejuvenated from the grind.  How do I know when to begin again the process?  When I start yearning to be actively coaching again, it is time.

As I have reflected upon the season just passed, the theme that has emerged is "coach-ability."  This might seem a straight forward subject, but it is not. For example, is a player uncoachable or has the coach failed to find the best way to coach a player?

The hallmark of my teams has always been defense. They have always featured stout if not stifling defense that fuels a fast paced balanced counter-attacking offensive style. Not this past season.  We allowed 2.12 goals per game which is abysmal by my standards. The most important question to be asked is, why?

In analyzing the goals we allowed certain trends become apparent.  First, our backs were overly aggressive at times - they often dove in or stabbed at the ball instead of containing the attacker. This was something we addressed in training on a regular basis to little avail.  Secondly we were caught very flat or lacking defensive support on a far too regular basis - death to a zonal defense.  Again, this is something that was addressed on a regular if not daily basis in training.

So, now the question becomes, were the players uncoachable or did the coaching fail to reach the players?  I know from experience my coaching methodology has worked in the past. Was my approach with this group of individuals off or were they simply uncoachable?

Mistakes are welcomed if we learn from them.  And this is where we begin to uncover where the problem lay this past season.  Repeated mistakes become bad habits and we repeated the same mistakes in our back line on a regular basis.  No matter the approach in training the mistakes remained the same and constant. We simply could not overcome established bad habits.

I submit there are varying degrees of coachability

Not coachable: The know it all. Not receptive to instruction. Listens only to his own voice.

Selectively coachable: Does what is asked but only when it is self-serving. Mostly does whatever he wants.

Reluctantly coachable: Goes through the motions but doesn't fully embrace coaching. Reluctantly committed.

Coachable: Does everything asked of him. Surrenders self to the TEAM.  Trusts and empowers coaching.

When our performance is looked at in the context of the above scale, it becomes abundantly clear why we struggled defensively this past season. Team Culture was and will continue to be a frequent topic of conversation. In some ways, this past team was extremely selfish. That might sound harsh, so, in simpler terms, we had players whose excellence was defined by their arms and legs more so than by their heads and hearts. And let there be no doubt about it, this was apparent whenever we encountered adversity this season.

Now in my third decade of coaching I have seen my fair share of players who refused to take coaching, rejected instruction and eschewed the earned experience of those who would help them. Mostly I have seen the game pass these players by or seen them languish in mediocrity due to their arrogance, anger, subversion or low self-esteem. I have also seen plenty of players make transformative changes in their approach to the game that lead to TEAM success and earned them the individual accolades they had so desperately sought on their own.

How does a coach overcome a players inability or reluctance to take coaching?

I can identify "problem players" at the moment when I intervene with advice, instruction or criticism. It is at that moment when the athlete makes a choice between responding positively or reacting negatively that determines his destiny as a player. This can also be said of a team as a whole. Unless a coach can somehow influence a change from negative to positive in the player and or team

Can coachability be developed?

I have had some past success with this. Discovering a players motivation to learn and improve - what buttons to push to energize the players learning process is a key.  The individuals goals as a player are another.  What does the player wish to achieve and can he be convinced the coach holds the best interests of the player in mind as well? Which leads us to the player / coach relationship. This is where I failed with some individuals and therefore for the team this past season.

To be honest, the culture shift we implemented in the program this season was drastic and there was a certain (and expected) level of backlash against new rules and standards. The demand of players that they be subservient to TEAM instead of self was difficult for some to grasp let alone adhere to. Our disciplinary issues mostly fell into this realm.

In the Mel Gibson movie "The Patriot" the militia are an undisciplined lot who break ranks and flee in retreat at the first sign of adversity. They must learn to trust one another and band together tactically to become greater than the sum of their individual parts before they can turn the tide of battle in their favor and rout the British.  It took time, but they eventually found their way.

So, yes, coachability can be developed. Learning to trust one another is the foundation that must be established. Making self subservient to TEAM is a major step. The simple proposition that an individual will sacrifice his own selfish desires, needs, wants for the good of the TEAM is what must be brought forth. This can best be accomplished through building relationships that help the student athlete buy in to the TEAM philosophy.  This is what occurs in the movie "Remember the Titans" where a diverse group of high school athletes overcome social differences and selfishness to become a TEAM far greater than the sum of its individual parts.

Coachability is a state of mind. It is about having the internal strength to trust teammates and coaching to achieve more together than the individual can achieve on his own. The transformation that must sometimes occur is about learning to willingly allow one's self to be subservient to the TEAM's whole. Developing an understanding that excellence is defined by head and heart even more so than by legs and arms must occur. When these things are allowed to blossom and grow transformative change from selfishness to selflessness can occur. That's when I have seen an uncoachable player turn into a coachable player.

Meddling

Many ideas for articles come from you, the readers of this blog.  I have had quite a spate of conversations in recent days about people meddling in athletic programs.  I have always found it curious how one particular topic seems to come to the fore during a specific time frame. I have no sound idea for why meddling is the prominent topic these last couple of weeks. Nevertheless, it is and so I will share a few general thoughts on the subject.

Just this morning, I read a rather lengthy article about the Cleveland Browns of the NFL.  Yes, I am a Brown's fan.  Sigh.  Lack of continuity has plagued the Browns for years now. Constant turnover in the front office, the personnel department, coaching staff and on the roster has sabotaged any effort to put a respectable product on the field since the franchise returned to the NFL.  It starts at the top with owners meddling, or micro-managing every aspect of the franchise.  In Cleveland's case, owner Jimmy Haslam is responsible for keeping Josh Gordon in Cleveland and bringing Johnny Manziel to Cleveland over the objections of the people he hired to run the personnel department. Front office meddles in personnel and personnel meddles in coaching in what can be described as a trickle down deluge of disastrous proportions. 

Click here for the article on the Browns mess

High school soccer is plagued by teacher unions demanding their members receive preference for coaching positions regardless of merit.  As it was explained to me years ago by a sympathetic athletic director, "there is no so such thing as more qualified" when weighing potential coaching candidates. Greater weight is attached to a teacher seeking coaching employment than to a non-teacher seeking the same position.  "If Bill Belichick applied for the head football coach position I would still have to give the job to a teacher, if the teacher had any qualifications at all."  I myself recently ran afoul of such a scenario. I was told I was the best candidate for the job, but the position went to someone who just graduated from college and is a permanent substitute for the district and would probably be hired into a full time position for next fall when the season would begin.   I understand. I knew going in to the interview process that I would not be getting that coaching position. As soon as the athletic director mentioned "union" I knew it was over. Such is the meddling nature of teacher unions in athletics. I went through the process anyway for the experience and practice. I have my eye on another position I "think" may come open.

A coaching colleague had to withstand an attempt to overthrow him in mid-season last fall.  I kid you not, the school posted the head coach soccer position after the season started. He withstood that challenge and went on to complete the season, but one of the persons seeking his job turned out to be an assistant coach. Talk about awkward.  I have recently learned the position will be re-posted as a teacher employed by the school district has expressed interest in being the head coach,

I listened to another person vent about the "team mom" who flirted with and all but seduced a male coach to ensure her son would be captain of the team and win the desired post season awards so he could include mention of these on his college applications.  A scene right out of a Hollywood movie, you say?  I might have agreed had I not witnessed similar situations from both a coaching and a parental perspective. 

Referees are not immune to meddling either.  I saw a high school basketball referee years ago whose attitude was that the game was all about him and everyone was there to see him. He announced before the game that he was one his way to officiating college basketball and then it was on to the NBA. Each and every call he made (and there were many) was done with attitude and flair! Demonstrative doesn't begin to describe his approach.  He was going for charismatic, but as anyone who has officiated will tell you the two don't mix at all.

One of the my more memorable predicaments occurred when I was hired by an athletic director to clean up a program beset by meddlesome parents. Everything went well, until the athletic director himself was run off by meddlesome parents and the new athletic director turned out to be one of those meddlesome parents.  It got to the point where I was instructed who to play by the new athletic director despite the athletic director admittedly having next to no knowledge about soccer. 

There was also the time for no apparent reason a superintendent fought tooth and nail against fielding a junior varsity squad. Every objection presented by the superintendent was successfully dealt with. In the end, all that was left was the cost of providing numerals to the athletes depicting graduating year that could be applied to their letterman jackets.  About $15.00 total. I offered to pay for the numerals. Now, finances were not the actual reason for the reluctance to field a JV team. The superintendent backed herself into a corner by meddling in a growing and successful program. In the end there was a need to save face and no way to do so gracefully.

A coaching mentor once related to me a similar situation he found himself in many years ago. The then athletic director instructed him not to play a black athlete at quarterback. He had to play a white athlete at quarterback. The black athlete was clearly superior in every regard, but that did not matter. As in my case, if the coach wished to continue coaching he had to abide by his bosses (the athletic director) orders. The white kid played quarterback. The coach left after the season

I have seen club teams quite literally torn apart by such meddling.  A power hungry assistant coach attempts to overthrow the current coach. When that fails the assistant recruits everyone who will go with him to a new team.  Or a parent unhappy with the team her son is assigned to within a club attempts to overthrow the decision makers and start a new club / team that will accommodate her son.

I once had an administrator refuse to pay me over a dispute he had with a players family.  I had absolutely no leverage with either party in the situation. It finally brewed over the next season when in mid-season the administrator stated the player could no longer play. The administrator went so far as stating to me that he would be coming to the next match and confiscating the players card to prevent him from taking the field. And this was the goalkeeper he was going to ban from playing! 

I am also reminded of certain players through the years who were disruptive when they did not get to play the position they wanted to or did not receive the playing time they wanted. One player, frustrated with what he perceived as a lack of playing time stripped his uniform off behind the bench and put his street clothes on with over 20 minutes remaining on the clock of a high school match. A second example saw a player badger the coaching staff non-stop in pursuit of his own agenda.  Or in the case of Johnny Manziel and Josh Gordon of the aforementioned Cleveland Browns players will drink or do drugs, be late to practices and games and in other ways be generally irresponsible and indifferent to their responsibility to themselves, their teammates and coaches

Another common occurrence involves the parent on the sidelines who thinks (s)he knows more than the coach and isn't afraid to share his knowledge with anyone within earshot.  I have first hand experience with this as a parent / assistant coach and as a head coach.  Mary was an absolute nightmare in berating any player she viewed as a threat to her sons position on the team.  Ed was worse as he struggled to deal with his daughters injury ruining her senior season and whatever dreams he had of her going on to play in college.

I find it extremely difficult to sit in the stands at a soccer match as a parent / fan with people who know me. I get asked questions about interpreting the Laws of the Game, coaching decisions, tactics and strategies, how an athlete can improve his chances for playing time and any number of other game related topics.  Some people (Mary and Ed as examples) gleefully embrace the attention and are oblivious to finding themselves sitting alone as everyone moves away from them.  As for me, I prefer not to sit in the stands.  My wife enjoys my company and seeks my commentary not realizing the awkward position she sometimes puts me in.  I much prefer to sit or stand by myself as many have witnessed for I want no part of being seen as meddlesome.  Even so, I was accused of being meddlesome this past season. My transgression was cheering positive reinforcement to players.  I am quite serious. The coach took offense to my voice being heard cheering on the efforts of players other than my son. So, I modified my behavior to cheer only for my son... which did not go unnoticed by other parents. I acquiesced to the coach's wishes in an effort to protect my son from the coach seeking retribution or revenge. It didn't work. I knew it would not. My cheering positive plays the team made or directing those cheers to my son solely could not address the coach's insecurity and frustrations in the first place. The coach felt threatened by my presence although I had recommended him for the position, vouched for him as a coach and campaigned to the athletic director on his behalf. In the end there was a coach meddling with a parent cheering positively for the team? 

Where's the motivation in that?

And that's where all this is leading.

I grew up on "The team. The Team. THE TEAM!"

My actions whether as a player, a coach, an assistant coach or parent have always been guided by the philosophy shared by Bo Schembechler in the above video. It's all about what is best for THE TEAM.  In all the instances of real or perceived meddling related above, the team became of secondary importance. Selfishness and individuality were the motivation of owners, front office, personnel departments, teacher unions, athletic directors, administrators, coaches, assistant coaches, referees, parents and yes, players too. And in every case when the focus shifted from the team to the individual the quality of the experience went down for not only the meddler and his or her target, but everyone around them.

It's all about the team, bout the team.

No meddlers.