Good afternoon, Coaches. Let’s get right to the stories.
1. How Delegating Coaching Duties Took One High School from Good to Great (HUDL)
Newark Valley High (NY) was very successful in Brian Sherwood’s first three seasons at the helm. The Cardinals went a combined 21 – 8 in that span and made the Class C playoffs each season.
But Sherwood thought his team could take another step. So for the first time in his career as a head coach, he relinquished his duties as defensive coordinator and truly took the reins of the entire team. The thinking behind the move — during games, Sherwood previously met with the defense while his offense was on the field. Switching things up would allow him to watch both units and have a better pulse of his team as a whole.
The Cardinals went 13 – 0, taking home the Class C State title, and Sherwood was named the Elite 24 Coach of the Year. Newark Valley bulldozed over the opposition, winning by an average of 32.8 points per game.
“It was different for me, but it also helped in the game planning week to week,” Sherwood said. “It made those two (coordinators) more crucial in their own game-planning and put me on both sides of the ball instead of just the defense. It put me more in touch with both sides of the ball.
“You only have so much time during the week and, when you’re a coordinator, you’re spending your time on that side. I think we were more efficient in planning and finding tendencies with me working on both sides.”
The decision was finalized after Newark Valley’s first scrimmage, which doubled as the staff’s introduction to Hudl Sideline. The technology delivered instant replay to the coaches’ iPads in mere seconds, allowing for more teaching moments between drives.
Sherwood didn’t want to have his head buried in a tablet during his offense’s drives. It was time to truly take control of the team.
“It wouldn’t have been effective if I would’ve continued to be a coordinator because I couldn’t have sat on the bench, get out of the flow of the game and make all the decisions a head coach has to make during the game,” Sherwood said. “We made adjustments each series versus making minor adjustments at halftime.”
What is one responsibility you could delegate this year that you didn’t delegate last year?
2. Yelling and showing anger isn’t ALWAYS effective for coaches (Competitive Advantage)
Dr. G. from Competitive Edge lays out the upside of yelling at players.
So am I really saying that you can never yell again? Am I telling you that you must only make nice-nice with your athletes? Several of your players consistently goof around and are disruptive during practice. Are we pushing the “new self-esteem” model here, which states that you can’t raise your voice or reprimand these athletes because it might irreparably damage these goof balls’ self-esteem? Absolutely NOT! Providing critical feedback and setting appropriate behavioral limits with your athletes are important parts of your job as a coach-educator. You can’t be effective unless you do it.
And then he lays out the downside.
As I’ve already mentioned, I can’t find any constructive use for coaching via demeaning and intimidating behavior. Making your athletes feel stupid in front of their peers or publicly humiliating them may temporarily get you their attention, but it will permanently lose you their respect and the respect of their teammates. Once you’ve lost a player’s respect, you’ve lost that player! Furthermore, your “lesson” will not be lost on the rest of the team. When you put one player down, the rest of the team is immediately worried about you doing this to them.
When you yell at a player, how do you toe the line between motivating him and embarrassing him?
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