Coach 360

Adversity is something we're teaching our athletes to deal with every day on the field. The goal is to prepare them for when unexpected adversity strikes outside of athletics. We are all dealing with an adverse season right now. We can either rail against it, or put into practice what we've been trying to teach our athletes all this time: Adversity is just an opportunity for growth. In this episod...

Love is not weakness. Love is strength. Love makes you willing to die to self for your teammates. It makes you willing to serve them. Without love, there's no service, no selflessness, and no sacrifice As we've said many times before, sacrifice is required to find success. When you love your team and your teammates, you will sacrifice for them, and together, you will succeed.  In this episode, Coa...

"Because I said so" isn't just a statement of authority. It's also a statement of dependability: Because I said so, it will be done. Dependability is all about doing what you say you are going to do. Dependability will always beat ability because no matter how much talent you have, it's worthless if you can't be depended upon to do what you said you would do. In this sample from the 2Words Charact...

Celebration is contagious. When we see someone smile or laugh, we want to smile and laugh with them. Complaining is also contagious, though. When we hear someone complain about the weather, it makes us realize it's too hot, too muggy, or too something when moments before we were enjoying a beautiful day. When we hear someone complain about a situation we're coping with well, we suddenly find it ha...

Team values that aren't put into practice are just words. That said, having an easy-to-remember acronym to consistently remind athletes of our team values can help athletes to turn those words into action. In this episode, Coach Sam Harrell breaks down the acronym FAST, which they use at Ennis High School to talk about their team values. FAST stands for: Faith, All in, Selfless, and Toughness. The...

Our work adds up a little at a time until we reap big results. But if we don't put in our little bit of work today, that little bit rolls to tomorrow, which pushes tomorrow's work to the next day, just like a snowball begins to gather mass as it rolls down the hill, until the work has piled up into an overwhelming heap.  It's easy to put things off until tomorrow. It's easy to schedule and plan fo...

In this episode with Coach Mike Fecci of Mckinney North High School, Coach Fecci stresses that winning games is a byproduct of a great team culture. The young man or woman must be built first; then the winning part will take care of itself.  It all starts with our athletes' character. The more opportunities we give them to get character reps, the better their character will be, and the more wins a...

Our athletes have the capacity to become tough, gritty individuals. As coaches, we have the capacity to help them get there. We want to teach our athletes to be mentally tough, to do the right thing in everything that they do, and to succeed at challenges they think are beyond them.  During this interview, Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Zac Harrell of Athens ISD discusses the importance...

Inside every struggle there is tremendous opportunity. We live in interesting times, and interesting is often a euphemism for difficult. But even in these interesting, difficult times, there are opportunities everywhere. Opportunities to affect others. Opportunities to get up and do something. Opportunities to step beyond our comfort zone so that we can grow. In this episode, our guest Damon West...

Description: Second-in-command, second chair, assistant coach. These are all ways of describing the same thing: a leader. An assistant coach is just as valuable to the team as the head coach. A second chair has a responsibility to help the first chair become his best, just as the first helps the second to be the best they can be. Just because a leader isn't the top dog doesn't mean they aren't imp...

Description: Coaches are under a lot of pressure to get wins and have model athletes, but there isn't necessarily a lot of praise or thanks for all the hard work that goes into meeting those demands. But coaches are helping to develop the adults of tomorrow. Many of us had an influential coach in our middle or high school years who left a lasting impact on our lives. Coaches who are authentic. Coa...

In the midst of uncertainty with school and business closures, Mackey and Colton bring us this episode, where they discuss accepting reality, taking action, and being there for our athletes and our F.A.M.I.L.Y. Mackey and Colton want to remind us that it's okay to be blindsided by the current situation because no one could have seen this coming. But what is not okay is to stay blindsided and lamen...

The people that we surround ourselves with at work and in our personal lives have a huge influence on us. That's why it's so important to surround ourselves with people who do things the right way and who help us grow personally and professionally This is one of many insights provided by Coach John Walsh of Denton ISD in this interview. Coach Walsh also discusses doing research to find an athletic...

Our team and school standards are what make us who we are. Everything runs more smoothly when coaches and athletes are doing the right things based on those standards. Our high standards give our athletes something to grab and hold onto when something goes wrong in their lives. It's an anchor for our student-athletes' lives where they can learn how to do hard things with integrity. In this episode...

As coaches, we have to hold our athletes accountable for their actions. When they mess up a play in the middle of a big game, that's on them. After all, we're not the ones playing; they are. But, we have to remember that every kid responds to constructive criticism differently, so the way that we address accountability and hold each athlete accountable for their actions will be slightly different....

Your family isn't just your blood relatives or your spouse. Your family is also your friends, your co-workers, and, your athletes. Having a team that acts like a family means that everyone is valued, and everyone has a place in the program. When we focus on inclusion and togetherness, other values like hard work and competition are easier to drive home. In this episode, head football coach Kyle Ab...

Our athletes will not grow without challenges and adversity. They need obstacles in their path, so they can learn how to overcome natural opposition. The playing field isn't always fair--refs make mistakes and the other team might have better players than we do. But, life is not always fair either, and the field is a safe place for our athletes to learn this truth. Regardless of unfairness or adve...

The role of a coach is intricate, even complex. It seems like it should be very simple: Set drills, work out plays, review tape, play the game, rinse and repeat. But if all we focus on is the X's and O's, or the nitty-gritty details of the sport, we are missing the mark.  As Coach John Contrucci, Athletic Director of Junction ISD reminds us in this episode, coaching goes beyond running plays and s...

Without truth, there can be no trust. Without trust, there can be no relationship. Without a relationship, there can be no chemistry. Truth and trust are the foundation of any team. Without truthful feedback, no trust will form, and without trust, there is no progress, no growth, and no wins. For that reason, "Speak the Truth" is one of the laws of the Depend Upon Brothers (DUB) concept used by th...

Your athletic program won't look like the one in the next town over, the one is another district, or really any other program in existence. In fact, your program this year won't look like the program from last year. Why? Because your athletes this year don't look like your athletes from last year. The athletes are what make your program different. That's why you build relationships with your athle...

Can you describe your coaching style in five words or less? The key to consistency in your coaching is knowing how you coach. You have to have a clear picture of what you want to accomplish with your athletic program, so that you can pass that message on to your coaching staff. Once the coaching staff gets it, that vision will trickle down to your athletes. In this episode of the Coach 360 podcast...

Athletes perform better when they are confident in themselves and trust in their coaches. So how do we, as coaches, help our athletes get to that point of confidence and trust, so our athletes can go on to reach their full potential in sports and life?  During this interview with Head Volleyball Coach and Girls' Athletic Director Clark Oberle of Decatur High School, Colton and Coach Oberle discuss...

When your program is founded on the vision, standards, and values that you live by, you give the athletes in your care an opportunity to learn how to be great men and women. It's not just the big ideas like: Be better than you were yesterday, Don't settle for good enough, and Treat others with respect. Those ideas are communicated through sports, but it's not the big ideas that actually hit home;...

Many coaches will not stay with one school or district for their entire career. Circumstances with the school or your family, as well as your own ambitions, can all lead you away from your current athletic program and athletes. It's a natural progression, and there may come a point where you have to make the hard decision to leave the student-athletes that you have poured so much into. When that t...

Being an athlete is a major commitment. You don't get time off from it. Even if you are injured, you support your team from the bench and you uphold the team values off the pitch. Our student-athletes need to understand that whether or not they're wearing the jersey, once they join our team, they are an athlete, and there are expectations for that - Expectations that they put character first, lear...