Coaching in the Chaos (and some snow)
What do you lean on when the scoreboard no longer defines you?
This past weekend, I pondered a question that I’ve never really thought about in great detail—and it went something like this:
If all you’ve done for the majority of your life is win… what is it like when you lose?
Thursday night, I watched the Raiders lose a heartbreaker on the road to Denver. Last night, our Big Ten Network crew called an epic game where Wisconsin, who was on a 6 game losing streak and their proud fan base seeking changes at the top, beat top 25 Washington 13-10 amid a constant mix of rain and snow.
Late into the night I couldn’t sleep. Fully charged from the crowd rushing the field and the Afterglow of the game still crisp. So I walked around the hotel parking lot, snow coming down and immersed in childlike wonderment. As I looked at the snow piling up on cars I began to wonder–when coaches who are used to having tremendous success find perceived failure what do they do? Completely change ones approach? Put in even more hours? Unearth everything?
Or double down on their core philosophy? Triple down on their uncompromising principles?
It’s easy to say “yes, of course. When you’re tested you have to commit to your Process even more.” But in my experience around high performing coaches for 25 years, that is nearly impossible.
College coaching is a volatile world — especially in today’s rapidly changing era. As I sat in my hotel room watching the snow glisten off the light posts and the clock strike midnight I began to realize that the majority of college coaches are trained to call plays and lead teams, not to be CEOs of multi-million-dollar corporations. Even fewer, if any, are ever taught how to manage a handful of multi-millionaires who aren’t even 20 years old.
If you agree and believe that to be true then why are so many head coaches getting fired for learning on the job how to lead in this bold new world?
I wonder, for the programs seeking new head coaches, are the athletic directors seeking CEO’s or experts at X’s and O’s? Are there more than 5 unicorns who can actually do it all even available? Or are we watching football departments shift their entire org chart to mimic the pro’s?
If I was a part of those search committees I’d be asking a simple question: