Coaches Accountability

Coaches Accountability

               Over the last decade, life has been a crazy ride. From Marine Corps deployment, divorce, coaching football, strength training, being a father, time has seemed to fly by. One minute I was a 17-year-old kid, now a 33-year old father of two. What has kept me going through the ups and downs? Coaching and the belief in others to become great, not just in sport but in life.

               As a young man, I was lost and confused like most of us are. You see I had it all figured out. I was going to go to college to play football. Football was the plan from an early age. The smell of the grass, the cool fall breeze, hitting with pads on, running offensive and defensive plays, the scheme of the game, I loved it all. Unfortunately, a severe neck and head injury sidelined me my senior year, and the Football gods said your time here is done. But was it?

               As the saying goes, when one door closes, another opens. It just so happened that in the darkest point in my life, battling alcohol and depression post war, one man believed in me. A Local coach, Marcos, reached out to me saying essentially “get off your ass and coach football, change a life and maybe change yours as well”. I thought, yeah right, I don’t want to coach kids. See I was 23 years old and thought I did not have patience to sit and instruct kids. Boy, could I have been more wrong.

               When you hold practices and instruct youth in sport, you find all different types of personalities in children. From those who are super competitive, to those who just want to hang out with buddies. We even see those who probably are out for sports to live their dads’ dreams, not their own. (my son was one of those) How do we as coaches connect with each of these athletes is the big question?

               In my experience, we must hold them accountable for their actions, whether good or bad, we give praise or we correct. But the way we correct needs to be handled accordingly. Some athletes, the super competitive ones, can handle a harder, more intense coaching session. The constant will to get better drives them, not the yelling that the coach is doing. So, challenge them in terms of play, make them work hard and at an upbeat pace. This usually drives them to be competitive with the other highly-strung athletes.

               Now we all love coaching competitive athletes, but what about the athletes who are quiet, timid, and are not super competitive. If they mess up do we scream, yell, and lose our minds? Or do we take the approach that, maybe the concept we are trying to teach isn’t making sense to them. Are they literal or analytical thinkers? Did they have a bad day today, did something happen in their personal life? (which can go for all athletes who underperform to your standards or their standards). Instead of us losing our minds, how about we talk to the athlete.

               Athletes are just that, people who are performing a sport involving dynamic movement. Athletes ARE NOT robots for the coach to move around as they please expecting them to perform without flaw. Now we must have high standards, but how we handle mistakes as coaches is what keeps athletes out for sport.

               We are the face of the program, us the coach. How we conduct ourselves both at practice and out in the community matter. We shouldn’t be a negative impact on the program we are involved in based on our actions. Deal with each athlete differently, get to know your athletes, hold ourselves accountable in public and at home. The biggest thing is, be someone you would want your own children to look up to and learn from.

               This is my personal take on athletics now days and how we should handle ourselves as coaches. We complain “kids don’t play sports anymore” but are we really, as a coaching community, setting a positive standard these athletes can look up to? Are we on time all the time, are we studying film, concepts, schemes? Do we conduct ourselves appropriately away from sport, such as down time with friends and family. We are figures in the public spotlight; all eyes are upon us. If we don’t change how we address individuals through language, belief, and the “Ill never give up on you attitude” how can we expect numbers to grow in a sports program. Needless to say, I had a coach believe in me, it saved my life, and I hope I have changed others.

Brian Gallagher

High School Football Coach

Athletic Performance Gym Owner