Teaching 101

As a teacher and a coach this is message we have to hear at least once a month.  Urban Meyer is a Coach who hails from both the Lou Holtz and Woody Hayes coaching tree.  After watching this video I self-reflected several things:

• Coaches are ultimately responsible for their players performance.
• That the X's and O's are not that important. 
• All players learn differently (Chris Leak example).

You ether coach it or allow it!

TEACHING 101

Objective – To get the student to:

• Retain information/skill
• Use information/skill
• Increase production because of information/skill

Style:

• Clear: Organized & clear objectives
• What are you asking that kid to do?
• Is he getting it done?
• Must be an objective to what you are asking him to do, or don’t do it.
• Clean: Use of tools, tip sheets, video, etc.
• Concise: Broken down to the smallest detail necessary – get to the point
• Direct: Student engaged in discussion – ability to teach
• Create an environment that puts students on alert – promote stimulation to the brain.
• The difference between a teacher and a presenter is that a presenter presents information and fails the student if they don’t get it.  The teacher is creative and uses all resources at hand to help students learn.

Atmosphere:

• Clean organized environment
• Desk with notebook and pencil (no pen)
• Both feet on the ground; no hoods/hats; no cell phones
• Engaged – teacher moves around the room
• Students are on edge

Every action is either taught or allowed, good and bad.

Presenters present information and hope it works out.

Teachers present information and find a way to make it work out:

• As a coach, when you evaluate your players on film and what you see is not what you are teaching, you have to blow the whole thing up; don’t wait – something’s not right.
• This is when a coach has to take the ego and put it aside and say, “Wait a minute, this is not working.”  It’s NOT the kid!  You never want to hear, “That damn kid didn’t do this or that.”
• As a coach, it is your job to get that kid to do this or that, because you are a teacher, not a presenter.
• Your job depends on your ability to help your kids figure out how to do things the right way.

Content is 20% of what a student learns.  How you get that [20% - content] into someone’s mind is more important; it’s the delivery, the passion, moving around using teaching tools.  It’s the ability to, after 15 minutes, get them up, stretch, and tell a joke, whatever stimulates that teaching environment.

It’s not just the content that is important in the teaching.  If it was the content, everybody would do the same stuff.   It’s the delivery, the passion, the way that a coach moves around the teaching environment that counts.

Become a head coach because of the passion with which you teach.

Competitive Excellence – the basis of who we are; developing players toward competitive excellence:

At the end of the day, when that number is called, are you ready?

1. Game reps vs. mental reps

• 16 reps in team/skelly/scout; how to get the most out of those?

2. Teaching progression

• Before a kid is ready to make a play it has been:
• Installed in a meeting room, checkers, video, etc.
• Direct teaching – it has been rehearsed back
• Walk through – teach proper details; spacing, alignments, etc.; body learning
• Individuals – developing the specifics
• Developers – what are the fundamental skills of each position group to be developed every day
• Specifics – job descriptions, put player in position to do exactly what we expect him to do, i.e. double team, kick-out, turnover circuit; you get what you emphasize
• Group Work – QBs/WRs, RB/OL, etc.; scheme specific skills
• Scout Work – teach tempo
• Game Rep – preparing them for the main arena by creating a mini arena based in competitive excellence, O vs. D – backups get mental reps with unit coach
• Showtime – “Rip the chains off and go play as hard as you can, you’ve trained your entire life for this moment, and you are officially at competitive excellence. You are ready . . . make all the mistakes you can, point A to point B as fast as you can go – 4-6 seconds of relentless effort and go play!  Get there in a hurry and be a little pissed…”
• In the end, it’s all about building confidence so that players are ready to step in and compete at the highest levels possible.

“If you practice the way you play, there shouldn’t be any difference, that’s why I practice so hard.  Anything was possible once the game started . . . everything we did at practice became competitive.  I took pride in the way I practiced.” – Michael Jordan

Reminders:

Every phase of teaching for competitive excellence includes 1) a clear objective (meeting room; cone signifying finish in drill, etc.), 2) a clear expectation by the teacher and 3) concise planning and execution (broken down to the smallest point; what is your step angle; what is your hand placement, etc.).