Evolve
I was reading an interesting article in Sports Illustrated on Alabama and their most recent National Championship in football.
The article discussed head coach Nick Saban, and how the Alabama offense, traditionally a "smash mouth" unit, had slowly evolved to be more up tempo, and how the defensive unit had evolved to handle the faster tempo of the various opponents they faced in the SEC.
Coach Saban explained his response to a caller who'd called in chastising him on getting away from the "traditional" Alabama roots, discussing that he understood where the caller was coming from, but that to stay on top, the team had to change. They couldn't simply lineup as they "always" had and expect to win games - this was before their 45-40 win over Clemson in the National Championship game.
I'm going to assume that caller was cheering loudly as time was winding down, not caring that his beloved Alabama wasn't quite the same Alabama as it had been in the past.
Funny how winning makes everything, or nearly everything right - within proper context.
I've talked about it from time to time on this blog, but I'll reinforce it here. I believe that your basic coaching fundamentals should remain the same. I believe that when you start chasing your tail, when you start messing around with your schematic year after year after year, when you start borrowing other training plans, and using them verbatim with little to no thought on how they may or may not work for your current program, you're in serious trouble.
That being said, I also believe that you need to adjust your overall process as time goes on. My favorite example of this is dynamic stretching. I rowed between 2000-2004, and during that time, all we knew was static stretching. Circle up, hold a stretch for 15-20 seconds and then move on. This was still the same stretching cycle I used up until 2011 when another coach introduced me to dynamic stretching. Now it's hard to go to a single competition without seeing a dynamic warmup routine.
I believe if you are going to be a successful coach, you need to find the balance between remaining true to who you are, while also staying abreast of the current trends in your sport, and outside of your sport. I have spent time with football, basketball, soccer, and wrestling coaches in addition to riding along with other rowing coaches. I've sat with junior and collegiate coaches in many sports, learning about how they run their practices, and pulling in some of the information learned into my own practice. I don't believe you should chase every single tidbit that comes your direction, but that you should at the very least, be aware of what is happening, and what may be on the horizon. And finally, I believe that you should coach for you and your program, and not be overly concerned with the whims and wants of fans.
I'm reminded of a football coach who once said, "Everyone in America knows how to do two things: Charcoal a steak, and coach a football program." The fan who called in and spoke with Coach Saban may not have appreciated the direction the program was heading, but given the end result, I doubt he cares.
The article discussed head coach Nick Saban, and how the Alabama offense, traditionally a "smash mouth" unit, had slowly evolved to be more up tempo, and how the defensive unit had evolved to handle the faster tempo of the various opponents they faced in the SEC.
Coach Saban explained his response to a caller who'd called in chastising him on getting away from the "traditional" Alabama roots, discussing that he understood where the caller was coming from, but that to stay on top, the team had to change. They couldn't simply lineup as they "always" had and expect to win games - this was before their 45-40 win over Clemson in the National Championship game.
I'm going to assume that caller was cheering loudly as time was winding down, not caring that his beloved Alabama wasn't quite the same Alabama as it had been in the past.
Funny how winning makes everything, or nearly everything right - within proper context.
I've talked about it from time to time on this blog, but I'll reinforce it here. I believe that your basic coaching fundamentals should remain the same. I believe that when you start chasing your tail, when you start messing around with your schematic year after year after year, when you start borrowing other training plans, and using them verbatim with little to no thought on how they may or may not work for your current program, you're in serious trouble.
That being said, I also believe that you need to adjust your overall process as time goes on. My favorite example of this is dynamic stretching. I rowed between 2000-2004, and during that time, all we knew was static stretching. Circle up, hold a stretch for 15-20 seconds and then move on. This was still the same stretching cycle I used up until 2011 when another coach introduced me to dynamic stretching. Now it's hard to go to a single competition without seeing a dynamic warmup routine.
I believe if you are going to be a successful coach, you need to find the balance between remaining true to who you are, while also staying abreast of the current trends in your sport, and outside of your sport. I have spent time with football, basketball, soccer, and wrestling coaches in addition to riding along with other rowing coaches. I've sat with junior and collegiate coaches in many sports, learning about how they run their practices, and pulling in some of the information learned into my own practice. I don't believe you should chase every single tidbit that comes your direction, but that you should at the very least, be aware of what is happening, and what may be on the horizon. And finally, I believe that you should coach for you and your program, and not be overly concerned with the whims and wants of fans.
I'm reminded of a football coach who once said, "Everyone in America knows how to do two things: Charcoal a steak, and coach a football program." The fan who called in and spoke with Coach Saban may not have appreciated the direction the program was heading, but given the end result, I doubt he cares.
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