Coaching Knowledge Project #6 Urban Meyer

      Over the last few summers, I have started taking notes on some of the coaching biographies and books that I have read. One problem that I have had over the years is that I read so much and look at so much different info that I don't ever retain the knowledge for future use. I will read about a drill or a philosophy and I will think "Hey, that fits pretty good with my guys. I wanna use that this year." Then I will lay the book or the info to the side and forget all about it.
       Earlier this year, I began to compile & organize these notes & axioms into a single document. Ideally I would like to eventually have a notebook that I could add to each offseason and look at again each pre-season as I reevaluate my program. I thought that as part of this blog and my compilation efforts, I would share some of the things that I've found.
       These are quotes about coaches, quotes from coaches about their influences, and outside observations on coaches and their programs. Some of these are Hall of Fame coaches, some have losing records, and some are career assistants; all have good things to offer.
      Unless you have been living under a rock for the past several years, then you should be familiar with Coach Urban Meyer of Utah, Florida, and now Ohio State. These notes come from the book Urban's Way ,written during his Florida days.

URBAN MEYER

·         He has a conviction that he owes every player a chance to play, to graduate, and to achieve a normal, happy life by sorting out whatever demons haunt him.

·         He talked about total commitment for the 107 days leading up to the SEC Championship Game. I try to break everything into segments. On our bowl preparation, I don’t go beyond 4 or 5 day segments because you lose the players.

·         Tucked inside Meyer’s 129 page document is the Plan To Win. It’s only one page.

·         It drives every player personnel issue, every game plan, and every decision he makes in football.

·         PLAN TO WIN:

-Play Great Defense

-Turnovers

-Score in the Red Zone

-Win the Kicking Game

·         CORE VALUES For Players:

Honesty

Respect Women

No Drugs

No Stealing

No Weapons

·         DO YOUR JOB for coaches

-          Take care of your family and your health

-          Take care of your players (academic, social, spiritual, family)

-          Be an expert at your position and excel as a teacher

-          Recruit every day

-          Be passionate about coaching & football

·         I never got a book like that from a coach. I just kind of put it together myself. I wanted to have a resource when the situation called for it – I didn’t want to have to grab from air.

·         Four to six seconds of relentless effort.

·         If you are a teacher, you teach, and if you don’t teach your players properly, then it’s on you.

·         The Champions Club – It is a circle of trust based on adherence to team rules and putting forth a higher degree of effort in the classroom and on the field.

·         Players have responsibilities / obligations, not entitlements.

·         Selfish people fail

·         We know we cannot save them all, but that is what we must try to do. In the end, that is a coach’s responsibility, and not what people think.

·         Some of you woke up on third base and don’t even realize how you got here because you didn’t hit the triple.

·         Just to watch Coach Lubick operate, the way he treated everybody – secretaries, everybody!

·         Are you changing people’s lives? Are you really involved?

·         Relationships with players became everything.

·         My job is to get that kid the ball.

·         It’s not a very good job. Of course it’s not. If it was, why would they call you?

·         The fruits of all his note taking over the years was his manual.

·         Just as he had reinvented himself as an athlete, he would do so as a head coach, jettisoning bad habits as he moved from job to job.

·         We’re going to figure out whether we’re going to be coming together or we’re going to be going apart. If at any point and time you want to leave, you’re more than welcome to quit. But I’m not going to quit on you.

·         If you screw up, you run.

·         So disgusted with losing were the players that they welcomed coaches who offered a personal touch, who invited them over to their houses and encouraged them to stay committed to their education.

·         Every player just wants to be helped.

·         Because Meyer paid tribute to his seniors and said he wanted to send them off on a good note, they felt a sense of purpose and responded positively.

·         It was really just going to be a personnel-driven option out of a spread formation designed to get the ball thrown, pitched, or snapped to speedy athletes in space.

·         The first day I thought I was going to die. The second day I was sure I was going to die. And by the end of the week, I was hard as a rock.

·         If done correctly, the player-coach relationship is the most meaningful relationship, second only to the parent-child relationship.

·         At the insistence of their coach, Utah players began to find out the family backgrounds of their teammates, their hometowns, their high schools, their likes and dislikes. If they didn’t have the correct answer, they had to run.

·         Everyone is so tight because you’ve been thru so much together. Those mental barriers are broken down. You found yourself really engaging that stuff and really wanting it, knowing it was going to make you better and pay off.

·         Try to be the most invested team in the country.

·         At the retreat, they openly challenged each other’s theories & philosophies – they would be encouraged to give their opinions & challenge fellow staffers, even when their opinions were different from the boss.

·         The “Do your Job” mantra goes for assistant coaches as well as players.

·         He not only recruits the player, but also the 13 or 14 people around him.

·         How important that relationship is with the kids, how to get involved in their lives and how to develop their trust.

·         Discipline is 90% anticipation, not reaction. Discipline is making sure you talk to them before that party & then have someone there if it happens.

·         The idea behind the offense is to have one more blocker than they have defenders – or “plus ones”

·         Spread Offense

-          One High = equal numbers, you can run the ball & be OK

-          Two High = You’re Plus One. Run the ball, because they can outnumber you in the passing game.

-          No Deep = You cannot run the ball. You are Minus One. There are two answers: Run the option or Throw the ball

·         He let you know that if you didn’t want a part of this, now was the time to leave. “If you want to get off, get off now. But when it’s all said & done, we’re going to get the train back on the track with you or without you.”

·         Mental toughness would be a requirement for all.

·         Even in our off-season workouts a lot more of the stuff was team-oriented instead of individual stuff. If a teammate fell down, you had to have his back. You don’t want to be that weak link.

·         Something was going to happen, somebody was going to make a play but we weren’t going to lose those games.

·         If you love football and you’ve got somebody coming in to help you, then why not accept them?