Coaching Knowledge Project #8 Tom Landry

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.
       Tom Landry coached the Dallas Cowboys from 1960 to 1988, posting 20 consecutive winning seasons, winning 5 NFC Championships, and 2 Super Bowls.

TOM LANDRY

·         As a general rule, a coach needs to be more demanding when his team is doing well, because there is a human tendency to ease up when you’re winning. When things are going poorly, especially when the effort is there, that’s when a team needs encouragement & affirmation more than it needs pressure from the coach. That’s the time to back off.

·         Faith gives a man hope and hope is what life is all about.

·         He learned the limited effect that emotions had on the outcome of football games.

·         If I lose, I’m going to lose. If I win, I’m going to win. That doesn’t mean that I don’t work as hard as anyone else or that I don’t try to win as hard as everyone else. I do because God expects us to be the best we can be.

·         The idea was to show a defense one formation and, when it was adjusting its defense to it, shift into another formation and run the play.

·         The key is discipline. Without it there is no morale.

·         There must be a great feeling between players to have a great team, to have good morale. A team must have the ability to believe in each other.

·         You can’t be emotional and concentrate.

·         You’ve got to have a clear-cut philosophy to be successful and it must be transmitted to your players. They must thoroughly understand everything you are trying to do so that, eventually, it becomes instinctive to them.

·         Achieving goals, which really means winning in some form, is the ultimate in a man’s life. Being the best at what you do stimulates life. God gave us a talent to do it and He expects us to do the best we can. Once we win we must give glory to God. As long as I maintain that approach, I’ll keep a level head in winning & losing. It won’t become the be-all but it’s a crime to not want to be the best you can be within the rules you operate under.

·         Achievement builds character. People striving, getting knocked down and coming back…that’s what builds character in a man. And character is the ability of a person to see a positive end to things.