Interesting article. So Caldwell’s “ I need you to play better.” Halftime speeches were the secret to his success! And Matty Patty’s “You all bleeping suck! I wish you were dead!” Might be a little extreme.
And of course, Marienelli’s “If you play the Tampa 2 better, I’ll take you out for ice cream.” Was ineffective.
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I hated the negative screaming coaches I played under.
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Know what works a hell of a lot better? Making goddamn halftime adjustments.
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I feared the screaming coaches I played for. Practices were going to be a bitch if we didn’t win!
So, we did.
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Honesty is the key - the bullshit pep talks don’t work, and as evidenced in the survey, neither does “extreme vulgar” display of power. All of this stuff is interpretive, and I was a very militaristic and regimented coach, but I was screaming in their face when they did well, just as hard as I yelled when they didn’t. To observers from the stands, It would look like I was chewing a kid out, and I was telling him “EXACTLY…LIKE…THAT!!!” Things like this. I was far more positive than negative, but always honest, and always telling them exactly what I saw. They knew this and appreciated it.
I was a head coach in Houston for a big Middle School. We had 225-ish kids try out for football every year. Those boys lost one game in the 2 years I was there. Loved it. They represented themselves and each other well. I think an atmosphere of brotherhood and love, and sticking up for your brothers is most effective. It was just Middle School kids, but I think it’s an accurate body of work. We played against 7th and 8th graders that may have beaten the High School teams I played on/against.
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Anyone here watch Letterkenny? Now THAT’S coaching.
Yeah, but that is too cerebral.
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Best halftime speech from my coach to me. “Remember when you skipped out on piano lessons to come play football? Well, you made the wrong choice.”
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I remember when our coach kicked Gatorade on us and then told us he’d rather be coaching the other team. Then he stormed off. We returned the second half kickoff for a touchdown and scored so much in the 3rd that we were sitting starters by the 4th quarter. Our star RB had 3 carries for 125 yards and 3 TDs in the 3rd quarter.
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