Jack’s Blog

After watching the argument between the Arizona Cardinals’ wideout Anquan Boldin and their “O” coordinator, Todd Haley - while the game was going on - I was amazed.  Neither man made much out of it later, Boldin saying he just wanted to play a greater role in the offense (because he sincerely felt that strategy would be in the team’s best interest if they wanted to win), while Haley saying he has no problem with guys speaking their mind, but he’s going to express his opinion right back. 

Haley mentioned that “I coach hard,” a statement I’ve heard other coaches use, e.g. coaches on the hot seat after suffering a defeat, who proclaim, “Sure we lost, but as a coaching staff we’re just going to get out there at practice and coach ‘em hard this week and see if we can’t get this thing turned around.”  What in the world is coaching hard?  Does it mean you’re going to yell more, dole out more punishments (running, push ups, other activities players don’t enjoy), get in people’s faces, not smile? 

Some of the most successful coaches in history would never be thought of as guys who “coached hard,” yet they were big-time winners.  Guys like John Wooden, Dean Smith, Tom Landry and Tony Dungy come to mind.  Wasn’t there ever a game that got under their skin, a game they lost they knew they should have won, where after the game, the thought of coaching hard entered their mind as a means of restoring winning ways? 

To be honest, I’ve studied coaches for a long time; at first it was to see if there were any hints I could pick up to make me better so when I got my opportunity, I’d be ready for whatever situation came along.  Although that experience never came, I continue to observe coaches to this day, probably out of sheer force of habit, and have not, to this day, seen what coaching hard means.  On a local level, if I were forced to describe someone who coaches hard, I would have to say Fresno City College’s Ed Madec, the men’s basketball coach there, would be a prime example, especially if it means “imposing your will on your team,” because he does that as well as anybody I’ve ever seen.  Quite possibly it’s because he doesn’t have high caliber talent, but still manages to squeeze every drop out of the guys he has.  However, I tend to think if he coached the Celtics, he’d coach the same way - although maybe not for long.  Does that mean coaching hard only works on some levels?  Or do different guys just happen to have different styles?

As far as the players yelling at the coach, some coaches handled it quite differently than others.  Al McGuire, the legendary head coach (and color commentator), actually encouraged players to yell at him.  This was undoubtedly due to his upbringing as a tough Irish New Yorker who felt if you had a problem with him, let’s settle it - by rolling up the ol’ sleeves and getting it on.  The story, people who knew Al swear it’s not apocryphal, about the time Al challenged one of his players to a fight under the bleachers and the two of them duked it out.  After it ended, Al had no hard feelings, respected the kid and was ready to get on with whatever was next up on the practice plan (except Al never had a practice plan, just coached by gut feel).  That day, his gut told him the best way to get his message across was to fight his own player.  How can anyone argue with that logic?

Bob Knight was asked by his cohorts at ESPN about the Boldin-Haley incident and he more or less blew it off.  He said the media was making entirely too much out of it and it ought to be a non-issue.  The winningest men’s Divsion I coach of all-time continued, “I didn’t mind if a kid yelled at me - as long as he was right.”  My guess would be that, throughout Knight’s coaching career there were a number of players who, at the time, he felt were right.  And that number would be zero. 

To others in the business, “coaching hard” might mean working hard, e.g. staying a little later to break down one more game video to see if there’s anything you missed - on the first six games you charted.  Or maybe it meant “paying closer attention to details.”  I’ve heard coaches say, “We’ve gotten away from it,” meaning they slacked off on what had made them successful in the past.

One method of coaching (whether it’s hard or soft I don’t know) which is used by some very successful coaches (and I imagine by some not so successful ones), is something players absolutely hate, and that’s speaking to the individual players on the team through the media.  Two championship winning coaches have been accused of that on numerous occasions, but make up for it in other areas, because I simply don’t believe it’s a proper way to communicate.  Those two coaches are Pat Riley and Phil Jackson. 

Players have long complained about Riles saying, “We’re a team and what goes on here stays here.”  Then, players read the papers or are confronted by journalists who say, “Pat said this, do you think he was referring to you?” (which he obviously was to anyone who had seen the previous game).  Players disliked it when Jackson would use similar psychological tactics, mainly because Phil was the master motivator and he had so many other inspirational tools he could have used.  Then, again, many of the players who complained used the exact same tactic.

Hard or soft?  Which works?  In coaching, one thing every coach learns in due time (some not before it’s too late and they’re no longer employed), is be yourself.  As far as the arguing, consider the fact (and it takes a hell of a man - and coach to admit this) you might be wrong.  In that case, take a page out of Dr. David Burns’ book:

“Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life.” Â