The Winners Manual-Jim Tressel

Here is a book that I have reread and enjoyed.  I have included some thoughts that I really liked. http://thewinnersmanual.com/blockolife.asp

He continually Stresses goal setting with his teams. “The Block O of Life”

•   Two Major goal areas: 1) Purpose     2) Goals   
• Purposes include: personal/family, spiritual/moral, caring/giving
• Goals include: strength/fitness, football family, academics/career
• Too many people define themselves by what they do and not who they are
•     Inspiration gets you thinking, Motivation gets you moving.  
•  Nothing is worth more, than this day.” – Goethe 
•   Your life is either a celebration or a chore. The choice is yours.  
• Do it right – Do it hard – Or do it again.  
  
• Excellence : It isn’t tough to be good from time to time in sports. What’s tough is being good everyday 
  
• Every obstacle presents an opportunity. IF you are looking for it 
• It’s a rough road that leads to heights of greatness.  
• To win championships you need 2 things. Love and Discipline. If the team loves one another they will not want to let one another down

Todd Lickliter- Foundations of Butler Basketball

• • Have a best coaching friend at another level.
•  Share ideas with
• Give and take
• Not competing against each other
• What they look for in recruits.
•  We are in the people business, recruit good people (Character)
•  Vision (how involved are they when not in the game)
•  Up or down 20, how are they playing
•  Desire to win
•  Skill
•  Our guys enjoyed the success of their teammates.
•  Hold each other accountable not just patting each other on the back saying its ok
•  Sacrifice for others
•  Always exam yourself first.
•  Has players read QBQ book before each season
•  1 page write up about the book
•  Core Values of the program
•  Each player signs the core value contract before each season
•  Toughness is doing what is right.
•  We don’t make them run as a punishment
•  Fun is Working Together to Achieve (Locker Room sign)
•  Stay with it even when things are tough because in the end it will work itself out or you have the self satisfaction that your stuck to your values
•  For players to get their gear @ start of season
•  Must do some type of community service
•  System
•  Don’t care about temp, will play anyway
•  Offense (mental discipline) = Get the shot we want when we want
•  New players = 4 stages
•  Unconscious & Incompetent = they don’t know that they don’t know
•  Conscious & Incompetent = they know they don’t know
•  Conscious & Competent = they know, but they don’t flow (robot)
•  Unconscious & Competent = Everything flows naturally – The best players
•  Ordinary guys doing ordinary things, but do them extremely well
•  Body adapts to stress
•  Jig Saw Puzzle
•  Put team together piece by piece
•  Add to the puzzle each day
•  Can’t afford to start over ¼ , ½ , ¾ way into season
•  Offensively
•  Defense breaks down on rotations = Make D rotate
•  Get inside the defense = will cause rotations
•  Post Play = Must have a post that demands double teams
•  Set ball screens
• Ball Handler = you are the eyes of the receiver
•  Pass with precision
•  Zone
•  We don’t attack gaps
•  Know who is guarding you
•  Take him away from his home base
•  Fill a spot, vacate that spot, fill it again
•  Defensively
•  If we don’t turn it over then we aren’t on defense as much
•  Guard 36% of the court
•  Bent limbs = athletic stance
•  Multi task unless on the ball
•  Steady Diet on defense
•  Keep them off balance

Tom Crean 10 things to Building a Program

1.  Trust your instincts
2. The more questions you have as a coach-- the more people are going to come to you for answers
3. 4 expectations players have of coaches:
1. Be Competitive
2. Be sincere (what & how you do it)
3. Reliability
4. Trustworthy
4. 3 expecations of Players/Coaches
1. Come Mentally Prepared
2. Come with Energy
3. How to compete
5. If you have a problem, but have not thought of a solution, you have componded the problem
6. Invest in time with your leaders
7. Player is a leader when they are in the program (Legacy of Leadership begins when he leaves your program)
8. Dealing with Adversity (Only focus on making program better)
9. One Voice in Program
10. Focus on the process-- Not just the results

Gene Keady-- Boilermaker Philosophy

Here are some really good clinic notes from Gene Keady.


There are  4 things that all players in all programs say it takes to be a champion
ATTITUDE
WORK ETHIC
COMMITMENT
LEADERSHIP

• Attitude:  Have a good attitude, a listening attitude, and an attitude of togetherness.  With all this the attitude of the team will be positive.  This seems to be the gist of every story of the teams that won (The team concept).  They wanted to play hard, have fun, enjoy the camaraderie, and listen to what the coaches say because the coach is the boss.  We all have 4 things in common we  must be successful in, to get that positive attitude.
• Time Management: How do you organize your time?
• Competitiveness: how do we teach our kids to be competitive?
• What do we do about discouragement? How do we handle this on a daily basis?
• How do you solve problems?  
• Work Ethic:   Succesful players talked about how hard they worked during preseason conditioning and in practice.  The teams that were champions wanted to be the best.
• Our team won 28 games, second in the big 10 and the biggest cheer I got all year  was when I said "No practice tomorrow."  They hated to practice, therefore we didn't get past the second round.
• Commitment:  People were committed to being a champion.  They worked on their own self-improvement.  They loved to play.  When we recruit, we want to recruit the IDEAL player.
• I: INTELLIGENCE:  Common sense and academic sense.
• D: Dedication
• E: Enthusiasm
• A:Ability; Quickness and shooting
• L: Loyalty, This is the most important thing of all.
• Leadership: 3 basic rules concerning leadership and what we expect of our players.  If we can do these 3 things we will win a Big 10 Championship.   It is amazing how it works. 
• Be on time: 
• Go to class every day: 
• Try your best

Some more thoughts from Keady:

• Intensity foundation:  All game habits are set by the same tone of your practice intensity habits.  If you don't practice hard, you aren't going to play hard in the game.  We do a lot of competitive things in practice. This is broken down into practice, games, players, and teams.
• Practice:  What do you try to get out of  your practices?  Aggressiveness, competitiveness, techniques, and system.  We have to teach techniques more today then before. 
• Game:  You must have a philosophy and you must sell  your team on your philosophy.  This will depend on your talent level.  
• You must have goals.  If you don't set goals, your kids won't be motivated.
• How do you handle the refs?
• Management:
• Players:  It is important to have 1-1 meetings with your players.  Tell them what they are good at and what they should improve on.  
• Honesty: If your players trust you, then you will be able to motivate them.
• Be positive, but be demanding.  You must have high goals.
• Team:  6 parts that the team should be centered around.
• Teach Fundamentals.
• Be in shape
• Team morale(Do things other then basketball)
• Pressure defense on the ball (Keep things simple)
• Flexible offense
• Fast Break

4 things to Win:

1. Control your players
2. Schedule to meet the needs of your talent level
3. Be able to adjust to the referees and the rules
4. Have the administration behind you.

Anson Dorrance Core Values

One of my favorite coaches to read on is Anson Dorrance.  He is the Head coach of UNC Women Soccer.  His book "A Man Watching" is one of the best books I have ever read.

Head Coach Anson Dorrance is now in his 31st season as the Tar Heel head coach. His teams have an all-time record of 673-33-21 (.940). Under Dorrance, UNC has won 20 national championships, including 19 NCAA crowns and one AIAW title, 19 regular-season ACC titles and 19 ACC Tournament championships. During his tenure, Dorrance's teams are 132-7-4 in ACC regular-season games, 54-0-3 in ACC Tournament matches and 100-7-1 in NCAA Tournament games.

From The Carolina Creed:
"I will excel athletically by committing myself to performance excellence, team success, and continual improvement."

1. We dont whine.  The individual can handle any situation and nver complain about anything on or off the field.  (The True Joy in life is to be a force of fortune instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy." George Bernard Shaw)
2. The truly extraordinary  do something every day.  They have remarkable self discipline and everyday has a plan to get better. 
3. We want these 4 years of college to be rich, valuable, and deep.  This is that the focused individual is here for the right reason to get  an education.  Life is led with proper balance and an orientation towards intellectual growth and against the highest public standards and most noble universal ideals.  
4. We work hard.  The individual embodies the "indefatigable human spirit" and never stops pushing.  Relentless in training. (The difference between 1 person and another, between the weak and the powerful, the great and the insignificant, is energy- invisible determination...This quality will do anything that has to be done in the world, and no talents, no circumstances, no opportunities  will make you a great person without it." Thomas Buxton)
5. We don't freak out over rediculous issues or live in fragile states of emotional catharsis or create crises where none exist..  Be even keeled and unflappable.
6. We choose to be positive.  Nothing can depress or upset this powerful and positive life force.
7. We treat everyone with respect.  
8. We care about each other as teammates and as human beings.  Be non-judgemental, inclusive friend that never says a negative thing about anyone and embraces everyone because of their humanity, with no elitist speration.
9. When we dont play as much as we would like we are noble and still support the team and its mission.  This remarkably noble, self sacrificing, generous human being always places the team before themself.
10. We play for each other.
11. We are well led. This is the verbal leader on the field that is less concerned with popularity and more concerned about holding everyone to their highest standards and driving their teammates to their potential.
12. We want our lives to be never ending ascensions but for that to happen properly our fundamental attitude about life and our appreciation for it is critical.  This is that humble, gracious high achiever that is thankful for everything and has a contagious generosity and optimism.