In coaching athletes we are always studying to figure out how we can be better. We study some of the best coaches of all time to see what insight they have that we can adopt to help us. We have found several common traits among the great coaches that we want to share with you. Our hope is that you look for these characteristics in the coaches that work with you or your kids. A great coach will bring out the best in every athlete that will help establish great habits that contributed to their athletes’ success later in life.
The first trait that we find is that great coaches are always learning. None of the great coaches are closed minded to new things. Coach John Wooden always studied something to help his team improve in the off-season. He was always open to trying new things and if it worked, they kept it but if it did not, it was scratched. In many cases coaches come to think they do not need to learn anything. They do not improve themselves and will eventually get stuck being mediocre or out of a job.
Another trait that we see from great coaches is positive energy. You have to be energetic and enthusiastic about what you are doing to get people to buy in. Have you seen Pete Carroll at practices and games? He is usually the most energetic guy there even though he is not the youngest. Other great coaches might not be as loud as Pete but they do have a great deal of enthusiasm and energy. It is just more focused. To get the most out of people you need to be excited about what you are doing.
One of the most important traits of a great coach is that they are caring. When athletes know that a coach actually cares about them, they buy into what they are teaching and put in more effort on the field. This is done without any thought from the athletes. Meaning they do not mentally think the coach cares about me so I will try harder. It’s more of a feeling. When kids feel loved they feel more secure and will put in more effort unknowingly. Urban Myer shakes the hand or hugs each of his players before the game on the way into the locker room. People can tell that he is genuine in this act because if a coach is not, it will back fire.
Honesty is another important trait that we have found among great coaches. People do not like to be lied to about anything. Sometimes as coaches you have to tell your players the truth even though they do not like what you have to say. Phil Jackson told Kobe that Shaq was the main part on the offense when they won three straight with the Lakers. I think they would have won more together if Kobe was more of a team player. They let go of Shaq then Kobe and Phil went on to win two more titles.
Competitive greatness is the last trait that we see amongst great coaches. Great coaches strive daily to be great. Herb Brooks the US Hockey Coach that beat Russia in the 1980 Olympics, what is now known as “The Miracle on Ice”. Coach Brooks invented a new style of play and increased the conditioning of his players to last the whole game with Russia. He saw that most teams were tired by the third period and knew his team needed to be in great shape to have a chance. Competitive greatness is what drove him to see what no one else saw and to accomplish what everyone else thought was possible.
These are some of the most important traits that we see in all great coaches. Some coaches stress more attributes than others but they all have these traits to some extent. There are coaches that win and have some or none of these traits but I would argue their success is not long lasting. All these coaches mentioned above have won throughout their whole career at every level they have coached. We strongly suggest that you find coaches that have these traits to work with you or your kids so they can maximize their talents.
Sincerely,
Donny Mateaki
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