Command the room, the message, trust, and self.
Michael Lombardi's Gridiron Genius reveals how masters see the game differently. Let's focus on one of Lombardi's masters, Bill Belichick.
Life has contradictions. Many want to be the best but few will sacrifice to get there. got him there and how can we emulate his best qualities?
I'll use quotes to illustrate the points.
1. Outwork the competition. "Belichick's car is always the last to leave the team parking lot."
2. Adopt great ideas. "He is not worried about where an idea comes from; he cares only about whether it makes the team better."
3. Be performance focused. "The best teams force players to prove their value. They don't give or save jobs on the basis of draft status."
4. Get your kind of guy. "In New England, Moss was a "program guy": someone who works hard, is a supportive teammate, and who cares deeply about winning." Lombardi called this football character.
5. Excel as a teacher. "Belichick is a teacher and believes strongly in the idea of "taking the lessons from the meeting room to the classroom to the field."
6. Be prepared to move on from players. "Belichick's open and transparent process at the beginning of each off-season helps remove personal biases so that the room can reach clean conclusions."
7. Learn how players think. "Off season review included detailed discussions about how to work with millennials: how to reach them and how to motivate them."
8. Grind the process of team building. "Needs change as injuries arise and skill levels evolve."
9. Maximize the sum of the parts. Belichick says, "It's not the strength of the individual players; it's the strength of how they function together."
10. Innovate from simplicity. "Belichick...declared that we would adopt the Skins model: core plays disguised with various looks and personnel groups to create confusion."
11. Be consistent on defense. "Take away what specific (opposing) players do best."
12. Automate. "He wants them doing, not wondering what to do. He wants them reacting not thinking." (Think about Malcolm Butler's interception against a play which they anticipated during Super Bowl practices.)
13. Get possession. "The best plan on defense is to keep the offense on the bench."
14. Communicate on defense. "Belichick always said that if you want to know how well a defense is working, just listen."
15. Prepare. "Belichick will be the first to tell you that experience is not preparation."
16. Every play matters. "Belichick's theme all week was that at this time of year an entire season can be lost on one play, and so players have to be prepared at every moment for every possibility."
17. Force the tempo. "Belichick reminds the coaches that ball security and third downs are critical and urges them to keep the tempo high in practice."
18. Win the situation. "That means red zone work, third-down situations, and Belichick's all-important "gotta have it" plays.
19. Translate preparation into play. "Practice execution becomes game reality."
20. Take care of the ball. "Teams that win the turnover battle win the game nearly 80 percent of the time.
Summary:
- Outwork the competition
- Be performance focused
- Excel as a teacher
- Learn how players think
- Innovate from simplicity
- Take away what the opponent wants to do most
- Communicate on defense
- Take care of the ball
- Lack of talent (make selection political)
- Lack of skill (ignore player development)
- Lack of preparation (poor practice habits)
- Lack of effort (either coaching or playing)
- Lack of focus (not good at what we do a lot)
- Lack of commitment (no passion for the game)
- Lack of knowledge
- Lack of teaching ability
- Lack of judgment (doing the wrong things at the wrong time)
- Lack of communication (no clarity on roles and responsibilities)