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Tuesday, April 22, 2025

Basketball - Process Helps to Forge Belief

Learn from the people close to us. Learn from experience. Learn from literature.

Study entrepreneurs to learn from their triumphs and errors. Phil Knight shared his process leading to success in Shoe Dog. My annotations in black:

Phil Knight’s Shoe Dog is packed with leadership lessons drawn from his journey building Nike. Here are some key (AI) takeaways:

1. Start Before You’re Ready

Knight didn’t have a detailed business plan when he started Blue Ribbon Sports (Nike’s precursor). He had an idea—a “Crazy Idea”—and took action before he had everything figured out. Leaders often need to move forward despite uncertainty.

Steve Kerr used his time in basketball broadcasting to pick brains in the industry and prepare for a future job in coaching. When his chance came, he had done the preparation. Starting as a volunteer assistant helps. Watching other coaches run practice has value. 

2. Bet on People, Not Just Ideas

Knight surrounded himself with unconventional but passionate people, like Bill Bowerman and Jeff Johnson. He valued effort, loyalty, and belief in the mission over polished résumés. Great leaders build teams that challenge, not just follow.

Finding and retaining "good people" gives a leader the best chance to succeed. Abraham Lincoln had his Team of Rivals. Geno Auriemma's top lieutenant Chris Dailey has been vital to UCONN's success. 

3. Stay Obsessively Focused on the Mission

Knight and his early team weren’t just selling shoes—they were obsessed with making athletes better. That mission gave them an edge over competitors who were just selling products. A strong, mission-driven culture attracts the right people and keeps a company resilient.

Simon Sinek asks "what your WHY?" Phil Jackson's "basketball is sharing" informs many coaches reason to be. Michelin 3-star chef Thomas Keller says, "cooks cook to nurture." 

4. Embrace the Struggle

Nike’s early years were chaotic—cash flow issues, legal battles, supply problems. Knight never let setbacks define him. Instead, he adapted and pushed forward. Leadership is about enduring hardship without losing vision.

Sara Blakely founded Spanx, a five billion dollar company, without raising a nickel. She went from copier salesperson to billionaire by obsessing the product. As a child, she heard her father's question every weekend, "what have you failed at this week?" 

5. Take Smart Risks

From breaking ties with their Japanese supplier to launching their own brand, Nike’s growth came from calculated risks. Leaders must take bold steps, even when the outcome isn’t guaranteed.

You hear stories all the time about assistant coaches uprooting families to work with highly-regarded coaches. Overnight success is a myth not a strategy. 

6. Trust Your Gut but Keep Learning

Knight made decisions based on intuition but also sought advice from mentors and experts. He balanced instinct with continuous learning, a key trait of great leaders.

Most of us can't directly pick the brains of elite coaches. But we can watch coaching clinics and interviews online, read books and blogs, and watch online video. Writing teaches the writer as much or more than readers.  

7. Brand Matters More Than Product

Nike wasn’t just about shoes; it became a symbol of excellence and perseverance. Knight understood that an emotional connection with customers is more powerful than any product feature.

Make your brand meaningful. My brand is sharing. 

8. Never Stop Competing

Knight’s competitive drive kept Nike pushing boundaries. He never felt like they had "made it"—he always saw room for improvement. Leaders who maintain a challenger mindset stay ahead.

Invest in making our work its best. Dave Smart emphasizes the role of internal competition in developing players. If we improve our product incrementally, eventually the marginal gains add up. Be better today than we were yesterday. 

9. Legacy Over Profits

Near the end of the book, Knight reflects on his journey, emphasizing that impact matters more than wealth. Great leaders focus on creating something meaningful, not just making money.

An occasional note from a young coach or player manifests gratitude. Personal and professional satisfaction matter. 

Lagniappe. Pistons free up a roller for a finish. 

Lagniappe 2.  Finish off two feet. 

Lagniappe 3. Take ownership of the work. 













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Monday, April 21, 2025

"Surround Yourself with Good People"

Listen to this one minute share from Coach Krzyzewski regularly. It overflows with coaching and life wisdom.

The highlight is "surround yourself with good people. Learn how to listen."

Information stands on merit, not solely source-dependent. Be selective, picking and choosing to build our palette. It's not about copying but designing an authentic philosophy and program that works for our players and us. 

Finding resources and mentors distinguishes many highly successful people. In his MasterClass, Usher discusses studying your mentor's mentor. My mentors metaphorical mentors were Wooden and Dean Smith. 


Don't expect one mentor to fulfill all your needs. Study across a spectrum of coaches and sports. Here are just a few examples, not all-inclusive.  

Historical. "Make friends with the dead." Don Meyer, Newell, Dean Smith, Wooden

Player development - Drew Hanlen, Chris Brickley, Don Kelbick, Pitino, Jay Wright

Team development - Jim Crutchfield, Dave Smart, Krzyzewski, Knight, Pat Summitt, Geno Auriemma, Dawn Staley

Psychology - Every coach sells... Chuck Daly, Gregg Popovich, Erik Spoelstra

Find assistants with whom you collaborate well. Support assistants, listen, and respectfully consider their opinions. 
 
Draw on resources such as Yahoo, FIBA, AI (e.g. ChatGPT)

Jim Crutchfield, head coach at Nova Southeastern University, is one of the best examples of a lesser-known coach whose teams reflect a philosophy of unappreciated excellence. His program is a masterclass in pushing pace, emphasizing player freedom, and creating high-efficiency systems without relying on high-profile recruits. Let’s unpack a few of the core tenets that define his coaching approach:

1. Relentless Pace & Offensive Freedom

Crutchfield's teams are famous for their tempo—often among the fastest in the country, regardless of division. But this isn’t just about running fast. It’s a philosophy rooted in:

  • Trusting players: He empowers his athletes to make decisions in the open floor, encouraging early offense and attacking advantages before the defense is set.

  • Spacing and tempo over set plays: Instead of rigid play-calling, his offense thrives on spacing, movement, and quick reads—fostering autonomy and confidence.

  • Conditioning as a weapon: His players are trained to thrive in chaos, pushing opponents out of their comfort zones through sheer pace and persistent attack.

This creates a kind of organized mayhem where freedom and flow beat structure and scouting.

2. Pressure Defense with Purpose

Crutchfield’s defenses extend full-court and trap selectively—not to gamble recklessly, but to disrupt rhythm and steal possessions. Key ideas include:

  • Controlled chaos: His teams press to wear opponents down mentally and physically, not just to generate turnovers.

  • Turn defense into offense: His system thrives when defense becomes a launchpad for transition—further feeding the uptempo attack.

It’s not unlike what Shaka Smart did at VCU or what Loyola Marymount ran under Paul Westhead, but with more discipline and fewer gimmicks.

3. Skill Development over System Conformity

Crutchfield isn’t trying to fit players into a mold—he molds the system around players' talents.

  • Underdog empowerment: His track record includes turning overlooked or undersized athletes into all-conference stars. He prizes IQ, skill, and motor over measurables.

  • Simplify to amplify: The playbook is minimal by design, letting players master concepts and play fast without overthinking.

This approach builds confidence and keeps players engaged—an underappreciated but essential aspect of sustaining excellence at the Division II level.

4. Joy and Culture

There’s a joyfulness in how Crutchfield’s teams play. It’s visible. His players look like they’re having fun—which is a cultural marker, not an accident.

  • Freedom breeds joy: When players feel trusted and capable, they perform better.

  • Winning is fun: And Crutchfield’s win percentage is absurd (among the highest in NCAA history, across divisions).

His teams don’t just win—they enjoy the process, and that enjoyment feeds their energy and cohesion.

In Summary

Jim Crutchfield’s philosophy is built on pace, pressure, player trust, and joyful intensity. He shows that excellence doesn’t have to look like a blueblood program to be elite. His work at West Liberty and Nova Southeastern demonstrates that you don’t need top recruits to play beautiful, winning basketball—just a clear vision, empowered athletes, and the courage to defy convention.

Want a fun metaphor? His style is like if Brad Stevens and Mike D’Antoni started a band—with Gregg Popovich producing in the background.

Coaching is evolution, addition and subtraction. Subtracting is often harder. Fewer drills, fewer sets, fewer platitudes may work better. 

The most important relationship is with our significant other who has to share us with others who can never give as much as our partner. 

Lagniappe. WWSD... what would Steph do? 
Lagniappe 2. Sacrifice and more... 
Lagniappe 3. Belichick thread. Do your job. Work hard. Details. Team first. 


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Sunday, April 20, 2025

Playoff Basketball Illustrates Core Principles

Playoff basketball elevates intensity, physicality, and toughness. Examine key plays or sequences that win games and reinforce core concepts. Here are a handful from the first round of the Magic/Celtics. 

Young players and less experienced coaches benefit from watching video to assist building basketball IQ and player development. Find something to share with players. 

It's a shoulders game. Wagner gets the position and burns Brown on the drive. 

Get paint touches and ball reversals. Brown attacks the paint and finds an open corner three for White. 

"Spacing is offense and offense is spacing." Hauser drives baseline and the 45 cut for Kornet isn't open. But Pritchard lifts to restore the spacing and gets rewarded. 

The ball has energy. Within seven seconds, starting on defense, all five Celtics touch the ball and Pritchard drains another three. 

"...a game of separation." Pritchard gets separation and finishes with a combination of handles and footwork. 

Draw 2 and kick. Pritchard penetrates and help comes. This opens huge space for a White corner three. 

Miscommunication on defense creates easy shot. The Celtics get caught in a failed switch and Isaac gets an easy two. 

Maintain the dribble and a play may declare itself. Holiday surveys the floor and buries a three. 

"I'm a salesman." Sell players that defense starts with ball pressure. Holiday forces a turnover and converts the ensuing basket. 

A shot fake is "a shot not taken." Brown acts the 'second mouse' and leaves something of Wagner's on the floor. 

Lagniappe. Stop wasting time on what we cannot control. 

Lagniappe 2. Coach Dags with important principles about player development, personnel structure, and the need to "manipulate spacing." 

Lagniappe 3. Adjust the spots to your level. The drill demands skill and consistency and incorporates pressure.  

 

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Saturday, April 19, 2025

Basketball - What Is Wrong with this Picture?

Life is partly about creating advantage. Not taking advantage of others. The military times assaults for the opposition to be unprepared. "Every battle is won before it is fought," writes Sun Tzu in The Art of War. Reporters seek edges searching for Bob Woodward's "best available version of the truth." Martha Mitchell shared abandoned papers during the Watergate Scandal. And coaches seek to create advantage. Bill Belichick says, "Utilize strengths. Attack weaknesses," also from The Art of War.

Many decades ago, a patient was referred to hospital with diffuse lung disease of no apparent cause. I asked to interview the patient. "Do you have any pets?" "Yeah, I have some birds." The patient had Bird-Fancier's Disease, an immune response to bird proteins. The history was the edge. 

When we watch basketball games, ask "what is wrong with this picture?" Are there athletic, size, skill, or other mismatches not exploited? Sometimes good explanations exist. Others, not so much. 

I watched a college team that struggled mightily. I said to another fan, "do they ever score in transition?" He answered, "still waiting to see it." Edges. Find easy baskets in transition. 

Coach Dave Smart notes that every good team finds offense in the half-court. Edges come with mismatches, superior execution, and with hard to defend actions. If a team doesn't use ball screens, complex screening, or urgent cutting, they better be great shooters. 

Good teams adjust tempo to shorten the game (play slower) or lengthen it by playing faster to create more possessions. 

Florida used a complex screen (stagger) to open up a pivotal three. 

Teams create advantage defensively with a variety of tactics:

  • Superior on-ball defense
  • Pressure defense 
  • Changing defenses
  • "Junk defenses," such as box-and-1
Strong teams excel at executing the game close and late. Brad Stevens studied over a thousand NBA end-of-game situations to identify edges that could help win close games. Special situations like BOBs, SLOBs, and ATOs are prime examples.

 

Watch teams that struggle and recurrent "missing themes" emerge. 
  • Does the team create and execute advantages?
  • Do they exploit mismatches in speed, size, or skill?
  • Do they get and prevent easy baskets? 
  • Do they execute hard-to-defend actions in the halfcourt?
  • Do they run and defend the pick-and-roll?
  • How do they use tempo? 
  • How do they adjust defenses? 
  • What are their tendencies close and late? 
Yes, talent differentials matter. Self-assessment of "what is wrong with this picture?" can also help teams achieve. 

Lagniappe. Study and improve the quality of passing. 
Lagniappe 2. Superior thinking benefits from superior processes such as mental models. 



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Friday, April 18, 2025

Basketball - Three Scorecards (Life, Rethinking, Values)

Joshua Medcalf (Chop Wood, Carry Water) was on a podcast, mentioning the value of keeping scorecards. That triggered thoughts about three "scorecards."

  • Scorecard for Life
  • Rethinking Scorecard (Adam Grant, Think Again)
  • "Values Scorecard"  
Scorecard for Life. What belongs on our scorecard and in what order? That reminded me of David Brooks and the distinction between 'resume' values' and eulogy values. They aren't mutually exclusive. 

Douglas MacArthur's speech to cadets at West Point emphasized "duty, honor, country," all noble virtues. Where does the citizen-soldier prioritize family?

My high school coach, Sonny Lane, taught us that taking care of business meant family, school, and basketball. Older readers may recall John McPhee's 1965 A Sense of Where You Are about Bill Bradley and his 1964 Princeton team. 


Each of us keeps our personal scorecard. Some of us seek transformational change while others in society practice transactional behavior. We have to trust that a divine scorecard views our eulogy virtues favorably. 

Rethinking Scorecard. What did we earnestly believe and later discover to be wrong? For simplicity, confine that to basketball. The saw "Defense wins championships" may never have been true. Russell's Celtics had an eraser, surrounded by other talented players - Cousy, the Joneses, Heinsohn, Havlicek. As the game evolved, offensive juggernauts led by Jordan, Bird, Magic, Kobe, and others provided a more nuanced view. At worst, "Balance wins championships." 

"Three pointers are overrated." The 1984-1985 Lakers won the NBA title making 13 three-point shots during the regular season (13/52). The three-pointer as a curiosity became replaced by the trey as the nuclear option for the Boston Celtics and others. Eight Celtics made over 100 three-pointers this season per StatMuse (below). 


"Basketball Values Scorecard." Team first attitude appears as the 'scoreboard is greater than the scorebook'. If selfishness, softness, and sloth lose, the opposites give you a chance. Developmental level (youth) basketball requires developmental thinking. Don't sacrifice kids on the altar of victory, as in "never be a child's last coach." 

Value the person greater than the player and care about the twelfth player on the team as much as you care about the stars. 

Lagniappe. Midrange mulligans? 

Lagniappe 2. Develop a variety of finishes.  

Lagniappe 3. Clear and screen BOB. Worth a look.  

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Thursday, April 17, 2025

Basketball Media Training Matters

People judge us by how we present ourselves. That includes both verbal and nonverbal communication. Favor yourself with preparation. 

How do you improve? "How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice. Practice. Practice."

Practice in front of a mirror. Practice with a friend or a parent. Practice when you're tired. Have people ask you unprepared questions. Answer neither too fast or too slowly. If you get a tough question, pause and take a few seconds to think. You can say, "that's a tough question." If you don't know, it's okay to say, "I don't know." 

  • Thank the interviewer. 
  • "Don't be boring."
  • Practice helps avoid "like, you know, um, and er."
  • Be a credit giver not a credit taker.
  • Note that you were fortunate against a quality opponent. 
  • Credit your family for their help and sacrifice. 
  • Credit your coaches and their preparation.
  • Credit your teammates. "Deflection is perfection."
  • "Repetitions make reputations."
Lagniappe. Attitude. 

  

Lagniappe 2. Leave a mark. 

Lagniappe 3. Be aware of current trends. Changing defensive spacing. 

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Wednesday, April 16, 2025

Five Offseason Basketball Shooting Drills

Shooting is a highly perishable skill. Use it or lose it. Coach Bob Knight decried "free shooting" where a player just goes out and shoots.

1) When possible, shoot with a partner/rebounder, dragging both of you into the top 10 percent. More fun, more competition. 

2) "Be a tracker." Monitor your progress, seeking PBs - personal bests. 

3) Add constraints - "x number" of makes in a given amount of time, consecutive makes, or percentage (have to make 9/10)

4) Practice a variety of shots (e.g. catch and shoot, off the dribble, pump fake and shoot, etc.)

5) "Closer" shots. If you're the closer, what's in your bag?

6) Take a few minutes for emergency shots (fallaways, flyaways, one-footers) 

"Make shots not excuses."

Here are five specific ideas:

1) Warmup "Get 50" from Jay Wright 


An alternative - Curry Warmup If you walk out and start shooting threes, you're not a serious shooter. Whether it was Steve Nash or Steph Curry, warming up your shot improves form, results, and confidence. 


The greatest shooter of this (and maybe any) generation, Steph Curry, takes 5 shots from 5 spots at each 'radian'. 

2) Bueckers "grab and go" from Chris Oliver... 


3) Championship 38

Shooting drills like "Championship 38" (18 shots, including 3 free throws) are highly competitive and easily tracked. Add constraints like time or number of shots allowable to meet your goals.

4) Elbow shots on the move


Game shots, on the move catch and shoot... elbow to sideline, elbow to elbow. 

5) Pitino "quarters" - 84 shots, 168 possible points (42 points per quarter)


Competitive, volume repetitions won't guarantee you anything. Not doing them guarantees you nothing. 

Lagniappe. Find one band, one sound. From Eric Kapitulik, The Program, "If the head coach decides that the team must focus on their Core Value of selflessness, then an athlete is hearing that message from his head coach, his positional coach, all of his strength coaches, the athletic trainers, the director of football operations, and the head coach’s assistant too."

Lagniappe 2. Everyone can learn to cut. 

Lagniappe 3. BOB with options. "Learn how to play." 

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Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Basketball Survival

Everyone benefits from understanding survival in their unique basketball landscape. Survival shows (Survivorman, Dual Survival, Alone) inform viewers about the many physical and mental challenges. Derive analogical benefits. 

Shelter, fire, water, and food are the major challenges against the elements, predators, thirst, and hunger. On the survival shows, contestants or experts have (optional) tools to improve their odds - tarp, fire rod, cutting tools, primitive fishing gear, snare wire, paracord, pot, sometimes bow and arrow.

Sometimes the conditions are not survivable - the New York Jets of the NFL. 

And lamentable, effort may not be proportional to results. "Control what you can control." 

Ecosystem - facilities, practice, assistants

Predators - opponents (and competition for available talent - other sports)

Climate - talent, parents, community (extremes of desert, frozen tundra both non-navigable) 

"Nutrition" - thirst and hunger (training, resources)

You wouldn't choose a survival challenge without any experience or survival in survival. Ideally, the 'survivalist' (coach) would train at the hand of an experienced/successful coach.

Obstacles  

Ecosystem - One season I was offered two hours of practice a week. I countered that I was prepared to walk away without at least three. The tradeoff was practice 7:30-9:00 p.m. for middle schoolers. 

Predators - One area community has an elite field hockey program. The best athletes vote with their feet and win States every year. 

Climate - Prep and private schools cherry pick a lot of the best available talent. Make peace with reality. Coaching girls, I practiced total transparency and all communication went through parents. Parents got periodic emails re: progress and need areas. Any "hard" conversations should always have two adults present. 

Nutrition - offseason training is limited in suburban Boston by weather. May through September, hope for the best. The best players were always the most committed. Everyone, without exception, has at least occasional adversarial encounters with parents with the usual issues over minutes, role, and recognition. 

Lagniappe. I've read Deep Survival twice and I'm not an outdoors person.

Lagniappe 2. Curiosity is essential.  

Lagniappe 3. Numbers don't lie. 

Lagniappe 4. Become more with better habits. 

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Monday, April 14, 2025

Basketball - Nobody Should Want My Opinion. Someone Will Benefit Anyway.

"Basketball is sharing." - Phil Jackson

Top coaches are lifelong learners who practice openness and flexibility. Are we among them or are we locked in to our beliefs? Bill Parcells reminds us, "you are what your record says you are."

What could we do differently that might impact winning? Think about creating a one page "go by" for each of these six areas. Do I expect young players to do the work? Only those who want to chase excellence.

My mentee Cecilia was on the Patriot League All-Rookie team and has been contacted by over forty schools in the portal. She hasn't made a decision to stay or to go elsewhere. 

1) Player development. Develop players with skills to attack the basket, pick-and-roll players, and shooters who can do more than make occasional open catch-and-shoot threes. How often do shades of "The Beautiful Game" emerge during high school?   

How often in generic high school games do you see players applying "box drills," "wing and jab series," and other individual attack moves? 

Here are some links I sent to my son for help my granddaughter (eight):

2. Compendium
Attack mentality. Choose from a 'menu' of improvements. Invest the time to review multiple videos. You don't need to develop every one. 
3. Box drills  (absolutely great drills) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwmyJF0s6gA&t=1s
4. Athleticism drills  (sport rewards explosive athletes)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szJXg72tyZ8&t=437s

2) Strategy 


4) Psychology/Resilience (mindfulness - includes slideshow links)


6) Community outreach - Be a "Say yes" guy.

Lagniappe. What's the purpose of youth and middle school basketball? Is it coaching ego support or player development? 

 Lagniappe 2. Start with the end in mind? 

Lagniappe 3. Whom do we become?  

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Sunday, April 13, 2025

Basketball - Under the Radar Tips

"Good artists borrow; great artists steal." - Picasso

Sweat the details. Most readers have extensive basketball knowledge. Most players know less than they think. As legendary Coach Pete Newell said, "the coach's job is to help players SEE THE GAME."

British cycling won championships by focusing on minutiae to boost "marginal gains."

James Clear writes in his best seller Atomic Habits, "Brailsford and his team continued to find 1 percent improvements in overlooked and unexpected areas. They tested different types of massage gels to see which one led to the fastest muscle recovery. They hired a surgeon to teach each rider the best way to wash their hands to reduce the chances of catching a cold. They determined the type of pillow and mattress that led to the best night’s sleep for each rider. They even painted the inside of the team truck white, which helped them spot little bits of dust that would normally slip by unnoticed but could degrade the performance of the finely tuned bikes."

Consider these 1 percent better suggestions:

1) Start inbounds plays the instant the official hands the inbounder the ball, not on a slap. 

2) "Automate" inbounds plays silently using the clock for EVEN, ODD, or ZERO. Override with "CANCEL" to signal an alternative. 

3) Focus on self-care for players via sleep (eight hours), nutrition, hydration, and recovery. 

4) On our coaching "Game sheet" include our best two for:

  • Baseline out of bounds (BOB)
  • Sideline out of bounds (SLOB)
  • After timeout (ATO)
  • Set play versus man defense
  • Set play versus defense 
5) Have a set call for fronting the post to alert the on-ball defender and backside help. Maximal on-ball pressure makes post entry harder. 

6) Remember Coach Don Kelbick's advice, "think shot first." 

7) Be descriptive. Coach Mike Krzyzewski didn't teach pick-and-roll defense by "show" or "hedge." He chose the term, "fake trap." 

8) Dean Smith (two NCAA titles) worked to have three timeouts for the final four minutes. 

9) Superior teams close out games with well-tuned offensive and defensive delay games. 

10) With about a third of games decided by two or fewer possessions (think Houston and Florida in the Final Four), practice situational basketball regularly. The Navy SEALs remind us that "we sink to the level of our training." 

Lagniappe. Adam Grant's "Think Again" points out the value of 'rethinking'. He suggests keeping a "rethinking scorecard." 

Lagniappe 2. There are multiple ways to run "shell." 

Lagniappe 3. Top teams run hard-to-defend actions such as complex screening. Spain translates to "backscreen the roller defender." 

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Saturday, April 12, 2025

Take a Different Attitude Towards Work - "Get To" not "Have To"

Every day tests our process. New White Sox infielder Chase Meidroth commented, "I try to win every at bat." Play present and put the last 'shot' in the rear view mirror. Don't let a previous experience bleed into this play. 

Process defines outcome. But it takes time, whether "10,000 hours" or something else. A trained medical specialist takes 12-15 years of college, medical school, and postgraduate training (4-7 years). Nobody picks up a basketball and is NBA-ready. The new normal is that many college coaches ignore high school players and compete for "known" commodities. A high school player might say, "that's not fair." That's reality. 

Plateaus and setbacks punctuate the journey. Disappointment and disaffection with outcome happen too frequently. Some people just quit. Quests become quixotic. "Win the moment, this possession." 

Serve your local community - home, school, team. If that's writing the best book report possible, do it. If it's "do five more" in the weight room, do it. Adopt the "get to" not the "have to" mentality. 

Love learning. Study harder. Whether it's watching games, clinics, or video, better study translates. As student or teacher, "explain it to me as though I'm a five year-old."

Embrace the grind. Ask better questions. "What if?" 

Experience joy in doing the work. The work pays you.  

Lagniappe. How many of you were three-sport athletes? Coach Dags weighs in.  

Lagniappe 2. Dan Campbell on Patriots new defensive coordinator Terrell Williams: “He understood the personality of players,” Campbell recalled this week at the annual league meetings. “To watch him, like, he treated every player differently, man. Some guys he prodded, some guys he loved up, some guys would just walk and whisper in their ear and watch them go. He’s got a knack about understanding how to make people go and understanding that not everybody’s the same. Unbelievable dude.” 

Lagniappe 3. Touch the line. Nobody regrets doing their best. 

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