randy jackson – Winning Youth Coaching

November 10, 2016

WYC 097 – High School Football – Randy Jackson talks Culture Defeats Strategy

Coach Randy Jackson calls on his 26 years of coaching experience and research to share his ideas on how important culture and leadership are to a successful program, and what he has done to develop that successful culture in his own program.

Twitter: @CoachJacksonTPW

Facebook: Randy Jackson

Book/website: coachrandyjackson.com

Listen Now:

Listen on iTunes: iTunes link

Listen on Stitcher: Stitcher link

Listen on Google Play Music: Google Play link

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Quote

‘All kids need 5 adults in their lives that care about their success- As a coach – be one of those!’

My Cringe & A-Ha Moments

Being too intense and impatient with some of the kids
‘Early on I was coaching because I love the game. I still love the game but now focus more on loving the kids.’
‘If you want to be more you have to become more’ – Coach has lost 30 pounds in the last year, as he focused more on taking better care of himself, and improving his mind. Turn off the radio and TV and read books and listen to podcasts.

Teaching Skills

‘All kids need 5 adults in their lives that care about their success- As a coach – be one of those!’
Needs need affirmation and positive feedback
Teach fundamentals every day, but you have to find ways to fascinate your kids while doing it – make everything competitive
Pete Caroll video – Hawk tackling – How rugby tackling is safer and more effective. Company called Atavus – they certify coaches to be rugby tackling specialists.

Culture

Core Values – Coach worked with Brian Cain who challenged them to make their core values more prominent – Check out Brian Cain’s podcast: Link
- 7 core values the kids came up with: Energy & Tempo, Compete, Tough, Family, Appreciation, Discipline, Finish & Payday
- Each day of the week has a theme that is one of the core values
- Players had to earn the stickers on their helmets by memorizing the core values
Yearly 4-Quarter process
- Each quarter each player has one word that is their focus
- Quarter 1 – Offseason
- Quarter 2 – Bootcamp
- Quarter 3 – Spring football – ‘You versus yesterday’
- Quarter 4 – Summer – Kaizen – ‘Continual improvement’
His book on culture: Culture Defeats Strategy – Full of stories and ideas on their core covenants and how they build culture

Best borrowed/stolen idea

Tom Hermann – ‘Finish’ – When they watch practice film – They have a coach hold up a flag so they know when the whistle blew – then they evaluate offensive linemen whether they had 2 hands on a defender or were chasing a defender. If not – it is graded as a loaf.

Favorite coaching book/quote

Book: Pete Carroll’s Win Forever
Book: Gary Barnett’s High Hopes – Magic pitcher – Lata bowl – looks like no water is left in it, when he sets it back down more water appears
Book: Urban Meyer’s Above the Line
Book: Bill Walsh’s The Score Takes Care of Itself
Book: Jon Gordon’s You Win in the Locker Room First

Parting Advice

Stay in a growth mindset – You have to keep learning
It’s about the relationships not the plays
If you don’t get the culture right nothing else matters
Fascinate the kids and build them up
Make everything competitive

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August 16, 2016

Culture Eats Strategy for Lunch – Part 7 – Case Study – How A State Championship School Built A Trust-Based Program

Coach Wooden often shared that ‘Love is the most powerful four-letter word.’ When building a championship culture, love and trust have to start at the top. Do your players trust that you have their best interests in mind? The answer to that probably comes down to whether you truly do have their best interest in mind. When it comes to loving your players and having them trust you – it has to be real. Do some introspection for your program – here are a few questions you can ask yourself:

Do you truly care more about the kids or about winning?
Does each kid feel like they are special? This takes a lot of effort, but each kid should feel they are special and have a special role that contributes to the success of the program.
Are you distracted by cell phones or thinking about other things while you are coaching at practices or games?

Case Study – One of the most impressive programs I have observed live out this philosophy of loving their players is Christ Presbyterian Academy in Nashville Tennessee. Drew Maddux and Ingle Martin lead their basketball and football programs, respectively. They specifically have built a program based on Joe Ehrmann’s philosophies. It didn’t happen overnight, they spent two years having weekly studies of Joe’s books with their coaching staffs. They brought in outside mentors/advisors, Randy and Scott Hearon from the Nashville Coaching Coalition, to help guide them through the process and keep them accountable. You could write a book on all of the things they are doing right – but here are 3 that really jumped out at me:

‘To be a man, you have to see a man’ – Coach Martin focuses on developing himself and his coaching staff to be the type of men that the boys should emulate
Manhood Mondays – every Monday during the season they have different coaches and players create a shield with 4 parts to share with the team:
- Tell a childhood story that defined them
- Tell a recent story that defines them
- How does the public view them
- Who their private self is
Build a program not a team – If you have Varsity, JV, freshmen – various levels – treat them all as part of one program. Talk to each kid every practice and call them by name. Coach Maddux has a state championship program- but they don’t do cuts. If a kid wants to be in the program, then he is.

CPA is a program that is all-in on loving kids and developing future leaders. It starts at the top and it requires a deep desire for the kids to succeed, not for the coach’s winning record to look good (however the culture they have produced has led to remarkable achievements on the field and court, consistently competing for and winning state championships over the past 5+ years.)

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So commit to truly loving the kids you coach. Recently I interviewed Coach Randy Jackson, a successful high school football coach in Texas, and he shared with me:

‘A child’s chances of being successful are vastly improved if they know 5 people truly believe in them. As their coach, are you going to be 1 of the 5?’