coachKidsSports.com

Coaches who can outline plays on a black board are a dime a dozen. The ones who win get inside their player and motivate. - Vince Lombardi

Sunday was an American National Holiday.  A holiday in the sense that the Super Bowl brings families together across generations and makes fast friends out of relative strangers.

The party I went to had my seven year old daughter and my 85 year old grandfather.  Because we are in Chicago, there weren't any Colts fans, but in previous years I always met a new friend rooting for the same team I was — and someone who was passionate about the other side… But that is what makes it fun.  The heights of joy followed by the depths of losing, hopefully capped off with a great comeback.  At the end of the night your team is either up or down but the world is still spinning and life goes on…  Although Chicago will be in a deep funk for at least the next couple of weeks - at least we have our weather…

With all the hype surrounding the Super Bowl, there were two men in the eye of the storm who maintained incredible poise throughout.  The head coaches, Tony Dungee and Lovie Smith are similar types of leaders.  I've written several times about my admiration for Lovie Smith's style.  Where many NFL coaches attempt to instill fear into their team, both Smith and Dungy command respect.

That's what the great coaches do, and the rest of us ask how.  How can a coach get grown men to sacrifice themselves to a common goal.  The cynic would say professional athletes have millions of reasons to want to win, and that's true as far as it goes.  But the crucial difference is that Dungy and Smith (as well as other great coaches) have high, but reasonable, expectations for each player and hold the players accountable to those standards. 

Unlike many coaches, ahem Tom Coughlin, the players are held accountable in the context of the team, not the media.  Rex Grossman cost the Bears some games this year, but you'll be hard pressed to find a negative quote from any Bears player or coach about him.  I can guarantee that doesn't mean it's been sweetness and light at Halas Hall this season.

The same is true in Indianapolis.  My 84 year old grandmother picked up 100+ yards against the Colts run defense at the end of the year.  The toughest thing Tony Dungy said, publicly, about them was "we have to get better."  I'm guessing they got the message in another way.  I'm also sure that because of their respect for their coach, they looked at themselves and held themselves to a higher standard than any coach could rightfully expect.  They didn't want to let coach down, they didn't want to let each other down.  And now they are Super Bowl Champs.

We were lucky to have two role models for positive, constructive coaching in the biggest game of the year.  I live in Chicago, so I was rooting for the Bears.  But going into the game I knew that great coaching would be the ultimate winner.  As a fan I hoped it would be the Bears, as a coach, I couldn't lose.

Congratulations to the Colts, it couldn't happen to a better man — except maybe Lovie