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Elegance is innate. It has nothing to do with being well dressed. Elegance is refusal. - Diana Vreeland

Game time is usually on a weekend, and my weekend uniform, especially in the fall and winter, is usually a sweatshirt and jeans.  I like sweatshirts because they are comfortable and I like to be comfortable on my days off.  However, when I'm coaching, I make an effort to make sure whatever I'm wearing is clean and presentable. 

Much like when I go to work, when I'm coaching I think it's important to show at least a little respect for the game, my team and the opponents by not looking like I just rolled out of bed.  That's just me, a personal preference.  But then I'm not the head football coach at Notre Dame…

It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers. - James Thurber

We coach for a lot of reasons, but I'm guessing immortality isn't one of them.  But in a way you do achieve immortality in a way.  I know I can remember nearly every coach I ever had.  From my first hockey coach at 5 years old to the raspy voiced basketball coach who always smelled like cigarettes, through the burly Bolivian soccer coach, not to mention the one armed baseball coach or the southern accented hockey coach.  They were all rec league coaches who volunteered their time to teach me and a bunch of other boys the finer points of a game.  I remember them not for anything they said or any move they taught me — the next "move" I make on the basketball court will be my first — but I remember them because they were there.

I'm thinking about these men tonight because I've been reading the many tributes to Bo Schembechler.  Bo was the head football coach at the University of Michigan from 1969-1989.  His teams were always highly ranked, winning 10 Big Ten Conference championships.  He is considered a legend in Michigan and as a truly great coach in the rest of the country.

What struck me about the response was the fact Bo hadn't coached in 16 years.  To put that in perspective, the seniors playing in Saturday's Ohio State vs. Michigan game were in Kindergarten when Bo coached his last game.  An entire generation has grown up seeing someone other than Bo Schembechler on the Michigan sidelines on Saturday afternoon.  Yet he was as revered as his last day as coach (maybe more).

One comment in the Detroit Free Press article from the son of a former player illustrates the impact a coach can have long after the games end.

My dad played for Bo 40 years ago, at Miami of Ohio. We've followed Michigan ever since he moved there and became fans almost solely because of him. My dad stayed in touch with Bo after his playing days, and we traveled to Michigan bowl games all over the country. I got to meet Bo two or three times in the locker room before or after games, one moment I'll remember all my life is when he looked me in the eyes and said, "If you grow up to be half the man your daddy is, you'll be something else". I think my dad's head almost split open with pride. It was amazing what a communicator he was, the power of commitment and confidence.

I called my dad (a successful professional) today when I found out the news, and he was pretty down. Played for him 40 years ago, and look at the impact he still has on my dad's life. It was like losing a surrogate father. Now that's something I long to get out of my own life.

God bless you, Bo. And God's peace to your family.

Indeed. 

Aim high and celebrate that! - Bill Rodgers

Fierce and friendly or just plain fierce?

Dinner at 8: Is that any way to hate your rival? (Rick Morrissey)

Whatever happened to the opponent being the enemy in sports?

You know—the evil, dimwitted, bad-breathed person who, you're convinced, abuses puppies in his spare time?

Yeah, the Bears couldn't get out of their own way Sunday because Brian Urlacher knew the Jason Taylor didn't have halitosis.

Pregame Hitler speech stirs fury

When Charlotte Catholic's boys' soccer team got to Forestview High School in Gastonia on Saturday night for an N.C. 3A playoff game, the Cougars heard something over the public address system they never would've expected:

A 90-second portion of a speech from Adolf Hitler.

This seems like an appropriate time to invoke Godwins Law , except Forestview won…

Fla. Coach Accused Of Forcing Player To Strip, Suck Thumb

According to a police report, some older kids duct taped the boy's legs and sat on top of him, WJXT-TV reported. Police said the coach, 23-year-old William David Simpkins, allowed the incident to take place and did nothing to stop it.

The police report states that Simpkins took the incident one step further, forcing the boy to take his clothes off and run laps in his underwear while sucking his thumb.

So the kids duct tape the kid and the coach sees this happening and his reaction is: you're not going far enough???  That's the way to motivate the kids coach…  They'll want to run through walls for you, except their feet and hands are already bound by duct tape.

Bad coaches, bad teammates, bad fans…  I was getting mad as I read each of these stories because I know that isn't what sports is about and that isn't how most coaches, players and fans think and act.  That's why it was such a joy to read a story in Tuesday's Chicago Tribune .

Alison Wimmer was prepared to meet resistance when she asked if her autistic daughter, Sarah, could run on the cross country team at Downers Grove South High School.

After all, girls like Sarah Wimmer typically join Special Olympics programs, not highly competitive high school sports.

Her mother, however, was pleasantly surprised. Not only did the coaches welcome her, but her teammates also agreed to give up some of their own opportunities so she could be part of the team.

It's a wonderful story about how sport was able to help an autistic girl find her way through high school and how her teammates learned some life lessons.  Kinda like what we always say sports should be about…

But this story isn't just a feel good story. No, Sarah can compete.

"It's not just that Sarah runs. She runs near 24 minutes for a 3-mile race. She beats people."

That isn't fast enough to win races, but it's faster than she ran when she started and it's faster than she would run if she wasn't given the chance to compete.  And after everything is removed, isn't that is what sports are about, the chance to compete.  Let me do my best, you do your best and let's see what happens. 

Sarah, her parents and coaches all knew should wouldn't win any races.  In fact the same could be said about any number of runners on that (or any other) cross country team.  But those kids aren't toeing the line looking for a scholarship.  But yet they run.  They run until their lungs burn and their legs ache because they want something else; and whatever else it is - the friendships, the personal challenge - they get it through sports.  That's how sports are trancendant, that's why they are a gift.

Push yourself again and again. Don't give an inch until the final buzzer sounds. - Larry Bird

I mentioned last time that I spent the weekend with the people from the Positive Coaching Alliance.  One of their principles is Honoring the Game.  By that they mean respect for Rules, Opponents, Officials, Teammates and Yourself.  This principle really gives focus on what youth sports should be about; teaching life lessons.

One of the phrases they use to illustrate the principle is "Fierce and Friendly".  That may sound like an oxymoron, but think about Magic and Bird or Watson and Nicklaus.  When one made a shot, the other wanted to top it.

The Celtics and Lakers met in the NBA Finals three times in four years.  Celtics had what the Lakers wanted and vice-verse.  But rather than build a hatred for each other, they had an enormous amount of respect for each other.  Not to say that those games were tea parties.  Each team scratched and clawed (sometimes literally if I recall correctly) for every point.  But at the end the winners knew they earned something special and the loser knew they pushed the winners to the limits.

That sort of respect for opponents is a gift we don't give our kids often enough.  Think about the competitive games your team plays — compare that to the blowouts, both for and against.  Win or lose, your team probably plays better because they have to.   Respect what your opponent brings to the game and what they bring out of your team.  A great opponent is a gift that keeps on giving.

THREE. There is a danger (a considerable one, based on the evidence so far) that over-coaching can promote an atmosphere where the pro athlete's brain neutralizes his physical gifts rather than augments them. - Matt at Battle of Alberta

That's the fine line of coaching isn't it.  As a coach you need to teach, but you want your players to react instinctively rather than think.  The teaching process takes time — something you don't have much of as a rec league coach — which is why it's a good idea to narrow your focus…

Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence. - Vince Lombardi

I spent the weekend talking to the people with the Positive Coaching Alliance.  I've written about this organization before in connection with the book Double Goal Coach.  The double goals are 1) Winning and 2) Using sports to teach kids life lessons. 

PCS's mission tracks closely with my belief that a coach's priorities are:

1. Teaching the kids
2. Creating a fun atmosphere
3. Winning games

And the kids priorities are:

1. Winning games
2. Having fun
3. Learning the game

The way PCA puts it:

PCA was created to transform the culture of youth sports to give all young athletes the opportunity for a positive, character-building experience.
We have three national goals:

1. To replace the "win-at-all-cost" model of coaching with the "Double-Goal Coach" who wants to win but has a second, more important, goal of using sports to teach life lessons
2. To teach youth sports organization leaders how to create an organizational culture in which Honoring the Game is the norm
3. To spark and fuel a "social epidemic" of Positive Coaching that will sweep this country

I'll write more about them in the coming days.  Today take some time and check out their site.  They have several tools to help you teach your kids in a positive way.  One of the best is Positive Charting.  You create a chart for each player along with the activity you want to track.  Have an assistant coach track the game and give each kid a mark when they do the activity you are tracking.  After the game or at the next practice you can use the charts to reinforce what the kids did in the game.

Positive Charting is only one of the tools PCA has to implement positive coaching.  Over the weekend we talked about several others that are all part of a PCA Double Goal Coach clinic.  Do yourself a favor and go to one of these clinics if you have the chance to attend.

Never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was. - Dag Hammarskjold

Last time I wrote about the Hedgehog and the Fox.  That is the Greek parable, about how the fox may know many things but he can't beat the hedgehog, because the hedgehog knows one thing - very well.

I wrote about BHAGs, Three Circles and  clarity of purpose.  But one word I didn't write - and one word I don't recall seeing in Good To Great - is Excellence.  I think excellence gets a bad rap, especially in youth sports circles.  Often it's associated with driven, overbearing coaches, out-sized expectations and grim determination. But excellence should be a source of pride and excitement. 

We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle

But giving your team the gift of excellence seems daunting.  Most of us didn't play our sport at the highest levels, so we weren't exposed to great coaching.  But that doesn't doom you to mediocrity!  You too can run a great team.

1. Follow the Hedgehog Principle (No, not the Sweathog Principal)
2. Catch the kids doing something right - especially away from the action
3. Make practice count — don't waste time, keep the kids moving in practice

Focus is key, but you have to focus on the right things.   Use the modified Three Circles I wrote about last time to help you figure out where to concentrate, then implement your ideas.  Your team will be the best in the(ir) world in no time!

The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing. - Archilochus (7th-century b.c.)

Foxes have to know many things to be successful, but the hedgehog only has to know one thing.  As a youth  coach with other priorities laying claim on your time, which would you rather be?   You don't have time to know everything, but you can know one thing really well.  Lucky for you, that is a part of the recipe for Good to Great

Concentrating on one thing, building your practices around that central idea provides for clarity of purpose.  I've said this before, figure out the one fundamental that is important to your team and build your practices around perfecting that fundamental.  But, there is a problem with that approach.  Doing the same thing gets boring! 

That's a problem, but it isn't insurmountable — after all, you're smart.  There are two things you need to do to make this approach work: 

1. Find several drills and games to teach the fundamental
2. Build your BHAG around the fundamental

What's a BHAG you ask? A BHAG is a Big Hairy Audacious Goal.  They are the things that get people excited to work hard, even at things that might be boring.  Give your team a something to work towards and — most importantly — stretch for, and you can keep them motivated through all sorts of drills.

In Good To Great, Jim Collins says companies have to determine what it is that they can be the best in the world doing.  He gives the example of Abbott Labs.  They knew they could not be the best pharmaceutical company in the world because they didn't have the research capabilities to achieve that goal.  What they could do was be the best in the world at creating products to lower the cost of health care.  They were very specific in their focus — they knew one thing very well — which allowed them to concentrate on only those things that contribute to their primary mission.

There isn't one right answer to the question of what to focus on.  As the coach, you have to answer that question.  However, Collins does guide you to your answer with three questions.  He calls them the Three Circles.

1. What can you be the best in the world at?
2. What drives your economic engine?
3. What are you deeply passionate about?

How about if tweak the questions to apply directly to coaching…

1. What can your team be the best in your league at?
2. What will contribute to your team's performance?
3. What are you willing to keep working at?

You may not have a lot of talent on your roster so being the best goal scoring team in the league may not be realistic.  But being the best team in the league at defending corner kicks is reasonable.  Maybe your football team can't catch a pass, but they can be the best at running the trap play.  Don't have anyone who can hit a jumper?  Don't try to make the team into the best perimeter shooting team, concentrate on setting picks and hitting the cutter with a pass.

Regardless of how focused you make your BHAG, your unlikely to be the best in the world.  But you're dealing with kids, so their world doesn't extend much beyond your league.  Focus on one specific thing and regardless of your talent level your team can be the best in their world. 

Get the kids excited about becoming the best at something, show them how one practice builds upon the next.  Allow your kids the chance to see what it takes to master a skill.  That's a lesson that will last a lot longer with your kids than anything else you teach them.

Wise are they who have learned these truths: Trouble is temporary. Time is tonic. Tribulation is a test tube. - William A. Ward

The last time we got together I wrote quite a bit about what a Level 5 leader isn't.  In fact, I'm pretty sure my membership in the Mike Ditka fan club has been revoked.  I guess I'll have to find someone else…  Today, rather than write about level 4 qualities and what they don't have, let's discuss what sets a Level 5 leader apart from the rest.

The Good to Great leaders never wanted to become larger-than-life heroes.  They never aspired to be put on a pedestal or become unreachable icons.  They were seemingly ordinary people quietly producing extraordinary results.

- Jim Collins, Good To Great (pg. 28)

This makes it sound as if these Level 5 leaders are somewhat meek or introverted.  But that's not quite right.  Collins says these people don't look to bring attention to themselves, yet they are firm in their resolve to whatever is necessary for the long term benefit of the organization.

Demonstrates an unwavering resolve to do whatever must be done to produce the best long-term results, no matter how difficult.

- Jim Collins on The Two Sides of Level 5 Leadership

Introverted, possibly, but that doesn't sound like someone who is meek.  It sounds like someone who is thinking beyond this week's practice or this season's games.  It sounds like someone who realizes teaching a level swing may be hard, but an uppercut swing will only produce easy fly outs next year.

To move your coaching from Good to Great, keep a few things in mind.

• It's not about you
• It's not about today's game
• It is about the kids
• It is about their love of the game

These are hard to remember and harder to stick to when you have two dozen parents yelling and cheering on the sidelines.  But just as the CEO's profiled in the book had their doubters but persevered, so will you.  Next I'll write about a strategy to help you persevere and move your team forward — The Hedgehog Concept .

Fun is at the core of the way I like to do business and it has been the key to everything I’ve done from the outset. More than any other element, fun is the secret of Virgin’s success. - Richard Branson

I live outside of Chicago.  In these parts it's been 1985 for over 20 years and Mike Ditka is the patron saint of football.  The deification of Ditka is so complete that when asked to pick between Mike Ditka, who last coached the Bears in 1992 and won one Super Bowl in 1985, and Lovie Smith, the current coach who guided the Bears to a Division Championship last season and has the team off to a 6-0 start this year, my 11 year old son couldn't believe anyone wouldn't pick Ditka.

There is no arguing Mike Ditka's love for the Bears.  He had a Hall of Fame playing career for the team and was hand picked by George Halas to coach the team shortly before Halas died.  In short, Ditka wouldn't be Ditka without the Bears - and the Bears would be something less without him.

But what was Mike Ditka's legacy?  Did he create anything enduring, besides his own legend?  The numbers say no, but I'm sure he would disagree.  No doubt he would point to the countless hours he spent preparing his team.  But the leaders Jim Collins identifies in "Good To Great" as Level 5 leaders aren't measured by time spent in the film room.  Rather they show themselves through what Collins describes as a "paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will".

Regular readers will recognize this as the spot for my obligatory John Wooden homage.  Coach Wooden was a prototypical Level 5 leader, humble and willful, but I'm more interested in exploring the contrasting leaders Collins describes, the ego-centric leader.

Collins labels those leaders Level 4.  This implies they are less successful than a Level 5 leader, but that doesn't fully capture the difference.  The difference isn't their immediate success, but rather the way they lead and the type of organization they create and ultimately leave behind.  Mike Ditka was certainly successful, but he didn't leave the Bears with an enduring legacy and he didn't leave his imprint on the NFL with dozens of former assistants running teams.  Collins profiles some wildly successful Level 4 CEOs, such as Lee Iacocca.  They were all very successful, but the success didn't endure because they put the needs of their own egos in front of the enduring success of the organization.

Collins wrote an article about the Rock Star CEO.  Replace CEO with Head Coach and you are reading about many of the celebrity coaches prowling the sidelines of today's professional — and college — leagues.

There is perhaps no more corrosive trend to the health of our organizations than the rise of the celebrity CEO, the rock-star leader whose deepest ambition is first and foremost self-centric.

This trend works it's way down to kid's sports.  Level 4 coaches view the games as a personal validation and aren't willing to trust the outcome to a bunch of kids.  Rather than teach by asking questions a Level 4 coach will direct and stage manage kids.  A Level 4 coach is more likely to view the outcome of each game as the only valid measuring stick to progress, where a Level 5 coach recognizes player development leads to a better overall team and more wins.

Truth be told, most of us aren't Level 5 — or even 4s.  Most of are probably about a 3 on Collins' leadership pyramid — Competent Manager.

Organized people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives.

I don't think that is a bad standard to reach.  However we can each strive to include more Level 5 thinking in our coaching.  Maintain a healthy perspective and remember your primary goal; strive to make every player better; and be firm in doing what you know is right. 

I've identified a Level 4 coach - Mike Ditka and a Level 5 coach - John Wooden.  Can you think of any other coaches that fit either type?