But what happens when things aren't going well?
Let's start with my personal rule number 1a. When things go wrong, the responsibility falls on the coach. Hopefully my attempt to explain why is clear. Read this quote from Luiz Felipe Scolari.
This is what I believe and it works for me. Reflection has become a big part of my process and this mindset makes it work better. You may disagree, but read it anyway :)
Personally, I believe everything falls on the coach when it's not 100% perfect ... a negative encounter with a parent/official/player, a session that wasn't overly productive, even poor attendance at training. But for this article, I am talking about the game.
Our Niagara College men's soccer program had a good year and the program has been moving in the right direction for the last three years. But our last game for the 2014 season was a bad day.
We traveled to Ottawa to play Algonquin College in the quarter finals of the OCAA playoffs. We won't talk about the first goal against, or the seventh. We had a bad day. (added Oct 27 ... it is of little consolation to me that Algonquin beat Sheridan and Humber Colleges to win the provincial championship on Oct 25)
I've been on both ends of such games and it isn't easy either way. You want to win and lose gracefully, always. But "things going well" and "success" are not always associated with winning and losing as there are times you coach a team that doesn't have the horses to beat the opponent you're currently playing. Regardless of who you're playing and what your chances are, there are still things that could/should be happening that sometimes aren't.
I appreciate coaching with Rino Berardi in situations like this. We've been together since 1989 and for the most part, he was my first (and still one of my best) coaching teacher. I've moved on in terms
of
certifications, but my best conversations are still with Rino. Neither of us, during those 90 minutes or on the six-hour ride home ever considered pointing to one player or a group of players. Luciano Berardocco is also a coach with us on the men's side. He was not with us that day, but he has the same attitude. (My kick-ass $5.00 panini from DiRienzo Grocery in Ottawa could not even make me feel better.)
This was one of those games where you felt helpless. Our guys had worked hard all year and grew as a unit and program with each game. We were fit, we played solid football and we had good players in good places. They did everything we asked of them before and during the match. But Sunday wasn't our day."Players win games, coaches lose games."
It happens at the youth level. It happens at the college/university level and it happens to professionals. It happened to Brazil on home soil in the 2014 World Cup against Germany. That same World Cup, it happened to Portugal (vs Germany) and Spain (vs Netherlands). Seasoned professionals on the biggest stage with the best millionaire players in marquee positions, losing big. But it can't pass without proper reflection and adjustment.
Once the dust settles and my intestinal tract becomes untwisted after those 90 minutes, I will review our pre-game preparations and plan for the game, as well as the game video. I have a lot of questions that need answering.Why do you need to believe the responsibility always lies with the coach?
(When I first wrote this, I used the words "fault" and "blame" but they didn't fit quite right. Responsibility seems more in line with the personal nature and ongoing duties of coaching. "Fault" and "blame" are more appropriate for car accidents, broken windows or who caused your fourth divorce. )
If you quickly blame a player(s) or the officials, then the experience and the learning ends right there. Neither you nor your program will benefit from the experience. There is always something to learn in every game.
If I sincerely take responsibility, as a coach, now the reflection and learning take place:
- Did the coaches fully understand the challenge we accepted? For the season and this game.
- Was our immediate preparation appropriate for the upcoming challenge?
- Was the long term preparation appropriate?
- Were the right players selected for the right positions?
- Were the players prepared to assume the roles given to them?
- Technically/tactically, physically, socially and psychologically ... what was or wasn't in place?
- Did we plan the day properly? Meals, travel, arrival, etc.
- Our student-athletes had midterms during the preceding week. Did we plan that properly?
- Did we read the game properly as it was progressing? Did we make the appropriate adjustments?
Some people will say that it's not always the coach's responsibility, but, in my opinion, you have to believe it is if you are to keep growing as a coach and moving your program forward. You're not being a martyr, you're just setting the environment to get the answers you need. There are coaches out there that will say that you need to make individuals accountable for their performance. If you are going to do that, fine, but who will be accountable for the preparation before their poor performance?
If the actual player(s) is/are the absolute last thing you put focus on, then you've reflected and considered all of the facets of your team that you have some control over. In a more thorough way, you've prepared yourself to plan for the next challenge. Let's be real, there will be times where you have a weak spot, in the form of a player, that you can pinpoint ... but you have to put that possibility at the very and of the list to ensure you review everything possible and you have to be honest about your contribution to that player not being ready. It's a difficult mindset to achieve and a difficult thing to accept, but when you do I believe you'll walk away from each experience with a deeper level of understanding.
Felipe Alou said this when he took over as manager for the Montreal Expos: "Players win games, coaches lose games." It's not up there with any Sir Winston Churchill quote, but it stuck with me and helps shape my attitude.
A lot of people on your team could/should look inward, but the coach has to sincerely lead by example , with the acceptance that others may not. If everybody involved in any group activity looks inward first during reflection, the resulting debrief and future planning are far more productive.
I am far from perfect and slip like everybody else. When my 1999 boys team was at the U11 age (in 2010) we were getting beaten up pretty badly one game. I thought I handled it well until our team parent/photographer sent out his pictures for the day. One picture (below) made me feel terrible and made me realize, in hindsight, that I was not supportive while the kids were taking it on the chin. I wasn't yelling, but I also wasn't saying much of anything. That's me, leaning on the garbage can (maybe I was hoping I would fall in?). Poor body language separating me from the players' and team's performance. I wasn't even near our bench. I was not looking inward that game, until I saw this image. This picture and that day has stuck in my mind as reminders of my place. (When writing this article, I emailed that parent 4 years later asking for the picture and told him the month and year it was taken. He was surprised I remembered but it's branded on my brain.)
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| Photo credit: Mark Wilkinson |
There are things that happen during a match that you can't control, but that doesn't mean you can wash your hands of your responsibilities as a coach.
P.S. One way or another, our college program will benefit from that last game.
