Every coach on the planet knows the correlation between winning and teamwork but only winning coaches know how to create a team environment. Some coaches completely underestimate the power of synergy. Just remember how our Olympic Dream Team basketball team floundered in the 2004 Olympics due to selfish play. Even the most talented athletes in [...]
The Education of a Coach by David Halberstram is a fascinating study of putting together a football dynasty in modern professional football. The era of free agency, parity and salary caps has changed much of the conventional wisdom of the old guard NFL. Whether you are a Bill Belichick fan or not the success [...]
Colin Powell has always been a role model because he grew up a few miles from me in The Bronx. Powell certainly didn’t grow up with a silver spoon in his mouth. He is a great example of someone who lifted himself from poverty to become a world figure and an important pat of American [...]
I’ve been reading the Coach of the Year Clinics Manuals edited by Earl Browning since 1972. Every May I order my manual on the 1st Saturday so I have it to read over the summer. Every year I’ve always come up with a handful of ideas that helped me during the season. I looked forward [...]
Malcolm Gladwell is a bestselling author who has written three bestsellers: The Tipping Point, Blink, and The Outliers. I recommend all three. However my favorite piece by Gladwell is an essay about how underdogs win. The essay appeared in the May 11th 2009 edition of The New Yorker magazine.
Gladwell discusses an undersized, under-talented girl’s basketball [...]
These books have had a powerful influence on my coaching career; most of them are out of print so you have get them either on EBay or a garage sale etc. But these are well worth the search. Good ideas are never out-dated.
The Split Line T Offense by Jake Gaither. This was my early indoctrination [...]
Tony Dungy’s success on the football field is well documented. He led the Colts to a Super Bowl victory, turned around the hapless Tampa Bucs and has been a positive influence on everyone he’s been around. Tony has absorbed some hits professionally like being unjustly fired at Tampa Bay but the biggest blow was losing [...]
Nick Saban has been a highly successful “turnaround” artist. Turning around a college football program is arguably the most difficult challenge in coaching. Added to the challenge is the impatience in our society with the process. We want instant results. As great a coach as John Wooden was, he might not have had the chance [...]
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a modern classic and ranks up there with all the great self-help books ever written. The book was written in 1989 and has been on every bestseller list since. Stephen Covey presents a simple no nonsense approach to becoming more effective in your life. I not [...]
Spencer Johnson is one of my favorite writers of allegories, he wrote the best seller Who Moved My Cheese which is also certainly worth reading. But The Present is a great summer read, the type of book you can take to the beach and breeze through it and really get positive vibes.
The Present is a [...]
Tony DeMeo has over 20 years of experience as a head football coach. He has successfully turned around four college football programs. DeMeo is considered an offensive innovator for combining a passing attack with the option. Tony DeMeo is a proven teacher of the game; he has published numerous books and instructional DVDs and is a featured speaker at the Glazier Clinics. (More...)