Todd G. Gongwer has written an inspirational parable that you will not be able to put down. A parable is an interesting genre for getting your point across. Patrick Lencioni wrote a popular business parable that I also reviewed The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (I would also re-recommend that book). Gongwer has hit a home run with his book as well.

Lead for God’s Sake is the story of an ambitious high school basketball coach whose team is really under-achieving and he can’t figure out why. He felt his team had no heart and tried to punish them into developing the mental toughness he was looking for. The coach had plans for a great career as a basketball coach and these kids were ruining everything.

The turning point comes when he confides in the school custodian. He told the custodian everything that was wrong with the team – they were selfish, and they had no leader. Even when his team won they looked bad.

Things continue to topple and punishment is not working. The coach was out of possible solutions and was ready to listen to the janitor’s advice. The custodian didn’t give advice on basketball strategy or how to run the pick and roll; he told the coach how to deal with people and how to truly become the team’s leader. One of the greatest lines from the janitor was “you must change your heart before you can change someone else’s”. You have to ask yourself “Why am I coaching?” That’s the key – “why?” What’s your purpose? This is a question every coach, young or old, should ask themselves. If your purpose is to help others then you are on the right track.

As a young coach, I had the opportunity to be a head college football coach at 25 years old. I got on the right track almost by accident. I got great advice from an elderly trainer everyone called JB. “TD, just look after the boys” was the advice from JB. My goal was to give my players the best possible chance at success on the field and in the classroom. I also started getting the players into community service. I felt that if the total person was developed, then winning would be a by-product. Fortunately I had outstanding players who survived a young coach’s mistakes and taught me as much as I taught them. The key was that I truly cared for those players as men not just players. They knew it and we won two championships in four years. It was not about Xs and Os – it was about caring and developing relationships based upon mutual respect. Those men from that team have since gone on to accomplish great things in their lives. I’ve been the Head Coach of three other college football teams and I used the same formula at the other schools as well. The results were similar – winning games, graduating players and success after graduation.

The high school coach in Todd Gongwer’s parable also learns the lessons of purpose and caring. He learns the lesson of being the person he wants his players to be. When you put your focus on your players; you become a better coach. Be the example. I always get a good laugh when I see coaches screaming at their players with their veins ready to burst that “we need more poise.” Remember “the best way to pass on the message is to be the message.”

I am not going to ruin the book by telling you the way that HS coach finished the season or what happened to the wise custodian but I strongly recommend this book. It’s a quick read because you won’t want to put it down. The story is not only insightful but also very entertaining. If you are in a leadership position of any kind then Lead for God’s Sake should be on your bookshelf.

By: Andrew O’Toole

The term “genius” is tossed around pretty lightly these days. If a coach has one good season some ESPN type is likely to tag the label “genius” to him. However, Paul Brown is truly worthy of that label. Brown literally re-invented professional football. He was so good they named the team after him. Andrew O’Toole does a great job of describing the rise, fall and legacy of Paul Brown.

Brown started out as a high school coach and built the Massillon High School football team to legendary heights compiling an amazing 80-8-2 record in 9 seasons. His 1940 team outscored the opposition 477 to 6 while averaging over 20,000 fans a game!

His success at Massillon led him to become the Head Coach at Ohio State at the tender age of 32. Brown led the Buckeyes to a 6-1-1 record in his first season and then an 8-1 record in his second year and was declared the National Champions. His final year at Ohio State was a very disappointing 3-6 year but many of his stars went off to fight in World War II.

Paul Brown then took the professional ranks by storm with the Cleveland franchise in The AAFC winning four straight championships. In 1950 The AAFC & the NFL merged and many thought Brown would be put in his place. But instead Brown won the Championship in 1950 the first year of the merger. The Browns went on to appear in the next 5 Championship games winning back to back championships in 1954 and 1955.

Paul Brown’s legacy was not just about gaudy statistics. Paul Brown’s legacy is about how he revolutionized the game. Brown was the first coach to use film to grade his players’ performance and also kept a film library to instruct his players how to run his plays. Brown also administered intelligence tests and used the classroom as well as the practice field to develop his squad. Paul Brown was also the first coach to take play calling duties away from his Quarterback by sending in plays with “messenger guards”. Paul Brown could also be called the father of the modern passing game. If Bill Walsh was the father of the West Coast Offense than Paul Brown was the Grandpa.

Brown left Cleveland after being fired by Art Modell (the same guy that later moved the team to Baltimore). The rift between Brown & Modell reached the breaking point over Brown’s refusal to play Ernie Davis who was diagnosed with leukemia. Brown’s Cleveland team had a run of winning 7 championships in 10 years, the Browns didn’t win another title under Brown after 1955.

Imitation is said to be the greatest form of flattery well the NFL copied many of Browns which made it tougher to win after 1955. Also the coming of Vince Lombardi the iconic coach from NY took over the Packers in 1959 and won back to back Championships in 1961 and 1962 did not make winning any easier for Brown. Modell had had enough second places and fired Brown in January, 1963.

For five years Brown was out of football until he returned to start the Cincinnati Bengals Franchise. Brown put his stamp on the Bengals immediately and made the respectable from the beginning. Pre-season was used to weed out the weak and establish discipline just as he had done at Massillon High School, Ohio State and the Cleveland Browns years before. The first time the Bengals met the Browns Paul Brown led his team to a 30-27 victory. Brown led the Bengals to the playoffs in only the third year of their franchise!

Paul Brown though a great coach and an innovator was far from a saint. His treatment of Bill Walsh was a classic example of Paul Brown’s value system. Andrew O’Toole does an outstanding job of presenting the real Paul Brown. This book is not a fluff piece nor is it a hatchet job, but rather a clear look into the life of a football coach who was successful on the high school, college and professional levels.

I would recommend this book to anyone who really takes the game of football seriously. The biography of Paul Brown is really the history of the modern NFL. He opened the game up with multiple wide receivers and a sophisticated passing attack which made it a natural sport for the television age. Andrew O’Toole packages this story into an easy to read biography of a complex man. 

Dweck’s basic premise is that there are two basic mindsets: a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. They have very different characteristics. Those with a fixed mindset are always trying to prove themselves “I must constantly prove that I’m worthy” while those with a growth mindset are always trying to improve themselves, they have a passion for stretching. These differences are most easily distinguished when things go wrong. Fixed mindset people consider themselves as losers and look to blame someone else. They yell at someone and never look in the mirror. Growth mindset people plan to fix the problem by working harder or taking a different approach. They look to improve the situation starting with them.

Those with a fixed mindset rarely look for challenges; they look for the sure-thing because they have attached their self-worth to their results. Those with a growth mindset people thrive on challenges are constantly moving out of their comfort zone to reach new levels of performance. We see this in how coaches schedule non-conference games. Fixed mindset coaches schedule cupcakes for their non-conference opponents while growth mindset coaches pick challenging opponents that force their teams to improve and elevate their level of play.

Dweck’s uses countless examples and offers different strategies for teaching and nurturing the growth mindset not only in your players and students but also in you.

Dweck is a great advocate in effort and work ethic. She quotes one of my favorite authors Malcolm Gladwell “we value your effortless accomplishment over achievement through effort” Our culture wants effortless achievement. Dweck also cites the Seabiscuit story about the combined effort of a horse, trainer and owner to produce a horse racing legend. Fixed mindset people buy into the illusion of “The Natural” they want peers to think they were born great and they view effort as reducing them. However, many great superstars developed late. Michael Jordan did not make his high school basketball team in eleventh grade yet through hard work and effort became arguably the greatest hoopster of all time.

Dweck says coaches/teachers should only praise effort not performance. If you only praise performance than your players are less likely to challenge themselves and risk a poor performance. By praising effort you are growing a growth mindset; you are making growth fun so the student works for growth and thus his performance naturally improves.
Dweck’s example of a mindset coach is one of my favorites – John Wooden. UCLA was a downtrodden program when Wooden came to Westwood. But Wooden instilled the mindset of total preparation and maximum effort to turn UCLA into the greatest college basketball dynasty of all time.

I was involved leading the turnaround of four college football programs and THE most important factor was establishing a growth mindset. It was important for the players to see improvement and growth. I used the Four A.C.E.S. system as a method of measuring growth so I didn’t have to depend on just wins for the players to see improvement. By rewarding the process the results naturally followed. We developed a collective growth mindset; the mindset that if we work hard and do the right things then good results will follow.

Carol Dweck’s book Mindset is a great read. It is well written and almost has “I can’t put it down” feel to it. This book though not written specifically for coaches is a must read for coaches. Nothing will grow your program faster than a growth mindset.

Banks played his college football at Kansas State University and after graduating he pursued a coaching career. He had many stops along the way. He had a successful stint as the Head Coach at South Carolina St. University posting a 44-27-2 record. But his experiences as an assistant coach under coaching legends Eddie Robinson at Grambling and Paul Dietzel at the University of South Carolina where he was the first full time black assistant football coach make him truly unique. Banks was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1995. So who better to write a book about historic black football coaches?

I grew up a fan of Jake Gaither the legendary coach of Florida A & M because I had a friend who played for him in the 60’s. The Rattlers were explosive & their offensive was light years ahead its time. When I became a coach one of the first football books I purchased was The Split Line T Offense by Jake Gaither. I learned the value of line splits which I used to help develop my philosophy of “smart splits”. So I was totally engrossed with The Trailblazers by Oree Banks.

Oree does a great job going into the history of some of the greatest football coaches never known. Eddie Robinson of Grambling heads the list. Of course Robinson eventually received his due after his record setting tenure at Grambling. Robinson was the first Black coach to become President of the AFCA. The thing I’ll never forget about Coach Robinson is that even after he had won over 300 games he attended lectures and sat in the front row taking notes. Coach Robinson won over 400 games and was a larger than life figure in college football.

Jake Gaither is also well covered by Banks. Coach Gaither is not as well known as Eddie Robinson but was no slouch as a head football coach. Coach Gaither’s record was an astonishing 204-36-4! WOW!

Banks also discusses some of the black players who pioneered the integration of Pro Football. Tank Younger was the NFL’s Jackie Robinson. He dominated Pro Football. He also talks about Willie Davis, Harry Carson and many others. These are players from Historically Black Universities that made it in the NFL.

The Trailblazers is a must read for anyone interested in the history of college football. There have been many innovations in football that have had their roots in Historically Black Universities. I personally benefited in the development of my own offensive philosophy from Jake Gaithers. Eddie Robinson was an inspiration to many. And guys like Harry Jefferson and Oree Banks helped pave the way for guys like Tony Dungy. The history of college football is incomplete without including The Trailblazers and Oree Banks does a wonderful job presenting their story.

Michael Lewis is an excellent writer who also penned The Blindside which was also made into a movie. The Blindside was about a football player but Moneyball is much more helpful to a football coach. This book is an easy entertaining read and would be a great companion on one of those bus trips.

Moneyball is the story of Billy Beane who never made it as a baseball player but as a General Manager revolutionized the way a baseball team operates. Beane was GM of the struggling Oakland A’s with very limited resource. He couldn’t compete financially with the big dollar teams for talent. The A’s had to find a way to compete in the American league with the lowest payroll in baseball.

Many football coaches are faced with the same dilemma. If you’re at a “have-not” how do you compete with the “Haves”? This book shows some things that you can use to level the playing field.

Beane realized the key point was HOW they spent their money was the key to their success. He had to think outside the box and do things differently than the rest of the league. There’s an old saying you have to either be better or different to succeed. Beane had to get bargains, rejects, or guys that didn’t fit other teams system. He instituted the policy of putting value on performance not potential. Beane wanted to emphasize stats over potential, but what stats were important?

Having a great system of evaluating performance is a critical part of the puzzle. I have written and spoken at clinics on “Meaningful stats” in football. What stats are important to winning? (Next month I’ll write about a system of evaluating individual performance called: The Four Aces). Beane turned to stat guru Bill James. The key stat in James’ universe was on base percentage. This is not a glamorous stat like homeruns but James feels to win baseball games – Don’t make outs. Everyone in the line -up is a leadoff hitter. Beane was about scouting measurable performance not potential. On base percentage was the most important stat he valued. Because on base percentage was not valued by the rest of the league he didn’t have to get in bidding wars with the big dollar guys, he was getting guys no one else wanted. Beane was getting the best players for what he valued at bargain prices.

The New England Pariots under Scott Pioli and Bill Belichick used a similar process to turn the Pats from a laughing stock to a dynasty. They put together a system of weighing price/production that put the Pats ahead of the NFL in salary cap management. This translated into Super Bowl victories.

As a Head Football coach, I was involved in 4 turnaround situations. We created a system of offense that featured the type of player that other schools were not interested in. We always used the option which allowed us to recruit smaller athletic offensive linemen. We also recruited small quick backs that were not a good fit in conventional systems. As a result we were able to make our dollars go further. We created greater depth and balance throughout our program.

Summing up the premise of Moneyball it would be the following:
1. Study what are the important factors that win games.
2. Create a system that emphasizes those areas.
3. Develop a unique system that is different than your competitors.
4. Have a system of evaluating performance.
5. Be better or be different. Or both.

I am only skimming the surface of this excellent book. Moneyball is a very worthwhile read that will stir your creative juices. It’s very informative, entertaining and hard to put down. I strongly recommend Moneyball especially if you are in an underdog situation. If you can’t get the book, take your wife to the movie.

But at UPENN I worked with a great bunch of coaches led by Harry Gamble. Coach Gamble taught me how to be a football coach. I knew how to coach football but Coach Gamble showed me how to BE a football coach. Harry Gamble later became C.E.O. and General Manager of the Philadelphia Eagles.

What does all this have to do with this wonderful book by Gordon Forbes? Well while I was learning the trade under Coach Gamble; Dick Vermeil was the Head Coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles along with cheese steaks and soft pretzels are the pride of Philadelphia. In those days Vermeil would take the Eagles to Franklin Field (home of the Penn football team) for practice. So I studied every move that Coach Vermeil made. He was a whirling dervish of enthusiasm and positive energy. He was like Norman Vincent Peale on Red Bull. Wow – what a great learning atmosphere for a young football coach.

So when I saw this book by Gordon Forbes, I snatched it up and read it cover to cover. Forbes does a great job portraying Vermeil, and the book is a great read.

Vermeil took the Eagles job in 1976 after a successful stint as the Head Coach at UCLA. He won the Super Bowl with the Bruins and became a hot prospect. His mentor was John Ralston who also had an influence on Bill Walsh. Vermeil turned the UCLA team into Champs by out-working everyone. Long hours and sleepless nights put the Bruins into the Rose Bowl where they enjoyed a huge upset of Ohio State. This regimen was taken to the NFL.

The Eagles were in turmoil in 1976 and owner Leonard Tose chose Vermeil to right the ship. Vermeil’s first duty was to instill a strong work ethic in the program. However, The Eagles had no running back and thus couldn’t control the ball. Vermeil’s first season was 4-10. But he was setting the foundation of discipline and hard work.

Vermeil was searching for a QB and a running back to generate points. His second season ended up 5-9 and fans were getting impatient. Vermeil thought 1978 would be the breakthrough year. It wasn’t – the birds went 8-6. Vermeil’s positive attitude in the face of hostile Eagle fans was put to a test when his number one and two RBs were busted for selling drugs! But Dick persevered. In 1979 they went 11-5 and then in 1980, they made it to the Super Bowl. They were a reflection of their coach blue-collar scrappers with great work ethic and winning attitudes.

But the long hours took its toll on Vermeil and after the 1982 season he stepped down. His tenure as Head Coach of the eagles was 57 – 51. I was stunned. What happened? Where did all that energy go?

Then fifteen years later Vermeil stunned the football world when he became the Head Coach of The St.Louis Rams who had won a total of 36 games in 7 years. Vermeil struggled in season #1 finishing with a 5-11 record in 1997. In 1998 they were worse going 4-12.

!n 1999 Vermeil brought in Mike Martz to overhaul the Offense and added some key personnel. But the unlikely Hero was a free agent QB named Kurt Warner. Warner operated Martz’s offense in record setting fashion becoming “The Greatest Show on Turf”. The Rams won the Super bowl in dick’s third season. Vermeil retired from football.
Carl Peterson talked Vermeil into a comeback with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2001 and he coached 2 years going 14-18 and then retired for real.

Gordon Forbes captures the essence of Dick Vermeil and his greatest strength was also his greatest liability. His great work ethic was unsustainable by all except Clark Kent. I strongly recommend Dick Vermeil, it’s a great read and a great lesson for every coach.

Lawrence Fine is an outstanding coach, teacher and business consultant. He is an idea factory. He has written a host of other books but I particularly liked this one. He also co-authored a book with me on team building, To Be Number One, You Must Be One, (I like that one too). Lawrence has been a successful soccer coach and has used the same principles for team building and used them in the business world. More and more businesses are using the successful model of sports teams to build the spirit of team in their organizations.

In his book Team Building: A Guide for the Reluctant Manager, Lawrence touches on a key issue – the team you inherited. It’s a lot easier to build a team when you have hand- picked team players. But if you have been hired to turn a program around – guess what – you don’t have team players or they wouldn’t need to be turned around. This is what I really got into in this book.

Lawrence begins with the premise that you must first know the goals of the organization. In football, if the administration doesn’t want to be great; you’ll never get it done because you won’t have the resources. Once you know that; then you can create a Mission Statement.

The next step is to set the goals and objectives needed to accomplish your mission. I see some leaders, especially in academia, who say there mission is to grow potatoes and then plant corn. Your goals must be congruent with your mission statement.

When you have inherited a team, the key step is to know your people. The key objective is to bring that group together. When we came to the University of Charleston in 2005, we experienced the single biggest turnaround in conference history. The secret was getting to know our people.

Lawrence uses the 10-80-10 rule in analyzing a team. He says 10% is positive, 80% is in the middle and 10% is negative. You must eliminate the bottom 10% so they won’t infect the 80%. Everybody that has ever inherited players has had this task. It’s not pleasant but it must be done. Constantly evaluate and re-evaluate your roster.

Communicate with your players. Face to face and one on one is best. I’ve always had goal meetings and exit meeting with every player. When you have over a 100 players; this is a time consuming task, but nothing you do is more important. Be clear about goals, roles and expectations.

Lawrence has a great chapter on “Day to Day Difficulties”. All coaches deal with stress, conflict, drama and distraction. You must have a plan in place to handle these difficulties. Caches deal with more difficulties today than any other period in recent times, their success depends on handling them.

This is an outstanding book. It is a quick read and very helpful to anyone that has to take a bunch of large egos and get them thinking: Team First. I recommend this book and suggest you take a look at some of Lawrence’s other material. You can purchase this book on Lawrence Fine’s website Lawrence Fine on Leadership. Have a great summer and take some time to do some good reading.

Recently I spoke at Chet O’Neill’s Big New England Clinic and Tommy O was also speaking. He was as good as ever and did a great job discussing “Pattern-Read Coverage”. That presentation inspired me to read his book Coaching Pattern-Read Coverage and I thought it was great.

Whether you coach offense or defense; this book should be on your summer read list. It is very well written and does a great job of taking the mystery out of pattern read coverage. Because Olivadotti started out as a high school coach; he does a great job of simplifying the teaching and I have always believed “Simple is best”.

Tommy O. explains why dropping to a spot style of coverage is obsolete. Option routes and air raid style passing attacks have made playing zone difficult. There is simply too many windows. Quarterbacks are more accomplished passers than ever before and receivers are more talented as well. Add to this legalized holding and it’s clear you better be able to use pattern read coverage.

Tommy starts the book teaching the base pattern read techniques and explains the concepts of closing the passing windows created by playing conventional zone defenses.

Then Olivadotti takes the most popular patterns in today’s football and details how to play pattern read against these patterns. The first pattern he defends is Crossing Routes. Every passing offense has learned the Hal Mumme/Mike Leach use of crossing routes to cause problems to the defense. Tom shows how to attack the crossers without opening the deeper route behind them.

Next he goes into covering the vertical game. The seam route has become a staple of the downfield passing game. I am a strong believer in the vertical game so I really found this chapter interesting.

Olivadotti explains how to teach your players how to understand pass concepts. This is the key to pattern read coverage. The defenders must be able to recognize, read and react.

Tom plays the Pattern-Read Coverage out of a five under- two deep look, a four under- three deep look and a three under -four deep look (quarters). So there is a plenty of variety to give an offense. He also gives you some zone dogs to provide some pressure.

Finally Olivadotti also discusses the problems with Pattern-Read Coverage. Not many coaches will actually discuss the problems. This is unique. As an offensive coach by nature I always look for conflicts to throw at a defense. He also does a good job at the end of the book with some great thoughts on coaching.

I really enjoyed this book and would strongly recommend it to both defensive coaches and offensive coaches alike. Coaching Pattern-Read Coverage is available through Coaches Choice.

1. The Law of Significance – a great quote “One is too small a number for greatness.” Put your ego on a shelf and be a team player.

2. The Law of the Big Picture – another great chapter. It’s all about TEAM. Maxwell quotes football legend Bud Wilkinson” If a team is to reach it’s potential; each player must be willing to subordinate his goals to the goals of the team.”

3. The Law of the Niche – each player has a role to play on the team. All the roles are important and must be embraced.

4. The Law of Mount Everest – Everyone has a dream but the team is more important than dream. Focus on building a team to accomplish the dream.

5. The Law of the Chain – a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Tour team isn’t for everyone. You have to eliminate weak links by either strengthening or replacing.

6. The Law of the Catalyst – every team needs a get it done and then some kind of guy. Go to guys. A guy who senses opportunity and seizes it.

7. The Law of the Compass – the core values that give a team direction. The vision that of what can be.

8. The Law of the Bad Apple – a rotten apple ruins a team and must be removed as quickly as possible. Talent is not enough. Rotten apples multiply.

9. The Law of Countability – teammates must be able to count on each other. The greatest compliment is to be counted on.

10. The Law of the Price Tag – teams fail to reach their potential when the fail to pay the price. The price must be paid by EVERYONE.

11. The Law of the Scoreboard – teams can adjust when they know where they stand. The scoreboard is essential for the team to understand where they stand.

12. The Law of the Bench – great teams have great depth. The bench provides insurance against injuries. A strong bench gives a leader more options.

13. The Law of Identity – “Shared values define your team”. Values add value to your team. You must build a value-based culture.

14. The Law of Communication – communication is the key to changing the culture of an organization. Share information to boost morale. Communication should flow BOTH ways. Coach to players and players to coach.

15. The Law of the Edge – the difference between to equally matched teams is leadership. Good leaders do things a little bit better than the others.

16. The Law of High Morale – high morale can overcome circumstances. When morale is good the team is focused.

17. The Law of Dividends – make whoever you’re with the most important person in the world. Investing in the team compounds over time. Get the best talent you can gather and mold them into a team.

Those are John Maxwell’s 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork. This is an outstanding book and should be not just read but reviewed regularly. I also reviewed Maxwell’s book: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership which is also a great book. I recommend both very strongly.