By Zach Peters and Brad Strand
(November 6, 2023)
As every coach knows, there is much that goes into winning; more than just having the highest ranked players and the nicest facilities. Creating a positive culture, building relationships, and educating athletes are all essential in building a successful program.
Creating a Positive Culture
Every team and organization has a culture, even if there may not seem to be one. Sometimes the culture is positive and strong while others times it is negative and toxic. Culture can be defined as a measure of the observable behaviors a team and organization promotes and accepts (Haigh, 2015). If one’s only focus is winning championships, players are being cheated out of the real value of being on a team and playing sports. Coaches must create a relationship culture that nurtures young men and women and then let that propel them to winning games (Strand, 2023)
When trying to describe culture to outsiders, there is one example that provides a very accurate visual representation of this. That is the story of the Chinese bamboo tree (Morris, 2017). Much like a bamboo tree, culture can take time to plan, develop, and grow within a program. In fact, it takes four years for a bamboo tree to grow its root system. That means that for four years one will see little to no movement. But during the fifth year, a bamboo tree will shoot up and grow to 80 feet in just six weeks.
This timeline was very similar to what happened at Iowa State University with Coach Matt Campbell. In Campbell’s first year at ISU the football program had a 3-9 record and finished 9th in the conference. During that year there was a lot about figuring out who was willing to buy into the new culture that was being established by Campbell. The seed had been planted. Then the next year Iowa State went 8-5, with a tie for 4th in the conference, on their way to their first bowl appearance in several years. The next two seasons matched this, with 8-5 and 7-6 records and ties for 3rd in the conference; however both seasons ended in bowl losses. What may have not been seen by fans and people on the outside was the buy-in for the last four years from the players, coaches, support staff and administration. The culture that Coach Campbell had established had finally reached the surface. Year five started and the Iowa State Football Program took off. One could finally see the growth of the program much like that of the bamboo tree. In year five, ISU finished with a 9-3 record and finished first in the conference. Although they lost to Oklahoma in their first ever Big 12 Championship, they followed that up by beating perennial powerhouse, the University of Oregon, in the Fiesta Bowl. None of this would be possible if it was not for the buy-in to the culture from the players.
A major component of a championship culture is accountability by both the coaches and the players. As a coach, one needs to hold their best players and worst players to the same standard. If chosen players receive preferred treatment, the culture will be affected. However, when the best players work harder than everybody and hold everyone accountable, you will have instilled a winning culture. A huge part in sustaining a successful culture is having player led leadership. Too often athletes get tired of listening to the same old advice from their coaches, but when a peer calls them out for doing something or makes them aware of a situation, the typical athlete will respond in a prompt manner.
Building Relationships
Relationships are one of the most important aspects in creating a loving environment for a successful team (Strand, 2023). When players and coaches trust one another, there is a level of faith and safety. When a coach or staff member foster those relationships with players, it helps the players feel valued and welcome within the organization. This deepens the players love and motivation for the organization and helps them feel connected to the program.
When coaches and staff members consider building relationships, it is important to note that building relationships is bigger than the game. It is important to build a relationship on personal details about individuals. While the coach often takes the lead in connecting, the players can also build personal relationships with the coaches by learning about their coaches and asking questions to build trust and safety.
There are a number of ways that one can promote relationships among players within a program. One way that North Dakota State University football does this is through the Big Brother/Little Brother activity. The premise is that an older member of the team pairs up with a younger member to build a relationship and learn about each other. This activity pairs individuals who may not have otherwise talked to one another. This activity is versatile and can be applied to the team in many different ways. Oftentimes, and particularly with bigger teams, there can be a great deal of separation among players, especially between seniors and freshmen. However, one way to encourage hard work from the freshman is to get to know them and invest time in them to make it known that they are wanted within the program. Other examples, that are common, include a day-long team retreat or a team bonding day.
The last important part of relationships with players and coaches is to demand hard work and dedication from each other, and to put loving and care for each other at the forefront. This is important because it makes the hard days easier and the hard work tolerable. When you have relationships with the people you are with for most of your days, it makes work feel enjoyable and less exhausting.
Educating Athletes
As a coach there are so many great opportunities to educate young adults. There are a lot of learning opportunities that come from coaching that go beyond the classroom. One of the winningest college coaches is UConn Women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma. He once said, ”The last couple years I’d go into every big game on ESPN going ‘Man, I hope today’s the day we get our ass kicked,” just so that we can feel what it feels like to have to regroup a little bit (Stacy, 2018).” In other words, he wants his athletes to know that it is not always rainbows and butterflies. Sometimes one’s greatest growth as a person is when they are forced to deal with adversity. Here he isn’t wishing for failure, but just doesn’t want his team to become overly comfortable with winning all the time.
Personal experience provides the best education and opportunities for players and other individuals to learn new skills. This is something that players can learn in practice or in other situations relating to the game. When individuals go through situations that bond a team together, it educates them on many aspects, such as the culture of the program and relating back to relationships between teammates and coaches. A coach can also help educate his players on self-belief. It is often difficult to get athletes to believe in themselves. There are so many social distractions that athletes face. Many athletes want to have a social presence but with that they read the negative comments that get posted. As a coach, one needs to teach their athletes how to avoid the negative thoughts and instead, pour into themselves positive feelings that allows them to be successful players.
There are many ways that a program and individuals within the program can work to become championship caliber coaches. In this article we have suggested that one can become a championship caliber coach, 1) by creating a culture that fosters growth, 2) by building relationships between players and players and between players and coaches, and 3) by educating players and individuals within the program to help them grow and development off the field of play.
References
- Haigh, M. (2015, March 3). Why a Sports team’s culture matters. Athlete Assessments. https://www.athleteassessments.com/why-sports-teams-culture-matters/.
- Morris, M. (2017, Jan 4). How Success is like a Chinese bamboo tree. https://www.mattmorris.com/how-success-is-like-a-chinese-bamboo-tree/.
- Stacy, K. (2018, Dec 12). Geno Auriemma says UConn losing wouldn’t be the worst thing for the Huskies. Hartford Courant. https://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-womens-basketball/hc-sp-geno-auriemma-looking-forwar d-to-20181015-story.html.
- Strand, B. (2023). Building a relationship culture in sport. Strategies, 35(5), 15-23. doi.org/10.1080/08924562.2023.22382
