Must Read for Coaches: Bill Belicheck Motivational Strategy

Bill Belicheck met with his team shortly before the playoffs. He showed them a video of the Breeders' Cup (horse race) and paused the tape halfway through the race with the outcome still up in the air.

He asked the team "Who will win?
The horse with the most experienced jockey?
The horse who has won the most money?
The horse with the best odds prior to the race?"

The team was puzzled, "No, it's the horse that runs the best race from here on out."

You can't focus on prior accomplishments/failures, you must only focus on the present and doing your best the next play.

Legendary Gary Williams Never Stops Teaching Basketball

Gary Williams is known in coaches circle as a brilliant strategist and motivator. Even though the role of the head coach in college basketball has evolved more from simply a disciplinarian/strategist to public realtions strategist/recruiter. Now more than ever the head coach is expected to be more than an X and O guy because he must be able to do all the other things that come with the job. Recent failures in this department include Billy Gillispie at Kentucky who is a terrific basketball coach, but in over his head with the total obligation required from UK's coach. John Calipari from Memphis is almost the total opposite in that he uses every opportunity on camera to recruit and sell his program. Earlier this season, Williams was in trouble with his athletic department and later was supported by them, but he is at his best with his back to the wall and who can argue that he hasnt done a magnificent job with his team? "Coach Williams worked so hard this year for us," forward Dave Neal said. "He knew that we could be a good team, and he did everything in his will to make this team as good as it could be. I think he really brought the best out of every one of his players," the lone senior and the one Williams credits for keeping the players together. "Everyone gave him everything. We were playing hard for him."

With less than 60 seconds to play and Duke inbounding the ball near Maryland's bench. Williams stood just a few feet away from where the play would begin, his eyes and attention focused on Landon Milbourne, who was guarding the inbound passer.

"Move! Move! Move, Landon! Move!" Williams screamed, his face turning redder than his necktie.The Terps' chances of winning were slipping away, but Williams was still teaching. He wasn't ready to stop. He knew he had more coaching to do. He has always known, in fact.

And now everyone else knows that, too.

Lessons from Pat Riley

At 37 years old, Erik Spoelstra is living a dream and coaching one the NBA's MVP candidates in Dwyane Wade. His path has been one of the most original stories of any coach in the NBA. He was not a former NBA player instead beginning his professional career as the video coordinator with Pat Riley. As a young assistant he was often seen taking notes on plays, poetry, motivational talks, or anything else he could learn from hall of famer Pat Riley. Read more on this quote from Orlando newspaper. When Riley stepped down as the Heat coach, he turned the reins over to the young assistant who had worked his way up from the bottom: Erik Spoelstra. One thing he learned from the Showtime coach is, "I loved hearing [Riley's] motivational talks," Spoelstra says. "I'd get fired up hearing them. But there's only one person who can talk like that. If I tried, it would sound false, so I don't." His talks? Full of preparation and passion. "You can motivate in different ways," he says. For coaches of all levels, we must learn to ADAPT and not ADOPT the philosophies of our mentors.

Live Your Own Life

A USA Today reporter has written an insightful and interesting article that can help many of put our problems in perspective. The title of his article is, "How cheating death can change your life" and it is worth the read.

Near-death experiences (NDEs) describe what happens when people survive near death experiences or live through the process of battling a life-threatening or terminal disease. Many people that go through this experience agree that it changes their long term perspective. Said one survivor, "Death is very likely the single-best invention of life. It is life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true." Says another: "Near-death experiences give you balance. You become more worldly. Your ideas become bigger."Many say the experience changed "them in profound ways and give them a heightened sense of purpose." As one put it: "Life becomes shinier. You should plan for the long haul, but there is a big difference in doing that and making perpetual sacrifices."




Pancreatic cancer almost claimed the life of Apple CEO Steve Jobs. He put it into perspective at a commencement speech he gave at Stanford in 2005:

"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition." As basketball coaches we sometimes take our jobs as life and death when after reading this article we understand that is the legacy we leave when we touch others' lives that is the reason we coach, not for the thrill of winning the championship. (Although that helps!)