The great thing about college football is that you get to choose your own players through recruiting. A team can add players up to the 14th day of school; at that point the roster is set. It is a coach’s job to prepare the athletes to be confident in what they are trying to accomplish on the field. Preparation equals confidence; athletes prepare during the off-season in strength, speed and agility work. At the end of 8-10 week off-season cycle, the athletes are tested in the areas of strength and speed. Every player wants to know how much bigger, faster, and stronger they have gotten during the off-season grind. For athletes who do not reach their conditioning goals the coaches have two options – build them up or tear them down. My coaching philosophy is that athletes should be ‘coached up’.
Assume a great defensive back runs a 40-yard dash in the 4.3 to 4.5 range. If this same athlete is tested at the end of an off-season cycle at a 4.6 he is going to feel slow intrinsically. This is where confidence comes into play, if he feels slow he’s going to play slow.
Numbers don’t always tell the truth, there are great skill position players that don’t necessarily have the fastest 40 dash times – yet they are great players. If the athlete has great hips, balance and a dedication to his trade nothing will stop him for performing on the field except lack of confidence. A coach must ‘coach up’ a player otherwise he has failed to prepare that player through practice and motivation. Recruit good players and then coach them to believe in themself as well as believe in the coach in driving them to achieve greatness.
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