WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO PREPARE FOR YOUR OPPORTUNITY

Another great passage from Coach Urban Meyer's book "Above the Line."  We read this one to our team last week.  As players, you all want more playing time, more opportunity, but what are you doing to maximize that opportunity when it arises.  This is a great story:

The outcome is that you are prepared to make the play when your number is called.  There is no better example than Kenny Guiton.

In 2012, Kenny was a junior backup to quarterback Braxton Miller.  Throughout all of our practices that fall, Kenny was the most mentally and physically engaged player on our team.  When Braxton was running players, Kenny was 10 yards directly behind him, make the same reads and checks, executing the play mentally.  Then, when the ball was snapped to Braxton, Kenny would perform the correct motions just as if he were taking the life rep.  That was our culture at work.  He was preparing in case his number would be called.

That October, Kenny's number was called.  We were down against Purdue by 8.  On the last play of the third quarter, Braxton went down and was injured for the rest of the game.  Kenny game in.  It was the final drive of the game and down by 8 points with 60 yards to go, forty seconds left on the clock, and no timeouts left.  He led the offense down the field, and threw the game-tying touchdown pass to receiver Chris Fields with only three seconds left in regulation.  On the very next play, Kenny tied the scored on a perfectly executed pass play to tight end Jeff Heuerman for the 2-point conversion.  After taking the game into overtime, running back Carlos Hyde dived over the line for the game-winning score.

We won that game and kept our undefeated season intact because Kenny Guiton fully embraced our culture of competitive excellence.

Our third core believe is power of the unit, and it means that our players have an uncommon commitment to each other and to the work necessary to achieve our purpose.

People see the remarkable performances of these players on Saturday, but they do not see the tireless work that those players and their unit leaders put into training and preparing to compete.  And they did the work not knowing when, or even if, their numbers would be called.

THE PRICE OF TEAMWORK

As a follow up to the "The Price That Must Be Paid," here are some great thoughts from John Maxwell on "The Price of Teamwork."

Sacrifice:

There can be no success without sacrifice. James Allen observed, “He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much.”

Time Commitment:

Teamwork does no come cheaply. It costs you time-that means you pay for it with your life. Teamwork can’t be developed in a microwave time. Teams grow strong in a Crock-Pot environment.

Personal Development:

Your team will reach its potential only if you reach your potential. That means today’s ability is not enough.  Or to put it the way leadership expert Max DePree did: “We cannot become what we need to be remaining what we are.”  UCLA’s John Wooden, a marvelous team leader and the greatest college basketball coach of all time, said, “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”

Unselfishness:

“When you give your best to the world, the world returns the favor.”

-H. Jackson Brown

And if you give your best to the team, it will return more to you than you give, and together you will achieve more than you can on your own.

WHAT IS YOUR PRACTICE MINDSET?

The following is a great passage from the book "Toughness" written by Jay Bilas which speaks to the mindset of a player in regard to practice.

How many players start practice with the intention or goal of simply “getting through” practice? Instead of “getting through” a workout, players need to “get from” a workout-to get the most from it, and the most from themselves. No player ever got better by just getting through something. True toughness is competing through the end of a practice or workout after having prepared yourself mentally to compete. That is a key mind-set of the toughest players.

RELENTLESS EFFORT

We posted this on our coaching blog, "Hoopthoughts" but it is such an important read for student-athletes that we've added it to this site as well.

The following are excerpts from a chapter titled "Relentless Effort" from Coach Urban Meyer’s book “Above the Line.”

In our world, at the end of the day it is pretty simple; either you worked harder than your opponents or you got out worked.

At Ohio State, we have made relentless effort part of our DNA, and here is why: great effort can overcome poor execution, but great execution cannot overcome poor effort.  Toughness and effort are the foundation of our succe3ss.  I place a premium on relentless effort because in all my years coaching, I’ve never been in a football game where the team that played the hardest didn’t win.

One of the ways we accomplish this is by embracing what we call the grind.

We believe that being elite is not about how talented you are.  It is about how tough you are.  To achieve anything great in life, you have to fight for it.  Every day.  The grind is mental and physical.  In fact, it is more mental than physical.  Physical ability is important, but it will only take you so far.  You won’t be achieve excellence until you train your mind to take you there.

The principle of relentless effort applies to everyone, not just college football players.  Here’s the not-so-hidden secret for achieving extraordinary success: clarify what you really want, then work as hard as you can for as long as it takes.  Toughness can achieve things that talent by itself can never accomplish.

Success is cumulative and progressive.  It is the result of what you do every day.  Both successful and unsuccessful people take daily action.  The difference is that successful people take action Above the Line.  They step up and act with intention, purpose, and skill.

For every goal you are pursuing a process is involved.  There is a pathway you must follow.  To achieve your goals you must commit to the process with daily Above the Line behavior.  Not just once or twice, but repeatedly over time.  Success is not achieved by an occasional heroic response.  Success is achieved by focused and sustained action.  All achievement is a series of choices.  The bigger the achievement, the longer the series and more challenging the choices.

Goal clarity is essential, but so is the process clarity.  For every goal you have set, be exceptionally clear about the process necessary to achieve the desired outcome.

Sometimes it’s a grind. Sometimes tedious and uncomfortable things are required for success.  And that means doing what needs to be done even though you don’t feel like it.  It will be uncomfortable, maybe even for long stretches, and it will be tempting to settle for an easier way that is more convenient and less difficult.  But don’t compromise. Don’t give up.  Step up and embrace the grind.

Relentless effort (not talent or intelligence) is the key to achieving great things in your life.  Struggle is part of the process.  It is hard and often painful.  But it’s also necessary, because it’s in the struggle that great things are achieved.

Do you decide what to do based on what is comfortable and convenient, or based on what is productive and necessary?  Following your passion isn’t always 100 percent pleasurable.  Sometimes it means doing things you don’t’ want to do for the sake of achieving your goals.

If you want to win in the future, you must win the grind today.  And then tomorrow and the next day and the next. Many people give up – they compromise – must too easily when life gets difficult.  Be the exception and step up to the challenges you face.  The grind is when it gets tedious, tiring, and difficult.  But that’s what separates the elite from the average.

 

 

MYLES GARRETT AND THE IMPORTANCE OF FOCUS

"Drinking, smoking, going out -- unnecessary to me. You have to know what you're doing to help people and have an important stance in life. You can only do that by staying focused, and I can't lose focus for a second. It's just like in football, it's a game of angles and seconds. As soon as you lose depth or that amount of time, you can lose that play, you can lose that game. You lose focus, you slip up, you're not in the same place you were before."

                        -Myles Garrett

TEAMMATES BELIEF IN EACH OTHER MAKES THEM TOUGHER

As teammates, it is imperative that we let our fellow teammates know how important their abilities and contributions are, and then we can hold each other accountable for them. As coaches, it is important to let your players know their importance in the success of the team and why, instead of only correcting them and emphasizing their weaknesses. If players know you believe in them, it is easier to then hold them accountable and expect them to meet high standards. Your belief allows you to push them harder, and have them respond positively. Your belief makes them tougher.

From "Toughness" by Jay Bilas

WHEN COMPETING MAKES A DIFFERENCE

"There is always someone better than you. Whatever it is that you do for a living, chances are, you will run into a situation in which you are not as talented as the person next to you. That's when being a competitor can make a difference in your fortunes."

-Pat Summitt

PEYTON MANNING: I LOVE BEING COACHED

If you ever wondered what has made Peyton Manning one of the best football players to have take the field, this might be the most important reason:

"I love being coached. I get angry when I'm not coached. I ask a lot of questions and certainly appreciate any insight and feedback. I think if you ever stop listening to coaching or stop asking questions, you probably need to be doing something else."

Peyton didn't say he "he was coachable."  He didn't say that "he appreciated coaching."  He said he "LOVED" being coach.  That's an amazing mindset.  In fact, Peyton is notorious for detailed preparation.  Here is advice he would give to rookies:

"If I could give them a couple pieces of advice, I would start with this: ‘Don’t ever go to a meeting to watch a practice or a game without having already watched it by yourself.’ That’s one thing that I have always done. When the coach is controlling the remote control, he’s gonna rewind when he wants to rewind. He’s gonna skip certain plays. He’s not watching every single detail. When you can control the rewind button, you can go in there and you watch—first, you better watch your mechanics. Watch what you’re doing. Is your drop good? How’s your throw? OK, now rewind it again. Now you better watch your receivers. OK, looks like Demaryius Thomas ran a good route here. Not sure what Julius Thomas was doing here. Then you better rewind it again and watch what the defense is doing. So, there’s time in that deal. You have to know what they were doing so you can help them. So that has helped me. When I go in and watch it with the coach, I’m watching it for the third, fourth, fifth time. That’s when you start learning."

YOU ARE AN EXTENSION OF YOUR TEAMMATES

"Each player is an extension of his teammates. When Jerry Rice catches a ball, he is an extension of several players – those who are blocking the pass rushers, the receivers who are precisely coordinating their routes with his and the quarterback who is taking a hit after throwing the ball. When Roger Craig broke through with a big run, it embodied the fierce execution of the offensive line, the timing of their blocks and the execution of the down-field blocks by the receivers."

TEAMWORK: WORKING TOGETHER, HAVING FUN TOGETHER

Teamwork isn't just about game time.  
Teamwork is about preparation.  

Teamwork isn't just about the season.  
Teamwork is about the off-season. 

Teamwork isn't just about working hard together.  
Teamwork is about having fun together.  

And when you combine all of that, you can have something special.

Here is what LeBron James has to say about it:

"When you work out or you're doing anything active, it's more fun as a group. You may lose track of the time, and the next thing you know, you're working out for two hours because you're having fun."

RAY ALLEN ON HARD WORK AND PREPARATION

We loved this quote from Ray Allen.  It is something we speak about often -- to our team and to our campers.  The great ones always make it look easy but it is always the result of hard, intentional work:

"I've argued this with a lot of people in my life. When people say God blessed me with a beautiful jump shot, it really pisses me off. I tell those people, 'Don't undermine the work I've put in every day.' Not some days. Every day. Ask anyone who has been on a team with me who shoots the most. Go back to Seattle and Milwaukee and ask them. The answer is me -- not because it's a competition, but because that's how I prepare."

-Ray Allen

WINNING IS SOMETHING YOU BUILD

"For me, winning isn't something that happens suddenly on the field when the whistle blows and the crowds roar. Winning is something that builds physically and mentally every day that you train and every night that you dream."

-Emmitt Smith

ONE WAY KD MAKES HIS TEAMMATES BETTER

I

've just finished reading an excellent book "What Drives Winning" by Brett Ledbetter.  He gives a ton of examples of outstanding athletes and the work they put into being great.    One story from the book that we shared with our team is:

Here’s something that Kevin (Durant) told me he started doing as a freshman when he played basketball at the University of Texas: "One thing I try not to do is be a guy that goes into the gym and wants to be the only guy in the gym. I don’t want to be the guy that says 'I was working today, what were you doing?' I want to pull my teammates into the gym with me. If I work hard and we all work hard, I know only good things can come out of it."

NO TEAMMATE LEFT BEHIND

The following comes "The Hard Hat" written by Jon Gordon that talks about the amazing team-first habits by George Boiardi.  George was a standout lacrosse player for Cornell before tragically dying before graduation.  This is a great book that should be read by anyone interested in becoming a better teammate.  It is a book that was mandatory reading for our team this summer.  Here just an example of George being a great teammate:

Another practice George started in high school was to be the last person to leave the locker room. He played football, hockey, and lacrosse, and he was always the last to leave. He would clean up after everyone so the janitor didn’t have to do it. It was a practice he continued in college as a freshman and throughout his time at Cornell. Whenever you walked into the locker room after practice, you knew George was going to be there. As an upperclassman, he was always the last to leave and, in doing so, he would often drive the freshmen home, knowing they had a long, cold walk ahead of them to North Campus.

AMY WAMBACH ON USING FAILURE AND DEFEAT AS MOTIVATION AND RENEWAL