What Football Coaches Can Teach Us About Staying Motivated

Motivation is literally the desire to do things. It's the difference between waking up before dawn to get the job done and being lazy around the house all day. It's the crucial element in setting and attaining goals—and research shows you can influence your own levels of motivation and self-control.

Football coaches are some of the world’s best motivators. And they have to be because football is a violent, painful sport that requires extreme sacrifice and dedication. Coaching football means teaching a team to mature.  Football is more than a strength and power game; it’s also mental.  Beyond technique and football skills, football coaches must develop the mental strength in their team in every practice session.

Mental focus is what pushes good teams to be great teams. If you are not in the right mind set before you take on your opponent, then you're unprepared. Coaches know winning doesn’t happen by luck or accident, it is a result of quality preparation. Preparation is not easy—it is hard work and it takes motivation to get individuals to work hard to prepare correctly. The essence of coaching is to find a way to motivate individuals to get them to prepare well enough to win and all of us can learn from that.

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This weekend I was able to watch my guy's quarterback son at a special QB/WR School sponsored by Hammonton High School in New Jersey. (see photos below)  The dedication of the coaches in attendance was very evident. It was clear to see motivating students is one of the toughest jobs that coaches have in today’s high school and college athletic environments. There are so many forces influencing kids that if coaches are fortunate enough to get kids to participate in their sport, they may have a tough time keeping them involved and working hard.

The athletes of today are different than those of the past, and traditional methods of motivating these athletes must be modified. Athletes today will no longer blindly accept and follow the commands of their coaches. Student athletes want to know why. If a coach can effectively communicate why, he will be able to get the player to do he wants them to do. If the coach cannot give a good reason why, he will not be able to get his players to do what he wants.

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This audio is a speech delivered in November 2012 by Kerry Coombs. Coombs, a very successful Ohio high school coach, is now the Buckeyes’ cornerbacks coach and the team’s special teams coordinator.  The 2013 season will be Coombs' 31st in coaching. He gave this impromptu speech to prospective players and their parents. I hope you can find some motivation from it.