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CoachesNetwork.com Coaching Management OFFSEASON 2012 1

ManagementCoaching

CONTENTS | FOOTBALL EdiTiON | OFFSEASON 2012 | VOL. XX, NO. 4

2 OFFSEASON BULLETIN BOARDStrategies for improving academics … Unique hiring process … High school hosts a college night … Three questions with Western New Mexico University’s Adam Clark … Colleges make use of smartphone technology … Excessive celebrations lead to penalties.

14Q&A PAUL WINTERSin his eighth year as Head Coach at Wayne State University, Paul Winters took the Warriors to the NCAA division ii championship game and set a single-season school record for wins.

18COVERSTORY SPECIAL DELIVERY Kick returns and coverage are often under-appreciated aspects of the game. Successful coaches offer their methods for making these units special.

27 LEADERSHIP ACCEPTING THE CHALLENGEAt the University of Oregon, student-athletes are learning the art of teamwork and commu-nication through a for-credit class called “The Leadership Challenge.”

33STRENGTH&CONDITIONING READY FOR BLAST OFFTraining explosiveness can include everything from Olympic lifts to plyometrics. Five top strength coaches go into detail on methods, specific exercises, and their philosophies.

Publisher Mark Goldberg

Editorial Dept. Eleanor Frankel, director Abigail Funk, dennis Read, R.J. Anderson, Patrick Bohn, Mike Phelps, Kristin Maki

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The Coaching Management Football edition is pub lished in March, May, and November by MAG, inc. and is distributed free to college and high school head coaches, college strength coaches and equipment managers in the United States and Canada.

Copyright © 2012 by MAG, inc. All rights reserved. Text may not be reproduced in any manner, in whole or in part, with-out the permission of the pub lisher. Un solicited materials will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Coaching Management, P.O. Box 4806, ithaca, N.Y. 14852. Printed in the U.S.A.

42 FOOTBALL FACILITY 45 GUIDE TO SYNTHETIC TURF 48 TEAM EQUIPMENT49 COACHING AIDS

50 PRODUCT LAUNCH51 STRENGTH & CONDITIONING AIDS 55 MORE PRODUCTS

44 ADVERTISER’S DIRECTORY56 COACHING GUIDES

On the cOver

West Virginia University’s Tavon Austin tallied 1,206 return yards for the Mountaineers in 2011-12. He also took two kicks back for touchdowns. Learn about devel-oping special teams in the cover story on page 18.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

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PHOTO: dANiEL L. FRiENd/WEST ViRGiNiA UNiVERSiTY

academics

Raising the BarAt both the high school And

college levels, AcAdemic eligibility requirements Are getting tougher. many school districts are enacting more difficult academic standards for high school athletes, and athletes who want to compete immediately at the ncAA divi-sion i level will soon be required to post a 2.3 gPA in high school.

in october, the ncAA division i board of directors voted to raise the minimum high school gPA a college freshman ath-lete needs to play in games from 2.0 to 2.3, effective for the 2015-16 school year. meanwhile, division i student-athletes with high school gPAs between 2.0 and 2.3 will be required to take an academic redshirt year, making them eligible to receive athletically related financial aid during their first year on campus and practice with the team, but unable to compete in any games or travel.

to meet these stricter academic demands, some high schools are experi-menting with new ideas and progressive programs. one is Warren central high

school in indianapolis, which has imple-mented an academic support program that uses grade tracking, study tables, coaches’ efforts, and motivational tools.

school policy at Warren central requires a student-athlete with a gPA below 2.0 or an F in any class to attend study sessions twice per week. under the new program, the number of j.v. and varsity football players at or above 2.0 has risen from 61 to 82 percent in two years. And the freshman football squad more than doubled the number of athletes making the grade, jumping from 40 to 81 percent.

so what’s the secret to the program’s effectiveness? “it starts at the top with the school leadership putting academ-ics at the forefront and saying it’s impor-tant,” says Jennifer Jensen, a math teach-er at Warren central who conducts the grade tracking for the program. “And it continues with personal interaction. it is about the student-athletes understanding that we don’t care just about what they do on the field and winning a state title. We care about them as people.”

in addition to pre- or post-school study sessions, struggling student-athletes

BULLETIN BOARDoffseason 2012

are required to have individual meetings with their coaches. At these one-on-one sessions, the coach outlines expectations and provides a plan for improving. “As coaches have become more concerned with student achievement, we’ve seen our students’ interest in it grow,” Jensen says. “What tutors or coaches say makes a big impact on students. When kids know that you care and are concerned about them, they’ll run through a brick wall for you.”

Another way that Warren central emphasizes academics to its student-ath-letes is through its leadership Kickoff event, which was held for the third time this past fall. the main component of the Kickoff centers on announcing the student-athletes’ past academic achieve-ments. each squad’s combined gPA from the previous year, as well as the percent-age of members in defined gPA ranges, are shared with everyone in attendance. Prizes are awarded to the teams with the highest marks in both small- and large-team divisions.

“the event generates a sense of pride,” Jensen says. “the kids talk about it, and it has made them more excited about being good students. there was one situation where a team scored very low, and they were basically called out in that meeting. the next year, that team doubled the number of kids who achieved a gPA above 2.0. this event also makes the coaches more aware of academics, and has increased their support.”

Another school that is stepping up its efforts to help student-athletes improve in the classroom is bloomfield (n.J.) high school. When mike carter, head coach at bloomfield, looked over the grades of his freshman players from the past few years, he noticed many of them were failing classes and needed help. so after talking with some of his assistant coaches, includ-ing the freshman team coach, he sought and received a grant through the bloom-field educational Foundation to help his first-year players.

this past fall, the school created a mandatory in-season after-school pro-

| | | | | |ConTenTs

2 Success in the classroom

4 Interviewing with the media

6 Hosting a college night

8 Three Qs on overcoming adversity

8 Making use of smartphones

10 Excessive celebrations

At Warren Central High School in Indianapolis, a new academic support program has significantly boosted the football team’s collective grade point average. At left, wide receiver Kameron Utter (5) attempts to pull in a pass.

2 Coaching Management offseason 2012 Coachesnetwork.com

Circle No. 101

already very familiar with his philosophy, goals, and speaking style. That’s because Collins had been grilled by the group weeks before. As part of a unique and open interview process for the position’s four finalists, Collins was asked to partici-pate in a press conference that included a question and answer session conducted by newspaper, television, and radio reporters from the Rapid City area.

The idea was the brainchild of Dick Kaiser, the Athletic Director at SDSM&T, which is in the process of transitioning into NCAA Division II. Along with giving the media an opportunity to be involved in a more transparent hiring process, the press conferences provided the Hardrock-er football program some much-needed positive publicity following a 1-10 season. It also gave Kaiser a great tool for evalu-ating each candidate’s ability to handle pressure and the media spotlight.

Collins, who has made a number of stops during his 14 years in the coaching profession, admits that he’s never experi-enced—or even heard of—a press confer-ence tryout. “Even at the NCAA Division I level, you don’t see them put candidates in front of the media,” he says. “The first contact usually comes after the hire has been made.”

Before bringing the finalists to cam-pus for their interviews, which were held a few days apart, Kaiser sent out a pack-et containing an itinerary that included information on the press conference struc-ture. For that portion, he asked each can-didate to prepare a short presentation that addressed four basic questions: Why he was interested in the position, how his background had prepared him for the job, his experience in recruiting high-qual-ity student-athletes with high academic

gram for its 42 freshman football athletes. Before practice each Monday through Thursday, players gathered in classrooms for 50 minutes. Three teachers helped the student-athletes with homework and computer skills, and sometimes gave talks about time management, decision mak-ing, and other ways to succeed in high school.

“We have found that our freshmen are traditionally eligible in the fall and winter, but come spring there are prob-lems,” says Bloomfield Athletic Director Steve Jenkins. “A lot of them don’t under-stand the ramifications of their actions early in the school year and either put themselves into a big hole coming out of the gate in the first marking period, or they do well initially and slack off in marking period two. This program helps ensure they get off on the right foot and maintain what it takes to succeed.”

The root of the issue is the transition from eighth to ninth grade. “We found that the kids needed some extra help in making the adjustment to high school,” Carter says. “This was not an optional program—all of the freshmen had to par-ticipate, whether they were struggling or getting straight A’s. We only excused kids if they were getting individual tutoring with one of their other teachers.”

The grant covered payments to teach-ers who worked with Carter to develop the curriculum and then served as instruc-tors in the program. “Our main focus was to give the kids time to get their home-work done and make help available if they needed it,” he says. “We also wanted to get the point across that high school is about growing up, making good choices, and learning time management.”

Carter and Jenkins hope to contin-ue the program next year and possibly expand it to the off-season. “We always talk about shooting high—for example, trying to make the honor roll instead of just trying to pass,” Carter says. “This pro-gram helped show the players that the athletic director and coaches are com-mitted to their success in the classroom, and they grasped that idea. I don’t know whether a kid will ever tell you they enjoy study hall, but they certainly appreciate it. For some of the kids, the structure and situation here are better than anything they’ll find at home.”

coaching ladder

Meet the PressWHEN STACy COllINS TOOK THE

pODIuM TO puBlICly ACCEpT AN OFFER to become the new Head Coach at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technol-ogy (SDSM&T), he did so in front of a col-lection of local media members who were

BULLETIN BOARD

4 Coaching Management OFFSEASON 2012 CoachesNetwork.com

South Dakota School of Mines & Technology Athletic Director Dick Kaiser (right) introduces new Head Coach Stacy Collins, who was hired through a unique interview process that included a press conference with local media members.

demands, and what he brings to the job that makes him special.

Those answers would serve as the introduction for their presentations, after which the media would have a chance to ask questions. “Having that prepared portion allowed each candidate to get in front of the camera, break the ice, and get comfortable before questions from reporters started coming their way,” says Kaiser.

As a career assistant with little to no experience standing at a podium or in front of TV cameras, Collins knew he had to ready for the big stage. He started his preparation by thinking deeply about Kai-ser’s questions.

“I contemplated what type of mes-sage I wanted to convey as the next head football coach at the School of Mines,” he says. “So I wrote down what I wanted to say, created a presentation that I practiced in front of the camera on my ipad, and watched it four or five times to see how I could tweak my message and delivery.

“Then I had a couple of people I trust watch it with me to offer their critiques,” Collins adds. “They offered some great suggestions on how to improve my pre-sentation.”

Along with being reported on by local media, video from the press confer-ence appeared on the SDSM&T athletics Web site and youTube. “I knew I had bet-

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6 Coaching Management OFFSEASON 2012 CoachesNetwork.com6 Coaching Management OFFSEASON 2012 CoachesNetwork.com

lo addressed that need by organizing a Division III College Night for high school juniors and seniors in northern New Jersey.

The College Night was held Dec. 8, 2011, at Passaic Valley, with the goal of making the recruiting process easier for college coaches, while also getting play-ers’ names out and educating them about Division III college football. Student-ath-

ter be prepared and do a good job with it because the video was going to be out there for everybody to see—not just this community,” says Collins, whose interview received more than 550 hits on YouTube. “I knew that anybody could go online and take a peek at it. In fact, a lot of people who knew I was interviewing for the job were chomping at the bit to watch it.”

The press conference portion of the interview came on the second day of each aspirant’s day-and-a-half-long campus vis-it. At precisely 11 a.m., Kaiser addressed the media—typically one to three TV reporters and a newspaper columnist—to remind them about the format and intro-duce that day’s finalist. The coach then stepped to the podium and gave his pre-sentation, and fielded questions from the media on topics such as offensive and defensive preferences and coaching ten-dencies. Then the 20-minute or so press conference was concluded and the can-didate was made available for one-on-one meetings with the media. The entire event lasted about 45 minutes.

A couple of weeks after the coaching search began, the interviews concluded and Kaiser offered Collins the opportunity to be the Hardrockers’ new coach. Kaiser says Collins’s preparation and press confer-ence performance went a long way toward his selection. “When we made our choice,

the big issue that decided it was that Stacy had a great energy level throughout the entire process—including the press confer-ence,” says Kai-ser. “His presen-tation was top rate and very professional.

“Plus, the media loved the format,” he adds. “And so did our boosters and community.”

Kaiser notes that he won’t hesitate to use the format again if another high-profile coaching position opens up at the school. “The process generated some excitement for both our new coach and our team,” he says. “Hopefully that carries over into the fall.”

recruiting process

Going D-IIIFor HIgH SCHoolerS HoPINg To

PlAY NCAA DIVISIoN I FooTbAll, A WeAlTH oF reSourCeS Are AVAIlAble. but what about those targeting Divi-sion III? At Passaic Valley High School in little Falls, N.J., Head Coach Al Cappel-

letes from approximately 25 high schools were able to meet with coaches from more than 30 colleges.

The inspiration for the event came from Cappello’s time as a coach and play-er at Montclair State university, a Divi-sion III school. He says his experience as a coach made him aware of the need for a College Night in the area.

“I’ve recruited at a bunch of college nights in other areas,” he recalls. “but I noticed there was really nothing like that around here. So I thought it would prob-ably be a good idea to start one—and a good opportunity to help my players, too.”

Altogether, it took about two months to turn the idea into an event. To start, Cappello proposed the College Night to the school’s Athletic Director, Principal, and Superintendent, and then obtained permission to use the school cafeteria.

Cappello then sent letters to 99 Divi-sion III colleges on the east Coast, from Maine to Virginia, with general infor-mation about the event and its loca-tion. However, Cappello says the College Night sold itself. The big draw was that it allowed coaches to get information from several high school players in one stop—something that is tough to do while visit-ing each school on its own.

getting a good turnout was criti-cal to the event’s success. “If the colleges

Players from 25 high schools in New Jersey had the chance to meet with coaches from more than 30 NCAA Division III schools during an informational event organized by Passaic Valley High School Head Coach Al Cappello.

BULLETIN BOARD

To view South Dakota School of Mines & Technology Head Coach Stacy Collins’s press conference interview, go to YouTube and search: “SD Mines Head Football Coaching Candidate Press Conference: Stacy Collins.”

don’t come, the event doesn’t work out well,” Cappello says. “but, we had a very good response from the colleges, especial-ly being that it was the first time we had something like that here.”

once the date was set and responses from colleges were received, Cappello focused on getting other high schools on board. “The treasurer of our state coach-

es’ association sent out a mass e-mail to all the coaches in the state,” he says. “I also announced it at the big North Con-ference post-season meeting, and the Pas-saic County coaches’ meeting. And I got in touch with former college and high school teammates who are now coaching, along with other contacts I have developed. I also sent an e-mail to my contact at Max-Preps, who sends out a weekly newsletter, and he included information about our night in that.”

The high school students in atten-dance did not have to register or pay to come to the College Night, but they were asked to bring transcripts, SAT scores, and any highlight videos they had. College coaches had a designated area to set up their materials, which included banners, helmets, DVDs, informational cards, and promotional pens. The student-athletes and their parents could walk through the cafeteria at their leisure and meet with the coaches.

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“With this format, the college coaches stayed at their table and the high school players walked up to them,” Cappello notes. “But there was table after table in a row, and we tried to snake through the cafeteria so they could have a nice easy flow.”

The event lasted two hours, giving players ample time to talk to coaches. Both coaches and players appreciated the infor-mal layout of the evening, and Cappello says the coaches were pleased with the caliber of players in attendance, while the student-athletes were impressed with the number of colleges that made the trip.

With positive feedback received from all sides, Cappello plans on holding another College Night next year. In the future, he hopes to include junior colleg-es and possibly some Division II schools. Although it takes a lot of work, Cappello believes the night is worthwhile.

“It’s really a great opportunity for players to put themselves out there and see some of the schools, and to find out what schools are looking for in terms of GPAs, SAT scores, and football abilities,” he explains. “It’s a chance for them to see what’s available for them in college football.”

New media

Mobile Technology Scores Big

IT’S No SeCreT ThAT more AND more fANS Are BrINGING A SmAll ACCeSSory WITh Them To GAmeS—their smartphones. In response, athletic depart-ments are working hard to create mobile applications and sites that satisfy fans’ thirst for cutting-edge access to teams and enhanced gameday experiences.

Stanford University is at the forefront of new ideas in this area, starting with a


BULLETIN BOARD

3 QU

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OvercomingAdversity

After Western New Mexico University’s bus caught fire on the way to a game, all that was left of the vehicle was a charred frame.

On Sept. 16, 2011, Adam Clark, Head Coach at Western New Mexico University, received a phone call he’ll never forget. Seven hours into an eight-hour trip to Durango, Colo., for a game against Fort Lewis College, an assistant coach phoned Clark, who drove separately and was a few minutes behind the bus picking up sup-plies at a nearby store, to tell him that the team bus was on fire.

Everybody on the bus was able to evacuate safely and nobody was hurt, but the fire claimed all of the team’s equipment and many of the players’ personal belongings. Thanks to many helping hands and sturdy leadership from Clark, his coaching staff, and school administrators, the team made it to the game.

After their harrowing experience, and despite play-ing with unfamiliar equipment, the Mustangs pulled off a 26-17 victory. We talked to Clark about how he han-dled the situation and kept his players focused.

CM: What was your reaction when you arrived on the scene of the fire?

Clark: When I got there, it was surreal. It took me a few minutes to believe what was happening. Once I grasped the situation, I was immersed in trying to fig-ure out how we could still play the game. I was on the phone for about a day straight. The first thing I did was gather each play-er’s size for a helmet, shoulder pads, cleats, and uniform.

Nearby Bloomfield (N.M.) High School came to our aid and sent a bus to bring the team to its school. We spent the next seven hours there, eating and watching a high school volleyball tourna-ment before going to Durango late that night. Our replacement equipment came from a variety of sources. For example, extra gear left behind at WNMU was transported by our golf team, which was on its way to a tournament, and Durango (Colo.) High School provided helmets and shoulder pads. Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Commissioner J.R. Smith personally delivered replacement cleats.

How did you keep your players focused? When we arrived at Bloomfield High School, I sat

the team down and told them that this is what sports is all about: overcoming adversity. We were in a very chal-lenging situation, but we had an opportunity to perse-vere and learn a valuable lesson about ourselves. I told them that no matter how difficult the situation, I still expected each of them to do their job.

What did you learn from the situation? The biggest thing I took away—and what I hope

our players did as well—is that bad things are going to happen in life. It’s how you react to those situations that defines you. You have to work hard and keep fighting and find a way to be successful. I hope how well they handled the situation goes down as a lasting memory for all of our players and coaches.

ADAM CLARK

Circle No. 104

new online venture that begins with free wi-fi at athletic venues such as Stanford Stadium. Once they have logged in, fans have access to a mobile device-friendly Web site called “Stanford Gameday Live!” (www.stanfordgdl.com) that provides in-game video replays and updated statistics from the contest.

A second aspect of Stanford’s fan enhancement push is the free iCardinal mobile app that works with iOS (iPhone) and Android operating systems, the two most popular for smartphones. In addi-tion to integrating with the Gameday Live Web site, iCardinal links to the school’s social media platforms—such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube—allowing fans to share their own photos, videos, and com-ments.

The app also includes tools that pro-vide fans with convenience during events.

For example, the school invites hun-gry spec-tators to “Skip the Concession Lines, Not the Game!” by placing a food or

drink order from their seat using a mobile device and paying for it using a credit or debit card. Once their order is ready, a text message is sent notifying them that their food can be retrieved using a dedi-cated “Bypass Lane” located at one of the venue’s concession stands.

“We are excited about these mobile technology initiatives and are proud that they support the spirit of leadership and innovation that characterizes Stanford

BULLETIN BOARD

Cathedral High School’s Matthew Owens leaps over a defender during the 2011 Massachusetts Eastern Division 4A Super Bowl. Owens would later have a touchdown negated by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.


University,” said Stanford Director of Ath-letics Bob Bowlsby. “From a business per-spective, our athletics department rec-ognizes the need to evolve our methods alongside broader changes in technology and consumer preferences.”

In a move to both improve game-day experience and cut printing costs, the athletic department at Gallaudet Univer-sity has been experimenting with Quick Response (QR) code technology to replace traditional game programs, which they are printing in limited numbers. A QR code is a computer-generated two-dimen-sional black and white square that can be read by smartphones and tablets (such as an iPad) to immediately link to a mobile device-friendly Web site.

Starting in September, the Gallaudet sports information department began dis-playing posters featuring a QR code—and instructions on its use—at game venues. Once the code is scanned, it is stored in the mobile device and fans have access to that team’s game program for the entire season with information updated before each contest. The stored code also allows fans who can’t attend a game to have access to real-time stats and live video from an event.

“It is important for us to utilize mobile technology,” Gallaudet Sports Information Director Sam Atkinson said. “We have noticed over the past two years the large amount of printed game programs not being used and later recy-cled. Now we can send our fans to our Web site where we have set-up a Game Day Program area with links to the infor-mation they want. Plus, now we are not limited to the amount of information we

can share, unlike printed programs, and we can rest assured the information is current and up-to-date.”

sportsmanship

Cancel that Celebration

BeFORe The START OF The 2011 SeA-SON, The NCAA ADDeD A mUCh-DeBAT-eD RULe which made unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on scoring plays pun-ishable from the spot of the foul, rather than on the ensuing kickoff. Now, a play-er costs his team points if he celebrates a touchdown before crossing the goal line. Though the rule was meant to curb taunt-ing at the college level, its effect has trick-led down to high schools as well.

The state athletic associations in mas-sachusetts and Texas follow the NCAA football rule book, and high school play-ers in both states lost critical touchdowns last season as a result of celebrating too early. In the case of Cathedral high School in Boston, a celebration penalty helped cost the team in a big game.

Trailing Blue hills Regional Technical School 16-12 in the massachusetts east-ern Division 4A Super Bowl with about six minutes to go, Cathedral quarterback matthew Owens broke free for a touch-

ON THE WEBStanford’s Mobile Initiativewww.gostanford.com/ot/ mobile-initiatives.html

Gallaudet University QR Code www.gallaudetathletics.com/ news/2011-12/qrprograms

Taking advantage of new technology, Stanford University is providing fans who have smartphones with in-game video replays and live statistics.

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down that would have put the Panthers in the lead. But before he crossed the goal line, Owens raised his arm in celebra-tion, resulting in a flag being thrown and the touchdown being called back. On the next play, Owens was intercepted, and although Cathedral eventually recorded a safety to pull within two points, the Pan-thers were unable to score on their final drive and lost the game, 16-14.

Then-Cathedral Athletic Director James Lynch didn’t like the call, telling the Associated Press, “I just give people the analogy: imagine a basketball player mak-ing a clutch three-pointer right at the end of the game, and he turns around and just kind of shakes his fist in the air. And it was simply that and nothing else…I don’t think it was anything further than just excitement on the player’s behalf.”

Despite opposition to the call, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) stood by the ruling, noting that every team in the state had been informed of the rule at the start of the season. Furthermore, the MIAA stated that game officials reminded both squads before the contest began there would be zero tolerance for unsports-manlike behavior, a message also made

clear in the pre-playoff game administra-tive meeting, as well as the MIAA’s Super Bowl breakfast with coaches and cap-tains.

Despite losing out on the Super Bowl win following the controversial call, Cathedral found a somewhat silver lining in the incident. The Panthers’ story gar-nered sympathy in the Boston area and the team was feted with a luncheon host-ed by Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino that featured former New England Patri-ots linebacker Tedy Bruschi, Boston Col-lege Head Football Coach Frank Spaziani, Boston Red Sox President and CEO Larry Lucchino, and Red Sox Manager Bobby Valentine.

At the lunch, according to Boston.com, Bruschi told the team, “A lot of the talk is about the call. The call during the game. But guys, it’s not about the call. It’s about how you move on from the call. Because this is what sports is. Sports is winning and sports is losing. Sports is about winning championships and losing championships ... It’s how you move on from that.”

For Aledo (Texas) High School senior running back Johnathan Gray, an early celebration didn’t cost his team a game,

but it might have cost him a handful of national records. During the third quar-ter of his team’s 33-0 win over Stephen-ville High School in the Class 4A-II region-al final, Gray high-stepped just before reaching the end zone on a touchdown run. The resulting flag took his state record-setting 60th touchdown of the season off the board, and because it was his second unsportsmanlike conduct pen-alty of the game, resulted in a manda-tory ejection.

Fortunately for Gray, Aledo’s vic-tory ensured his season would continue and give him additional chances to break the state record. Gray took advantage and led his team to a state title, finishing with 65 rushing touchdowns on the sea-son. He also set the national record for career touchdowns with 205, breaking the mark set by former Onondaga (N.Y.) High School running back Mike Hart.

But the call and subsequent ejection might have cost Gray some other acco-lades. The Aledo running back missed out on being the national leader for career points by just 14, trailing Hart 1,246 to 1,232. He also finished one score shy of the national single-season record for all-purpose touchdowns, which was 71. CM


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Circle No. 107

In his eight years as Head Coach at Wayne State University, Paul Winters has focused

on building a program that competes on the national level in NCAA Division II. That goal might have seemed far-fetched after the Warriors finished 1-9 in Winters’s first season at the helm, but any doubters have surely been silenced now.

After finishing the 2011 regular season 8-3, Wayne State made the most of the pro-gram’s inaugural postseason appearance. The team reeled off four consecutive road playoff victories to advance to the Division II national championship game—just the second unranked team to ever do so—before falling to Pittsburg State, 35-21.

Wayne State finished the year with a school-record 12 wins and Winters was named the 2011 American Football Coaches Association

14 Coaching Management CoachesNetwork.com14 Coaching Management OFFSEASON 2012 CoachesNetwork.com

BUILDING A PROGRAM

Q&A

NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year. Not surprisingly, Winters was a hot commod-ity in the off-season, and he was offered the head coaching job at his alma mater, the University of Akron, where he played from 1976-1979 and served as an assistant during two separate stints. But after much delib-eration, Winters decided to remain at Wayne State and continue to build the program, signing a contract extension through 2016. In this interview, Winters talks about his team’s playoff run, his coaching philosophy, recruiting against larger schools, and why he decided to stay at Wayne State rather than return to Akron.

CM: Was there a point this season when the team started gaining momentum?

Winters: It actually felt like it started the year before, when we finished 9-2 but missed the playoffs. Coming into this sea-son, I felt we needed to improve on that. We ended up finishing a game short of that mark in the regular season, so I wasn’t sure we’d even qualify for the playoffs.

Q&A with paul winters | WAyne stAte university

But once we got in, that’s when we got more energy, and we started to get healthier as a team, and had some success. I think dur-ing the regular season we were so focused on making the playoffs and winning the cham-pionship that we overlooked a few teams along the way.

When you got to Wayne State eight years ago, did you have a long-term plan in mind?

The idea was to build a winning program and to compete on the national level. How long it would take, I had no idea. But I felt if we did it the right way, the success would eventually come, and come consistently. In 2008, we finished 8-3 and from that point on, the program and the strength of the team grew.

To what do you attribute that success?A lot of things. It’s support from the

athletic director, it’s recruiting, it’s a great strength and conditioning program, and it’s the fact that we redshirt most of our incom-ing freshmen to build them up physically and

Led by safety Jeremy Jones, a D2Football.com First Team All-American, last season Wayne State University advanced to the NCAA Division II championship game for the first time in school history.

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PUBDATE: Protein/Replenish

PROJ. MGR: Michael Schlachter

PROD: Eva Moi

DATE CREATED: 1-25-2012 4:25 PM

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Circle No. 108

get them acclimated academically so that they’ll have success and stick around for four or five years.

Has the redshirting been an issue dur-ing recruiting, since many players want to play right away?

We do a little bit. There are some D-I schools in the area—Western Michigan, Cen-tral Michigan, and Eastern Michigan—and there are a lot of D-II schools in the area as well. But what we have going for us here at Wayne State is we are a top-notch academic institution. We’re a Carnegie 1 research insti-

want to do that. I wanted to coach. So I went back to get my master’s and started coaching as a graduate assistant at Akron.

How did you develop your coaching philosophy?

Over the years, I’ve worked for a number of different head coaches who have influenced me. The biggest influence was [Former Akron Head Coach and current Walsh University Head Coach] Jim Dennison, who talked about Positive Mental Attitude, or PMA. That’s what we’ve carried over to this program. The idea that, “What the mind of man can conceive and believe, the mind of man can achieve.”

Why did you turn down Akron and stay at Wayne State?

It was an extremely hard decision, but there were a number of factors. First, I have a lot of respect for coaches like Larry Kehres at Mount Union, who have developed programs and won consistently. Having that opportunity here has always been attractive to me.

I also feel responsible to the players I’ve recruited here. I talk to them about loyalty, so it was a chance to show them the same loyalty that I expect them to have. CM

Q&A

“Over the years, i’ve wOrked with a number Of different cOaches whO have influenced me. the biggest influence was jim dennisOn, whO talked abOut pOsitive mental attitude, Or pma. that’s what we’ve carried Over tO this prOgram.”

I don’t think it has worked against us. We don’t necessarily plan to redshirt everyone who comes in. But it becomes pretty evident to incoming freshmen that they’re not ready to compete yet once they get here. So they’re willing to work hard and wait until they’re prepared to go.

What are the keys to recruiting at the Division II level? Do you compete with the D-I schools at all?

tution, and we’re not competing against other Carnegie 1 institutions aside from Michigan and Michigan State, so we have a pretty good recruiting niche.

Did you always want to coach?I earned my degree in business and per-

sonnel management, and after graduation I had offers from Goodrich, Goodyear, and General Tire for management training posi-tions. That’s when I decided that I didn’t

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COVER STORY

Kick returns and coverage are often underappreciated aspects of the game.

Successful coaches offer their methods for making these units special. | By Patrick Bohn

West Virginia University return man Tavon Austin helped his team to an Orange Bowl victory in 2012. Returns Coach Daron Roberts believes in testing his special teamers by putting them in tough situations in practice. PhOTO By DAniel FRienD/WeST ViRginiA UniVeRSiTy

The Mountaineers eventually won the game, 30-27, and went on to rout Clemson University, 70-33, in the Orange Bowl. At first glance, Austin’s return might simply seem like a pivitol play from a talented athlete who was named to CBSSports.com’s All-Ameri-can team as a special teams performer.

But West Virginia Returns Coach Daron Roberts says Austin’s season-changing return was due in large part to a mistake. “If you watch the tape, one of our blockers missed his primary assignment,” says Roberts. “But rather than give up on the play, he turned

around, found two other members of the coverage unit, blocked them both, and sealed the edge. That’s what gave Tavon a path to the sideline and the end zone.”

Austin’s touchdown is an example of the impact a good return unit—or struggling coverage unit—can have on a game. But special teams success will be difficult to find unless all eleven members of those units are properly prepared and equally committed to their roles. In this article, coaches of success-ful coverage and return squads share how they get the most from those units.

entering its 2011 regular season finale, West Virginia University needed a win over the University of South Florida to seal its bid for the Big East Conference crown and the automatic BCS bowl berth that goes with it. With the Mountaineers clinging to a 13-10 lead early in the sec-ond half, West Virginia return man Tavon Austin picked up a bouncing kickoff at the 10-yard line, cut across the field, and darted down the side-line for a momentum-seizing touchdown.

MOTIVATING FACTORSWhile a great return man like Austin can

find himself in the spotlight, obscurity is typically the reality for the majority of the players who comprise coverage and return units. So how do you motivate players to excel in these often under-appreciated roles? The first step is easy to overlook: be involved.

“The head coach needs to be at the fore-front of the special teams units,” says Ithaca College Head Coach Mike Welch, who has had a return man named to the D3Football.com All-American squad three of the past five years. “I firmly believe—and I tell my players—that the punt is one of the most important plays in football. But that mes-sage won’t get through unless I’m heavily involved with that unit.”

Even if an assistant is in charge of the special teams squads, the head coach’s atti-tude goes a long way toward determining

the success of the unit. “If you have a head coach who views the return and coverage game as just the transition between offense and defense, your kids won’t see the impor-tance of those aspects,” says Dustin Cluff, Special Teams and Wide Receivers Coach at Show Low (Ariz.) High School. “But if your head coach views special teams as a weapon and says, ‘I expect you to go out and make big plays,’ the kids will play harder because they understand their play can swing a game.”

However, talking a big game in practice won’t do any good if, off the field, special teams players feel unappreciated. Andrew Kremer, Head Coach at Guerin Catholic High School in Noblesville, Ind., says it’s important to find ways to motivate your players in the locker room as well. “In years past, we’ve named units after branches of the military,” he says. “For example, we’d call the kickoff team ‘Delta’ or the punt return unit

PATRICK BOHN is an Assistant Editor at Coaching Management. He can be reached at: [email protected].

COVER STORY

When facing a talented kick returner, sometimes a cover-age team is best served by just kicking the ball away from him. But can a coach basically wave a white flag and still show his players he has confidence in them to make plays in other games?Dustin Cluff, Special Teams and Wide Receivers coach at Show Low (Ariz.) High School, knows this can be a tough balance to strike. “I like to have faith in my players to make a tackle, because that’s the only way they’re going to give you 100 percent,” he says. “But some-times, the results speak for themselves. We played a team from Florence last year and their kick returner brought a kick back to our 40-yard line the first time he touched the ball. We wanted to kick away from him the next time, but the kids asked me to give them another shot, so we did. Well, he ran it back to our 40 again. After that, we avoided him.”

If you do need to kick away from a play-er, Cluff suggests talking to your players about it and laying out the reasons why in plain terms. “I told our guys that there

is a time to be aggressive and there’s a time to be smart, and now it was time to be smart,” he says. “They understood that.”

Ithaca College Head Coach Mike Welch says reminding players about the ulti-mate goal can be important. He was an assistant coach at Ithaca in 1988 when the Bombers played Ferrum College in an NCAA Division III semifinal. Future NFL All-Pro running back Chris Warren was running kicks back for Ferrum.

“He took an early kickoff back 50 yards, and as a coaching staff, we decided we were going to kick away from him the rest of the game,” Welch says. “We reminded the players that we weren’t afraid of him, but they needed to trust us—this strategy would help us win. We went on to win that game and the national championship.”

Building that trust, says Welch, starts at the beginning of the season. “You tell your players that you’re all working towards a common goal, and that you believe they can make plays when you need them to,” he says. “At the same time, they need to trust that the coach-ing staff is going to put the team in the best position to win the game.”

FIGHT ANOTHER DAY


would be the ‘SEALs.’ Even small things like that get players fired up to fill those roles.”

At Ithaca, where the athletic teams are called the Bombers, Welch created “The Bomb Squad” to promote and reward his return and coverage units. Every player on the punt and kickoff teams is awarded points for achieving team goals, such as downing a punt inside the 15-yard line, or averaging 10 yards per punt return for a game. As players accumulate points, they earn magnets of various airplanes to put on their lockers.

“Every time a player moves up a level, we announce it in a team meeting,” Welch says. “The players realize that they can move up pretty quickly if they play on multiple units, and before you know it, lots of guys want to get involved with all aspects of special teams.”

Even something as simple as letting the players on your coverage and return units eat first at team meals can emphasize the importance of those squads. “At every team meal, the starting punt team eats first,” Kre-mer says. “It may sound silly to some people, but those players take it as a badge of honor that they get to eat first. I have kids who are chomping at the bit to be on the punt unit for that very reason.”

If these ideas don’t get players to appreci-ate the importance of special teams, coaches say that playing time is the ultimate motiva-tor. “We have a lot of offensive and defensive backups on our return and coverage units,” says Paul Knox, Head Coach at Dorsey High School in Los Angeles. “Our staff is always telling them, ‘We’re going to notice if you’re blocking hard or making tackles on special teams, and that’s going to make us look harder at finding ways for you to contribute on offense or defense.’”

Kremer says that taking playing time away from players who feel they are above being on special teams can be a wake-up call. “I tell our players that if they can’t play on our return or coverage teams, whether it’s due to ability or unwillingness, then they won’t play on offense or defense either,” he says. “It’s not about threatening them, but emphasizing how much we believe in the value of special teams.”

PHILOSOPHICAL PLANOnce all of your players are on board, you

need to decide the tactical approach you’re going to use for returns and coverage. There are a number of different ways you can be successful, but the first step is to evaluate the skills and abilities of players on your roster.
















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“The most difficult things for us to find are players who can block, run, and tackle, which are all the things guys on traditional punt coverage units have to do,” Kremer says. “With a limited number of players who excel at the blocking component, we spread out the members of the coverage team on the line of scrimmage and have our punter kick the ball rugby-style. That makes it harder for the other team to go after the punter and lessens the amount of time our players need to block. This allows us to emphasize their athleticism and ability to run and tackle, rather than ask-ing them to do something they struggle with, like blocking.”

Kremer takes a similar route with his kickoff coverage unit, where speed is empha-sized over tackling. “I think speed alone is enough to be disruptive,” he says. “If your coverage guys get down the field quickly, you can force the return man to move east and west, which is what you want. But if I put my best tackler on a coverage unit, and he’s not that fast and only gets halfway down the field when the ball is caught, he’s not going to make many plays.”

When it comes to setting up returns, Knox also prefers speed and avoids using bigger line-

men as blockers. “We have more wide receiv-ers and defensive backs than we do linemen, so I’m more likely to use backups at those positions as blockers on the return team,” he says. “They’re able to get greater depth on the kick, and frankly, I don’t think you need dev-astating blocks on kick returns. You just need to get a body on a body, and that’s easier to do with a more athletic player.”

While speed is important when it comes to covering kicks, when choosing a return man, coaches should resist the temptation to pri-oritize speed over everything else. “Too many coaches stick a fast player back there to catch kicks and ignore whether or not he can actu-ally field the ball,” says Welch. “The first thing I look for is players with good hands. Once you have players who can reliably field kicks, then you can identify the guy from that group who can best make plays in the open field.”

Knox agrees. “The cardinal sin for our return men is to muff a punt, or not be able to field it and let it roll backward another 10 yards,” he says. “So I will sacrifice speed in order to have a player back there with good hands. Our return men spend a lot of time in practice fielding kicks. Whenever they aren’t working with their position coaches, they’re

catching balls. We even stick them behind the goalposts during field goal and extra point drills to get them more reps.”

When it comes to returns, especially on kickoffs, Cluff believes it’s important to emphasize consistency and to remind your returners they don’t have to be heroes. “We had a game where we had a left return on, but the ball was kicked over to the right, and it was lying on the five-yard line,” he says. “The return man picked it up, but rather than just going forward and getting 10 yards, he tried to run all the way across the field to where the blockers were set up in hope of making a big play, but instead he was tackled inside our five-yard line.”

DRILLING DOWNThe seeds for the block and return that

helped propel West Virginia into the Orange Bowl were planted in spring practice, where Roberts likes to test the players responsible for blocking on kick returns by placing them in challenging spots. “A lot of coaches use drills that mimic the ideal situations players will face, in order to get them comfortable,” he says. “But how many times are you going to see those scenarios in a game?”


COVER STORY

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In one such drill, Roberts places a return team blocker at midfield and tells that player to pretend he has missed his initial blocking assignment. When the whistle blows, the blocker chases after his missed assignment, located seven yards downfield. Several other

coverage players then follow a few yards behind the return team blocker. When the whistle blows again a few seconds later, the return team blocker stops his pursuit of the missed assignment, turns to locate a different member of the coverage unit, and then blocks him.

“We call it the ‘find work’ drill, and the guys love it, because they don’t know where the players they’ll need to block are coming from, which makes it difficult,” Roberts says. “This scenario is pretty close to what occurred in the South Florida game.”

Of course, all that blocking will be for naught if your returner can’t make a play once he has the ball. To teach a returner to be elusive, Knox will put him out there with no blocking scheme during coverage drills. “If we’re working on keeping our punt and

kickoff coverage teams in lanes, a lot of times I’ll stick a return man back there to field the ball,” he says. “This puts him in a situation where unblocked defenders are closing in on him and he has to avoid them by making a move.”

For members of coverage units, one of the most challenging aspects of the job is work-ing to shed a block before making a tackle. To help his players learn how to do this, Kremer sets up a gauntlet on the field. Coverage play-ers stand on one sideline, with a return team blocker located on each hash mark and the

opposite sideline. The player on the nearest hash mark holds a stand-up dummy, and the one on the far hash has a handshield. Anoth-er player stands on the opposite sideline. The coverage players then work their way across the field from one sideline to the other.

“The coverage player uses the first zone to build speed before the first blocker turns to one side,” Kremer says. “The coverage player avoids the block by going to the back-side of his opponent.

“Then the coverage man gets to the ‘engage’ zone,” he continues. “When he gets to the blocker with the handshield, he explodes into the blocker’s pads, locks his hands out, and rips off of the block. Finally, he gets to the last man and he tackles him low, from the side. It’s a wide-open drill and the players really get into it.”

“In the game today, there’s a lot of glory in offense, and it seems like that’s where everyone wants to play. But I believe special teams is the quickest way to win or lose a football game, and I tell my players that every day.” Andrew kremer, guerin cAtholic high school

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CoachesNetwork.com

COVER STORY

Film StudyEven the best drills in the world won’t

always prepare players for what an opponent does in a game. A careful study of game film can, however, provide coaches with the information needed to predict their oppo-nent’s moves and reactions. So what should a coach look for when studying film?

“Your first goal should be to identify the opposing players who are least likely to hurt you,” says Roberts, who worked for the Kan-sas City Chiefs under Herman Edwards in 2007 and 2008. “Coach Edwards told me when I first started working with him, ‘BLT: Body Language Talks.’ There are some play-ers on special teams units who really don’t want to be out there. The key is to identify guys who are always around the ball, but never actually make the play.”

With that knowledge, Roberts can use a number of strategies to gain an advantage. “If I identify a player who’s not very willing to make a tackle in a one-on-one situation, I’ll have our return man run right at him, because I know we can beat him,” he says. “Or if it looks like a player doesn’t like contact, I’ll have one of our guys ‘show’ a block, and when the other player slows down to avoid it, our guy will break off and double team some-one else.”

Beyond identifying specific players to attack, film can be used to spot tendencies that tip off what a team is about to do. “Let’s say I’m going up against a team that usually returns the ball to the right side of the field, and I notice in film that’s the side the best players are on.” Cluff says. “If those players suddenly move to the left side during a game, I can tell the team has switched to a left return.”

Welch used film to identify a soft spot in rival SUNY Cortland’s kickoff coverage unit before the two teams met in 2006. “I noticed that when they kicked the ball to one side of the field, the players on the other side were collapsing in too far and not holding the edge,” he says. “I knew that if [return man] Kelly Gordon went to one side and then cut back across the field, those players would be caught out of position, so I told him to give it a shot. On the second half kickoff, Kelly did exactly that, and ran it back for a touch-down.”

While it may not get the attention that the offense and defense do, special teams units can swing games in your favor, making it critical that your players can produce results when it matters. “In the game today, there’s a lot of glory in offense, and it seems like that’s where everyone wants to play,” Kremer says. “But I believe special teams is the quickest way to win or lose a football game, and I tell our players that every day.” CM

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At the University of Oregon, student-athletes are learning the art of teamwork and

communication through a for-credit class called “The Leadership Challenge.”

By Katie Harbert

ACCEPTING THE CHALLENGE

LEADERSHIP

At every institution, student-athletes are expected to be leaders. Coaches demand it and society expects it. But leadership is not a quality that magically appears. Rather, it must be taught, developed, coached, and critiqued.

That’s why, here at the University of Ore-gon, we have developed a for-credit course specifically to help student-athletes further their leadership skills. Called “The Leadership Challenge,” it is a way for our students to gain self-awareness, become part of a network of leaders, learn more about the process of lead-ership, and have fun while they’re at it.

Leadership skills can be taught through a myriad of ways based on each institution’s needs, goals, and resources. The class we developed uses experiential learning, which we feel best fits the culture and resources we

Justin Hoffman, Josh Kaddu, Darrion Weems, and Boseko Lokombo (clockwise from top left) were four of 10 football players who took the University of Oregon leadership class last summer.

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have at Oregon. Rather than getting lectured on what leadership is, students explore the idea, play with it, and try to figure it out for themselves.

STRUCTURE & SETUPThe class began in 2003 under the direc-

tion of Karen Nelson, who was the Assistant Athletic Director of Student Services and has since retired. It was a four-day intensive course and largely used activities, speakers, breakout groups, and reflection to teach and develop leadership skills. The class was held again in 2009 and 2011, with the curricu-lum, structure, and activities changing somewhat based on new leadership litera-ture and the personnel involved.

In its current form, the Leadership Chal-lenge course is offered for three credits and

KATIE HARBERT is Coordinator of Student-Athlete Development at the University of Oregon. She plans and implements the Leadership Challenge course at UO and can be reached at: [email protected].

takes place over two weekends in the sum-mer. Having the course on the weekend ensures it does not conflict with student-athletes’ other classes and workout sched-ules. While it is geared towards leadership development among student-athletes, the course is open to all students on campus.

The curriculum is designed to teach par-ticipants a variety of leadership theories, styles, skills, and practices. It then challenges students to apply the principles they have learned. The teaching tools we use include assigned readings, breakout sessions, a num-ber of hands-on activities, speakers, reflec-tions, presentations, and a final paper. Students have the opportunity to work individually and in groups, while also inter-acting with each other, facilitators, adminis-trators, and speakers.

As mentioned above, we utilize experien-tial learning, which is a process of activity and reflection that is personal to the participant. Students experience a concept through an activity, then are asked to reflect and process the questions of “What? So what? And now what?” We’ve found that when discussions are relevant to the real-life situations student-athletes find themselves in, they are more open and honest in their discussions, which leads to better learning. The process also allows the students to explore potential solu-tions together rather than in silos, making group trust and open discussion a vital part of the course.

The class is designed to accommodate 20 to 26 students, with some activities involv-ing the full class and others using smaller breakout groups. We have discussed open-ing the class to 40 or 50 students but always conclude that greater numbers would com-promise the ability for the group and indi-viduals to go in-depth with their leadership training. Another benefit to the small num-ber is that students are able to get to know each other on a deeper level.

Most years, I am the lead instructor for the course, and we divide the class into two separate “teams,” each led by two facilitators. Our staff of facilitators has included aca-demic advisors, directors of operations, assistant athletic directors, and learning spe-cialists. These facilitators volunteer to par-ticipate and are trained in the curriculum and the role of facilitation.

When recruiting students to take the class, we start with junior and senior student-ath-letes recommended by coaches. Once this group has had the opportunity to register, we begin recruiting younger students who might be interested. Ideally, most class members are entering leadership roles on their teams and have some leadership background.

Each year we’ve taught the class, we have ended up with a widely diverse group by age, sport, gender, and race, which has provided for a rich learning environment. The course has been the starting point for many diverse lasting friendships. The opportunity for stu-dents to go into in-depth conversations pro-vided by the experiential learning atmosphere has been key to this important dynamic.

LEARNING OBJECTIVESThere are so many wonderful ideas and

dynamic activities that have been developed around teaching leadership, it’s easy for a course to be a hodge-podge of items. But it’s


Third page 7.25”w x 3.1”h -no bleed

on the field Last spring, I was told about a class called the Leadership Challenge, which would be offered during the summer. I was interested in improving my leadership skills, so I signed up. That proved to be a great decision.

What I found most helpful about the course was interacting with other student-athletes on the topic of leadership. By sharing past experiences,

we grew to better understand when and how we could each step up and be leaders on our teams.

I also appreciated the feedback we got through the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI). I was able to discover my strengths and weaknesses,

and realized I am most comfortable leading by example. But I also came to understand the importance of being a vocal leader, and have been working on that.

This fall, it felt great to use what I learned to help my team. I was more confident providing a hand to others and speaking up. When an under-classman did something wrong, I was comfortable correcting him.

Another thing I learned is that being a follower is just as important as being a leader. For example, we had a team meeting this past sea-son during which seniors talked to the team and asked us what we can improve. By practicing similar situations through the Leadership Challenge course, I had enough confidence to offer my point of view. A year ago, I would have said nothing in that situation.

I also think the class helped make our team stronger as a unit. Ten of us participated in the course, and we all took what we learned back to the team. We communicated better and understood when to lead and when to follow.

Everyone is a leader, but not everyone knows how to lead. This class helped me and my teammates develop leadership skills we used on the field this year—and will continue to use throughout our lives.

By Boseko LokomBoSophomore linebacker and journalism major at the University of Oregon

One student-athlete’s perspective on Oregon’s Leadership Challenge class.

better if a curriculum has specific learning objectives that tie together. We developed five objectives for our course, and then put together instruction that would support those goals.

1. Understand and apply relational leader-ship and the skills necessary for effective lead-ership in campus, community, and organiza-tional settings.

There are many books and articles about leadership. While we feel it’s important to introduce to the students the many theories of leadership, for the purpose of this class we wanted to narrow in on one definition. We chose the Relational Leadership Model as defined by Susan R. Komives, Nance Lucas, and Timothy McMahon in Exploring Lead-ership: For College Students Who Want to

Make a Difference, since it can be applied in organizational structures like athletic teams and is very transferable to student-athletes. Relational leadership is a vision-driven, col-laborative process where personal relation-ships and ethics provide the foundation for making positive change.

Selected chapters from this text are used as reading assignments, and class activities support the Relational Leadership Model by focusing on group dynamics and allowing students to interact with experienced leaders. In addition, we are lucky enough to have one of the authors, Timothy McMahon, on our campus and have been able to use him as a consultant to advise us on the learning objec-tives, process, and structure of the class.

2. Increase awareness of their own person-al leadership style, including their skills, val-ues, and personal philosophy of leadership.

A main goal of the class is to teach stu-dents to apply leadership concepts to their own lives. To bring this idea to the forefront, we start the course by having each student assess their own leadership style and abilities. Part of this process is self-evaluation, in which students take an in-depth look at their own beliefs and clearly define them. They are given a list of values and asked to circle all those they claim as their own, then asked to narrow it down to their top three. From there, we have a discussion about our personal val-ues and how they come to be.

Another part is feedback from others. Each student is asked to complete the Student

LPI (Leadership Practices Inventory), a 360-degree assessment administered online. This inventory includes a self-assessment but also gets feedback from observers, which may include coaches, teammates, peers, teachers, mentors, and anyone else involved in the student’s life. Student-athletes enter the e-mail addresses of the people they want to complete it on their behalf and then a report is compiled summarizing feedback in five core areas: Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart. These are completed before class commences.

3. Learn the basics of group roles, dynam-ics, and decision making in order to function constructively in group settings.

Student-athletes find themselves in a wide variety of groups where they may need to exercise leadership skills, from their sports teams to campus groups to classes. Learning about group dynamics helps them to be more effective members of those groups.

The text we use to highlight this is The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, by Patrick Lencioni. The five dysfunctions he defines are: Absence of Trust, Fear of Conflict, Lack of Commit-ment, Avoidance of Accountability, and Inat-tention to Results. Although its content is geared towards the business setting, it can be easily transferred to the world of college ath-letics. We teach the text using several activities and by having small groups teach one of the five dysfunctions to the larger group.

We also ask students to further their

group dynamic skills through an assignment. All participants are placed in groups in which they work to address critical issues in leader-ship and intercollegiate athletics, and then develop a 10- to 15-minute presentation to be delivered on the last day of the course. A key part of the activity is individuals working together as a group. (And to put a little extra pressure on the students, we invite all of the class speakers, athletic department staff, and sport coaches to attend the presentations.)

4. Understand the importance of cultural awareness and its role in effective leadership and successful groups.

Cultural awareness and competency is a core concept of relational leadership and is woven throughout the class. Because our

”Cultural awareness and competency is a core concept of relational leadership and is woven throughout the class.”


LEADERSHIP


The second weekend begins with a review of the first weekend, followed by a discussion about the group presentations. Student-ath-letes then split into groups to work on topics for their presentations, which are to address a “big issue” that they find important and want to create change around. Facilitators assist each group to narrow their focus to topics that they could directly impact with their plan of action. This past year, topics included stereotypes and student-athlete perception and redefining amateurism.

Next, the full group comes back together for several activities, including those on decision-making, cultural awareness, and visioning and action planning. The students also work more on their presentations, and have a facilitated discussion with three pro-fessionals who are considered leaders in their fields of work.

On the last day of class, students do some wrap-up activities and listen to a final speak-er. Last year, our speaker was former NFL

head coach Tony Dungy, whose son plays football at Oregon. To end the class, students deliver their final presentations.

Evaluations from students about the class last year were very encouraging. They appre-ciated the balance of hands-on activities with classroom-like learning and the diversity of speakers. They said they learned a tremen-dous amount and were eager to put their new ideas into action.

It is rare after completing a class that stu-dents take the time to send a thank you note. But two students from the 2011 class did just that. “I just wanted to say thank you so much for such a great leadership class,” said one student. “I absolutely had a blast and I wish that the class was still going on. I learned a lot and I’m so anxious to tell my parents about it and put my new skills to the test!”

The Leadership Challenge doesn’t com-pletely fill the gap in leadership develop-ment among student-athletes, but it is a start. To other administrators who are considering developing a leadership pro-gram of their own I strongly suggest taking a collaborative approach and using all resources possible, especially from the department and campus. CM

A version of this article appeared in our sister magazine, Athletic Management. To access more articles from AM, please visit: www.AthleticManagement.com.

group is always quite diverse, it is not difficult to have meaningful discussions about inclu-sion and diversity. Additionally, most of the experts who join us speak about this topic within their presentations so students do see it is an important piece of leadership. They get the idea that cultural awareness should be a part of everything we do as leaders.

Students also learn about cultural com-petency from one of our speakers, Johnny Lake, who is a local educator and leadership trainer. Dr. Lake captures the students’ attention by speaking about his personal experience as a black youth growing up without much interaction with white peo-ple. He then makes his presentation more personal by asking students to define and share experiences that have impacted them, asking them to question stereotypes and recognize how they affect others.

5. Develop a personal leadership vision and action plan that demonstrates critical thinking about the application of leadership theory.

One major assignment is to create a lead-ership vision and action plan, which is to be based on students’ learning in the class, the feedback they receive, and their Student LPI. The idea is for them to put on paper their philosophy and vision of leadership, how they expect to continue developing and exer-cising their leadership, and a specific action plan they want to implement using the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely) goal-setting method. Stu-dents are asked to apply relational leadership and other core concepts learned to their vision and action plan.

FOUR ACTION-PACKED DAYSWith the above five learning objectives as

our compass, we break our two-weekend course into specific activities. Class instruc-tors look at the learning objectives and spend a lot of time making sure each piece of the class supports one or more of those goals.

The first weekend of the course is intend-ed to build trust among students and to cre-ate an environment that allows for in-depth discussion and personal development. To do this, we take the group to Bend, Ore., which is a two-and-a-half hour drive east from our campus.

Upon arrival in Bend, the class partici-pates in a GPS EcoChallenge in the high desert guided by an outdoor adventure com-pany. Students are divided into groups of

three through an ice-breaking game. They are then given a backpack with a GPS device and several resources and let loose in “Amazing Race” style to discover and answer clues, reach various checkpoints, and eventually find their final destination.

After the EcoChallenge, the group recon-venes at the hotel. They debrief, share a meal together, and then learn about some leader-ship ideas, such as the Johari Window, the DiSC assessment, relational leadership, and group dynamics. This piece of the curricu-lum is taught by lead instructors and facilita-tors and complemented with activities and discussion to help students digest the mate-rial further. After about 8:30 p.m., they have free time to get to know their new friends and make use of the hotel pool.

The following day, the group has a morn-ing session about LPIs with Rich Burke, a seasoned leadership development profession-al who has worked with executive teams at Fortune 500 companies. Burke brings the

group to a new level of vulnerability and bravery by asking each student to stand up and answer two questions:

n What are you most proud of?n What do you want to be remembered

for? Burke then walks students through the

theory behind the Student LPI, how to read their reports, and what to do with the feed-back they receive. This is one of our students’ favorite activities of the weekend. They are able to obtain others’ opinions about their leadership from their coaches and teammates in a safe and productive way, which allows them to develop a plan to work off their strengths and to improve upon their weak-nesses.

The culmination of the weekend is a whitewater rafting excursion on one of Oregon’s most pristine and powerful rivers, the McKenzie. The class is typically split with half the students having been rafting before and the other half thinking they never would! This is a great time for people’s leadership skills to surface, as the veteran rafters get the opportunity to encourage and teach the novices.

Though very busy, the students thor-oughly enjoy the short stay in Bend. Atti-tudes are great, smiles and laughter abound, and the student-athletes are genuinely engaging with the material in a personal way. The stage is set.

LEADERSHIP

”Evaluations from students about the class last year were very encouraging. They appreciated the balance of hands-on activities with classroom-

like learning and the diversity of the speakers.”

Mueller-NGteaser2of2-CMgmt.indd 1 3/9/12 10:50 AM

Mueller-NGteaser2of2-CMgmt.indd 1 3/9/12 10:50 AM

Circle No. 118

Circle No. 119

Tune in to the NFL draft or read the scouting reports and you will be sur-prised how many times the commenta-tors use the word “explosive.” If you catch a game on television, you’ll hear the announcers talk about how explosive a running back is as he bursts through the

Training explosiveness can include everything from Olympic lifts to plyometrics. Five top

strength coaches go into detail on methods, specific exercises, and their philosophies.

By Dennis Read

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STRENGTH & CONDITIONING

line, or the explosiveness a wide receiver shows coming out of his break.

Athletes and strength coaches talk about explosiveness, too—and better ways to train and develop it. But specifics on how to train explosiveness are harder to find than exam-ples of it.

To get the answers, we talked to five top college strength and conditioning coaches and asked them their thoughts on training this vital area. (Their bios can be found on page 34.) They offer their approaches to explosive training, share the training meth-ods they like best, and reveal common prob-lem areas coaches should watch out for.


Shannon Turley, Sports Performance Coordi-nator for Football at Stanford University, works with senior wide receiver Chris Owusu on his explosiveness.

the weight is really heavy, the bar is not going to move very quickly. But the athlete is still training explosiveness because the central nervous system and the fast twitch muscle fibers are stimulated in a fast fashion.

Shannon Turley: It doesn’t matter what exercises you use as long as you perform them as fast as you can. When training explo-siveness—which is really the rate of force production—you also have to keep the vol-ume very low. You need athletes to be fresh, so I suggest only one, two, or three explosive efforts at a time followed by recovery.

Jim Radcliffe: Explosive training requires focusing on the total body to increase its abil-

DenniS ReaD is an Associate Editor at Coaching Management. He can be reached at: [email protected].

ity to produce more force (strength) in the least amount of time. It also means having a plan to capitalize on the complete blend of strength, speed, and agility capabilities. Emphasis on one without the others misses the mark on complete power development.

What are the best exercises for train-ing explosiveness?

Radcliffe: To develop the concepts of syn-chronized strength, speed, and agility, we


CM: What does explosive training mean to you?

Mickey Marotti: Explosive training should be the intent to produce maximal force or effort in a given skill, exercise, or drill. But the movement doesn’t necessarily have to be done fast. An offensive lineman blocking a defensive lineman is explosive, even though the forces working against him prevent him from doing it quickly. Even though he may not move fast, the intent of the central ner-vous system, muscular system, and skill sys-tem is to move explosively. For example, if an athlete is bench pressing and you want them to move the bar explosively off their chest but

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MICKEY MAROTTI was Director of Strength and Conditioning at the Uni-versity of Florida, where he worked closely with the football team, at the time he was interviewed for this story. In December 2011, he became Assistant Athletic Director for Football Sports Per-formance at Ohio State University. In 21 years as a collegiate strength coach, he has trained 12 first-round NFL draft picks and six first-round NBA picks.

JIM RADCLIFFE is in his 26th season as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at the University of Oregon, and works closely with the football team, which won the 2011 Pacific-12 Confer-ence title and reached the BCS cham-pionship game during the 2010 season.

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SHANNON TURLEY is the Sports Performance Coordinator for Football at Stanford University, where he over-sees performance enhancement train-ing, nutrition education, and sports psychology for the team.

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adhere to the Olympic lifts—specifically pro-gressions into and variations of the snatch and the clean and jerk. In addition, dynamic progressions of jumping, bounding, hop-ping, tossing, swinging, and throwing are applicable in most areas of lifting and condi-tioning, including explosive training.

Turley: I think plyometrics are time-tested and invaluable, and they’re never going to stop being my primary form of explosive training development. In most sports, perfor-mance comes down to applying explosive power potential in a specific vector and that’s exactly what a plyometric exercise is.

The lineman who gets his hands inside of the breastplate of his opponent’s shoulder pads first is the one who’s going to win that battle in the end, whether they’re trying to create contact or avoid contact. So a medicine ball chest pass is good, a plyometric pushup is better, and a plyometric pushup to a box is better than that. We use these kinds of plyo-metric progressions because they will lead to high-threshold motor-unit recruitment and serious power development.

Jed Smith: People will always try to come up with a lot of gadgets and gimmicks to train explosiveness, but I’m old school and

the primary staples of our training are the Olympic lifts. There is a lot of research on which strength training exercises allow you to generate force most rapidly and it has con-vinced me the Olympic lifts are the best.

One of the reasons I like the Olympic movements so much is that they are also the most athletic. A full clean and jerk and a full snatch are the most athletic lifts you can do in a weightroom because there’s so much hap-pening in such a short period of time. You need strength, flexibility, coordination, bal-ance, and speed. You also get the triple exten-sion and rapid contraction of the ankles, knees, and hips. It requires a very skilled and talented athlete to be able to do the full move-ment rapidly.

However, it takes a lot of time to teach these lifts, and when there are up to 90 football play-ers in the weightroom, it’s hard to make sure they’re all smooth and proficient. All of our athletes learn the full lifts, but we focus more on the power clean and power snatch because they’re easier to teach and be successful at.

Marotti: I like to use a lot of plyometrics and jump training. We usually focus on hori-zontal jumps—like broad jumps and bound-ing—once a week. We do single-leg bounds into double-leg bounds, then regular bound-ing, then switch legs. The second day we do vertical work, which usually focuses on box jumps, hurdle hops, and resistance jumps.

What are the best types of equipment for training explosiveness?

Turley: I think bodyweight exercises are the best because that’s what you’re going to be moving in a sport. Medicine balls are the next best option—you can get a lot of unin-hibited power potential with them because the external load is minimized. When you get into standard strength training move-ments, you’re going to want to use a barbell, dumbbells, and maybe a piece of accommo-dating resistance equipment. The Keiser racks are great because the air compressor resistance is consistent throughout a move-ment. And bands and chains de-load and accommodate the strength curves different-ly, but are also a good choice.

Jennifer Jones: I don’t get into all the

”There’s certainly a differ-ence between training for explosiveness in football and other athletic tasks. We use more plyometrics when training these athletes.”

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fads and the latest equipment that’s coming out on the market. Plyometrics and Olym-pic lifts have been tested time and again, and they work for me and that’s what I’ve stuck with. But I do some work with bands and chains, especially with our female basketball players because of their relative lack of expe-rience in training.

Marotti: One of the things I like to use is a Tred Sled from Rogers Athletics that has a blocking dummy on the front of a man-pow-ered treadmill. I control the resistance of the tread so I can make it harder or easier for the athlete. I may have a lineman train for explo-

siveness when doing specific skill work by having him perform four- to six-second bursts of maximal effort against the dummy.

I also like the Vertimax for vertical train-ing, and I use a progression of single-response jumps followed by multiple-response jumps. We start with five warmup jumps with a focus on landing in an athletic position, fol-lowed by one set of 10 single-response jumps loaded with the bands. Then we load them up on the hips and do a set of 10 where they explode as high as they can and then stick the landing. Then we do it all again from an unloaded position.

Should athletes in different positions be training for explosiveness in differ-ent ways?

Turley: Within a sport, especially foot-ball, you have a lot of different body types and skill sets to accommodate, so there needs to be a large degree of specificity of training. For example, quarterbacks should focus on shoulder stability and keeping their throwing mechanics fluid and integrated through their core. But much of their power potential comes through the ground just like a baseball pitcher.

Marotti: There’s certainly a difference between training explosiveness for a sport like football and other athletic tasks like the throw-ing events in track and field, which are closed skills. In football and other team sports, there are many more repetitions in a game, and players have to react to things that happen on the field quickly. So we use more plyometrics when training those types of athletes.

How do you maintain explosiveness during the regular season?

Radcliffe: We like to progress our lifting and plyometric drills to a point where once the season begins we are able to complex two or three of the areas necessary to keep developing strength, speed, and agility. The beauty of uti-lizing the Olympic lifts is that you are able to pull, squat, push, jump, toss, and throw in sets of one or two exercises, rather than several that would make the workout twice as long.

Turley: During the season our explosive development occurs at football practice. It’s a specific application in the athletes’ sports skills and that’s why we’re training them to begin with. It’s not something we try to develop or even pretend we can improve in the weightroom in-season.

But it is something we want to be able to evaluate in the weightroom to determine if the athletes need to unload. I use a Tendo unit to measure their speed on the bench press and the squat. They have to be able to create the speed I’m looking for, and if they can’t, that tells me that their explosive potential is diminishing. Then I know I need to lighten up on the heavier movements and focus on more recovery and corrective work. That way, they can get their power production out on the field where they need it.

Smith: Volume should drop during the season, but intensity should stay up so the athletes can maintain peak power. You want to make sure that your staple exercises are still there. You can do cleans, squats, bench press-es, and maybe some pulls, but you should be able to get the workout done in 30 minutes.

Marotti: We usually don’t do any explo-sive training during the season because of the demands of practice. We’ll do a little bit

Circle No. 124



of medicine ball work, but most of the time we just use a platform and a barbell. With the rigors of a football practice schedule, the players’ joints are pretty beat up and for me to give them more work that involves jumps seems ludicrous. They’ll keep their explo-siveness as long as they use it, and they’re doing that on the practice field. Instead of pushing against weights and resistance, they’re pushing bodies on the field.

How do you test for explosiveness?Radcliffe: The clean and the snatch are

good lifting tests. Good jumping tests include mainly the vertical jump and stand-ing long jump. Short sprints of 10 to 20 yards give us feedback on an athlete’s explo-sive development as well.

Jones: In my experience, the athlete who has the highest vertical jump usually also has the fastest 40 time. You can test power cleans, but it’s such a technical exercise that most athletes are constantly making improvements based on their technique, which means that an improvement doesn’t necessarily equate to increased explosiveness. I also use weighted ball throws, both overhead and underhand.

Turley: Football players, and their strength and conditioning coaches, are judged based on the combine tests. In keeping with that practice, I think the broad jump is the be-all end-all test for explosive power. If a football player can create power in the broad jump, then he has a chance to be an explosive player.

How do speed training and explosive training relate?

Turley: They’re thoroughly intertwined. There is no way I would ever consider train-ing these things differently because they support each other so much. It’s the chicken and the egg argument—Does the explosive training make you faster or does sprinting make you more explosive?

One difference between explosive train-ing and speed training is the number of reps you’re going to do. Speed is a more complex equation because it has two variables—stride length and stride frequency—over a given distance. Speed training in football is reflect-ed by the 10-, 20- or 40-yard dash, depend-ing on position. So we count the number of steps in the 10, 20, and 40 and then use those numbers in our explosive plyometric moves. With explosive training, we’re talking about just one rep.

Smith: The new research on speed is very interesting. The old idea was that horizontal force production was the key to maximal sprinting. But you can’t alter stride length too much without overstriding, which causes braking and slows the athlete down. Alter-ing stride rate can also reduce ground force

Circle No. 125

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Circle No. 126

production, which would slow the runner as well. The new school of thought is that we can actually do something with vertical impulses, and the fastest sprinters are the

ones generating the most vertical force. The Olympic lifts are some of the best move-ments for increasing vertical force.

Jones: I have asked our track coach, Pat-rick Henry, the best exercise I could use to help his athletes increase their speed. His response was, “By far, squats. They increase explosiveness, which means the athletes can apply more force on the track, and the more force they can apply to the track the more distance they can cover at a faster rate.”

What are some of the problems that strength coaches run into when training explosiveness?

Turley: I think the biggest mistakes are

focusing on the quantity of work rather than the quality, introducing explosive training too early and too often in a developmental plan, and overestimating your role as a coach.

When it’s time to play a sport in-season, let the athletes go do that. When it comes to explosive power, my job developing athletes is essentially over once their season starts.

Some coaches also try to develop explo-siveness so much and work athletes so hard that they end up overtraining them. Then you get to test day and the athletes do worse in their vertical jump. They haven’t had a chance to accommodate and bounce back, so it’s no wonder they can’t produce the power you want.

Smith: I see some coaches throwing too much in the mix. They use 50 or 60 different exercises, but nobody is going to be proficient at that many exercises. The fact is the athletes

don’t become efficient at anything and as a result, they never get really strong. It takes time and practice to correctly perform those staples like the Olympic lifts and squats.

Jones: I think the biggest problem is coaches not understanding the technical aspect of the Olympic lifts. I’ve told high school coaches, “If you don’t understand the technical aspect behind a power clean, do plyometrics. It’s safer for the athletes, and you won’t have to worry about them dropping a bar or hurting their back—and you’re going to get the same outcome.” Unfortunately, I think a lot of new coaches don’t understand that plyometrics work. CM

A version of this article appeared in our sister magazine, Training & Conditioning. To access more articles from T&C, please visit: www.Training-Conditioning.com.


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”Football players, and their strength coaches, are judged based on the combine tests. In keeping with that practice, I think the broad jump is the be-all end-all test for explosive power. If a football player can create power in the broad jump, then he has a chance to be an explosive player.”

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Advertisers DirectoryCircle # . . . Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # Circle # . . . Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page #

113. . . A-Turf® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

105. . . Active Ankle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

106. . . Aer-Flo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

107. . . American Public University . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

131. . . Athlete’s Guide to Nutrition . . . . . . . . . 46-47

139. . . BigSigns.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .IBC

138. . . Blueprint For Better Coaching . . . . . . . . . . 54

130. . . Cho-Pat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

134. . . Cool Draft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

111. . . Cramer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

101. . . Gatorade (G Series) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

102. . . Gatorade (Prime 01™) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

103. . . Gatorade (Perform 02™) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

104. . . Gatorade (Recover 03™) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

100. . . Gearboss® by Wenger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC

115. . . K&K Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

110. . . Longhorn Locker Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

132. . . M.A.S.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

108. . . MilkPEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

118. . . Mueller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

. . . . . . Mueller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

112. . . Multi Radiance Medical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

123. . . New York Barbells of Elmira . . . . . . . . . . . 37

129. . . OakWood Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

128. . . Parents’ Guide to Sports Concussions . . . . 41

125. . . Porta Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

119. . . Power Lift® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

122. . . Power Plus 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

124. . . Power Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

121. . . Powernetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

141. . . Prep Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

109. . . ProGrass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

136. . . QB-Tee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

120. . . Samson Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

140. . . Shaw Sportexe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BC

116. . . Sports Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

114. . . Stromgren Athletics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

127. . . Tendo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

137 . . The Athletic Edge by Pivotal Health Solutions . 53

126. . . TurfCordz™/NZ Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . 39

135. . . Wizard Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Products DirectoryCircle # . . . Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # Circle # . . . Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page #

501. . . A-Turf® (Guide to Synthetic Turf) . . . . . . . . 45

551. . . A-Turf® (A-Turf Titan) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

523. . . Active Ankle (Excel lace-up brace) . . . . . . 55

524. . . Active Ankle (T2 rigid ankle brace) . . . . . . 55

518. . . Aer-Flo (Tuffy® Windscreen) . . . . . . . . . . . 42

520. . . Aer-Flo (Vipol® Matrix Material) . . . . . . . . . 43

526. . . American Public University . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

521. . . BigSigns.com (bleacher-back banners) . . . 43

515. . . BigSigns.com (sponsorship) . . . . . . . . . . . 42

525. . . Cho-Pat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

547. . . Cool Draft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

509. . . Cramer (950 tape) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

508. . . Cramer (ESS Ankle Compression Sleeve) . 48

522. . . Gatorade (Energy Chews) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

527. . . Gatorade (Recovery Shake) . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

519. . . M.A.S.A. (BenchZone® Protector) . . . . . . . 42

516. . . M.A.S.A. (Stencil Kits) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

548. . . Mueller (Kinesiology Tape) . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

549. . . Mueller (The One ankle brace) . . . . . . . . . 49

546. . . Multi Radiance Medical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

504. . . New York Barbells (kettle bells) . . . . . . . . . 51

506. . . New York Barbells (loading chains) . . . . . . 52

532. . . OakWood Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

533. . . Pivotal Health Solutions (The Athletic Edge) 42

534. . . Porta Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

539. . . Power Lift (4 Way Neck) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

537. . . Power Lift (RS2 Power Rack) . . . . . . . . . . . 53

544. . . Power Plus 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

502. . . Power Systems (HydroPower™ Bag) . . . . . 52

505. . . Power Systems (HydroPower™ Ball) . . . . . 51

535. . . Powernetics (Bulldog/Attacker) . . . . . . . . . 52

536. . . Powernetics (Dominator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

507. . . Prep Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

500. . . ProGrass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

550. . . QB-Tee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

513. . . Rawlings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

529. . . Samson (Functional Training Rack Series) . 52

528. . . Samson (Sprinter) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

553. . . Samson (Belt Squat) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

540. . . Shaw Sportexe (Guide to Synthetic Turf) . . 45

552. . . Shaw Sportexe (turf systems) . . . . . . . . . 43

538. . . Sorinex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

512. . . Sports Attack (Snap Attack) . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

511. . . Sports Attack (universal cart clamp) . . . . . 49

531. . . Stromgren (Flex Pad III 1535T) . . . . . . . . . 49

530. . . Stromgren (Model 329 brace) . . . . . . . . . . 55

503. . . TurfCordz™/NZ Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . 52

517. . . Wenger (GearBoss® Metal AirPro™ lockers) 42

514. . . Wenger (GearBoss® wood lockers) . . . . . . 43

542. . . Wenger (product launch) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

510. . . Wizard Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Cho-Pat®

PRODUCTS FOR ACTIVE LIFESTYLES

www.cho-pat.com 1-800-221-1601

THE FACT IS THAT WEARE NOT ALL ALIKE.At Cho-Pat, we understandpeople are different andthat is why our American-made supports are available in a range ofsizes. The choice is yours!

SIZE US UP!

Patented strap gives an addedlevel of support which helpsstabilize & strengthen the joint.

DUAL ACTION KNEE STRAP

Cho-Pat’s unique approach tohelp alleviate the pain andsoreness caused by shin splits.

SHIN SPLINT COMPRESSION SLEEVE

Designed to relieve the painand discomfort associatedwith tennis elbow.

CHO-PAT TENNIS ELBOW SUPPORT

C48_T-C2011_208_T-C.qxd 2/15/12 10:58 AM P

Circle No. 130


Guide to Synthetic Turf

Synthetic turf SolutionS

ProGrass LLC, provides the nation’s finest synthetic turf solutions for elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as colleges, universities, and professional fields. The company has worked on more than 350 fields from the Arctic Circle to the Texas border. ProGrass doesn’t want to be the biggest turf company — it simply wants to be the best company.

Recent InstallatIons:Grand Valley state UniversityHiram collegechurchill High school, oRFinlandia Universityconcordia UniversityHurricane High school, WV

ProGrass, LLC866-270-6003www.prograssturf.comSee ad on page 16 • Circle No. 500

engineered for Peak

Performance

A-Turf is an experienced sitework contractor and synthetic turf athletic field builder. The company has built hundreds of recreational, practice, and competition fields for all types of sports and levels of play coast to coast. Buffalo, N.Y.-based A-Turf is part of Pennsylvania-based Ecore™ Group, North America’s largest processor and user of scrap tire rubber.

PRImaRy adVantaGes:A-Turf® Titan is engineered for peak player performance and constructed for long-term durabil-ity. It’s the only turf system that comes with a 12-year warranty. Premium XP and Mono fibers are tufted into the same stitch for an amazingly plush surface that holds infill in place better, reduc-ing infill movement during play. A-Turf® Titan with a ShockPad is the safest synthetic turf playing system on the market throughout the system’s life.

Recent InstallatIons:Buffalo Bills, Ralph Wilson stadiumsUny cortland sahuarita High school, aZBluffton-Harrison High school, Incamden High school, nymcdonogh school, md

A-Turf, Inc.888-777-6910www.aturf.comSee ad on page 23 • Circle No. 501

Bringing Quality and innovation

to turf

A subsidiary of Berkshire Hatha-way, Inc., Shaw Sportexe is one of the leading synthetic turf com-panies in North America. Shaw Sportexe has represented quality and innovation for more than two decades with more than 900 suc-cessful installations, including an impressive list of high-profile field installations.

PRImaRy adVantaGes:Shaw Sportexe engineers high per-formance synthetic turf systems that more closely parallel natural grass in terms of aesthetics, safety, and performance. Its systems yield low gMax ratings (safety) yet have vertical deformation (foot stability) and force reduction (lower extremity protection) val-ues in range of high quality grass. By designing systems around these athlete-surface and ball-surface interactions, the company can ensure your field is functioning at its highest level of performance.

Recent InstallatIons:University of north texas Georgia tech Western oregon UniversityHumboldt state University cheshire academy, ctRinggold High school, Ga

Shaw Sportexe866-703-4004www.shawsportexe.comSee ad on back cover • Circle No. 540

ORDER FORM MAG, Inc.20 Eastlake Rd. Ithaca, NY 14850 CM20.04

ALSO AVAILABLEFrom Coaching Management

Name: Address: City: State: Zip: Daytime Phone: (To be used if there’s a problem with your order.)Email address:

I T E M S

PAY M E N T M E T H O Dq U.S. check made payable to MAG, Inc. enclosed (sorry, only US orders)q VISA q MasterCard q Discover q AmerExCredit card #: ________/________/________/ ________Expiration date: _____/ _____ 3 or 4 digit code: _______Cardholder Name PRINTED: Cardholder Signature:

S H I P P I N G P R I C E S

0-$49.99 = $8.00 $50-$99.99 = $9.00 $100-$149.99 = $10.00 $150 and up = $12.00

Fax this order to 607-257-7328 or Mail this order to MAG, Inc., 20 Eastlake Rd., Ithaca, NY 14850


**PLEASE PRINT INFO.

TITLE PRICE QUANTITY TOTALThe Athlete’s Guide To Nutrition $7.75 Performance Nutrition for Football $18.95The Nutrition Edge $16.95

IntroducIng:

The Athlete's Guide To NutritionFrom the Publishers of Coaching Management

Topics covered in The Athlete's Guide To Nutrition include:

• the amount and kinds of calories athletes need

• How to make sure athletes are properly hydrated

• "When" athletes eat is as important as "what" they eat

• recovery nutrition

• A close look at nutritional supplements

HelP Fuel Your AtHletes to success

Greater discounts available for orders of 20 or more. call 877-422-5548, ext. 11 to receive more info.note: We can customize the cover and content of the guide for your team or athletic department.

$795

The Nutrition EdgeLearn how proper nutrition can help your players reach their true potential through the

valuable information presented in this collection edited by Susan Kundrat, Sports Dietitian for the University of Illinois. 180 pages. 2010

Price: $16.95

Performance Nutrition For FootballAuthor Lisa Dorfman provides athletic trainers, strength and

conditioning professionals, coaches, and football players with cutting-edge information on how to gain a competitive edge in this demanding sport. 264 pages. 2010

Price: $18.95

ATHLETE’S GUIDE TO NUTRITION

CONtENtsThe AThleTe’s Fuel ..................................................................3Understanding carbohydrate, protein, and fat needs, as well as the basics of recovery nutrition, can get athletes started on the right foot.

Timing iT RighT .......................................................................8Making the most of your nutritional intake is as much about when as what. Here’s an in-depth look at nutrient timing and nutrition periodization.

Fully hydRATed .....................................................................13One of the most important dietary requirements for athletes is staying hydrated. But that’s easier said than done.

BAck on TRAck .................................................................... 20Chocolate milk may be the answer to your nutritional recovery needs.

RecoveRy WindoW ............................................................. 22Only the right mix will refuel and replenish the body efficiently after a hard practice or game.

choices And moRe choices ............................................ 28As the number of nutritional supplements on the market keeps growing, athletes can easily get lost. An expert explains how to steer clear of risks and toward real performance gains.

BuRsT oF eneRgy ................................................................. 33It seems like almost every athlete is using energy supplements for a pick-me-up. Here’s what you need to know about how these products work and the ingredients you may find in them.

The lATesT Buzz ................................................................... 38Whether it’s consumed to enhance performance or as part of the daily diet, caffeine can be a negative for today’s competitive athlete.

Circle No. 131


Team Equipment

Custom CapsThe Double Vertical Stripe Cap is custom-made using premium dry fit materials and the sharpest 3D embroidery available in the industry. Available in either a Flex or Velcro® closure, this cap accentuates your school colors in a way that few other caps

can. Just call the company factory’s toll-free number to start working on your design. In this economy, why pay an extra mark-up to a sporting goods store?Prep Gear • 800-279-7060 www.prepgear.com Circle No. 507

unrestriCted movementThe Cramer ESS Ankle Compression sleeve’s patented articulated ankle joint allows for unrestricted movement while providing mild compression and support to the joint. Compression provides a performance enhancement benefit as well as mild muscular support. The unique knitted design allows for lightweight fit and exceptional stretch and comfort.Cramer Products, Inc. • 800-345-2231www.cramersportsmed.com Circle No. 508

Clear CommuniCationComstar is a revolutionary “All In One” wireless headset that features a miniaturized transceiver built right into the earcups. This break-through system is more affordable than traditional wireless systems because it operates without complicated belt-worn radios. Comstar wireless headsets operate in full duplex mode, which means that coaches communicate simultaneously and without pushing buttons. The system will accommo-date the needs of high school and college football staffs with up to 18 coaches. Porta Phone • 800-233-1113www.portaphone.com Circle No. 534

Circle No. 132

Feel the Wave Designed to help increase the natural blood flow around your muscles, Mueller Kinesiology Tape features a revolutionary wave pattern adhesive that moves with the skin and muscles

to reduce muscle pain, increase mobility, and enhance recovery. Designed to aid in the treatment of ligament injuries, muscle conditioning, fascia repositioning, and even carpal tunnel syndrome, it is applied to the skin in patterns to mimic muscles. The 100-percent cotton tape is latex-free and water-resistant. One application lasts up to three days. It is available in four colors.Mueller Sports Medicine • 608-643-8530www.muellersportsmed.com Circle No. 548


Team Equipment

Perfect for Athletic trAinersEvery roll of Cramer 100-percent cotton porous tape is like the next, which means you can count on it to unwind consistently, conform better, and adhere longer. Cramer 950, constructed with a latex-free adhesive, is perfect for athletic trainers or athletic programs looking for a high-quality, economically priced porous tape alternative. Cramer Products has been the industry leader in sports medicine and athletic training room supplies for more than 85 years.Cramer Products, Inc. • 800-345-2231www.cramersportsmed.com Circle No. 509

PAdded ProtectionThe FlexPad III™ football compression girdles feature Shock Cone™ segmented, high-impact absorbing pads and dual-layer hip pointer protection. The new 1535T has five pads, including Shock Cone™ hip and tail pads, plus hard thigh pads. This product is made of 80-percent nylon and 20-percent spandex and utilizes anti-microbial and moisture-wicking fabric. It is available in a number of sizes from small to 4XL and comes in white and gray. Stromgren Athletics • 800-527-1988www.stromgren.com Circle No. 531

significAnt reductionsCool Draft’s portable misting fans will significantly reduce unsafe playing or practice conditions due to heat by reducing ambient air temperatures as much as 35 degrees, thus reducing heat-related

injuries. The 360 series of misting fans are self-contained, completely US made, and provide a convenient and safe way to transport the fans. All of this without the high price tag associated with high end misting fans.Cool Draft Scientific, LLC • 877-676-1140www.cooldraft.com Circle No. 547

the one You needDesigned to be extremely light and low-profile, The One ankle brace is comfortable to wear in shoes or cleats during competition. Offering all the traditional benefits of taping, but with all the adjustable flexibility of a soft strap brace, The One protects against inversion and eversion ankle sprains. Anti-slip criss-crossing side straps can be

adjusted at any time—even while the shoe is on the foot—to help prevent slippage and ensure a tight, comfortable fit. Side-pulling stirrup straps imitate the effects of taping while cushioned, breathable tongue keeps the brace comfortable. Mueller Sports Medicine • 608-643-8530www.muellersportsmed.com Circle No. 549

greAt trAining tArgetThe new QB5 Quarterback Passing Net is now available at Wizard Sports. This product is a great quarterback training target net and features five 12” x 12” target pockets. It also has easy

and quick set-up and take-down, an included small durable Cordura carry case, and an affordable price.Wizard Sports Equipment • 888-964-5425www.wizardsports.com Circle No. 510

VersAtile PrActice toolThe Snap Attack Football Machine is a snap, pass, and kick machine that will maximize time on the most difficult-to-practice phases of the game. The universal cart clamp is designed to fit any round or square mounting post or

pedestal from 2 1/2” to 4”. The clamp securely attaches Snap Attack to the cart, allowing the operator to swivel the machine in any direction for punts, passes, and end-over-end kickoffs. Detach Snap Attack quickly and easily for use in snapping drills.Sports Attack • 800-717-4251www.sportsattack.com Circle No. 511

good At eVerYthingThe new Snap Attack Football Machine with solid polyurethane football throwing wheels (no air pressure) provides tight spirals, long distance, and accuracy. In the elevated position using the universal ball cradle, it can pass, punt, or deliver the perfect kick-off. In the lowered position at ground level, it can snap the ball to any depth for shotgun or pistol formations, extra points, and punts. Pre-set locations make any change (left- to right-handed spirals or spirals to end-over-end) quick and easy. Sports Attack • 800-717-4251www.sportsattack.com Circle No. 512

imProVed QuArterbAck PlAYThe QB-Tee is a great training tool that can help quarterbacks at any level improve their skills. With the QB-Tee’s unique timing mechanism, the coach can focus on the player and not the stopwatch. Players can do more repetitions with greater intensity, and can work on individual objectives on their own. QB-Tee can help quarterbacks improve three-, five-, and seven-step drops, as well as timing, during the off-season. QB-Tee is also great for passing drills and 7-on-7 practices and games. The timer can be programmed to tenths of a second. QB-Tee is made of helmet grade plastic and is highly durable. QB-Tee • 330-750-0086www.qb-tee.com. Circle No. 550

Coaching Aids


Product Launch

Impulse Football HelmetRawlingswww.rawlingsfootball.com800-RAWLINGCircle No. 513

Unique features:• Ultra lightweight design for high-performance athletes• C3 comfort liner: The Impulse uses a high-impact VN foam with two air inflation ports

Benefits for the user:• Heat exchange: Padding system designed for maximum temperature control by strategically placed pads to create optimal air flow

AirPro™ LockersWenger Corporationwww.wengercorp.com800-4WENGERCircle No. 542

Unique features:• Rugged construction, mounted off floor, with open grid design • Integrated seat and lockable storage • Antimicrobial paint

Benefits for the user:• Promotes airflow, sanitation, and inspection • Saves floor space and enables easy cleaning under and around • Enhances team room functionality, aesthetics

GOT HEAT! Get Cool Draft…

HEAT related injuries and illness can kill!

Protect your student athletes.

Toll Free: 877.676.1140

Watch complete product videos at www.cooldraft.com

Mention this ad and get a FREE wheel kit with your misting fan!

Cool Draft has been building misting systems for fire fighters, military and athletic programs for over 14 years.

Now your athletes can have the highest levels of protection from the effects of HEAT.

An affordable, portable and high performance misting fan system is now available for your athletic program.

The Cool Draft 360 Series easily out performs misting fans at twice the price.

• Reduces ambient temperature by as much as 35°• Completely portable..weighs less than 50 pounds• Fan stores in base when not in use• Powerful 22 inch fan• Stainless steel construction• Choose between High Pressure and Mid Pressure Models• Cooler case holds up to 40 gallons of water• Provides up to 11 hours of continuous misting • Economical...fits into any athletic training or

Booster Club budget• Set up in minutes, runs for hours

Circle No. 134


Strength & Conditioning

Circle No. 135 Circle No. 141

A New elemeNtThe HydroPower™ Ball adds an entirely new element of instability and core engagement to your workout. Easily change stability and resistance by simply adding or removing water. The HydroPower™ Ball is available in three sizes: small (green 30-centimeter ball that holds up to 33 pounds of water), medium (blue 40-centimeter ball that holds up to 55 pounds of water), and large (red 50-centimeter ball that holds up to 88 pounds of water). This product is not designed for slamming.Power Systems, Inc. • 800-321-6975www.powersystems.com Circle No. 505

SpriNtiNg towArd StreNgthThe new Samson Sprinter is yet another way the

company is leading the way in heavy-duty custom equipment. This unique piece allows your athletes to perform a sprint motion

while in a biomechanically sound running position. Adding resistance is made easy with

the plate-loaded weight horns that are designed to prevent any plate movement. Created with comfort,

durability, and adjustability in mind, the new Samson Sprinter will fit every athlete comfortably, and just like any other Samson piece, it will last a lifetime.Samson Equipment • 800-472-6766www.samsonequipment.com Circle No. 528

SpeciAlly deSigNedThese kettle bells with wide handles are specially designed with large openings to prevent bruising of the back of the hand and wrist.

The company offers kettle bells in five-pound increments from 10 to 100 pounds, and monster bells in 25-pound increments from 125 to 200 pounds. You can make your purchase in either a three-, four-, seven-, or nine-piece set to save money. Kettle bell hand covers are also available. New York Barbells of Elmira, Inc. • 800-446-1833www.newyorkbarbells.com Circle No. 504

UNbrokeN liNe of StreNgthPowernetics offers a line of strength training machines that develop power by providing a consistent ratio of speed, resistance, and intensity. The Dominator builds strength in one unbroken line from the feet to the hands. The machine’s ground-based torquing motion works both sides of the body, while also pro-viding an explosive chest punch. The unit will more than double strength in the 90-degree torso rotation. Powernetics • 800-829-2928 www.powernetics.com Circle No. 536



A Whole NeW levelThe HydroPower™ Bag can take your strength gains to a whole new level. Easily change stability and resistance of your activity by adding or removing water. The HydroPower™ Bag is available in two sizes and includes removable handles that increase the functionality for Olympic-style lifts, curls, rows, and more. The handle(s) can be configured to use one or both depending on the exercise. Small - Red 29.5” L x 7” Dia., holds up to 44 pounds of water. Large - Blue 29.5” L x 10” Dia., holds up to 77 pounds of water.Power Systems, Inc. • 800-321-6975www.powersystems.com Circle No. 502

Super TrAiNiNg ToolSThe TurfCordz™ Super Bungie Kit features interchangeable elements to help enhance performance through resistance. Elements include the Super Bungie Belt for comfort and security and a Super Bungie Handle designed to maintain comfort during

strength and stretching exercises. The kit also includes three eight-foot (2.4-meter) Super Bungie Cords with 75 pounds (34 kilograms), 150 pounds (68 kilograms) and 200 pounds (90 kilograms) of pull. Contact the company for more on its full line of TurfCordz resistance products—designed to meet the extreme demands of high-level athletic fitness training.NZ Manufacturing • 800-866-6621www.turfcordz.com Circle No. 503

A uNique DeSigNThe new Functional Training Rack Series from Samson Equipment is setting the world of strength and conditioning ablaze. This unique design combines a fully functional Power Rack with not one but two adjustable cable column machines all within a compact area. Never before has an athlete been able to perform all the core lifts a rack/platform provides with the multifaceted capability of a fully operational functional training unit. This product is extremely easy to adjust and use quickly, getting your athletes in and out of every facet of a workout much more effectively. The new 111FTR Rack Series is only from Samson Equipment.Samson Equipment • 800-472-6766www.samsonequipment.com Circle No. 529

progreSSive poWerlifTiNgThese 60-inch-long loading chains for progressive powerlifting come with end hooks, and one or more chains can be added to improve your blasting power. Made of heavy-duty forged steel, there are four different chains available for any level of lifting: light duty (25 pounds per pair), medium duty (40 pounds per pair),

heavy duty (55 pounds per pair), and extra heavy duty (88 pounds per pair). The company can supply chains up to 200 feet long and can add attachment weights of up to 100 pounds to each chain. Call for more information or prices. New York Barbells of Elmira, Inc. • 800-446-1833www.newyorkbarbells.com Circle No. 506

ToTAl-BoDy poWerPowernetics offers many products for the strength training needs of your players, including the Bulldog and the Attacker. The Bulldog isolates the hamstrings and glutes without putting

stress on the knees and back. It also offers an explosive hack jump that develops power in the hamstrings, glutes, and quads--all from one exercise. The Attacker allows the athlete to fire and roll his hips while moving up and out into a full hand separation. Because of the intense move-ment, power is developed from the feet through the hands. Powernetics • 800-829-2928 www.powernetics.com Circle No. 535

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chANgiNg TrAiNiNg foreverThe Tendo unit easily hooks to the bar-bell, plate stack, or athlete and measures average and peak velocity in meters per second up to a 2.6 meter range of motion. If proper mass of barbell or athlete has been entered into the microcomputer, the unit gives velocity as well as power output measurements for up to 99 reps before having to reset. These units are very popular in the college and NFL market.Sorinex • 877-543-8667www.sorinex.com Circle No. 538

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Latest InnovatIonPower Lift® introduces its newest innovation: the RS2 Power Rack. Standard features include: two-inch adjustment positions, one pair of bar catches, one pair of spot bars, weight storage, one dual grip chin-up handle, spotter’s platforms, hanging bar storage, and band and chain storage. Op-tional attachments can be added to create an ideal

working station. These items include: band attachments, band shafts, rack dip attachment, bar catches, rotating chin-up handles, side mounted chin-up handles, single-leg/glute ham attachment, high rotation attachment, squat/step up platform, rack squat handles, wrist roller, and additional sport bars.Power Lift • 800-872-1543 www.power-lift.com Circle No. 537

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IdeaL for everyoneThe Samson Belt Squat’s brand new design limits the amount of floor space needed for this unique piece while making it easy for athletes of all sizes to use. It features adjustable handles, a unique load-release that brings athletes’ hands closer together

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COACHING IS MORE THAN XS AND OS

Name: _______________________________________

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Would you be interested in receiving a complimentary digital copy of An Athlete’s Guide to Nutrition? ____________________

Fax to: 607.257.7328Mail to: Coaching Management, 20 Eastlake Rd., Ithaca, NY 14850

INTRODUCING NEW COACHING GUIDES from

For every decision about lineups and strategy, there is another one about dealing with parents, developing leaders, and handling budgets.

That’s why Coaching Management is producing a series of Coaching Guides addressing these important off-the-fi eld topics. Topics will include strength training, leadership, nutrition, management, and sports medicine. Read advice from experts and other coaches about handling these vital, yet often overlooked, areas.

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L E A D E R S H I P

JOB DESCRIPTION

Here is a sample list of responsibilities coaches can give to team captains:

Lead warmups and drills: We expect you to get your teammates organized and keep everyone in line, literally and figuratively.

Set the right tone for the team: We expect you to start practices off with the right attitude, focus, and work ethic. You must also refocus the team when practices get sloppy, create a positive momentum going into competition, and recharge the team when needed. We expect you to be the mental and emotional catalyst for the team.

Keep coaches informed: We expect you to keep us informed about issues that impact the success and psyche of the team. We want to know who might be in conflict with whom, whether players are accepting their roles, if anyone’s social life is getting out of control, and so forth. Of course, we don’t need to know every little thing. You’ll have to use your discretion to decide which issues might have a negative impact on the team. Be careful to respect the trust of your teammates as well. You don’t want to be viewed as a tattletale.

Provide input on team decisions: We will ask your opinion on a variety of decisions that will affect the team. This could include minor decisions like what warmup gear to wear or where the team prefers to eat. Or it could involve more serious

issues like how to best discipline a teammate who has broken team rules. Whatever the case, we will expect you to add your insight to help our decision making.

Talk with struggling teammates: We expect you to talk with teammates who might be struggling with their performance or role on the team. It is your job to understand them, support them, challenge them, and figure out how to get them back on track.

Handle conflicts: We may ask you to get involved with team conflicts when they arise. If a small problem crops up, we may ask you to find out exactly what is going on and develop a workable solution.

Plan team activities: We will ask you to plan and coordinate various events so your teammates can better get to know each other. We will rely on you to initiate these events and make sure everyone is invited and involved.

Be loyal: Understand that we are putting a tremendous amount of trust in you. For example, we may tell you things that we will not tell your teammates. In return, we expect you to respect and support the decisions we make for the team. You may disagree with them behind closed doors, but we will expect you to show a united front to the team. We also will insist on your loyalty and that you never bad mouth us to your teammates. There must be a sacred trust between us.

them.

Throughout these discus-sions, let your leaders know how important they are to the program. Don’t be afraid to tell them how much you will rely on them to set the standards, keep the team focused, and handle conflicts. You may even want to tell them that it is “their” team. You will be there to help them, but ultimately it’s the athletes—particularly the leaders—who determine how far the team will go._____

Provide Opportunities_____

While talking about their responsibilities is important, your captains need con-tinual opportunities to make real leadership decisions. It often works well to start small and build up to more complicated tasks.

For example, let them oversee warmups before practice and make any team announcements. Have them contact teammates to inform them of sched-ule changes. You can even let them lead some prac-tice drills, or take it a step further and let them plan a practice from time to time.

It’s also key to solicit your captains’ input on team de-cisions. These can be minor

L E A D E R S H I P

JOB DESCRIPTION

Here is a sample list of responsibilities coaches can give to team captains:

Lead warmups and drills:We expect you to get your teammates organized and keep everyone in line, literally and figuratively.

Set the right tone for the team:start practices off with the right attitude, focus, and work ethic. You must also refocus the team when practices get sloppy, create a positive momentum going into competition, and recharge the team when needed. We expect you to be the mental and emotional catalyst for the team.

Keep coaches informed: We expect you to keep us informed about issues that impact the success and psyche of the team. We want to know who might be in conflict with whom, whether players are accepting their roles, if anyone’s social life is getting out of control, and so forth. Of course, we don’t need

issues like how to best discipline a teammate who has broken team rules. Whatever the case, we will expect you to add your insight to help our decision making.

them.

Throughout these discus-sions, let your leaders know how important they are to the program. Don’t be afraid to tell them how much you will rely on them to set the standards, keep the team focused, and handle conflicts. You may even want to tell them that it is “their” team. You will be there to help them, but ultimately it’s the athletes—particularly the leaders—who determine how far the team will go._____

Provide Opportunities_____

While talking about their responsibilities is important, your captains need con-tinual opportunities to make real leadership decisions. It often works well to start small and build up to more complicated tasks.

Lead warmups and drills:We expect you to get your teammates organized and keep everyone in line, literally and figuratively.



help our decision making.

depend on you for leadership, guidance, and support as they step up to their challenge. They rely on their coach to create a positive and productive environ-ment that is conducive to helping them lead.

In other words, great team cap-tains are made when both roles of the coach-captain equation are tended to. What can eas-ily occur, however, is that one side becomes frustrated with the other.

Some coaches’ frustrations stem from a belief that the athletes of today don’t seem to have the strong leadership skills they did in the past. I often hear coaches lament, “Kids today don’t un-derstand what it means to be a leader. They aren’t nearly as vo-cal as they need to be.” Another frequent complaint is, “They aren’t willing to stand up and confront their teammates when necessary.”

And captains don’t always feel they have the necessary guid-ance or support from their coaches. A recent poll I conduct-ed of student-athletes revealed that over 60 percent of captains felt their coaches needed to do a better job of working with them. In essence, captains complain that too many coaches preach the need for athlete leadership but don’t teach it.

Rather than both sides blaming the other, they must make the effort to work together and forge a strong coach-captain part-nership. I like to think of it as a leadership team. When coaches and captains are on the same

page and leading together as a unified front, great things can happen in your program._____

Starting on the Right Foot_____

Spending time at the very start of the season working with your captains builds the basis for this leadership team. To be on the same page, you need to talk through what being a team captain means and how to be an effective one.

Step number one is to clarify your expectations of them. Many coaches simply say to their cap-tains, “You’re our leader. I expect you to step up and lead.” But this alone is too vague to give proper direction.

Rather than assuming your captains understand their du-ties, as well as your philosophy and expectations, sit down and carefully clarify what you need from them. Create a job descrip-tion of the eight to 10 priorities you expect them to handle. (See “Job Description” on next page.) Clarification of their roles and responsibilities on the front end will prevent misunderstandings as the season goes on.

Next, discuss the risks and chal-lenges of leadership. Let your captains know that this new re-sponsibility might be difficult and demanding at times. They will encounter many gray areas and bumps along the way, and they should understand that these

challenges are a normal part of leadership. Most importantly, let them know that you will be there to support them through thick and thin.

From there, ask your captains to describe what they think it means to be an effective leader. Their ideas of leadership might be quite different than yours. Ask them to talk about the leaders whom they respect in their lives and why, and the ones they don’t respect and why. This will give you insight into their model of leadership and can start great discussions that get you both on the same page.

It can also be helpful to provide your captains with an assessment of their leadership style. Just as each athlete has certain physical strengths and weaknesses, so do leaders. I use a two-part evalu-ation that rates how a person leads by example and vocally, in several areas, from composure to team building. (Click here for a Web link to the survey.) This type of analysis can help make the captains aware of their strengths and weaknesses in their leadership qualities.

Encourage your captains to uti-lize and maximize their strengths and acknowledge areas to improve in. For example, some of your leaders might have a hard time confronting their team-mates when necessary. Or, some of your leaders may be too blunt and lack the necessary tact to get their messages across well. Whatever the challenge, encour-age them to make sure that their weaknesses are not a leadership liability as they work to improve

L E A D E R S H I PWe expect you to get your

everyone in line, literally and figuratively.



We expect you to get your teammates organized and keep everyone in line, literally and

depend on you for leadership, guidance, and support as they step up to their challenge. They rely on their coach to create a positive and productive environ-ment that is conducive to helping them lead.

In other words, great team cap-tains are made when both roles of the coach-captain equation are tended to. What can eas-ily occur, however, is that one side becomes frustrated with the other.

Some coaches’ frustrations stem from a belief that the athletes of today don’t seem to have the strong leadership skills they did in the past. I often hear coaches

page and leading together as a unified front, great things can happen in your program._____

Starting on the Right Foot_____

Spending time at the very start of the season working with your captains builds the basis for this leadership team. To be on the same page, you need to talk through what being a team captain means and how to be an effective one.

Step number one is to clarify your expectations of them. Many coaches simply say to their cap-tains, “You’re our leader. I expect you to step up and lead.” But this alone is too vague to give proper

Rather than assuming your captains understand their du-ties, as well as your philosophy and expectations, sit down and carefully clarify what you need from them. Create a job descrip-tion of the eight to 10 priorities you expect them to handle. (See “Job Description” on next page.) Clarification of their roles and responsibilities on the front end will prevent misunderstandings as the season goes on.

Next, discuss the risks and chal-lenges of leadership. Let your captains know that this new re-sponsibility might be difficult and demanding at times. They will encounter many gray areas and bumps along the way, and they should understand that these

challenges are a normal part of leadership. Most importantly, let them know that you will be there to support them through thick and thin.

From there, ask your captains to describe what they think it means to be an effective leader. Their ideas of leadership might be quite different than yours. Ask them to talk about the leaders whom they respect in their lives and why, and the ones they don’t respect and why. This will give you insight into their model of leadership and can start great discussions that get you both on the same page.

It can also be helpful to provide your captains with an assessment of their leadership style. Just as each athlete has certain physical strengths and weaknesses, so do leaders. I use a two-part evalu-ation that rates how a person leads by example and vocally, in several areas, from composure to team building. (Click here for a Web link to the survey.) This type of analysis can help make the captains aware of their strengths and weaknesses in their leadership qualities.

Encourage your captains to uti-lize and maximize their strengths and acknowledge areas to improve in. For example, some of your leaders might have a hard time confronting their team-mates when necessary. Or, some of your leaders may be too blunt and lack the necessary tact to get their messages across well. Whatever the challenge, encour-age them to make sure that their weaknesses are not a leadership liability as they work to improve

L E A D E R S H I P

forth. Of course, we don’t need forth. Of course, we don’t need forth. Of course, we don’t need in the past. I often hear coaches Step number one is to clarify your expectations of them. Many coaches simply say to their captains, “You’re our leader. I expect you to step up and lead.” But this alone is too vague to give proper direction.

Rather than assuming your captains understand their duties, as well as your philosophy and expectations, sit down and carefully clarify what you need from them. Create a job description of the eight to 10 priorities you expect them to handle. (See “Job Description” on next page.) Clarification of their roles and responsibilities on the front end will prevent misunderstandings as the season goes on.

Next, discuss the risks and challenges of leadership. Let your captains know that this new responsibility might be difficult and demanding at times. They will encounter many gray areas and bumps along the way, and they should understand that these

LeaderOf The Pack

Your team captains can make or break

your season.

If that sounds like an overstate-ment, think back over your coaching career. during your most successful seasons, I bet

you had great team leaders. Now consider your most frustrating years. did they include poor lead-ers?

and not only do your captains have a huge impact on your team’s suc-cess, but also on your sanity and your satisfaction as a coach. You’ll usually remember a year you had fantastic team leaders with a smile, regardless of the final record.

You rely on your captains to help set and uphold the standards of the squad, monitor team chemistry, and be your voice in the locker room and on the weekends when you’re not around. You need your captains to consistently reinforce the team’s standards and hold their team-mates accountable.

at the same time, your captains

Lea

der

ShIP

and expectations, sit down and carefully clarify what you need from them. Create a job description of the eight to 10 priorities you expect them to handle. (See “Job Description” on next page.) Clarification of their roles and responsibilities on the front end will prevent misunderstandings as the season goes on.

Great teams always include great leaders. But it doesn’t happen magically. coaches must invest time in explaining roles, providing opportunities, and giving feedback.

By Jeff JanssenJeff Janssen is director of the Janssen Sports Leadership center, in cary, N.c., and a former athletic administrator at the University of arizona. This article is an adapted excerpt from his book, The Team captain’s Leadership Manual.

Use this form for your free sample guide.

Name: _______________________________________

School: _______________________________________

Title: _________________________________________

E-mail: _______________________________________

Phone: _______________________________________

Use this form for your free sample guide.

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