Untitled - Fast and Furious Football

168 FOOTBAIL COACHING STR{TEGIES
Did you know that when you are weak, you
can make othem around you l,veak Ifyour head
is melting, so will othels. Ifyou are strong, others
will draw on your shength. Football has a
unique way olbuilding leadership. The very nature
ofour game dep€nds upon leaders to ernerge.
To me, no coach in America clshs a man to
mahe any sacrilice. He requests the opposite.
Liue clean, come clean, thith cledn. Stop
doing at.l the things that destror rou
nentoll!. ph)si.all!. ond noroltJ. ond bpgin
doing those things that mahe you heene4
finer, more competent.
Fielding H. Yost
Think about it. Fooibalt has not really changed.
Fielding Yost penned this qrote some 80 years
ago. It is still appmp ate today. It is no sacrifice
lo play football. In fact, it's a distinct privilege,
an honor, an opportunity of a ljfetime.
I thinl we can look people in the eye and promise
that iftheir Bon wants to play football, chances
are sood that they will see (a) improvement in
his self-esteem, (b) renewed respect for authority,
(c) willingness to cooperate with others, and
(d) inclination to participate in ever'.thing more
wholeheartedly
I beliere loot ball devplops characl,cn Therc is no
easy way to pmctic€ football. It is oft€n the most
difiicult thins a man undertakes in his lifetime. It
Feparcs him for the trials and shuggles oflife.
1989 Sunmet ManuaL Coaclr Mccartne! uas head coa.h dt the UniDersit! of Cotora.lo.
!rililirL :ll 1:$elit i1]l]Ciii,t$ir1 i1i lll ftrl ;
Priorities of Goaching
BILL CURRY
iirti:,iu li$]i:, I$i t Q asI i lliE€]}}| ::11 ]1,
Every day you pick up the newspaper or listen to
the radio or watch teleyision, you arc bombarded
with information, a very high percentage ofwhich
is negative. And not just mildly nesative; but
fach, statistics, pichres, images, and suggestions
that are so horible that they can dominate your
thoughts. They €an make you into som€thing that
you never intended to be. And they can do it to
yotl without your rcalizing it.
It's like ifyou run aooss rough ground enough,
your body develops protective devices, caliuses.
You get blisters the first few days, but aft€r a
while your feet are tough; the callused surface
protects them. Ir the 6ame way, we think we're
immune lo rhe slr Trhat!flowingrnroourbrains,
but we arcnt, and we change.
I have a son whot 19 years old. He is a norrnal
American bo). He watches TV He loves to watch
the National Footbal League. He loves to watch
you guy8 coaching. That means he has seen
100,000 beer commercials. One hundrcd thousand
times it has been said to Bill Curry, Jr., "If you
want to get a good-looking girl, you'd better &ink
this kind of beer. Here it is. And here'B the girl.
Look at her. Whoa!"
What do you thinl he's gonna do It scares me
to death. He's a freshman in college.What doyou
think that child's gonna do with that many suggestions
How many times can I say to him,
"When you ddnk beer, you'r€ taking a risk."
Maybe 150 times in his life Look what we're com,
peting against.
Learning
and, Repetition
I haue a uery dimcult time learning. It
requires nany manJ repetitions.I pl.Qyed
footbary until I was 32 years old. I had.
the priLtileee of plaring in the National
F@tball Leaeue for 10 yearc, and. I pLaJed.
on some of the grcatest teams that elter
played the game, and I ptaJed in some of
the biggest games that uerc ever pldyed. I
plared. in Super Bouls I, III, dnd U so
euery od.d. numbered Super BouI noo, mr
bod! thinhs I'm supposed to plar.