There aren’t many phrases more insulting than, “Any idiot with a whistle can coach.”
Wear our hats well. The chef’s ‘toque’ informs the white, pleated hats. The hundred pleats represent a hundred ways to cook eggs.
More commonly, we think about wearing different hats not pleats. Here are a few.
- Life skills teaching
- Leadership and mentoring
- Roster construction
- Player development
- Team development
- Offensive strategy
- Defensive strategy
- Situational play
- Game management
- Sport-specific IQ development, video study
- Strength and conditioning
- Motivation and resilience
- Mental health
- Coaching staff development
- Public relations
- Liaison with parents, boosters, fundraisers
He also looks at energy, resources, and accountability. As a player, it’s a breakthrough when you understand how you complete the puzzle. The best players need small amounts of motivation because they have an abundance of intrinsic motivation.
Invisibles include “connection, trust, confidence.” The best coaches see the invisible…and recognize what’s important for both the team and an individual player.
Among leaders, what are your strengths and needs? Captains have to be willing to embrace coaching as the standard and to radiate that over the squad.
“Gen Z” athletes, because they want to “understand the why,” have to embrace the solutions.
Leadership Types
Medic – cares for people
Warrior – leads by example
Magician – solves problems
Identity. Who are we? What’s our story?
Purpose. Why are we here? What are our values?
Execution. How will we play? How will we win?
The model is always evolving. “The best coaches are experimenting all the time.” The court is our laboratory.
What does physicality mean to you? A player like Sabine is physical in a different way than Danni, but I consider both “physical players.”
Excellent players think and solve problems, but don’t allow thinking to get in the way of executing. They don’t get paralysis by analysis.
Don’t let tactics get in the way of intangibles. There are no “great coaches” who only wage sport via intangibles. Creating advantage includes tactical excellence, too.
If you have ambition to coach someday, the podcast is worth hearing. Have a “growth process” for each of the elements of the stool (borrowed from my volleyball blog).
Players and teams need to know where they stand…and framing that narrative in the ecosystem of both ego and dependence is a tough job.
Lagniappe. Don’t be the Complaint Department.
John Wooden said, “Champions never complain, they are too busy getting better.
But most leaders make one fatal mistake.
They let the complaining go unchallenged.
Here’s why that destroys teams and what you need to know: pic.twitter.com/QC6bWfE0cJ
— Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness (@coachajkings) May 19, 2026
Lagniappe 2. Do the work.