G. Barnett Life

2013
AFCA Convention Notes

via
LifeAfterFootballBlog.com

2013 AFCA Convention Notes
Notes taken by Alex Kirby of
LifeAfterFootballBlog.com @AlexJKirby

Gary Barnett
Former HC Colorado, Northwestern

MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY

A. Find out problems before you have the answers
Don’t go into a new situation with problems from your last job. This will be a new
situation with new kids. The only way you can know is by working in the daytoday operations
and by observation.
“I realized I didn’t know the players at Northwestern. I just knew their names. I made
sure by the time spring ball started at Colorado, I knew the kids, their parents, their
expectations, by meeting with them and their families one on one.”

B. Mission Statement
Created by you and your staff. Put it in a place where everyone can see it, use it to
make tough decisions. Put it on 1st page of the handbook.

C. Schedule
Started posting schedule in the locker room, with the first game on the bottom, moving
up to the bowl game, used a theme of ‘climbing the ladder’ also talked about ‘building for
November’ and that the games at the beginning were the foundation, etc. Covered every game
on the schedule with masking tape except for the opponent they were playing that week.
Created a visual representation of blocking everything else out and only focusing on that
specific opponent that week.

D. Handbook
Everything is spelled out for the year: Meetings, schedules, responsibilities.

E. Develop Leadership From Day One
Two assistant coaches are assigned to every class (Frosh Senior), meet periodically
to discuss issues with the players.
“Whoever controls the locker room controls the team.”
Met with each new senior class before spring ball started, asked: “Who did you most
look up to? When I ask this question next year about you, what will they say about you?” Always
find ways to create accountability in your program.

F. Sunday
If you don’t give the players Sunday off, then they don’t really ever have a day off,
because on Mondays they’re going to class. Some of the kids feel very strongly about their faith
and want the chance to go to church, or just want some time to spend with family or recharge.
Good for the coaches too, because it gives you time to let off some steam after a loss, refocus
after a win.
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G. Include Everyone
Anybody who touches your players’ lives should be considered part of your staff. The
more people feel like a part of your team, the more they will make decisions based on what is
best for the team. Used to ask EVERYBODY on Thursday, “What do we have to do to win this
game?” Included trainers, managers, video guys, academic people.
Several times in coaches meetings, the staff would say things, either about each other
or about the players, how much they cared about them, how they really felt about them. He felt
that it was important the players hear this, so there were many times when he would have the
coaches reenact a part of a coaches meeting so the players could hear the way the staff talked
about them, showed them they really cared about them.

STUDENTATHLETE RELATIONSHIP

A. “What did you hear me say?”
Ended every player meeting this way. You can fix a lot of problems before they start.
Can use the same approach with assistant coaches.

B. When the pupil is ready, the teacher will appear
Put accountability in players’ hands.

C. Student Handbook
EVERYTHING you can think of that players have to deal with. Moral and criminal
issues covered. At Colorado, went over it everyday, and marked down when they talked about
it. This ended up helping them with the legal issues they had with certain allegations coming
from a female kicker, they had everything written down, what they talked about and when they
talked about it. (CYA Cover your ass)

D. 90/10
Great teams spend 90% of their time chasing dreams, 10% of their time on internal
issues. Average teams spend 50% of their time chasing dreams, 50% on internal problems. Bad
teams spend 10% of their time chasing dreams, 90% of their time dealing with internal issues.

E. Here to be changed, not change the University
If that’s not what you want, then leave. Parents have entrusted us to help their kids
through the tough times. You’re here to become a better person.

F. Offseason Competitive Workouts
Dirty Dozen Workouts. Six competitive teams. Make sure there were at least three
relays out each six periods. Have the ability to trade players, coaches keep score. Overtime
(once every 46 weeks), make sure it is unannounced, want to make the players used to having
to play an unexpected OT period every once in a while, used to being shocked.
During conditioning and sprints, post the names of the guys that force the team to run
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extra sprints in the locker room. Peer pressure is very powerful.

G. Fess Up and Fix it
Used the example of the Blue Angels. They’re only there for two years, sometimes less
than that. They need to be able to own up to mistakes and miscommunications quickly without
any BS. They must have a lot of trust in each other. Same with football team.

GAME AND PRACTICE PLANNING

A. 3rd and 5 Situations
Believe it’s the most important down in football. You’ll have a couple of games where
the opponent is equal to you. During those games it’s important to have a couple of 3rd and 5
plays that you’ve practiced all season long, but you haven’t shown all season.

B. PAT/FG Practice
Rapid fire speed, two FG teams running, one after the other. Yells out seconds left on
the clock, between 0:05 and 0:01 seconds left on the clock. Lost a game because there was five
seconds left on the clock and the holder was not ready for the quick snap, got a bad hold,
missed the kick. Decided afterward that they would never lose a game again because we don’t
know the mechanics of quick snapping and holding with the clock ticking down.

C. Safety Chart
Keep a chart in your pocket about situations where it may be better to take a safety
than to punt out of your own end zone. See too many games where teams are unaware of
situations where it can be prudent to take a safety. (Ex: a minute left, up by seven, inside your
ten, may want to think about taking a safety and kicking off from the 40 and flipping the field)

D. Work it in, Don’t Put it in
Doesn’t believe you can put in a play in one week. If you really want to be good at it, it
takes about two weeks to get the players comfortable with it. Should ‘work it into’ the script
gradually until you know the players can execute it at a high level.

E. Punt Game Fake Punt Consequences
Did a study when he was at Northwestern, and over a four year period, only 13% of all
fake punts led to a score. Keep in mind that the expected returns from a fake punt may not be
as great as the risk you are taking.

F. Halftime Philosophy
“Where are we right now? Don’t revisit the past.” “What do I have to do right now to win
the game?”

OFFENSIVE PHILOSOPHY

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A. Do what you have to do to win your conference
Not a ‘system’ guy, adapt to what your conference opponents are running and what is
hardest for them to defend against.

B. 50/50 Run/Pass
Balance is crucial

C. Screens

D. Shotgun Option
The option game from the gun has allowed offenses to create a very complicated
running game where once there was none.

E. Up Tempo
Big fan of the nohuddle attack that Oklahoma ran with Sam Bradford

F. Help Your Defense
Spread teams have difficulty defending physical football teams. Make teams change
their practices. Create opportunities to practice physicality.

G. Playactions

H. Be Physical

FIRST TIMERS MEETING
Fred Farrier

The AFCA Convention is a professional development tool for you.

If you can go to ten sessions and get 12 new ideas from each, that’s 20 ideas on how to
improve as a coach.

Visit the vendors, know what the cuttingedge stuff is out there. By the time you become a
head coach, you’ll know what products you’ll want to use for your program.

NETWORKING ABILITIES Meet coaches to work a camp.

It’s all about networking. “It’s absolutely not about how good you are.”

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“Can I call you and ask about special teams?” (etc)

Professional Development Pamphlets Record which sessions you go to. PDS Sessions.
AFCA sends you a certificate saying you completed your professional development program,
PDS Certification .

“Everyday is an interview.”

“What is your image? What is your brand?”

Whatever it is you want to be, you need to be that now. Wanna be a HC? Dress in a suit.
There’s a certain way those guys carry themselves.

“Be very aware of how you carry yourself and who you associate with.” “When you meet
somebody, how do you carry yourself?”

If you want to give out your resume, make it as simple as possible. Print it out, fold it up, put it
in an envelope, label it with your name and any other useful info. Make it so they can put it in
their jacket pocket, don’t have to carry something around all day.

You get 30 seconds to a minute to make your pitch, especially with the ‘big time’ guys.

Whatever you want to do at night, be prepared to get up and work in the morning. Use each
day to your advantage, especially early in the morning.

Follow up with people you meet at the convention. Text people every Saturday before a game
(Way of advertising yourself and your brand). When a job comes open, make it so your name is
the first one that pops into people’s minds.

Take something with you that you can use back to your program.

Get involved, join a convention committee.

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Sonny Dykes
Head Coach – Cal

Started out at Navarro Community College. Lined the field, did the laundry, etc. Worked
with Hal Mumme and Mike Leach at Texas Tech

#1 thing you can do as a teacher/coach is learn to prioritize. What are you good at?
This may change from week to week and year to year, so learn to adjust based on personnel.

“Details matter, but the big picture matters more.” Sometimes we as coaches can’t see
the forest for the trees. You as a head coach have to be in a state of constant evaluation.

Surround yourself with good people. People you trust and are committed to the
program’s success. “I hired guys to coach, and then I became the team coach. I hung around
the locker room and picked the guys brains to get a feel for the team.”

“If you can recruit good football players who totally bought in, it’s gonna be better than
a great player who’s only kinda bought in.”

The #1 thing I evaluate coaches on is how they communicate with their players.

Good character is more important than good knowledge when hiring a staff.

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Morale is critical. What kind of working environment does the HC create? How do the
assistants interact with each other? Everybody who has anything to do with the program must
be bought in. This includes managers, trainers, video guys, academic people, EVERYONE. The
players must be hearing the same message from everyone in the program, and everyone who
comes in contact with them in any way.

“Don’t let it become all business.” Enjoy the experience, don’t always make it a grind.
We as coaches enjoy being around young people. You’re trying to help kids and they’re allowing
you to do what you’ve always wanted to do.

Have fun whenever you can. Lighten the mood once in a while.

Execution is more important than scheme.

If you can execute a small number of plays on offense and a few base defenses , you’ll
be a pretty good football team. It doesn’t matter what you know, it matters what your players
know.

Be as simple as possible, the simpler you are, the faster your players will play.

Empower your players whenever possible. Force responsibility on them, it forces them
to grow up.

Practice is the most important part of how successful your program is gonna be. They
never practice more than 2 hours, and that’s at the beginning of the season. The time spent on
the practice field starts to decrease once the season progresses. By the end of the season,
practice is often around an hour and ten minutes (and those are the long days). The normal
practice time is about forty minutes near the end of the season. INJURIES HAPPEN WHEN
KIDS GET TIRED.

Be as physical in practice as possible. They do not bring people to the ground. This is
part of the reason why they do not practice very long, it allows them to use the time they do
spend on the field practicing physicality.

You must design drills that emphasize important skills. This depends on what you are
doing on offense/ defense, etc. Don’t waste time drilling a skill that your players will never use in
the scheme that you run. (If you’re strictly a zone team, don’t practice a power pull with your OL)

NEVER let bad effort slide. Address it and get him off the field. Shorter practices allow
you to emphasize going 100% on all reps. Twenty reps going 100% are better than 80 reps
going 25%.

“Rep it until you get it right, or throw it out.” The players have to have confidence in the
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play during a game. How will they believe in the play if you never executed it in practice? A lot of
times they have thrown out things in the middle of the week, even concepts that they may have
ran plenty of times already earlier in the year, for whatever reason it isn’t working that week.
They may end up coming back to it later on in the season, but will shelve it for that week.

“It took us until week six of year two to learn how to run and throw the slant properly,
but once we figured it out, it was automatic from then on out.”

“You have to practice situations more than you think.”

You can measure data. The #1 thing is turnovers. They won 15 of their last 17 games,
and won the turnover battle in all 15 wins. In the two losses, the lost the turnover battle once,
and tied in the other game.

3rd down – Have to stop them and have to convert them. Once they get to about 3rd
and 8 at the 50, they usually tend to treat it as two down territory. This allows them to call higher
percentage plays that they couldn’t have called if they were automatically punting on 4th down.
It makes your offense much more dangerous and unpredictable on 3rd down.

Red Zone – The difference between winning and losing games is the difference
between TDs and FGs in the Red Zone.

Defense goes through a turnover circuit every day, starts practice that way. Offense
does the same thing, they use offensive players to strip the ball, etc, to avoid getting too
physical in these drills and getting your players beat up. Emphasized ball security with the QB,
didn’t throw an INT until week 11. “Be smart on 3rd down. Punting is a good thing.”

At least half of practice emphasizes 3rd down, Red Zone, Goal line situations.

“Listen to your instincts, you’ve got a great sense of where your team is, trust what you
see, and then address your issues.”

“The smartest guy in the room is the guy who’s always listening.”

Had some 2nd year leadership issues at La Tech. Started a ‘Leadership Council.’
(Read the book, Water the Bamboo . Talks about how bamboo doesn’t grow hardly at all during
the first two years after being planted, but you still have to put the work in, keep watering, keep
taking care of the soil. Just like Saban says – “Respect the process”) The team started out 14,
had some issues, but he kept reminding them to water the bamboo. It gave the players
something to talk about and believe in. They ended up winning a conference championship.

Had some issues down the stretch this past season. 91 and two weeks away from
going to a BCS Bowl, went 02 the next two games. “I could see there were issues, and I
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could’ve done something about them, but It’s pretty hard to change what you’re doing when
you’re 91.” They had internal issues between the offense and the defense, topranked offense
and 120th ranked defense. There was a lot of resentment between both sides of the ball. They
needed to learn how to handle success.

There are several ways to create deception on offense. One is to run the option,
another way is to use shifting and motions to disguise your intentions, or you can line up and go
fast. Lining up quickly allows you to hide certain things, like receiver splits, because the defense
doesn’t have time to recognize it and make checks because you’re snapping the ball so fast.

Yards per play is a great statistic for self scouting, allows you to quantify efficiency.

La Tech offense doesn’t use as wide of splits as Mike Leach, they like to run the power
play, and slightly tighter splits allows for the double teams you need to run the power. They
don’t have a base rule, but on average they use 1 ½ yard splits.

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Grad Assistants Career Forum

Carlos Alvarado Texas Tech
Chris Thomsen Texas Tech
David Brown II Missouri S&T
Maurice Linguist Buffalo
Todd Barry ULM

“One of the roles of a leader is to create an environment that people want to be a part of.”

Q: How do you develop a relationship with a coaching mentor?

Summer camps are huge, they allow people to see you in action. Everyday is a job interview.
Head coaches take notes on who is in the bar all night and who is there to work.

23 legitimate relationships are better than 20 artificial relationships. Genuinely trying to get to
know people instead of empty and shallow conversations.

Ask yourself, what am I doing when I’ve got time off in the summer? Am I sitting around for a
couple of weeks just hanging out, or am I trying to get better by visiting with coaches, asking
questions, working camps, etc?

Q: What’s another way coaches can align themselves with coaches who can help them?

Reach out to the people around you, not just to get a job.

Working summer camps is a great way to learn how to coach and find your coaching voice
without your head coach there to be critical of you. You can tell whether or not a guy is coming
to work a camp to get better and help kids or just for the money.

Q: How do you get selected to work summer camps?

Just reach out to different coaches (Be mindful of NCAA rules depending on what level you’re
at). Try to observe the differences between camps, and the differences in coaching styles that
you see. Expose yourself to a lot of different styles and viewpoints and find what works for you.

Start your own offensive, defensive, and special teams playbook and head coaches manual
right now.

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February is the best time to contact coaches about summer camps, when preparations are just
starting to be made for the summer.

Q: What is the most effective path to becoming a GA?

It’s much easier to get a GA job at the school where you’re at. A good backup plan is to get
your masters degree in teaching certification. Just in case you don’t get a college job you can go
the HS route. Grad school can also help you improve your writing skills, because people do pay
attention to the way you write.

It doesn’t hurt to send your info to everyone. The best thing to do is to find that ONE guy who
will champion you to other coaches. A head coach doesn’t have time to talk to all 15 of your
references, but he does have time to talk to 1 guy.

If you’re doing a great job where you’re at, the coaches will be inviting.

“Surround yourself with people who love football and winning is important to.”

“Communicate with everyone about your intentions.”

“Get into a position where you’re able to work for almost no money.”

Q: What are some more characteristics of being a good GA?

Work ethic and positivity are crucial. Negativity breeds negativity. Find a positive mentor you
can call who can straighten you out and appreciate what you have.

Have social intelligence. Observe how the staff interacts with one another and how they
interact with the players. Handle your business, stay out of the way, and listen. Be able to
absorb all the information you can.

Q: What should be a GA’s attitude toward working hours?

“Nonexistent”

“You are what the kids do on the field. Put your name on it.”

Your identity is how others view you. BE PROACTIVE. Humility with dignity. Be around people
who care about you. No job is above another job.

Q: What are some characteristics you look for in a GA to possibly move to a position coach?

How do you interact with the players? You’re not gonna hire a guy who can’t go in and control
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a room. How interested are you in the academic part of school? Do you really care about the
player?

Do I know that this guy will get the job done when I’m not looking over his shoulder? Can he
bring something to the table?
Q: How do you know you are ready to be a fulltime position coach moving up from a GA?

Small school GAs get to coach, allows you to build confidence and develop your coaching
style.

Until you control your own room, there are things you won’t recognize while you’re a GA. If
you’re fair to the players, they’ll allow you to make some mistakes. At the end of the day, you
just have to jump in the deep end and start swimming.

Q: What is some good advice for preparing for an interview?

“Know what you know, and if you don’t know it, let the coach know.”

It’s easiest to talk about the stuff you do everyday. Have a
teaching progression.
Take the
interview, don’t wait for them to ask you questions. Overprepare.

Be able to answer that you “don’t know, but this is how the special teams coach handled it.”
Todd Barry will often put on drill tape of his own players and asks how the candidate would
coach it.

Have a coaching manual, drill tape, etc.

Have a plan. Know what to teach and how to teach it. Schemes can be learned by anybody.
Get away from schemes and teach fundamentals. Teaching progression is important, know
what your plan is. Have confidence in what you’re doing. If you don’t know it, don’t open that
can of worms. Who are the people I’m communicating with? What is the setup of the interview?

Have a plan for the academic side. How will you motivate your guys to achieve academically?

There is an art to drawing things on the board. Be prepared to draw up all kinds of schemes on
the board. How are your circles?

Q: If a job is open, how do you position yourself to interview and get it?

Send your resume to HR, and find the one guy who will go to the mat for you.

Q: How do you select guys for bringing into an interview?

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I don’t care what you know, you gotta be able to teach it.

Be strategic in the jobs you go after. Realize that working in an ‘Air Raid’ offense probably
makes you more marketable and upwardly mobile than working in a flexbone triple option
attack. Obviously if you’re at a successful school, that jumps out as well.

Q: What kind of preparation do you do for interviews?

Make sure you’re giving them your own information, don’t just repeat everything you’ve heard.
Do you really know what you’re giving them? Can you teach it?

Q: What are the toughest questions in an interview?

Why do you coach?
Why do you want this job?
Who has been influential in your life?
What do you bring to the culture and the atmosphere? (Culture and atmosphere is the most
important thing when hiring a staff)

Q: What should a young coach consider when selecting a job?

“Do you want to manage your happiness or your career? Where do you see yourself? What
are you looking for? Who are you?” Todd Barry

What are the priorities? Masters degree vs normal job.

Lots of schools require a Masters Degree in order to become a head coach. If you have a
chance to get your education paid for, you have to take it.

Q: What about balancing loyalty to the HC and your own ambition?

Do what you said you were going to do when you were hired. Do a good job where you’re at.
Are you a man of integrity? Be constantly grabbing information. Let people notice the good job
you’re doing, and they will come to respect you and seek you out, rather than the other way
around.

“If you commit to something, how can there be the word ‘decommit’? Have some integrity and
do what you said you were going to do. If I ever hear of a guy taking a job somewhere and then
taking another job somewhere else, I put his name in my ‘DoNotHire’ file, and if he ever sends
me a resume, I’ll know what kind of man he is.” Todd Barry

Q: When is it OK to look for another job?

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End of the season until March 1st. “After that, if you go and interview for another job, you’d
better get it, because you won’t have one here.” Todd Barry

Q: Which is better, an FBS position coaching job, or a D2 coordinator job?

It depends on what the right fit is for you, what are you looking for?

Q: How does a young coach become a good recruiter?

Get into the schools as much as possible. Your true work ethic shows on the road when no
one is looking over your shoulder. Teaching and recruiting are the two things you do most in this
job. Are you just hitting schools or are you really getting to know the high school guys?

Q: Hardest lesson you’ve learned about recruiting?

The HC will know what kind of job you’ve done when he gets into the home, whether or not
you’ve built a relationship with the kid.

Q: What separates a good recruiter from an average recruiter?

Developing personal relationships, do you care about that player? Tell them: “At the end of the
day, I want you to do what’s good for you.” Convey to that person that you’re generally
interested in them. “You’ll be better off 45 years from now with us.”

You have to take the recruit and guide them through the process, this is all new to them. Help
the families understand what’s going on, a lot of times they get a lot of info and they don’t know
how to separate it. When you’re a GA, recruiting should be at the forefront of your mind.

Know what your team is looking for. Be realistic about the players you bring to the table. It’s
not about getting a lot of numbers, it’s about evaluating talent, character, and football
intelligence.

If you don’t know about a position, defer to that position coach.

Q: How do you motivate players differently from a position coach to a HC to a GA?

Be yourself, don’t try to be something you’re not. Be a good person, the players will know if
you’re phony.

Q: Effective ways to develop players?

Have your position group write down goals for the week, then have them exchange the goals
with another player in the group. That player will be responsible for the others. A great way to
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create accountability, get them to buyin to the plan. Do things with the intent to develop them
as men.

Q: Effective ways to keep players in line?

Most guys want discipline. You gotta remember that these are your guys. Find ways to infuse
your identity onto your position group.

“Men work hard for fear, but men work harder for interest.” Once they understand you care,
you’ll have them.

We are builders of men. Move from fearbased motivation, to taking ownership and being
proactive.

Q: Philosophy of discipline?

Ownership culture. If you have too many rules, there’s too many to keep track of. Develop a
culture of positive peer pressure.

How do you manage starting a family with starting your career?

You have kids at home, and you have more at the locker room, the wife has to understand.

Family planning is important. If you’ve got four kids and a wife at home, your job options are a
lot more limited. Be aware of job opportunities and how they affect your families.

GA at the FBS level or a position coach at D2 school?

Don’t think about levels. Just be a fulltime coach. Don’t have a level as a goal.

If your ultimate goal is to be a 1A coach, you have to be a 1A guy. The HC is gonna have to
sell you to the AD. A lot of it depends on your scheme, if you know something someone else
doesn’t.

Q: How important is it to get a GA job with your preferred major?

More important to get around the right coaches and learn football. Are these some coaches
that I can learn from? Is the classwork light enough to where you can do what you need for
football?

Do research on the school you want to work with. What programs, majors, etc?

If you do get a GA job, take advantage of the free education: “Use the university, don’t let that
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university use you.”

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Do the best you can. The strongest network you have is the guys you’re around every day.

Enjoy the ride, this is a great profession.

The impact you have is incredible, the longer you’re in this profession the more obvious it will
be. Be more worried about who you are, not where you are.

Perfect your craft. Be around the office, be a sponge, always be ready.

General Session
Mark Richt HC Georgia

What are you looking for when you hire someone?

1. Competency Can you get the job done?

2. Character Is he the kind of role model I want around my kids? Is he tough to work with? Is
he a good mentor to kids and other coaches?

3. Family Man If he’s got a successful marriage, that tells me he’s got character. Kids need to
see a loving husband and father. Want to have the same expectations with your players as your
kids. Most of the kids will try to live up to your expectations.

We don’t want to ruin a player’s spirit by tearing them down.

“I can’t guarantee you success if you persevere, but I can guarantee you failure if you quit.”

‘The Hotseat’ Time during training camp after a meal. Set a chair in front of the team, and
the players talk about what it means to be a Georgia Bulldog, their path, what they’re thinking
about. What’s said in the hotseat stays in the hotseat.

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“If you want a better job, apply enthusiasm to where you’re at.”

‘Why do I want to be a coach?’ Ask yourself that all through your career. Coach Richt got cut
from the Dolphins and the Broncos but still wanted to stay in the game, loved the competition
and strategy. As time went on, the primary focus changed, and it became about the
relationships with young men, and getting in the position to help somebody, in football and in
life.

Encourage players to do community service during the summer. No matter where you’re at,
guys are there who need you. “How can I pour my life into the lives of these young men?”

Anger is a secondary emotion, the primary emotion is usually because they’ve been hurt.

Character is what you’re doing when no one is watching.

“How I know things are bad is when I go to church and hear, ‘Coach, we’re praying for you.’
Then we started 02 and people said, ‘Coach, we’re fasting for you.’”

Had a team meeting after an 02 start. When you’re in a bad situation, a team meeting won’t
give you team unity, it will reveal to you whether or not you have it.

“What I do is not who I am.”

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General Session
Bill O’Brien HC Penn State

“I have a lot of respect for the coaching profession.”

People: When you’re a HC, you have to surround yourself with highcharacter, noBS people.
You don’t have the time for that in football. They have to be hard working and understand that
it’s not gonna be easy.

1st thing when he got there was to make sure he had honest, open lines of communication
with players.

On players: “Be hard on him, be fair with him, don’t treat everyone the same. Be honest with
them.”

Meet with your players as early as possible when you’re a HC.

Talked to the team after the sanctions came out. “Think about what your relationships mean.
I’m not begging anyone to stay.” “I was myself and I was honest.”

Worked for some of the best (Mark Whipple, Ralph Friedgen, Bill Belichick). The one common
trait between all these guys is that they would’ve been themselves in that tough situation. Since
the NCAA gave players permission to leave without a penalty, they knew that anyone still in that
locker room was committed to Penn State.

“It’s all about the guys you surround yourself with.”

To young coaches: Develop your beliefs early, don’t wait for somebody to tell you what you
believe in. Start writing it down now (Create your own HC Manual).
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In winter conditioning, you could tell right away the guys who weren’t gonna make it.

“Stop writing it down and just listen!”

Day one: Put together a flow chart w/ each person’s job. Everyone in the building knows what
their role is.

As a young coach, think about how you would want things done. Off time during the summer is
a good time to sit back and review.

PRINCIPLES OF THE PROGRAM

1. Football should be fun and fulfilling for the student athlete involved
Not all of football can be fun. We as coaches have to be at the cutting edge of eliminating the
drudgery of football. They play music during practice, rotate the type of music, rap, country, etc
everyday so that people always have at least one day where their type of music is playing.
Tries to play fast and get the team into a rhythm
Competitive drills
Paintball and other fun activities during camp and summer
These also worked as teambuilding activities

2. Football must be a part of the educational experience at Penn State

3. Football is played to win. We will never accept losing at Penn State.
We will learn from a loss

4. No individual in the program is ever bigger than the team/ program.

5. We will promote a team/ family atmosphere through loyalty and communication.

6. We will have a standard of performance for the players on and off the field

Life is too short not to have your family at practice, especially when you’re not around 6+
months of the year.

THE BLUEPRINT

1. Plan: Plan your work, work your plan

2. People: Surround yourself with good people

3. Placement: Make sure people understand their roles
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4. Preparation: Give them opportunities to prepare for their roles.

5. Motivation: Every year is different!

6. Management: Provide leadership through planning, guidance, and honesty.

7. Morale: Treat everyone fairly. Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much
you care.

Started out working for Mark Whipple as the guy who made sure the camera lift was oiled and
ready to work correctly.

“Let your coaches coach.”

A football game is broken down into three parts.
1st quarter: Feeling each other out.
2nd/3rd quarter: Making adjustments
4th quarter: Situational football

Put your players in positions to win in practice.

Puts up new quotes in the locker room, a new message. That was 2012, this is 2013, it’s a
different team.

KEYS TO SUCCESS

1. Best person they can be on and off the field. We have to be a team of character and
discipline.

2. Best student they can be. PSU is a tough school. We need to strive to reach our academic
potential.

3. Best athlete they can be. On the field, in the weight room. Strive to reach our athletic
potential.

4. Make our own individual commitment to the team. Each man must sacrifice a little bit of his
individuality for the sake of the team’s success.

5. The will to prepare to win. Everyone involved must be prepared to do what is necessary to
win.

6. Confidence through preparation
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7. Superior Conditioning (Can win you 23 games per year)

THE MASTER COACH SERIES
Phil Fulmer and Dick Vermeil

Q1. Explain your philosophy about dealing with players

DV “You coach people to play football, you don’t coach football. I enjoyed the relationship part
of the job more than the rest.”

PF We all have a background that develops us. We wanted the football team to be a family in
all the ways that it could be.
When I got the chance to be a grad assistant, I asked to work on the other side of the ball so I
could learn defense.

Dick Vermeil worked for George Allen who hired him as the first special teams coach in pro
football.

Q2. What kind of assistants did you hire, what kind of relationships did you build?
PF We want guys who can manage themselves in all environments.

DV Always tried to hire a guy who knew a position better than he did. Allows you to learn and
critique people. “Sid Gillman didn’t so much coach football as he coached the coaches.”
Hire someone who knows more than you do, then allow them to be the best they can be and
make them look smart.

Q3. Defensive Philosophy

DV Whatever gave me the most problems, I tried to do on defense. Like man pressures, but
not a big gambler in terms of weird or exotic blitzes.

PF Great DLinemen. Very aggressive on scheme, was on the cutting edge of zone blitzes
back in the mid 90’s. Coach great players on defense.

Q4. Offensive Philosophy

PF Run the football and control the clock, similar to Alabama. We changed based on the
needs of the football team.
“Peyton wasn’t very good, he was just wellcoached.”
As a young coach, I paid attention to how the other positions were coached, and prided myself
on being able to talk on the same level as the other position coaches.

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DV “When I started out, I thought if you threw the ball you were a pussy.”
Had a great year, thought I was a great coach. The next year we lost a bunch of guys and
found out I wasn’t as good as I thought I was. Found out that players win games. Was never a
big ‘scheme’ guy.
Was told “You’re spending too much time trying to gain four yards.” Always want to maintain
the ability to run the football in relation to the ability of the QB.
Even in the NFL, you’d be surprised how often you can break leverage on an NFL defense by
shifting and motioning.
In the NFL, the OL guys are getting more and more critical, without them, the skill players
aren’t nearly as good.
Sid Gillman hated the WCO, it wasn’t a vertical stretch offense.

Q5. Philosophy on discipline.

DV Used to waste too much time disciplining things that made no difference in winning and
losing games. Read a lot of WWII books written by guys who were there.
The Medal of Honor winners were often not the most perfect, procedural guys. They were
usually the guys who drove everyone crazy.
“Getting people to care is a helluva lot more important than standing at the door waiting to see
if someone is a minute late.”
Most of the rules they have today are ridiculous.
Of all the guys we inherited year one in St Louis, we had nine left when we won the Super
Bowl.

PF Let the position coaches and the players handle the small discipline problems.
Buy into the ‘family’ philosophy. “You have a place here.” At the same time, you have to be
able to cut ties.

DV We never brought the team to a hotel the night before a home game during the Super Bowl
year in STL, never did it in KC either.

Q6. Philosophy of Motivation

PF Established expectations very early on. Have to pick your spots. Keeping up relationships
takes work everyday.

DV “Players today have an unbelievable tolerance for love and appreciation.”
“A coach should be an unending source of encouragement.” Players can sense where your
heart is at.

Q7. Creating ethics and Morals

DV “If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else
22
matters.”
Tell the players “You only rent your locker.”
When it comes to discipline, if you say you’re gonna do it.
Discipline the fundamentals and the technique. (NFL Fundamentals are disintegrating)

PF Problems are the same now that they were then. Bo Schembechler talked about it in 1972.
He went to go listen to him speak as a fan in Chicago, after hearing him, decided he wanted to
coach, right then and there.
Tom Osborne didn’t talk very long about X’s and O’s, mostly about discipline and being a man.
The team will follow either the good or the bad kids.

Q8. Anything you regret?

PF “I regret they fired my ass!”
“I was a grinder and expected grinders around me.”
“Do a better job defining the job and not letting the game define you.”

DV Regret not slowing down. The grinding came from personal insecurity, “insecurity in my
position.” Looking across the sideline and seeing you’re coaching against Tom Landry or Don
Shula can make you insecure. People told him to slow down, “because of my own insecurities, I
wouldn’t listen.”
“I regret leaving the Rams after winning the Super Bowl.”

Q9. Something that can help the coaches Wisdom, truth

DV “I believe in experience.”
“I learned an awful lot by having an office next to John Wooden at UCLA. He boiled everything
simple down about winning.”
Spend more time getting the kids and coaches to be the best they can be.
Don’t worry about keeping three good RBs happy, worry about keeping the best one
happy.
John Wooden’s practices were always very fast. Practice tempo, you can get used to
moving extremely quick all the time
“You only scrimmage when you don’t know what else to do.” Jay Prothro every practice was
different.

PF Learn everything you can. You have to be a teacher at a lot of levels.
Establish a philosophy about what you want to look like.
Figure out who the three teams you gotta beat are, and recruit to that.

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Glen Caruso
HC University of St Thomas

F.A.M.I.L.Y. “Forget about me, I love you”

“Coach the kid, not the scheme.”

Vision
Summation
Selflessness
Thoughtfulness “I don’t need you to be brilliant, I need you to be thoughtful.”
Mental Toughness
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Positive Mental Outlook

List of Favorite Books
“Big Russ and Me” (Tim Russert)
“Good to Great” (Jim Collins)
“The Talent Code” (Daniel Coyle)
“Art of War” (Sun Tzu)
“As a Man Thinketh” (James Allen)
“PsychoCybernetics (Maxwell Maltz)
“Talent is Overrated” (Geoff Colvin)
“They Call Me Coach” (John Wooden)
“Blessings of A Skinned Knee” (Wendy Mogel)
“Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl” (Anne Frank)
“I’ve Got Things to do With My Life” (Pat Tillman)
“Huddles: Fathers, Sons, and Football” (Andrew Malcolm)
“No, Why Kids of all Ages Need to Hear It” (David Allen Walsh)

“I believe that we as a culture suffer from ‘Small Trophy Syndrome’.” (Everyone gets a trophy
in today’s society)

The Leader: Know You, Be You

The reason most people are average is because their selfawareness is subpar.

Make a list of your “Am’s” and your “Not’s”. Draw a line through the list of “Not’s”, with the
items below the line the things you REALLY need to work on.

Coach Caruso’s House Rules:
We Never Quit
We Never Whine
We Never Get Embarrassed

General Session
Jimbo Fisher HC Florida State

There are three seasons of coaching: Recruiting, Player Development, and Coaching

Your football team has a oneyear life expectancy. We have to develop its attitude, character,
very quickly. The most fun things are the ones who develop team chemistry off the field.

People say you don’t change, that’s partially right. The things you stand for never change, but
the way you do business daytoday has to keep changes. Ask anyone in the business world if
they still do business the same way they did ten years ago.
25

Kids today have a sense of entitlement, a ‘MeFirst’ attitude. Take the ‘me’ guys and turn them
into ‘we’ guys, develop this attitude in the offseason.

No matter what you do, or how much you achieve, you can NEVER arrive. Kids today don’t
understand that.

1. Create an Atmosphere Conducive to Success

As they develop, how does it help the players as they go?

Communication and honesty “I’ve never promised a player he’ll play or he’ll start.” They have
too many people telling them what they want to hear (Friends, girlfriends), we as coaches have
to be different.

The definition of success is consistent performance at a higher level over a long period of time.

You have what they want most. “We are here for them, they’re not here for us.” We wouldn’t
have a coaching career if it weren’t for the kids.

“When you leave Florida State, I want you to have two abilities: Accountability and
Dependability.” Education is not as important as these two qualities. Education is a very
opportunistic thing, not everyone has the chance to go to school, but everyone has the
opportunity to develop accountability and dependability.

Most kids don’t feel they have control over their own lives, which is why they make the
decisions they do. They don’t understand the power of decision making. Most decisions they
make are based on the next five minutes.

Teach them to make a decision based on the next day, next week, next month, etc. It’s a
process.

Meet with every player every semester. Let’s them know where they stand.

Most kids underestimate themselves.

Most coaches don’t reinforce the positive, in turn, we don’t give them confidence.

When he’s had success in things he’d never thought he’d have success in, now he has trust in
you, now you can coach him.

“Talent wins you games, character wins you championships.”

26
At FSU they use a point system for player behavior. Late to class = ½ point, missing a class =
1 point. 3 points and he sees his position coach, 6 points and it becomes a problem, he sees
the Unity Council.
The Unity Council is made up of guys that reinforce the core values of your organization. Meet
every Thursday. The greatest pressure kids face is peer pressure. It’s much harder to lie to your
teammates about where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing, because they’re with you all
the time. When meeting with the Unity Council, it’s just the players on the council, the player
being disciplined, and an assistant strength coach who reads off the rules the player has
broken. The player then has to sit there and explain why he is in trouble, and what happened.
You have to empower players, they play a huge role in developing players. They set the
punishments. After nine points, they see the HC, it’s an automatic suspension.

Since he took over as a HC, he’s never had to suspend a player, though some have gotten
close.

“Until your players are accountable to each other, you don’t have a team.”

“What are you going to do to reach the goals you’ve set?” Teach them to set short term goals.
Get them to focus on the process. “What am I gonna do daily to make this happen?” When they
do well, brag on them, don’t just punish them.

It’s amazing how unconfident how most guys are in themselves.

They drug test guys 1020 per week randomly. Everybody gets their ‘one time’. Shows the
players that you’re not trying to ‘catch’ them, trying to help them. 3 strike policy. If they don’t
wanna get help, you don’t wanna have them on your team.

Every player coming in meets with a sports psychologist. Coaches see them too, getting them
to buy in. They get a profile on the kid, find out what makes them tick. “Why waste a year trying
to figure out what makes them tick if you don’t have to?”

When a kid can’t learn and he can’t get confident, you’ll demoralize them. If you haven’t given
them every chance to succeed, you’ve failed them.

The more people you can get to interact with your program that you trust to get your message
across, the better the kids will absorb it.

“You’re never a great player until you affect the guys on your team in a positive way on a
daytoday basis.”

When a kid starts to have success in the classroom and as a person, his confidence grows.

During weight training, they try never to train in groups larger than 1418 at a time, allows for
27
more individual attention. This is harder on strength coaches, but better for the kids.

During offseason conditioning, don’t be content with the status quo, don’t always keep doing
the same things you’ve been doing. Give your kids something different to do, it doesn’t matter
what it is, so they can feel like they’re doing something different than their opponents. Gives the
kid confidence in the coach, and they will play harder for you.

Philosophy on rules: Don’t give em a bunch of rules, they can’t remember them all anyway.

The rules are simple: Don’t embarrass yourself, don’t embarrass this team, don’t embarrass
this university.

Create accountability anyway you can. What are you doing to reinforce it everyday?

“If everyone who comes into contact with your kids doesn’t have the same mentality, you’ll lose
em.”

At the end of the day, it’s all about infrastructure and what you do on a daily basis.

28

General Session
David Shaw HC Stanford

THE ENVIRONMENT

That’s what you’re in charge of, the environment, the mood, feel, etc, as a HC.

HIRING

“Hire good people and delegate.” If you have to micromanage everything, you probably hired
the wrong guy.

1. Take your time.
Was struck by what the Colts said about Chuck Pagano when they hired him. Said if the
Ravens had gone to the Super Bowl, they probably would’ve hired someone else. If that’s the
right guy for your organization, you can’t wait 14 days? The difference between hiring the right
guy and the wrong guy is the difference between winning and losing. Coach Shaw is willing to
wait a very long time, sometimes until after spring football, until he feels like he found the right
guy.

2. My dad’s quote trust vs X’s and O’s
“When I hire somebody, it’s gotta be somebody I trust.” Work ethic, personality, and motivation
are extremely important. As long as we’re on the same page, we’ll get the right answers.

3. Value of the group interview Chemistry
Find out as much stuff as possible about them. Tell us what you know, tell us what you like, tell
us what you don’t like. Look at the interactions. You can’t win a lot of games if your staff can’t
get along. When you walk into the office in the morning, you gotta be fired up and excited about
it.

TEAM CULTURE
“Locker rooms win games.”
29

It doesn’t matter what the coaches know, because on 4th and goal from the 2, coaches are still
watching from the best seat in the house.

1. Recruiting “Start as you mean to go on.”

The internet is making superstars out of high school kids before they ever play a down. “We
don’t talk to 3rd parties. If we can’t get the kid on the phone, we don’t recruit him.”

When you let a kid know right away what your expectations are, you’ll know right away
whether he’s on board.

Don’t have the biggest pool for recruiting, which allows them to get to know the kids better.
You can’t be buddybuddy during the recruiting process and then become a coach once they
get to campus. They won’t play games with a kid. “If you’re not serious about me, don’t waste
my time.”

Don’t promise them more than a college education, if you do, you’re doing them a disservice,
and you’re doing college football a disservice. “I’m the adult in the relationship, and it’s my job to
act like it.”

“Nothing crawls up my spine like immaturity and wasted time.”

2. Stanford Academics Mentally Tough Finishers

“Our academic standards are a strength for us. We don’t take early HS graduations for the
purpose of playing spring ball.” The kids who can handle the academic and admission process,
the kids who play a playoff game on Friday night and take the SATs on Saturday morning, you
don’t have to worry about those kids in the 4th quarter.

3. Everything is Competitive but not Combative

We don’t need to fight in order to compete in practice. We don’t encourage the kids to hate
their opponent. When you hate your opponent, that’s what leads to those bad decisions, those
personal foul penalties in the 4th quarter.

4. Peer Pressure and Respect

Peer pressure is the greatest tool we have. Every team is the seniors’ team, what will happen
is what is allowed to happen. Strict ‘NoHazing’ policy.

Had a senior center, and told him they wanted him to take a more prominent leadership
position on the team. He told them he wasn’t much of a talker, and that was OK. All they told
30
him was, “When someone on the OL doesn’t do their job, they need to know you’re pissed
about it.

As a leader, and as a coach, you set a high standard for yourself, which in turn sets an
example for others and holds them to the same standard. “It’s our job as coaches to foster that
type of environment.

GAMEDAY

Play as a team, look as a team (with hints of individuality). Doesn’t allow his players to get too
crazy with the uniform, wear only one sleeve, etc. “You know how many bad football players
look great? Wear two sleeves, there’s a reason they come in packs of two.”

My sideline demeanor “Players live in the moment, my job is to say, ‘what’s next?’”

“I encourage players to live in the moment, they have to use their emotions, not let their
emotions use them.” Playing in the moment allows you to forget the mistake you made on the
last play, not get satisfied with what you just did.

What your players need from you is consistency.

2 things that drive me crazy:
1. Players give the team and the coaches anything less than your best.
2. When they do something disrespectful to their teammates.

Enforce it dispassionately, the player shouldn’t think you enjoy it or you’re out to get them.

“The game is too long, too many highs and lows to get wrapped up in a single moment. When
we score, I start walking the other way talking to the coaches.”

“I spent nine years in the NFL, which is a big reason why I’m not in a hurry to go back.” “The
NFL players all know that if you make a play, you’ve got 35 seconds of camera time.” They all
discuss it amongst each other, and plan their celebrations.

When celebrating a big play, “I hate to see guys take ten steps away from their teammates.”
Stanford practices group celebrations, talk about it. “We show our unity through celebrations.”
They challenge the players after a big play: “How many guys can we get in the frame after a big
play?”

SOCIAL MEDIA

Tell the players all the time that athletes are not anonymous on Facebook and Twitter.

31
“Don’t try to explain things to the media.”

“Be a college kid, not a celebrity.”

“What you say affects team chemistry.”

Talking about players responding to opposing fans and others on Twitter: “Why get so upset
over Twitter that you give someone that power to give them your ear?”

Tell them to “Hit pause before you hit send.” Sleep on it. It’s too easy to send something right
away before you really think about it.

“Twitter is to be used as a running commercial about how great your life is.” Don’t dump your
emotions all over Twitter.

EVERYTHING you do affects team chemistry and affects the environment.

“Success breeds success.” If you approach different things the same way, you’ll have success.

“We set goals, but we concentrate on today.”

General Session
Bill Snyder HC Kansas State

First job was at a high school coaching football, baseball, basketball, track, bus driver, and
32
taught spanish class (didn’t know anything about spanish) for $3,600 per year.

“The thing that makes the true difference is the intrinsic values and the values we portray to
the young ones.”

Came back to college football, not because of the football, but because of the people.

To the coaches trying to move up and get a better job: “Be where you are.” Did a lot of moving
around early on, then “realized that I wasn’t a very good coach.” Spent most of the time with one
foot out the door. “Work hard where you’re at.”

“I’m a big believer in having a process.”

1st thing I talk with young people about is surrounding themselves with people who care about
you, not people who may be fun, but don’t care. Be one of those people who cares, direct them
to other people like that.

“There was a time in my young life when I said, ‘maybe this hard work isn’t all it’s cracked up to
be.’”

In order to establish foals you need to establish priorities in life. Once priorities are set, goals
are easier to come by. Need a well thoughtout, wellconceived goals, and a plan to reach those
goals.

“We all have a goal we’ve never achieved before, otherwise it wouldn’t be a goal.”

Once you’ve got the young person surrounded with people who care, then it’s time to work
hard.

100% of people set some type of goal, 50% of people have a plan to get there, only about 10%
actually achieve it.

Saw the movie ‘Lincoln’, was all about perseverance. Had failed to gain public office seven
previous times. Lost his fiance to an early death.

Walt Disney went bankrupt twice before he opened ‘Walt Disney Pictures’.

Spielberg didn’t get into his dream school USC. Now the film school there is named after him.

“Find a way to improve every single day of your life.” “What do you want to improve on today?
What can you do to improve?”

When Snyder got to Kansas State, there wasn’t a single player on the team who had ever won
33
a college football game.

Told the players: “We’re not gonna assess your improvement based on the scoreboard. Are
you improving every game? Everyday on the practice field?”

Tangible results come from intrinsic values and from applying them.

Young people have a lot of problems, a lot of insecurities, not sure how to handle them all.
“These problems will exist throughout your life. If you don’t have a problem, you’re not paying
attention. What matters is solving problems, finding solutions before problems arise.”

“Do not place limitations on your ability to succeed.”

Know exactly what your priorities are. “If you choose to do this, will it help you achieve your
goals? If yes, do it with all the enthusiasm you have, if not, why would you do it?”

“Invest yourself in that which is best for the program you’re at. Invest in it 100%”

When coaching, be yourself. Tried to emulate John McKay and was a miserable failure. “Be
who you are, I assure you it’s good enough.” “Nobody knows how to be you better than you.”

Went to the administration at Kansas State on behalf of the teachers and professors, to get
them raises. Stressed that the football team is working with the educators not against them. Set
aside a suite at the games for the professors who wanted to come to the games. “The more you
have with you, the less you have against you.”

Each assistant coach has a college within the university they are responsible for, use it to
communicate with the educators. Keeps the faculty involved. Allows the players to have respect
for those responsible for their education.

Each assistant, once a month, calls their player’s parents, fills out a form what they talked
about, what the response is. Involves the parents, sometimes you may end up educating the
parents and helping them to become better people as well.
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2013

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