Perseverance by Marc Trestman

Beyond The Game:

-As I reflected on my professional life I realized how much time I had spent trying to make first downs and score touchdowns. My focus had now changed in trying to be more about people and serving others. In my next job, my primary focus was going to be about trying to find the hidden value in people.

-I became a teacher, a father, a confidante, a mentor; not just a guy trying to make first downs. I wasn’t a ‘people person’ early on in my career and I think that hurt me.

-When I first got into the business, I used to look at football players as nameless, faceless chess pieces, with each player having a value that I could move around a board in order to win a game. Eventually, I began to see them as people though, and that is when I started to get smart as a coach.

-I learned that to be successful as a coach, you have to get to know people and understand where they come from.

-I tried to bring my family around the team as much as I could too, to share that part of my life with the players. I wanted them to know in addition to being a tough coach, I was also a dad and a husband.

TEAM:

-Everyone has an unconscious and very human desire to be a part of something bigger than themselves

-When everyone realizes that success is a result of individual accountability to their job and that we are all interconnected, it creates a sense of urgency to fulfill their obligations to the team.

-I told them that way down the road, at the reunion, it would not be about the wins, the hardware, or the stats; it would be about the relationships they had developed and the love in our locker room that had evolved throughout the year. -I told them that the reason we were all here at that moment wasn’t about winning the Grey Cup, it was because each and every one of us had a desire to be a part of something that was bigger than ourselves. -A sack didn’t just belong to the one player who got to the quarterback and knocked him to the ground. The players were beginning to see every success we had individually, belonged to all of us as a team. Conversely, the same was the case for every failure.

-The best way I found to deal with pressure is by selling accountability to everyone involved, because if everyone has done their job properly then no one single person will have to carry the weight of the entire team on their shoulders.

-Success is the result of everyone being accountable for their piece of the puzzle, and that truly “we” are all interconnected in “our” success.

-In Montreal we actually have our players practice what I call “touchdown demeanor.” This is not a pre-designed choreographed celebration, but rather just a bunch of guys going to touch the ball while expressing honest emotion and a sense of equal participation in the play’s success.

Organizational Structure:

-Leaders work to create understanding environments in which subordinates feel accountable to the outcomes of what they are working on.

-Those in new positions of leadership are most successful when they come in open minded, establish guidelines of expectation, and set a clear vision for the organization.

-When a passionate vision is combined with a proactive daily attempt to succeed, the vision will manifest itself into a reality.

-When demanding others to be accountable, leaders must be sure to not humiliate or retaliate because it’s not personal, it’s just business, and there are specific standards that must be met by everybody within the organization.

-Leaders face the possibility of failure and adversity square on by reassessing assets and talents, and by finding the problems and priorities to mend.

-It is important for leaders to motivate their followers for the long haul through a clearly articulated vision and steps for achieving long term goals. -We would each have a job description and we were all accountable to execute it.

Dealing With Losses:

-I don’t judge a player’s commitment to the team by his demeanor after games, as long as he shows common respect for those around him.

-Why after so much dedicated work, growth in relationships and culture between players and coaches, and spectacular play, would we let three hours on one day in that year diminish what we accomplished?

-Guys, do not let the disappointment of the last three hours tae away from what we have accomplished as a team.

-I never wanted to say anything to the team that I would later regret, especially relating to our effort or level play.

Coaching Techniques:

-Coaches must pay attention to detail. They will be unable to manifest this in their players unless they show them they are doing it themselves.

-I wanted each player to be consciously aware of their level of performance in each and every moment. I told them that no one day or one game would whether won or lost would ultimately define us.

-The motivation you give your team comes from the standard of performance that you set in every phase of team development: from the locker room, to the meeting room, at practice and on game day.

-I have my players write their specific goals down on paper. The key is having tangible written evidence that through daily work and focus, that vision will eventually manifest itself into reality.

-I am the first to realize that there are roughly 65 men out there who hear a message from me, yet each of them perceives it differently. My words are translated differently based on a player’s worldly outlook, upbringing, education, and various other ideological reasons. Once I understand this, the more it motivates me on a daily basis to find different ways to send the fundamental messages of our program in different ways. The better I get to know the individuals, the more I can customize the message to be sure that I reach them. -Taken from Joe Brodsky (who Trestman worked with/for at Miami): selflessly challenge younger coaches; loosening the reigns so they can grow, learn, and at times fail.

-On Bud Grant: he invested in me and now I do the same for my assistants.

-The question each day, whether after a meeting, practice, or a game was going to be: “Did we win the day?”

-GDM = Game Defining Moment

-I played a game called “Is there any doubt?” As I went around our team meeting room I would say, “Is there any doubt that this guy is not doing what is necessary to get the job done this week?” The answer was always, “there was NO DOUBT he was doing his job.”

-Last year, I had our players focus on effort awareness. In doing so, it made them actually pay attention to how hard they were working during certain parts of practice.

-I have two primary goals as a leader. The first is to serve. My second goal is to squeeze out every bit of value I possibly can from every member of our team and staff.

-Standard of Performance, or SOP, is how everything we do is measured on and off the field. It is our goal to have the highest SOP in everything we do. SOP is a value belief system, a process that allows us to improve because the bar is set so high.

-Bud [Grant] put a premium on a player’s football intelligence. This is a criteria coaches use at all levels because good coaches know that before you can win you have to learn how not to lose. This means doing things on the field that you can control and that do not get you beat.

-I told the guys what I thought the definition of an Alouettes player was. He was a person who came to work to get better; had great demeanor; did anything asked of him; and whether we won or lost, he still had a humble, hard-working, and even keeled approach to work.

-Bud Grant: “All I had to do was get Marshall [Jim Marshall, Vikings’ pro bowl defensive lineman] to buy in and the rest of the team would follow.”

-Guys, the illusion is that we are 12-2, the reality is we are 0-0. -Ernie Accorsi: “The one thing I learned about athletes a long time ago is that your control and influence over them is based on your ability to help them succeed. Period. That is what they care about. I mean they can like or dislike you, but at the end of the day they are there to succeed both individually and for their team. They have to be convinced in their mind that their coach can help them get better and win.”

-When others feel confident in the fact that you, as their coach, have done everything in your power to put them in a position to succeed, then that is the true definition of motivation to me.

-I was very clear with the team that if our focus was on winning the Grey Cup, it would take away the necessary energy we needed to become better on a daily basis.

-49ers Way = work fast-practice fast-play fast

-Short practices with consistent energy throughout

-Jon [Gruden] re-enforced in me the importance and power of great presentation skills. I began to really perfect my ability to excite our team and capture their attention during my game plan presentation.

Treating Opponents:

-Respect them, but the guys on the other side of the ball are nameless and faceless. It doesn’t matter who is over there. It’s about us, about our preparation and our performance.

Support Staff:

-Ernie DeBartolo: “You have one job to do. One. Be the best resource you can be to help the coaches do their jobs. When a coach needed assistance, that task went to the top of the list.”

Getting Fired:

-Hire yourself with the job of finding a job

Media: -First, the media, in most cases, is not your friend. They have a job to do, and when we interact with them we must remember that. Second, there is no such thing as speaking to the media off the record. You may say to them it’s off the record and your comment may not be used in the next day or week, but there is likelihood that the information or quote will be used in some context or another in the future. Third, when the media wants to direct their questions at ‘how great YOU are,’ you need to turn it around and think about the TEAM first. Answering a question that relates to your personal success with an answer that credits the team is humble and respectful.

Mindsets:

-I was clear with them that upon walking into the football office they had to have at least one of three mindsets: First, everyone had to at least accept their role on the team. Second, I hoped guys would come to work with a sense of enjoyment toward their work. Third, I wanted players to be enthusiastic I tried to make it clear that when a player comes to work without at least one of these very important attitudes, a psychological “dis-harmony” takes place in our locker room that can suck the energy right out of all of us.

Humility:

-You simply cannot be “too humble” in this business. Humility is the byproduct of your acceptance that personal success is a result of the endeavors of so many others doing their job at a high level.

-Once you realize it is not just about you, humility sets in.

Networking:

-How many times in this book have I talked about a coincidental moment where a relationship initiates because two people are simply being gracious and respectful?

Respect:

1. Respect for everyone in the organization 2. Respect for your opponent 3. Respect for the game