Don Meyer Best Things I’ve Seen in Coaching
“I seek to leave the world in a little better place than I found it.”
Why we clean the locker room after every game
“Take your program with the utmost seriousness, but be sure not to take yourself too seriously.”
“Have an overriding sense of purpose in your program.” • BE ABOUT SOMETHING MORE THAN WINNING GAMES
You need to build unity every year. Passion Be weary of this as a coach
Anytime you can watch a teacher work in his natural setting, take it! Duty • HS coach in your town with multiple state championships • Soccer coach at your school who wins the league every year • Renowned physics professor at your university
“Plays don’t win championships, players do” Burden (Develop your talent)
Play against the game (legendary Indiana basketball coach Bob Knight & legendary Oklahoma football coach Bud Wilkinson)
1 • Find yourself
• Find your unique 2 talent and develop it 3 • Give your gift away
“As a coach you must be self-motivated because there’s no one at practice with a whistle calling your name and threatening to put you on the baseline.”
“You have to eagerly do all the things involved with your job (even the ones you don’t like).”
Cal Ripken’s 3 Things: 1. A love for the game 2. A true passion for our team 3. A desire to compete at the highest level
“You must possess balance as a coach. You can’t just be a defensive coach.”
4 basic human needs: 1. To live (not just to survive) 2. To love & to be loved 3. To feel important 4. Variety
Use word pictures to teach your players
Use a Dictaphone in scouting/recruiting. Allows you to keep your eyes on the court while taking notes. “Have just enough variety in your repetition.” • Sometimes all this needs to be is simply adding competition
Stance: wide enough that you have balance, but not so wide you don’t have quickness.
“It’s not what you teach, it’s what you emphasize.”
Bill Walsh: “I’m a better coach at 50 than I was at 40 because I hadn’t had the necessary time or experiences to be a good coach at 40.”
“You can’t make a racehorse out of a pig, but you can make a very fast pig.”
“On a good team, 1 or 2 players do the dirty work. On a great team, everyone does the dirty jobs.”
Take what you have and make the most of it.
Rick Majerus: “Being great isn’t for everyone. It’s harder to be a star than a slug.”
Pain of Pain of Discipline Regret
To a player: “When it comes to making a decision between you and one of the standards of our program, understand that the decision was made a longtime ago.”
Rule with parents: I’ll meet with you whenever/wherever as long as we’re not talking about playing time.
“Good players take coaching. Great players take coaching and learn.” Larry Brown: “Players today don’t understand the difference between criticism and coaching. They take everything as a personal affront.”
“Teach your players personal responsibility. The absolute worst thing you can do for someone you love is something they can and should do themselves.”
Take prolific notes. Note-taking is a habit shared by the high achievers • Smartest person in your class? Constantly taking notes • Strongest guy at your gym? Constantly recording his sets/reps • Thomas Edison, Richard Branson, Johnny Cash, Bill Gates, tell me when to stop…
Winning is a by-product of what we do every day • Process, it’s about the process!
“Listen to even the most negative things said about you, weigh it to see if there’s truth and then move on.”
Mistakes 1. Recognize 2. Admit 3. Learn 4. Forget
John Wooden: “Your reputation is what people think you are. Your character is what you really are.”
Four 30-minute segments of practice • Individual improvement • Team fundamentals • Team defense • Situation/competition
“You have to do it now the way you want to do it ten years from now.”
“A good enemy can help you marshall troops.” • A rival can be better than a friend because they keep you sharp
“Don’t wrestle with a pig because you both get dirty and the pig likes it.”
“Sometimes it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission.”
Needs Assessment
What Should What Is Need
Be
“If your best player isn’t a leader, he better be your hardest worker.”
Pair each rookie with a veteran.
3 rules for leaders: 1. Be our hardest worker 2. Take care of the stuff off the floor 3. Back the coaches
Mickey Mantle wanted his tombstone to read, “Here lies a great teammate.”
Check, check and re-check
The goal for the orders you give shouldn’t be for them to be understood, but rather than for them to not be misunderstood.
Are you a coach? It’s not what they call you—it’s how they feel about you.
The best press offense is getting the ball to your best player in the middle of the floor.
Marines: adapt, improvise and overcome
Problem areas for young coaches 1. Transition defense 2. Zone offense 3. Press offense 4. Rebounding Sit alone and think for at least ten minutes a day.
“Either he can’t or won’t and frankly, it doesn’t matter because he’s got to go.”
In order to keep his enthusiasm in a 30-year career, [legendary Missouri coach] Norm Stewart would say to himself, “That fool Stewart got fired, what are you going to do to fix this dismal situation, Norm?” • Start over from scratch each year • Build program all over again each year
Dick Bennett: what does this program need this week? Each assistant would turn in his answer every Monday morning.
One-basket games in practice help teach your players the difference between winning and losing.
“As a team you should get ready for practices like you do for games.”
Dean Smith never once appeared on the cover of the UNC media guide.
What’s us versus what’s not us
“Don’t communicate for your team. The more talking they do, the better.”
“To the HS coaches: don’t blame a kid for his parents.”
Dalyisms: • Offense is spacing and spacing is offense • You’re the most open when you first catch it • The defense struggles when tasked to guard 2 things in quick succession • The defense doesn’t break down on help, but on recovery • Sometimes not to guard is to guard • The first shot doesn’t beat you
Al McGuire to Kevin O’Neil: “You better have great practices.”
Gene Bess (Three Rivers Community College): “The only thing I’ve learned is your players must play very, very hard.”
“Make sure your team knows they’re going to win and exactly how they’re going to win.”
Adapt the best 1 or 2 things you’ve seen and bring them to your program. Adapt not adopt. Less Athletic? That’s ok… • Take great shots • No turnovers • No mistakes • Shorten the game • Be solid
Set weekly goals for players. What are you going to do this week? • As a son • As a player • As a teammate • As a friend • As a brother
Create a file for each kid discussing particular things, conversations, etc.
“If you want to know about offense, find the best defensive coach you can find and ask him what is hard to guard.”
‘Arete’ = being the best you can be.