Attributes of a good head coach that a good coordinator doesn't necessairly have.
So what are the attributes that are needed to be a good head coach that Lake and Sark and hundreds of other good coordinator lack? It can't just be leadership, I would think that being a good O coordinator would take a fairly high level of leadership skills. Sark and Lake both are obvious failures as head coaches. Why are they able to have success as coordinators but fail so spectacularly as head coaches?
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Best attributes are don’t lose to Montana
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I would say that's the key attribute of any Power-5 headcoach.Bonedog said:Best attributes are don’t lose to Montana
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They need to be an innovator and not an imitator.
They need to view systems and playbooks as tools that can be modified or discarded as necessary instead of believing that the system is what generates long term success.
They need to have a plan about how players they recruit will work with what they are trying to do instead of recruiting stars or thinking that that they can simply coach up anyone so talent doesn't matter.
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HB dive into a stacked 8 man box. And don’t be so fucking stubborn or confused by that won’t work.
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Not all Directors or other C levels make good CEOs
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A true leader / head coach has got to have the ability to turn knowledge / scheme / culture into an identity worthy of commitment. There are tons of people who have knowledge, but can you teach it? Can you sell it? Do you have conviction? Will everyone buy into it? Can you take it forward and create something bigger than the parts?
A creative vision of what you want it to be, the conviction that "THIS is the way", unwavering determination to see it through, with flexibility to adjust when needed. Oversight and cultivation of subordinates (DJ, Saban), creating trust, delegating, holding them accountable while having their backs publicly, but always involved, in every detail, on and off the field.
Above all, for me, is that it must be within the leader's personality. If you are a good cop, be the best good cop you can be, and hire some bad cops to kick ass. Same for bad cops...if you are a ball-buster, you'd better have subordinates that can really communicate, smooth it over, reinforce the message, without the spittle.
Saban, Carroll and Bellichick all have the "IT" factor, while having completely different public faces. They do what they do, and do it very well, over time. Others flash and fade. Most never flash...It is well documented that many of "us" wanted DJ canned a few times over a HOF career. He built the foundation, and was prepared when the bottle of lightning appeared. Few can sustain it, those that can are legends.
For me, Jimmy coat-tailed Pete, tried to use his schtick (which regardless of the ending, was very successful over his career), half-assed it, his short-comings were exposed, and the kids saw through it...they always do. Successful people surround themselves with successful people...Jimmy came to Montlake as a successful position coach, and, well, you know the rest of the story...TL/DR my 2 cents. -
No, not too long. Good take.Fishpo31 said:A true leader / head coach has got to have the ability to turn knowledge / scheme / culture into an identity worthy of commitment. There are tons of people who have knowledge, but can you teach it? Can you sell it? Do you have conviction? Will everyone buy into it? Can you take it forward and create something bigger than the parts?
A creative vision of what you want it to be, the conviction that "THIS is the way", unwavering determination to see it through, with flexibility to adjust when needed. Oversight and cultivation of subordinates (DJ, Saban), creating trust, delegating, holding them accountable while having their backs publicly, but always involved, in every detail, on and off the field.
Above all, for me, is that it must be within the leader's personality. If you are a good cop, be the best good cop you can be, and hire some bad cops to kick ass. Same for bad cops...if you are a ball-buster, you'd better have subordinates that can really communicate, smooth it over, reinforce the message, without the spittle.
Saban, Carroll and Bellichick all have the "IT" factor, while having completely different public faces. They do what they do, and do it very well, over time. Others flash and fade. Most never flash...It is well documented that many of "us" wanted DJ canned a few times over a HOF career. He built the foundation, and was prepared when the bottle of lightning appeared. Few can sustain it, those that can are legends.
For me, Jimmy coat-tailed Pete, tried to use his schtick (which regardless of the ending, was very successful over his career), half-assed it, his short-comings were exposed, and the kids saw through it...they always do. Successful people surround themselves with successful people...Jimmy came to Montlake as a successful position coach, and, well, you know the rest of the story...TL/DR my 2 cents. -
Leadership. The same as in most businesses. It is never just one thing, but some people have it and some don’t.
It’s being credible, respected, motivated and able to motivate others, secure enough to hire people smarter than you and to let them work, finding the right people, showmanship/charisma. I can’t forget to mention luck, a lot of it is luck. You can have shit skills but then a golden goose can stumble into your path.
There’s no any one perfect way, and many different styles of leadership that can work. Unfortunately, no matter how many nerds research it there’s no way to predict who will have it and who won’t until they get a chance to fail. -
Funny - I was going to post something along these lines. Mine was, "what are the most important traits, assuming you can't have all of them?".
To me, the game changes too frequently to focus on whether the HC is some fucking genius at this or that. Look at Chip. He can't do shit at UCLA now. What he brought to the table is over. The game adjusted. Now he has to rely on the rest of his attributes, of which he has a few.
For me, recruiting is huge. It's too hard to do it without the Jimmys and Joes. An ace recruiter who can build a staff of ace recruiters, so when one leaves they don't miss a beat. Being good at it is a gift IMO. And it takes a willingness to work your ass off. Being lazy in this department, wherever you are, is just an eliminating factor for me.
Organized, proactive and willing to change. Stubborn people eventually crash and burn in this business.
Lastly, has that thing that makes the kids want to play for them w/o being a pushover. It's a fine line. But getting them motivated to play is IMO a severely underrated quality. I say underrated not because anyone thinks it's not important. I just think most people think most coaches can do it, like duh no shit. But I don't think all coaches are good at it. I think some really excel at it.
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Sark was a good coordinator under Pete Carrol and Nick Saban. How would his offense look at Kansas? How would it look if he was the OC at South Carolina this year? How was Sark at Atlanta? Jimmy was DC under Petersen with Kwat right there to answer questions. How’s the UW defense this year? How would his shitty scheme look at any university outside Alabama and Georgia? It’s been said here over and over. Success starts at the top. Petersen made his staff better than the sum of their parts. Pete raised the level of Bonerpopper and Bob Gregory. Under Jimmy they’ve been exposed. Don James did this as well. Jim Mora sr and Gary Pinkle are the only guys who coached under DJ who were worth a shit after leaving UW. What are Sark and Lake missing that Dabo, Smart or Mel Tucker have? I don’t know. If I knew then I’d have a hell of a coaching search firm.
