It’s far more about your ability to understand, communicate, resonate.
“It’s not the coaches who know the most about scheme who make the biggest difference.
Nor is it the coaches who’ve been doing it a long time.
It’s the coaches who understand they are secondary to the kids & invest most of their time learning how to resonate with & reach people.”
-Ray Zingler on X
If it was about scheme competence or program knowledge, the oldest, most tenured coaches would be making the biggest differences.
But it’s not about that.
Why have you seen a surge and emergence of younger coaches in the last 10-15 years?
It’s because many of the older, tenured guys who “know it all” get stuck in their ways.
They become stagnant and pretend that life, sport, and kids will bend to them versus adapting to an ever-evolving world.
They feel like they can do it like they’ve always done it, because after all, “I’ve been doing this for 25 years!”
It’s why 32 NFL teams called Bill Belichick, who is in my opinion, one of the greatest NFL coaches of all time, a Has Been. They told him he was washed. Damaged goods. They told the GOAT to kick rocks.
And if they’re willing to tell an 8-time Super Bowl Winning champion coach that he’s no good anymore, what does this say about the local ball coach down the road who doesn’t evolve?
You guessed it.
Of course, you’ll have some old heads hang on to jobs because of politics, good ol boy systems, & low levels of accountability from superiors, but are those guys impacting kids on a rich level?
Hell no they’re not.
They’re in the kids way, if we’re being honest.
The coaches who make the biggest impact on kids are the coaches who happily acknowledge that they are secondary aspect of the equation.
It’s the coaches who (truly) understand that it isn’t about them.
The coaches who are happy the lights aren’t on them and on their kids, where they should be.
The coaches who don’t brag about how they did it, or pride themselves on doing it “their” way, but constantly evolving and refining the ways that are best for the kids.
It’s the coaches who invest most of their time in learning the kids.
The coaches who understand the importance of the varying athletic archetypes and designing ways to communicate, resonate, and connect with the unique individuals they are blessed with the opportunity to coach, most effectively.
Those are the coaches who the kids write their essays about years later.
Not the guy who sounds good at a coach’s convention.
