What is the job of a coach?
The most obvious answer that people give would be to win ballgames… I’ve heard the sound bites over and over of coaches that were fired and said something along the lines of, “I was hired to win games.”
Vince Lombardi is often quoted as saying, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”
Yet, I have often shared one of my favorite quotes from Alonso Stagg, who after a good year of winning games was addressed by an exuberant reporter who what he thought of his team… to which Stagg replied that he would let him know in 20 years…
I love quotes like the following:
“Our emphasis is on execution, not winning.” Pat Summitt
“All coaching is, is taking a player where he can’t take himself.” Bill McCartney
“When people ask me if I miss coaching… the championships… the attention… the trophies… I tell them I miss the practices.” John Wooden
We all love to see an d experience victories, but there are so many variables to that… unexpected injuries… just an off night… the opponent is simply better… and life is that way…
It is hard to judge when determining success by wins vs losses… too many life variables come into play. That is why I really like Coach Summits quote about execution… what matters is not ultimately what the scoreboard says, but how are we handling the current situation.
As a coach… leader… parent… our job is to train in proper, God-honoring execution. We are to build up our players… employees… kids.
Ephesians 6:4 gives the admonition to fathers to “bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”
There is the “coaching” aspect… “training and admonition” has the idea of the total education of the child… (it is why we call our training leg of the ministry The Total Player Academy.) And the words “bring them up” carry the idea of nurturing or encouraging growth… Basically it is helping those under your guidance achieve their best! (I love how Galatians 6:9 even corrects how we serve as bosses and coaches… “giving up threatening”… but still in the vein of nurturing…
My view of coaching was to always try to put players in a position to help them reach the next level… this involved maybe playing them in a position more conducive to what they would play at the college level… or maybe benching them for a game, with an eye on lessons for when they are in the work force… BOTTOM LINE was always growth. Biblical leadership is about gardening!
GREEN THUMB COACHING!
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