PEILOSOPHY,MOTIVATION, AND MANAGEMENT 169
I couldn'tplay middle linebacheruhich Until you do that, you are helpless and you'll
uas my d.rean. The peopLe who uere
naturcrllr quick mentdllr uere the ones
uho plaJed QB and nid.dle linebather I
just could.n't thinh fast enoueh. I could
play center lfJohnny Unitas or Ban Stc'i
told ne what to do and told me what the
snap count was,I could.go up there,and I
cout l. make mr calls becauseI hneu uhere
I uas gonna go. I could.hike the ball, and
I could uin on repetitions.
So, I'xe lecLrrcd the DaLueof qualit!
repetition. If somebodycould teach the
driL,eblochwith 150,000repetitions,and.
lou could teach hou to delbat the driue
block with 150 rcpetitions,and that talent
uas equat,uho do you think is gonna uin?
My mom grew up on a farm. She walked along
behind a plow and picked €otton,andwas part of
an agrarian society that we had not long ago. Our
ancestors in their liferime did not absorb as much
inforrnation as you and I absorb in one day.
Let's not kid ourselvesabout what coachingis
today. It is a lot more than it's ever been before.
And it's a lot toughex Players ar€ exposedto morc
distractjons and influences outside of family,
team, and schoolthan we were at their age.
Just think about what you're pumping into
your hain and whath going into those playem'
heads.They're sittins there with those Walkmans
on the team bus; you'r€ wondering what in the
world isgoinginto their brains;yourjob is on the
line in ftont of a national T\y' audience. You've
prepared as b€st you can, but the competition-
both from the opponenton the field andfromth€
distractions facing your team is awesome.
Personal Responsibility
for Actions
Becausewehave so many outside influencesand
demands,it's easyto passthe buck when you fail.
But excusesdon't get you anywhere.I'm talking
as a coach in football as well as in life. Under-
stand this: You ar€ today preciselywhat you had
planned to be up to this point.
Bill Curry has deterrnined what ever it is that
I'mgoingtobe today;I'm the onewho has shaped
that destiny Nobody else.Theinstantyou accept
the responsibility lor your life, you have the ca-
pacity to start to deal with the forces that are at
work on your mind.
be pulled from pillar to post and you'l] wonder,
"What in the worid's going on? I wonder why I
drink so much?" So many times you're not ev€n
aware. It's th€ subliminal influences. The same
thing happens to the kids we work with.
I come from an environment where my play-
ers have been told, every single day,"YouI coach
iB not good enoughto coachyou. He shouldr't be
here. He's not qualified. He's not one of us." A1l
those things.
That's nobody's fault. That goeswith the terri-
tory You may be going through something simi-
lar. So I'm not complaining. I'm just telling yol1
about the €nvironment in which I've lived. What
it did waB force me to do something that I find
ve4', very diffi cult-listen.
Listening and Ledrning
I learned hou to Listenfrom my daughte\
uho was then 17 years old.. She did.n't
speakto me for 6 months. This chi.ld,uho
has al.uaysbeenher own person and.has
a brilliant nind she'sjust Lihe her
mom-4ecided her dad uasn't uorth
talhing to. I didn't like that. We uent
thrcueh some heII tosetheL
I went tom being terribLy o/fentled., to
being angry, to pLaing the aduLt roLe-
the pdrent role. I tried to hammer he.
chanee her antl tell her who she wouLd
and uould not see.I tried to loch her up.I
tried to shut off the telephone.I did. all
the stuff stupid da& do to beautiful
Until one dar I said.to her, "I loue you
morc than mr oun litb. I'ue giten you
eoerythingl haue.Whatis it that'surone?"
She said, "Youtell me rou loue me,and I
hnou you thinh you mean that, but I don't
feel it uhen you sal it. WhenI try to talk
to Jou, rou neuer lkten. you're onl!
th.inhine about uhat you're gonna sa!
wfi." I wept.And I almost fell out of the
chai. becauseshe uas sht.
Then, lessthan a ueeh later,I askedour
coaching staff's opinion on a uer!
important matter Ooe of the brightest
Iootball coachesI'ue euer knoun, Don
Lindser, is agur who uiLLtett.youhou he
feels about things. you don't halte to
uond.er about uhat's eoine on in Don's
mind. He'U teII rou e&ctb hou it is.
 170 FOOTBAIL COACHING STRATI]CIES
Don uas giting his thoughts on this
subjett antl about halfuar through a
sententehe Just stopped.talhi.ne<nd af
.:on\ersotion.I tbticed it, hut ue uent an
about our meeting.Afteruard I asked.Don
to fuin me in mJ office.I s.jid. "Hey,Don,
I a.shetlyour opinion, .1ndlou got about
haltual thrcugh rour thoueht an.t the
rou stopped."
He s(rid. "Yes."I said,, "Wh1 uoultJ yu
clothat?" He saitl. "Ber:auseI (:an tell uhen
rau stop listen;n.g. When rou stop
listeninE, there's no set8e in me cont;nun|
I ias11Jearc old.anLl.li.ln't knau hou
b listen ta anotherhuman being.Hou are
you gonna k:orn anrthing if rau can.t
tl andli ng Proles si ona t
Besponsibilities
I \\,ant to encourageyou to be enthusiastic abour
our profession,and help you understand that you
have determined wherc you are today-not the
alunni who don't like you, not the press who
$'rote an ugly article abotit you, not soma bjg
boosterwho taiks to your presidentand keepsyou
from having firll suppoft.
That's all balon€y.It's 1oe. responsibilitywhat
you are. It's Bill Cunf,"s rcsponsibility what€ver
has happenedto me and my family and myrcam.
It's absolutelymy doing and no one ctse,sbecause
I have the capacity,the cod,giv€n gift, to deat
with that situation, what€ver ir is. The momenr
you accept that, you beejn to grow and under-
Wa can make a 6ig diff€r'encebecausethe chii-
dren who watch our games ure the sum€ ones r,!.ho
ar€ bombad€dby beer commercialsand poj,Los-
mphy.And they're more interestedin whal Jou re
doins than some ofthe sarbase.You can chanse
lives by being what you're suppos€dto be
Those children who watch you, those children
who go overther€ andgo through those oflensrve
iine drjlls, who've got big old fat stomachs and
are 5-4 and 13 years old, they're eonna be tika
you.They'rogonnabe like you fol&. Thoy,resorna
be like youare.And they're gonnaknow what you
arc. So please don't stand therc and tell them,
"Don't drink beer and don't set drunk"when you
so out and dr-ink 14 beers every othcr nighr.
They'll know it. They'll find out. Theyll sIllelt
it. They'll feel it. And you wilt instantty be $por-
ted for the phony that you are. You,tl be dis-
counted. You'Il be out the window. And then they'Il
be victims on the t€levision-You've eot an awe-
somc responsib;lity.
Dr. Viktor Fmnkl is a Jewish man who spent
six yeals in a cerman concentration camp. He
lived thmugh that nightmarc-the most brutal
physical, emotional, and spiritual conditons rn
the history ofmankind. He describedth€ actions
ol someofthe victims: "Thes€towe ng, dignified
ligurcs movedthrough rhe helt ofthe Hotocaust,
giving iheir two-inch-square bread away to the
weaker inmates, and they draggedus throush it
with theirpowerThey showedus how to live and
how to die;my life was never the same."
D. Frankl concluded,"Here's what I tearned:
No circumstance,no condition,no gmup olpeopte,
no negative idea, no killing, no nothine can rc-
move from me the lundamental obligation I have
as a human being, which is to choosehow I will
respond."
So, ifyou'rc spondingyour time pointing fin,
gers and complaining and trying to decid€ who,s
t.ying to keep you from succeedingrmaybe you
ought to spend thai time getting your body in
shape. Maybe you ough t to spend your time ieam-
jngsoma morcfbotball. Maybeyou ought to spend
your time not fbeling sorry for yourself, but feet-
ing solry for that youngster who lives down the
str€et and doesn'thave a mom and a dad. Maybe
you need to spend your tim€ doing thoso things,
becausoit is in giving that you receive.
Noi only will you win a lot ofgames but you,ll
win. God knows,you'll win becausethey,ll die for
you. You've changed some lives-and txaLs a
privilege.
Integrity
Be honestevenwhan the other folks are not. Don,t
be one to point the finger and say,.We can,t $in
becausethev arc cheating and buying players_,
Just bo, in that moment, tough as nails by being
honest when it's not fashionabl€to be honesr.
You see,the rcal losers are the cheaters.cod
bless 'em. We've all cheated ftom time to time.
There's nobody in this room who,s pure as the
drivon snow,least olalt Bilt Cun1. I,m ashamed
oftheyears tbat I lived whenl wasn'twhatl was
supposedto be.And I'm not what I'm supposedto
be now, but I know that I'm working toward be-
ing that, and I'm giving eve4'thing I've got to be
that for the first time in my lif€.
I've frnally figured this out:The cheatersdon't
want to find out how th€ game will come out if
 PHTLOSOP}IY,MOTIVATION, AND MANAGEMENT 171

they play by the samerules as everybodyelse.So He'd already had keys offered to hin by an-
they don't. And they\e never won a game! And other coach.He said,"CoachCuny,I'm trying to
you know something? Ther€'ll be a day when they make you understand. I want the automobile. You
know it. I look back on every lie I've ever told and hear me? Read my lips." I was so shocked,I was
every deceptive act and every stupid thing I've sittins there $.ith my mouth hanging op€n. I fi-
done out of selfishness, and I've paid many times, nally found an honest kid who told me th€ truth
and I pay today with glrilt and anguish. about {hat he $anted to do with his life. He
I think the worst Bin you commit today ifyou're wanted to drive a brand new car becausehe'd
a coach is to t€ach a youngster that ith OK to never had one.He was poor
break a rule. Wlo's going to help that child 25 The dad took me outside and said, "I'm gonna
years from now when he's sitting across from the do you a favor. l m gonna reopcn this dibcusaion.
IRS and getting ready to go to jail and it crosses I'm gonna go tel my young son that he's off the
his mind, "My coach taught me it was OK to cut wall. Hc mighr rake the car.but I m gonnagive
you a chance to start over."
I don't think I want that on my conscience.And I sold that kid-and I've lost a lot more than
that's tough and that's hard to swallow when I've sold. He bought the idea that he wouldn't sell
you'rc getting your butt kicked in ihe football his soul for that automobile, and he would buy
game and you know you re standingfor a prin- hiB own car. And four yeals later, I swear I'm
ciple. Nobody cares about your principles. They walkins down the street, and I hear this rumble.
only care about that scoreboard,and you'll lose It Bcaredme,and I lookedback and there's about
yourjob or gain youl job- a $40,000black car with about 5,000horsepower,
I hired a coach one time, and we had our meet- and all I could see was teeth when I looked in
ings, and I said, "Men, we want to do this the there.
right wa)aWe're not going to break a single rule." Pat Si.illing smiled at me. He's a star in the
We broke for lunch, and the new coach came up National Football League, and he has a diploma
to me and said, "I need to talk to you, BiI. We'rc hom tbe Georgia Institute ofTecbnology, and I'm
not gonna break any rules?" proud of Pat Swilling. He bought his own car. H€
I said, 'That's right." He said, "You knoq no- didn't let somebodybuy his soul.He's a man. God
body does that." I said, "Yeah, I know. We haven't bless him.
always done it, eithe! but we'rc fir.ing to." He said,
"Every rule? We're gonna get killed. What if we
lose our jobs?"
I said, 'I've never heard it put that way If we
lose our jobs, we'1l go get other jobB. We'll have
our integrity, but we won't be swayed by a sys-
t€m that destroys childr€n."
I don't think that's par-ticularly noble. I don't
think that makes me anlthing geat. I think that 3
the Ame can way, isn't it? Is that what we're
suppoBedto stand for? Is that what Amenca was
at one time? lghere in th€ hell did this happen,
men? Why is it such a big story when somebody's
honest?
Ne\er quit on your principles. I'm not talking
about you never changngjobs or changing direc-
tions. I'm talking about rever quittine on whatt
right.
I sat in a house with a great player one nieht.
I said, "Son, what do you want to do with your
life? I'm here to help you." He said, "I want the
car." I said, "Excuse me?" His mom was sitting
therc, his dad; God was wat{hing, everybodjr He
said, "I want the car."
I72 FOOTBALI-COACHINGSTRATEGIES
Rules and Discipline
Wehaue two basic trai.ninq rules:
. Tredt other people the uo! lou uant tr)
. Don't embarrassyour fami.ly,our teanL,
ar our school.
Thse tuo rutes haL)euortud for w, euen
uhen we uent into situat;ons where the.e
had been a lot of problems. Our pLayers
tahe the responsibilitr to foLlou thde
sui.lelinesand i.thelped.us hat e d quality,
disciplined proqram.
Focus on Priorities
When I was a child, I used to lov€ to get those
rnagnifying glasses out olCracker Jack boxes and
go out in the woods on a cold day. It fascinated
me. The temperature would be 35 degreesbut I
could take the sun 93 million miles away and get
those Iays to wherc I corld cet a pile ofleaves on
lire.
I got in a little trouble around the neighbor-
hood, but it fircd me up. Those Iays that ema-
nated so far away that we can't even imagrne the
distancocould be brought to a uselul purpose by
focusingthat €nergy.Bi)l Curry can learn by rep-
etition, properly directed andfocused,and so can
that young offensi ve center or young quafterback
or child whom you're rcsponsiblefor. As soon as
you acceptresponsibility for focus,then you can
begin to make progress.
In our program, or any program, there will be
priodties. Now, you may scoff and say, "I'm not
inruall thar prioril)-setlingandgoal-Aell ing. Yes.
Your goal may be to go out and chase women
atter practice. That may b€ what you love to do,
and that's fine. We've all seenthat, and we've aI
known thai thai's suppGedto be associat€dwith
our prcfession. You. goal may be to go out and
see how many be€I8 you can drink. But you've
got priodties, and those childrcn are going to
minor your priorilies.
Perconat Faith
Here are or1l priorities. Number ote, personal
&it4. It's critical to me that our players and our
staff undefttand the fundamental realities of
human €xperience,which is that €ach ofus has
faith. Again, you may scoffand say,"Well,I don't
have faitb.I don't believein God.I'm an atheist."
That's not true. You believe in Bomething.
Maybe money.Maybe coach of the year honors.
Or maybeeren winning rhe nationalchampion-
6hip orthe SuperBowl.Ihope not, becausewhen
you get to all those placesth€re ain'tmuch therc.
When you get there, you look at the world
championshipring and say,"Well, is this it? Wlat
do I do now? I've got to win another one."lts not
much. Ii's not what it's cracked up to be. But a
peftonal faitb is the mck in a foundation.
It took me a lot of years to learn that it is in
Christ that I have an)'thing significant to con-
tdbute to anybody. He has r€deemed me and
savedme fiom myself.He's my hero,and I thank
That's a personal matter. I don't impose that
on my staff or my players. I leave that for them
to decide, but I want them to understand that
they must make some kind of decision about that.
Famity
The secondpriority is /antry and I leamed thai
from Vinc€ Lombardi. We werc a family on the
Green Bay Packers, and that's how I always think
Lomhardisaid."C reatph)sicdlcondilioninC is
absolut€ly tundamental to victory Winning is not
a sometime thing. You don't do things right some
ofthe tim€. You don't win some of the time. You
do things fight all the time."
Why do you think I learned thosethings? I had
no choice.I'd say,"If he makes that speechone
more time, I'm gonna throw up" and a teammate
would say, "No, you're not. You'rc gonna sit right
where you are and you'r€ gonna listen one more
When somebodytoldme that CoachLombardi
went to church every day, I said, "No way. No-
body who goesto church every day talks like that."
His language could really shockyou.
So I went to Bart Star and said, "DoesCoach
rcallygo to masseverymorning?"He said,"Coach
is such a devout Christian h€ goes to mass every
single moming, but aft€r you\e been working for
this man about three w€eks, you're gonna under-
stand this man nedristo go to mass every morn-
ing."
Coach talked family, and he meant it. Ifyou
came to him with a family problem, he'd always
take time for you. lvhen I went to see him in the
bospital when he was dying, he grabbedmy hand.
I said, "Coach,you've meant a lot to my life-" He
said,'You can mean a lot to mine ifyou'Il pray."
He wasn't about to give up to cancer.It was his