Winning Ugly

What to do when your team wins but executes less than expected.

I like ugly wins. Why? Because the kids know they didn’t play their best and understand they must work harder to achieve their goals. They are their worst critics. They know they did not play as expected and postgame, feel as if they lost. They look to the coaching staff to illuminate the reasons for their shortcomings and also look at each other with jaundiced eyes searching for more effort, better intensity and more desire.

As a coach you have to chide and prod and teach and encourage. Emphasize the positive to eliminate the negative. This doesn’t mean that you gloss over a poor result due to lack of focus or lousy technique. I try to positively reinforce two times more than I negatively reinforce. However, harsh criticism will always be levied after any poor effort. I always say that you don’t have to be good to hustle and I will not tolerate taking plays off.

During a recent contest which turned out to be closer than expected, the game felt disjointed and uneven. There will always be some questionable penalties and we certainly received our share which resulted in a jagged “fits and starts” performance. We got off to an early lead and appeared to lay fallow, fat and sassy with our early success. We opened the second half strong on offense only to stagnate and waste opportunity after opportunity. Meanwhile, our young defense appeared to show its age and began to play “defensive”. We were catching instead of attacking and our opponent started to comeback through the efforts of a very fine performance from their running back slash receiver. I heard a senior Linebacker Postgame talking to the senior Free Safety that they could not play like that again in the second half and it was up to them to take the lead in its prevention. Good stuff boys! Take the lead, own it and move ahead.

Most coaches will tell you that a win is a win and I agree. The best part is you won and have a bunch of things to work on while staying optimistically positive and eternally grateful. Even better is the fact that you have kids that know they won but more is needed to win in the future.

Have a Bad Day All Day!!!