When Coaches Fail

Lessons from the NFL

This article will develop a few of the major characteristics that lead to failure among coaches. The NFL provides a great model for derriving these insights. The league is very public, highly examined, seasons are relatively short, and weekly practice and preparation are arguably more important because there is only one game per week.

Winning Percentage

In the sports world, there is plenty of debate around the performance of head coaches and managers. Chip Kelly, whose style and performance have placed him firmly in the spotlight since his time in Oregon, added yet another eccentricity with his departure from Philadelphia. Chip was fired after a 26–21 record in his first three years. A perfect example of why winning percentage is not always the best way to judge a coach.

For the purposes of this article, that is a good thing. Coaches outside of sports rarely have a winning percentage to judge them by anyway. So to draw the best lessons from the NFL, we need to look at other factors that lead to a coach’s failure.

Loss of Passion

Passion comes in many forms. Some coaches have a visible fire, others a competitive bent, and still others are best described as intense. Many coaches are hired for their passion. Many coaches are criticized for it, too. How important passion may be to the success of a coach is certainly debatable, but once a coach has lost their passion-failure is inevitable.

Drawing a related analogy, passion is not always successful on offense. It can become a blunt instrument. It can interfere with execution or lead to the sort of nonsense that was on display in the Wild Card game in Cincinatti. Passion is a requirement on defense. When things get tough, when frustration looms, coaches must be able to dig deep and draw upon passion. Whether that is to ride out life’s hardships or to turn the tide in those moments of desperation, a coach who has lost that inner fire will fail.

Lack of Communication

Communication is critical to the success of any coach. Much like passion, it is not so much that communication is a precursor to success. It is more an issue that once communication begins to falter, failure is inevitable. A coach who fails to communicate is really no longer coaching.

Further, communication is a two-way exchange. A coach that has stopped listening will quickly find that their team returns the favor. Communication must include clear and concise feedback, it is not good enough to simply scream or repeat mindless sports cliche’. This may demonstrate passion but not communication.

Weak Relationships

Coaching is a relationship. Failure to create rapport and chemistry have been the end of many coaching careers. Conversely, strong relationships have served to protect many others.

Relationships, unlike the other attributes listed, are essential to a successful coaching endeavor. Further, great relationships can turn an otherwise average candidate into a great coach.

Weak or poor relationships are probably the most sited reason for failure, though sometimes that breakdown is attributed to issues with communication or other outside challenges. Unlike the other attributes however, it is not a matter of having them or not. They are far more nuanced.

In essence, coaching is a relationship. While some coaches are able to leverage experience, leadership, and passion to overcome weaker relationship building skills-this is most often only a temporary solve. The coach must use those same skills to forge strong relationships over time, otherwise failure will come.

Lack of Confidence

When a coach begins to lack confidence in themselves, their team will follow. A decay in this attribute can lead to an alarming number of issues that will quickly undermine a coach’s ability.

A lack of confidence will lead to second guessing and slower decision speed. Issues that will quickly be mirrored by others because confidence is contagious. A highly confident coach will instill that trait in others, while one who lacks it see others falter as well.

Confidence is not just a personal thing. A coach that has lost confidence in their team will experience a similar decline. That attitude will quickly rub off on those around them.

Unlike the other attributes that can lead to failure, whose presence is a clear sign of impending failure, confidence is much more easily recaptured. When passion or communication wane, things begin to unravel. For whatever reason, most teams and players are a bit more patient with lapses in confidence. They are inevitable.

Each of these attributes are visibly present each year in the ranks of coaches across the NFL. The tactics that are employed to combat these issues are well reported and stand as strong examples for options to avoid failure in other areas of lives.

Anyone who manages other people or processes should keep these attributes in mind and work to guard against there loss or decay.