Kyle Pignatiello
Dr. Titlebaum
HSS 358
4 December 2013
Coaches Perspective: Preparing a Team for Success In a world full of coaching changes, conference realignments, and program violations, there are many reasons why a team can be good one year but have a problem sustaining that success in the long term. Maintaining success in college football is difficult because there are many factors that could affect a team. New coaches get hired and existing ones get fired. With each coaching change, there is a chance for change in leadership, which in return could make a program worse or in some cases better. Also, college kids have to deal with their classes and have other off-field distractions to handle. This goes along with the demands that football puts on them. This makes one think whether it is even possible to have sustained success, and if so, such then leads to the question of what is needed to have continued success in college football? To start, one can look at successful programs that have had the most wins. When discussing wins and losses in recent years, what comes to mind is the Southeastern Conference and Alabama Crimson Tide in particular. The SEC has won the last seven national championships, and Alabama has won three of the last four. But, one asks “Is winning football games the only thing that should determine success?” What about the academics and the team’s graduation rate? Those should both be vital parts of “success.” Sadly, coaches are judged and evaluated mostly by their win-loss record. So, what are the main areas that would contribute to having a better win-loss ratio? First, strength and conditioning, is the obvious one, and second, leadership skills is important too. A successful coach should being able to develop leadership in the players in the program as that will help set them up for success in their future. As well, without a doubt, coaches should have a thorough knowledge of the game of football. However, there is more to the game than x’s and o’s. All coaches should know how they train their football players off the field and in the weight room. Most importantly, how coaches lead their team by teaching them the game is critical in the way to prepare them for success. For a team to be successful, a starting point is how the football players are being trained off the field. There are different aspects of off-field training, such as strength and conditioning and film review. A coach, should be knowledgeable of his or her your players in order to help them grow bigger, stronger, and faster. Some would argue that a coach would only need one plan because all football players are trying to grow bigger, stronger, and faster. Yet, this is the only partly correct. For maximal gains to be made, the workout program needs to be designed for each player’s specific position. Tyler Friedrick explained, “Essentially it comes down to the movements and demands that are put on each position when they are playing (Tyler, 2013)” The National Strength and Conditioning Association explains that there are three sections in evaluating a position. The three sections are movement analysis, physiological analysis, and injury analysis. Thomas Baechle says, “[Movement analysis] is body and limb movement patterns and muscular involvement. [Physiological analysis] is strength, power, hypertrophy, and muscular endurance priorities. [Injury analysis] is common sites for joint and muscle injury (Thomas Baechle, 2008).” Blair Mone states, “Once you determine what the key requirements are for the position, you design the program to fit those requirements (Blair,2013).” This means that a coach could have a defensive back and an offensive lineman both looking to be bigger, stronger, and faster, but their plans will be different because each position has different techniques on the field. Friedrick says, “Offensive linemen typically [should] have to push/pull heavier loads in their workout because in a game situation, they are pushing/pulling heavier people (Tyler, 2013).” Therefore when developing a workout plan, a coach would want a lineman to be lifting heavier loads with less repetitions than a defensive back. Thomas writes, “To increase strength, the athlete needs to handle loads of 85% of the one rep max (after warm-up) that typically allow performance of up to six repetitions per set …four repetitions per set with a corresponding load will be approximately 90% of one rep max (Thomas Baechle, 2008).” Lifting heavier weights will help increase strength but it also prepares the linemen on the field by helping their bodies get used to moving heavier loads. It is the same when it comes to conditioning. Defensive backs have more open field and therefore need to cover more ground, while lineman need to have quick feet. In essence, a lineman will have quicker short burst exercises where as defensive back will do more distance sprints with more change of directions. Tyler said, “[Lineman will have] short sprints, tire flips and sled pulls....activities that last for 2-8 seconds usually with max amount of rest. DBs are going to have longer sprints and some more change of direction work (Tyler, 2013).” Therefore, knowing the position of the particular athlete will benefit the athlete on the field which will bring a greater rate of success to a program. Yet, this is just the start of building the right workout program for a particular athlete. One then must take into account what would be the athlete’s goals. When making a workout plan for an athlete, a coach must consider what are the athlete’s personal goals. Some athletes want to gain weight or add mass, while others may want to just become more defined or toned. This proposes the question that if one compares a player who wanted to add mass to a player who just wanted to just become more defined, what differences would a coach make in creating a plan for the different athletes? Mone explains, “The biggest difference from a program for leaning out and a program for gaining size is nutrition. Quality calorie consumption is the key to building size. When players want to gain mass they must increase calories and decrease cardio. In contrast, when wanting to become more lean, one should increase cardio activity and decrease calories (Blair, 2013).” Having an athlete looking to gain mass, a coach will want to increase the player’s caloric intake while decreasing the cardio. Of course, this is the opposite if the athlete is looking to become more defined (less calories and more cardio). Tyler agreed with this by saying, “I would change the way that they eat…if I have someone who wants to add mass I am going to increase the amount of food they are taking in on a daily basis. With a calorie increase their weight will increase thus the weight they are moving will increase also (Tyler, 2013).” Since most of the training for football athletes is combination training, a coach must be careful with the athletes that want to add mass. Joel Cramer writes, “Aerobic endurance training may reduce anaerobic performance capabilities, particularly for high-strength, high-power performance (Joel T Cramer, 2008).” Aerobic endurance will increase metabolism in which the athletes trying to gain weight will have a more difficult time making the weight gains they want. Kristen Reimers writes, “For weight gain in the form of muscle mass, a combination of diet and progressive resistance training is essential…if all the extra calories consumed are used for muscle growth during resistance training, then 2500 extra kilocalories are required for each one pound increase in lean tissue (Kristin Reimers, 2008).” Having proper weight gain is important in order to keep the muscles working efficiently. Tyler explains, “The more efficient the muscle the stronger and more powerful that muscle is (Tyler, 2013).” Resistance training tries to maximize the efficiency of the muscle in order to perform at its best. Once a coach knows what is the athlete’s position and what are his or her goals, a coach can start developing an entire training program that will help the athlete reach their goals. In turn, this would help them be more successful and the team’s program would have a greater chance to be successful, as well. By knowing the player’s goals, a coach should be able to start designing a workout program for them so that they can reach their goals, which will help the team have a better chance at success. In a given year, an athlete will go through four periods: preparatory period, first transition period, competition period, and second transition period. These periods are similar to the sport season that the athlete will go through. The four seasons are the off-season, in-season, preseason, and postseason. Breaking up the year in the periods and seasons is called periodization. Dan Wathen writes, “[Periodization is a] strategy promote long-term training and performance involvements with preplanned, systemic variations in training specificity, intensity, and volume organized in periods or cycles within an overall program (Dan Wathen, 2008).” A workout plan will change depending on the season. It will change with not only the sets and repetitions but also with the load or weight an athlete will be lifting. What periodization does is to help prevent hurting the athlete’s performance by over working the body whereas the body gets exhausted. Wathen continues, “Periodization involves shifting training priorities from non-sport-specific of high volume and low intensity to sport-specific activities of low volume and high intensity over a period of many weeks to prevent overtraining and optimize performance (Dan Wathen, 2008).” Overtraining the body will hurt the athlete’s performance by not allowing the muscles to recover properly, and so the muscles will not be full strength for competition. Within each period and season of the year, there are different goals and objectives for the athlete. Goals and objectives for the athlete change throughout the year. As stated earlier, there are four periods for a football team, and within each of those periods, there are different ways to conduct workouts. Tyler says, “Knowing when each "season" is and knowing how many weeks you have for each cycle. Obviously we know the fall season is August - Nov/Dec and then the spring season is typically March. Knowing this you can program each training block based on the appropriate amount of weeks you have (Tyler, 2013).” Knowing the number of the weeks for the team’s program will allow a coach to build a program that will have maximal gains. According to Steven Fleck, “Periodization is needed to achieve optimal gains in strength and power as training progresses (Fleck, 2004).” The first period is the preparatory period.
During the preparatory period, “the major emphasis of this period is establishing a base level of conditioning to increase the athlete’s tolerance for more intense training (Dan Wathen, 2008).” There are three phases within the preparatory period, and in each phase, there are goals and strategies on how to meet those goals. Regarding the three phases, Wathen writes, “The hypertrophy/endurance phase occurs during the early stages of the preparatory period…the goals for this phase are to increase lean body mass or develop an endurance base…involves very low to moderate intensity and very high-moderate volume (Dan Wathen, 2008).” This would be the beginning of the program which would start in the off-season during the winter and start of summer workouts. During the middle phase of the preparatory period, athletes want to start strengthening the muscles that they will use on the field. Wathen continues, “The aim of the basic strength phase is to increase the strength of the muscles essential to the primary sport movements (Dan Wathen, 2008).” As the offseason or summer progresses, a coach will want the athlete to move into the strength/power phase. Wathen explains, “The strength/power phase involves high intensity and low volume (Dan Wathen, 2008).” By doing this, the athlete starts to perform towards a competitive pace. As the preparatory period is ending, the first transition period will begin. This is a week-long transition that will help benefit the athlete to become more rested and ready for the competition period. The competition period is in-season or when the most sport-specific activity occurs. Wathen says, “The goal of the competition period is to peak strength and power through further increases in training intensity with additional decreases in training volume…the competition period includes peaking and maintenance. For peaking, athletes use very high intensity and very low volume. For maintenance, athletes use moderate intensity and moderate volume (Dan Wathen, 2008).” Athletes are looking to be peaking towards the end of the season or the main parts of their season. For football, such would be the bowl season or the playoffs. Once the season is complete, the last and final period is called the second transition period, which is a time to rest and recover. Recovering from the previous season and resting the body to prepare it to get back to work is essential when the next preparatory period begins. Wathen concludes, “This period, commonly referred to as active rest and restoration, lasts one to four weeks and focuses on unstructured, non-sport-specific recreational activities performed at low intensities with low volume (Dan Wathen, 2008).” This period usually will last anywhere from one to four weeks. Once coaches have established goals for the periods of the workout, they can then progress towards how to prepare for the workout, which starts with a warm-up.
Warm-ups are vital aspects to get prepared to reach maximum output in workouts. A good warm-up is important for success. Ian Jeffreys writes, “A warm-up period is important before any athletic performance, the goal being to prepare the athlete mentally and physically for the exercise or competition (Jeffreys, 2008).” Workouts have many benefits to the athletes. Jeffreys points out a few, “[Warm-ups] can have the following positive effects on performance: Faster contraction and relaxation of muscles, Improvements in rate of force development, reaction time and muscular strength and power, and increased blood flow to active muscles (Jeffreys, 2008).” These benefits would greatly decrease injury, and the athlete would be able to make better gains during the workout. So, one may ask “what contributes to a good warm-up?” A good warm-up will consists of a general warm-up and a specific warm-up. A general warm-up is an activity that will raise body temperature, while a specific warm-up is designed around movements that will be performed in the activity. Jeffreys states, “A general warm-up period consists of 5-10 minutes of slow activity such as jogging or skipping. … The aim of this period is to increase heart rate, blood flow, deep muscle temperature, and respiration rate (Jeffreys, 2008).” He continues by saying, “A specific warm-up period incorporates movements similar to the movements of the athlete’s sport. It involves 8-12 minutes of dynamic stretching focusing on movements that work through the range of motion required for the sport (Jeffreys, 2008).” Following these guidelines for a warm-up will best prepare the muscles for the activity that will be at hand. When athletes are properly warmed up, they will be able to make those gains to help them reach their goals. Knowing the proper design variables for the program, a coach will help set up athletes to be successful to reach their goals. However, even the best program will not be successful if the athlete does not fuel their bodies correctly.
Lifting weights is important, but what is more important is having the thorough knowledge of the nutritional needs to help the players be healthy and reach their potential within the weight room. To make proper gains in the weight room and on the field, the athlete needs to know proper nutrition both pre-workout and post-workout. Both Blair and Tyler had similar ideas for a meal before a workout. Blair stated, “The Pre-workout meal should be eaten 1-1.5 hours before the workout and to achieve maximal gains should have these components. A fast absorbing high glycemic carbohydrate [with]a lean source of protein. This is because all meals should have a source of protein to keep a constant flow of amino acids in the body to help with recovery and the muscle building process (Blair, 2013).” Tyler added, “[Carbs] we want to use glucose that we put in our body first before we use the glucose stored in our muscles. The protein we take in will actually help provide energy and help spare muscle protein (Tyler, 2013).” Pre-workout nutrition is important to prepare the body to make it through the workout and to get the muscles fueled for the work they are about to do. Without that pre-workout nutrition, one’s body will not be sufficiently fueled to give maximum effort. Such will then translate to becoming harder for the athlete to reach his or her goals. Proper pre-workout nutrition affects how an athlete’s body feels as well as one’s attitude toward the workout. Kristin Reimers writes, “What an athlete eats before and after a training session can have both physiological and psychological effects on performance (Kristin Reimers, 2008).” Whether an athlete is or is not properly nourished will have an effect on how well he or she will perform in the workout. Once athletes have a proper pre-workout meal, a great workout, they will need to recover. So what should they consume after a workout?
During the course of a workout, an athlete loses fluids and muscle fibers breakdown. Coaches want the athletes to recover and make gains as quickly as possible. This leads to the question, “What would be the proper recovery meal after a workout?” When asked this, Tyler responded, “High in protein with a combination of carbs. Ideally we want a 2:1 - 2.5:1 ratio of carbs to protein. The protein is the building blocks for muscle. But without the carbohydrate that protein we take in would be used to restore muscle glycogen levels. The carbs replenish muscle glycogen thus allowing the protein to be used for muscle regeneration (Tyler, 2013).” Carbohydrates will restore the energy levels in the muscles quicker, by allowing the protein to repair and build the muscles. Blair had more of a strategic approach. He said, “Post workout it is important to consume fast absorbing protein such as a Whey Protein Isolate shake. This keeps the muscle from breaking down and with the fast absorption start the recovery and growth process immediately! After 30 minutes, one should consume a very high glycemic carb drink [because] the liquid version of the carbohydrate absorbs faster to help the muscle to replenish its glycogen stores before it begins to break down from the workout (Blair, 2013).” Blair and Tyler agree that an athlete needs more carbs than protein. However, Tyler believes carbs should be first, whereas Blair thinks protein should be first. Kristin Reimers states, “Carbohydrate consumption immediately after intense resistance training resulted in a more positive body protein balance…Foods or meals with mixed nutrient profiles is an effective way to achieve adequate caloric intake and to enhance recovery (Kristin Reimers, 2008).” Reimers and Tyler agree. What is important is that the athlete gets a good balance of carbs and protein.
Coaches often want athletes to supplement their diet. One supplement that is readily available that many athletes use is creatine. But, does Creatine help? And is it safe for the athlete? Blair says, “Creatine enhances a muscle's endurance during a workout. It allows the athlete to do whatever activity they are doing longer without muscular fatigue. When taking creatine the athlete must remember to drink plenty of water. Creatine increase water absorption by the muscle and without proper hydration they will become dehydrated quickly.” But he also states that, “Food is foremost the most important factor in the recovery and building process (Blair, 2013).” Creatine has many benefits, but it dehydrates an athlete very quickly. Also, creatine is not needed with a proper diet. To address what is a proper diet, Tyler said, “Going to be around 50-55% calories from CHO, 30-35% from PRO and 20-25% from FAT. A [diet a] little higher in CHO [is needed to meet] metabolic demands of the sports, protein for recovery (Tyler, 2013).” With a balanced diet, athletes will not need supplementation, and they will be capable to reach their goals to maximize their potential in the weight room. Reaching their potential in the weight will propel them to start becoming leaders of the team. And, coaches need great leadership to have success on the field.
Most importantly, coaches must know they lead their team by teaching them the game in a way to prepare them to be successful. First, a coach must clarify and demonstrate what is the definition of success. In the dictionary, success is “The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted.” In most cases, for a coach, success is determined by the number of wins the team has; however, there are still some coaches who have a winning record that still lose their jobs. Since this is a contradiction, one needs a better definition of success. According to John Wooden, “Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best you are capable of becoming (Wooden, 2007).” Tony Dungy defines success, “The significant difference our lives can make in the lives of others. The significance doesn’t show up in the win-loss record, long resumes, or trophies gathering dust on our mantels. Both these successful coaches have perfect definitions of success because when a coach is doing everything he or she can be and is doing the best he or she can, that coach then will be able to lead others and make differences in others. Unfortunately these differences, though, may not always be seen on the football field. With this new definition, one may ask, “How does one demonstrate success?”
Athletes will have similar attitudes as their coach. They will watch the example being set and will follow by how they lead. Wooden writes, “Never try to be better than someone else, but never cease trying to be the best you can be. You have control over that, not the other (Wooden, 2007).” In reality, you only can control yourself, therefore if you are being the best you can be, you are setting the example for your team to follow. John Maxwell states, “When the leaders show the way with the right actions, their followers copy them and succeed…the leaders effective modeling of the vision makes the picture come alive (Maxwell, 2007)!” That vision is being the best one can be. When a coach is doing everything to be the best he or she can be, the players will follow, and they will work towards being the best they can be. Demonstrating success will carry a coach over the short-term, but coaches also must be able to teach success to achieve long-term benefit.
Coaches have to be excellent teachers. Therefore, to be successful as a coach; he or she must know how to teach every player with perfect demonstration. John Wooden used his “Four Laws of Learning: Explanation, Demonstration, Imitation, and Repetition. These Four Laws of Learning will work pretty well for improving the performance of any team organization or group (Wooden, 2007).” This process of explaining the concepts, demonstrating the concepts, having your players imitate the concepts and then repeating the process will ultimately help them understand the concepts. Wooden continues, “A good coach is out on the floor with the team-demonstrating, instructing, correcting and rubbing and bumping elbows (Wooden, 2007).” Being involved in drills, practices, workouts, and meetings will help them to continue working towards being the best they can be. When athletes are continuing to be at their best, they help the coach also to be successful. In turn, such will more likely translate to the “successful” win-loss record. Finally, Coaches must be able to teach the game to help their players be successful by establishing a confidence within their players so that their players can believe in themselves. With this belief, they will be able to accomplish anything and can reach their maximal potential. For them to reach their potential, a coach must establish trust. John Wooden says, “A leader who finds it difficult to abide by the golden rule is undependable and untrustworthy. Without trust between a team and leader there is no team at all just a collection of individuals who won’t amount to much (Wooden, 2007).” Coaches need to treat others as they would like to be treated. If coaches push their players but do not follow those same standards, the players will not trust or follow the coach. All coaches usually have rules for their players to follow, yet having too many rules can be a problem. Pete Luongo writes, “Too many rules, is the most blatant violation of trust. Rules are for the weak (Luongo, 2007).” If one thinks about this, it is true. The more rules you have, the less trust a coach has in the team they are leading. Building trust is like a first date. If there is no trust, there is no second date. Maxwell states, “You can’t move people to action unless you move them with emotion…the heart comes before the hand (Maxwell, 2007).” As a coach, this starts in the recruiting war. The recruit must have trust in the coach if they are to remain on the radar. When coaches can reach to their emotion and get the athletes excited about the school, then they will consider the team as an option. Establishing the trust and getting recruits to commit to the school will prepare them to join the team. In return, they will push themselves to be the best they can be; this will help the coach become successful, not only in the worldly definition of success, but in the coaches definition as well. All coaches need to know how to train their athletes. This begins in weight room, by knowing the athletes goals and knowing what season of the year they are in. Coaches then can devise a plan to fit their goals to make the athlete successful in reaching those goals. Lifting weights in important but how the athlete eat before and after workouts is just as important if not more because nutrition is the way the athlete prepares and recovers from workout. Coaches need to let the athletes know that a minimum of a 2:1 carbs to protein ratio is needed for optimal recovery. Athletes then must be taught the coaches definition of success to establish trust and to become the best they can be. Therefore that success will translate into wins on the field. When the athletes are being the best they can be, by following the example of the coach, the coach has successfully prepared his team for success on and off the field.

References: Maxwell, J. C. (2007). The 21 irrefutable laws of leadership. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc. Luongo, P. (2007). The 10 truths about leadership..it's not just about winning. Cincinnati, OH: Clerisy Press. Dungy, T. (2007). Quiet strength:the principles, practices, and priorities of a winning life. Legacy LLC: Winter Park, Florida. Wooden, J. (2007). The essential wooden: A lifetime of lessons on leaders and leadership. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. (Tyler, 2013)- Tyler, F. (2013, November 01). Interview by Kyle Pignatiello []. (Blair, 2013)- Blair, M. (2013, November 04). Interview by Kyle Pignatiello []. Thomas Baechle, R., Roger Earle, W., & Dan Wathen, (2008). Resistance training. In R. Thomas Baechle & W. Roger Earle (Eds.), Essentials of Strength Training and ConditioningChampaign, Illinois: National Strength and Conditioning Association. Joel Cramer, T. (2008). Bioenergetics of exercise and training. In R. Thomas Baechle & W. Roger Earle (Eds.), Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, Champaign, Illinois: National Strength and Conditioning Association. Kristin Reimers. (2008). Nutritional factors in health and performance. In R. Thomas Baechle & W. Roger Earle (Eds.), Essentials of Strength Training and ConditioningChampaign, Illinois: National Strength and Conditioning Association. Fleck, S. J. (2004). Designing resistance training programs. Human Kinetics 1. Wathen, D., Baechle, T. R., & Earle, R. W. (2008). Periodization. In T. R. Baechle & R. W. Earle (Eds.), Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning. Champaign, Illinois: National Strength and Conditioning Association. Jeffreys, I. (2008). Warm-up and stretching. In T. R. Baechle & R. W. Earle (Eds.), Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning. Champaign, Illinois: National Strength and Conditioning Association.